I like to travel and think a lot about travel.I can divide the world into places I’m pretty sure I will visit, places I’d like to visit but probably won’t get to, and places I don’t want to visit.
Some examples of each:
Places I’m pretty sure I will visit:
Boston (been briefly but I’d like to spend more time there)
San Fransisco (spent a lot of time in southern Cal, would like to see the north)
Seattle / PNW
France
Italy
Germany
Some of the smaller Caribbean islands (Barbados, Dominica, St Kitts)
Thailand (this might be a challenge)
Japan (ditto)
Places I’d like to visit but probably won’t get to:
Turkey
Sri Lanka
Oman
Eastern Europe
Alaska
Places I don’t want to visit
Central America (Costa Rica seems nice, the rest doesn’t interest me)
South America.
China
Russia
Hot. Very crowded. City/urban environment. Other than shopping and eating (I’m not a shopper and I’m not a foodie), not much to see or do. Each time I was counting down the days when we would leave.
There are a lot of places I’d like to see, say in the next 10-15 years (I’ll be 65 at the end of said range).
Internationally:
Japan, ideally with a local to help avoid just the touristy areas.
China, ditto, at least if tensions don’t get worst or the reaction to the slowing economy doesn’t create chaos there.
USA:
Alaska, I’ve always considered this as the only cruise that might be worth my while. Because I’m already too old and out of shape to consider a lot of hiking and ground travel, which is a missed opportunity I’m sure.
Conflicted on Western MASS, I was born in Northampton MASS, but we left before I turned 6. I’ve considered revisiting it along with historically significant sites to the founding of the nation in NE/East coast, but with the particularly toxic view of American Patriotism that’s been growing in the last decade, I doubt I can stand the dissonance between their (flawed, but noble by the standards of their age) hopes and dreams and the current reality.
I’d recommend flying to Anchorage and renting a car. There is a lot to see on the road system, limited though it is, and you would only need to hike if you made a point of doing that. There are a number of Facebook pages that are dedicated to Alaska and people are happy to give advice (as am I).
I will absolutely consider it. Right now, I’m at an awkward time/place in my life. The wife’s finished her PhD and I could otherwise consider retraining myself and searching for a more fulfilling job/opportunities. But my parents are 85 this year, and I’m delaying all of that, plus any longer-term vacations because I feel the need to preserve my PTO and/or FMLA opportunities if I need to drop everything and drive 600 miles to help take care of them for a few days / weeks / etc.
I was chatting with my Russian neighbor the other day and I mentioned that I would have liked to have visited Russia in the 90s when relations were better. He mentioned if you go now you may not come back. So, that is likely one place I wont get to visit in my lifetime given how things are right now. The other place nearby, which is the birthplace of my grandfather in Ukraine, is probably also out.
Seconding this. My wife and I went in 2022 and loved it! We did not do the cruise thing, but instead based our vacation on the Alaska Railroad, starting in the north at Fairbanks and going south to Denali, Anchorage, Seward, and back to Anchorage, with a couple-three days and excursions booked at each stop. Not only were the excursions terrific, but the train journey itself was a blast. Highly recommend!
I still have a few things on my list and for now have the health to actually visit them - so we’ll see!
Long flights don’t scare us yet (my wife and I are in our early 60s). We’re headed to Morocco next year, and I might squeeze in a trip to Norway next summer. But when we have more time we’re going to Japan, NZ, and Australia (I’ve been to all three, my wife hasn’t been to any) and an African safari. Those are on the list for right after retirement.
Israel and Ukraine, prior to current geopolitical events. I have been to Russia very briefly (overnight ferry to and from Finland, with six hours or so in St. Petersburg in between) but I wish I had gone for longer. It’s probably not in the cards now, until / unless things change radically.
I also wish I’d taken advantage of the opportunity to visit Cuba during the brief window of time at the end of the Obama administration when it could be done without a lot of red tape, although I’m hoping that will happen again before too much longer.
I’m very much a city slicker, and you couldn’t get me whitewater rafting, or sleeping in a tree, or eating a tarantula cooked over an open fire, for all the tea in China. And I understand that I’m missing out on a lot of great life experiences, but I’m kinda stuck in my ways. That said:
Haven’t been to Scandinavia yet and I’d love to. I was in Iceland last but didn’t get out of Reyjavik; that might be the rare exception to my “stick to the urban areas” tendencies, but I know you can go volcano hiking and still get back to four walls and a roof later that evening, so I’m willing to risk it.
If the region ever settles down (or at least when Putin pops his clogs), I’d love to see Tbilisi. The best way there from here is through Istanbul, and that’s also on the list. I’d kinda like to see some of central Asia…the steppe, the paths the Khans took to conquer the continent, that’d be cool.
Tokyo, though I know I’d have to sell some organs to afford it. Still haven’t seen the Grand Canyon from ground level. Never been to Chicago except for a layover. Lived in California for four years and never saw San Francisco.
Yeah, mostly boring but like I said, I’m not terribly adventurous.
I think a lot of us, particularly in the 80s and 90s, heard about how expensive it was to visit Tokyo, and it stuck with us. My son has been pricing a trip there, and it really does seem reasonable, especially compared to some of the European hubs.
I mean, airfare, that’s a different thing… Definitely expensive because of the distance.
So one thing I feel like I missed out on is Eastern Europe. Like I’m sure I’ll manage to visit (four kids and living in the states makes such things hard ) but I had the chance to visit in the late 90s, less than a decade after the iron curtain came down. I spent two summers in Denmark, and there were convenient ferries to Poland and the Baltic states. But it had such a depressing reputation in the UK at the time I didn’t. I really think I missed out on a pretty unique experience.
When my older brother was quite young, sometime between completing his undergraduate studies and going to graduate school, he spent about a month touring Europe, and it was an experience that affected him deeply. This was so long ago that it was still possible to travel to Europe by ship, and he took a passenger ship across the pond for the experience, then flew back.
He subsequently spent a fair amount of time in Europe, particularly favouring the Greek islands and Paris, while I humbly admit that I’ve never been to Europe at all, and feel poorer for it. I’ve been to most of the popular Caribbean islands and to Hawaii, but otherwise have not ventured off the North American continent. Europe, Japan, and Australia are on my “want-to-visit” list. I’m still furiously building up my stash of airline miles.
I wonder, if those who have travelled more than I (most of you I suspect, I’ve only been out of the USA to Mexico and Israel) would also suggest places that are wonderful to visit, but haven’t felt so much strain due to over-tourism that you won’t be treated as a barely tolerable sack of money to be fleeced and shooed out ASAP?
) but I had the chance to visit in the late 90s, less than a decade after the iron curtain came down. I spent two summers in Denmark, and there were convenient ferries to Poland and the Baltic states. But it had such a depressing reputation in the UK at the time I didn’t. I really think I missed out on a pretty unique experience.