My major vacation this year: a road trip to North Cascades National Park (and all points in-between).
Hey now, when we had this conversation in 2007 you were all for it. Was there a 2008 Yugoslav war that no-one told me about?
Hey Ginger, if you’re coming this way, let me know. Although if I remember, you’re from the west. We would be delighted with a visit.
Wow, some really exotic trips planned. I’m very envious.
Either Tuscany or Alaska. It’s a big birthday year for us both so we’ll try and do either right and for a long time, staying at least until we’ve forgotton all our passwords.
Exactly. Traveling solo can be very liberating–and indulgent. I’ve done international trips alone, and last spring took a trip to San Francisco for a wedding and had some nice quality solitude.
This spring we will visit our son in France. Have never been to Brittany and hope to remedy that.
We are hoping to go to New Zealand.
Wow, you are all going some very cool places. I am most jealous. I have never been anywhere cool. I have only been out of my own time zone ONCE!! How lousy is that?
For a few years I have been begging to go on a trip to see some (US) national parks. Highest on my list currently is Glacier, followed closely by Badlands and Crater Lake. My husband says we might try this summer. May have to sell a few organs, but hey, you really only need the one kidney, right?
Taking a short cruise up to Vancouver for our 10th anniversary. The remainder of that trip after a couple of days in BC is undecided. I’m lobbying for either flying up to Anchorage or flying to Toronto, seeing Niagara Falls and continuing on to NYC from there. But we’re essentially playing it by ear.
Other than that, I’ve got the usual couple of trips to Vegas in the works, and I’ll be in Arizona for a couple of baseball games at the beginning of March. No idea what the latter half of the year has in store for us.
Glacier is beautiful in the summers! Highly recommend, if you can swing it.
This sounds great…details please!
As mentioned in this thread, Houston.
I’m going to Disney World; leaving on Feb 4 and returning on Feb 12. I live in Colorado, so warmer weather is a good thing right now! I hope to make a follow up visit with just my sister in October for the Epcot Food & Wine fest. We are Disney theme park commandos, but our husbands are Disney Muggles. 
I was? Because the trains in Eastern Europe are shit. Bus is the way to go. At least in the Balkans - I’ve never been north of Bucharest or west Sarajevo. Maybe it’s better farther north or west.
In a few weeks, I’ll be on a trip to Death Valley. Been there before this time of year. It gets chilly and may rain, but it’s manageable. At least it won’t be blazing hot.
I’m riding my motorcycle to Prudhoe Bay via the Dalton Hwy. After a two season delay, I don’t give a F&^% what conditions are. I’m going. Any Fairbanks Dopers wanna put me up for a night?
You were. Maybe you just wanted to lure me to your Bulgarian clutches, I don’t know.
Now, when you say “shit”… do they not go when they’re supposed to? Do they break down? Are they unpleasant to be aboard?
In a few weeks we’re going to ski in Killington Vt. It should be a hoot.
I was just shopping this morning, the Bahamas in June is looking promising.
Very cool!
Our vacation will be the same as last year, freeloading off of our BFF at their crack house by the lake with a wad of adults and a gaggle of freerange children.
Cost for lodging: zero.
Food: $100
Booze:$ 50
Not Showering for the weekend: Priceless.
Oh, I probably wanted someone who speaks English to visit me.
Trains are shit in that they often simply don’t exist, especially in the Western Balkans, where a lot of railroads were blown to bits. My experiences on trains in Bulgaria and Romania were not very positive. They’re dirty and slow and they don’t run very frequently. OTOH, they can be more scenic. The train right from Sofia to my village was definitely prettier (although longer) than the bus ride, but I don’t know if that’s systematic or a happy coincidence.
Traveling by bus is more comfortable and pleasant in virtually every way. Fewer people smoking, working heat and AC, and they run much more frequently. Although it’s not exactly great either, to be honest. Roads are terrible in Eastern Europe, so you often end up going in bizarre ways between places because that is where the best roads are. This is my only explanation for why my bus trip from Skopje to Sarajevo took 15 hours and went through fucking Croatia. (Look at a map and tell me if that makes any sense to you.) The alternate way to get to Sarajevo was to take a train from Sofia to Belgrade, spend the night there, and then get on a train to Sarajevo the next morning. You’d think there would be roads and rail lines connecting major cities, but a lot of the time there aren’t. And of course no one speaks English. And definitely learn to read Cyrillic before you go.
That’s how we roll in the Balkans - slowly and inefficiently. Traveling there requires patience and a sense of humor about holdovers from the communist era.
Still, I love the Balkans. Beautiful scenery, incredible welcoming people, a unique European/Muslim/Orthodox culture, and fascinating history. I wasn’t a huge fan of village life, but I’d live in, say, Plovdiv or Sarajevo in a heartbeat.
Ivylad and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary with a week here in June.