The Travel Thread

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Following, and reading past posts. Hubby and I are going to Paris next April. We also want to go to New Orleans.

May I recommend The New Orleans Bucket List? Link goes to the edition I have, but I think there may be a newer one.
Take a cemetery tour. Totally worth it.
Know that you can't get to all the restaurants worth your time in a single visit.

Croissant D'Or is a little ways from the center of things, but worth the effort.

If you want to see the WWII Museum, allow a full day. It is without equal (at least for the American perspective).

I like the spring, right after Mardi Gras. Best weather, least crowded.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Las Vegas trip coming up.
The to do list includes:
Zak Bagans Haunted Museum
The Erotic Heritage Museum
The Haus of Gaga (a collection of her costumes)
The art galleries and fountains of the Bellagio (and the Chihuly ceiling in the lobby)
A Cirque du Soleil to be determined
The Hoover Dam
Maybe the Mob Museum (a rainy day option; I have been, my traveling companion is luke warm on the idea)
Freemont.
The Rat Pack Memorial

And whatever else catches our fancy.

 

[ARoseSoSweet]

Hi everyone! hope you don't mind me butting in

I read the last page of so.. I see there was talk of packing... and lists. I have a general list that I keep for packing and then depending on the trip I take, I modify it and save it. Then I add notes/adjust when I get back so I have those next time I go on that type of trip. I believe I have a list for going on a hot holiday and when I go camping.

I saw mention of wearing clothing multiple days.. if you are able to do that, it definitely helps. Also, wear your heavy items on the plane if that's possible. So don't pack the heavy winter jacket, wear it.. or if you aren't going to need it, leave it at home.

The liquids thing.. I hate it. I try not to check luggage as that gets expensive, and a trip last year I got in trouble for too many liquids. never had that issue before. So i bought the little containers at the dollar store last year and used those, it helped but depending on how much stuff you need, that can be a problem.

 

[ARoseSoSweet]

As for my travels, I want to go somewhere in March or April 2026. i've been looking into a few ideas, but I haven't made any decisions. I'm also waiting for friends to decide if they are coming, and if they are, we will be going to an all inclusive in Mexico or the DR.

If they aren't coming, i'm thinking I might take a 10ish day tour in central America. The tour I've been looking at starts in Guatemala and ends in Costa Rica.

The main goal is a break from the cold and thats when it works best with my work.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Hi everyone! hope you don't mind me butting in
....

Please do!

 

[mortis]

I’m on a northern lights cruise in Norway right now

 

[phunkyphresh]

ok. wow, there's a travel thread? and its buried (no pun intended) in the bdsm area?

anyways ... i'm a full time traveler, been living around the world for 4 years now.

currently in Japan their kink culture is so layered and fascinating, really hard to wrap your head around it all

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

A spur of the moment trip to New York City coming up.
I was going to see an off Broadway show, "The House of McQueen", but it has been canceled. I still have tickets & hotel, so I am going to see "Six", a comedy about the wives of Henry VIII. I want to get to the Bone Museum this trip also.

This is a three or four hour train trip for me, from the Washington DC area to Penn Station, in Midtown Manhattan.

I am staying at a hotel that is convenient for the show, but makes me laugh. It is reasonably priced for NYC, very nice to stay in, but when I lived in NYC in the 1980s was a dreadful neighborhood. Now it is as safe as you can be in Manhattan.

Weather has a big vote in what else I do. If it is nice, I may spend some time people watching & looking at unappreciated architecture (there is a lot of that in NY. If not, I have to see what is open. There is a Banksy museum I want to get to also.

 

[Strixaluco]

I’m on a northern lights cruise in Norway right now

You had a well-timed cruise. Northern lights have been abundant lately.

 

[BiBunny]

Going to Gulf Shores, Alabama, with my dad on Thursday. Will be back home Sunday.

Of all the times I've been to the beach in general and the Redneck Riveria in particular, I've never actually been to Gulf Shores. Anybody familiar with the area have any suggestions about restaurants or other things I just shouldn't miss while I'm there?

Thanks in advance!

 

[CX726577]

Off to Iceland early thru mid November. Around our 6th time there. Iceland and Norway last April/March.

 

[SofiaLaFrench]

My husband and I have a bucket list, and one of the items is to visit all 50 U.S. States. I had some catching up to do. Earlier this year, we spent twelve days and drove over 2700 miles round-trip. We visited Massachusetts (lots of history here), Rhode Island (visited the historic Vanderbilt mansion in Newport, oh so gaudy), Connecticut (toured a submarine!), and Delaware (what a waste). We have four states left!

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

My husband and I have a bucket list, and one of the items is to visit all 50 U.S. States. I had some catching up to do. Earlier this year, we spent twelve days and drove over 2700 miles round-trip. We visited Massachusetts (lots of history here), Rhode Island (visited the historic Vanderbilt mansion in Newport, oh so gaudy), Connecticut (toured a submarine!), and Delaware (what a waste). We have four states left!

What are the four remaining?
How about the territories?

 

[Stopokochac]

Do you have any travel plans?

I always have travel plans . But I already took two big trips this year, so I probably won't take anymore, but I still have some places left on my bucketlist of course, and I'm always researching places in my spare time.

.........

Is there a place you travel to over and over again?

I did to Gdansk and Vancouver when I had family there, now not so much. But in the US there a few that we go to by car. "Over and over" is probably an exagerration, but there are a few places we like going back to every several years. One of them is Bryce Canyon. We had a lot more of these places when I was a kid. They were mainly in Oregon and Nevada. And places in CA of course, since it's my home state. Lassen, Mendocino/Fort Brag and Monterey Bay, Lake Tahoe, but they're more weekend outings. San Francisco was one too before it went to shit.


Is there any trip that's been especially memorable, one way or another?

SEVERAL. As much as I love history and geography, the most memerable ones are the places that had the kindest people so Quebec City, Guadeloupe, Aruba, Greece

I have so many. Dancing with and meeting remote tribes in Panama. Taking an autokar from Poland to Greece. Cave snorkeling on Bonaire. Dancing with costumed locals in Peru. If I have to talk about all of them, I'll be hear forever.

But my favorite trip still has to be Turkey during COVID. I'd never seen so many sites from so many different cultures or swam so much. It was also the first time we overnighted in more than one city, which completely shaped my future travel style. But the best part, it's like the 6th most visited country on earth, but because it was during COVID, there were no crowds during peak season. The weather was perfect and the country felt like it was just being discovered. I also got to go hot air ballooning. But, Turkey had been on my bucketlist for a long time and to be able to experience its wonders with no crowds and perfect weather was a once in a life time experience I may never have again.
.........

Do you maybe have a dream destination you'd love to visit one day?

Alcase, it's the German region of France. They have towns and villages that look like they're straight out of a ferrytale.

The Alps

Igauzu Falls

Africa, it's the only continent I'm missing aside from Antarctica, which I don't care for.

I also really wanna see the karst islands and ancient temples in SE Asia.

In the US, Michigan, Charleston and New England. And I wanna go to Cajun country during Cajun Mardis Gras
There's many more though.

.......

What are some things that someone visiting your area (defined as broadly as you wish) as a tourist shouldn't miss?

I don't wanna give away my location, but there's this spot that has tons of wildflowers and waterfalls in the spring.

As for my country, the two regions I always recommend foreigners to visit are California and the Southwest

 

[SofiaLaFrench]

What are the four remaining?
How about the territories?

North Dakota, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. Don't know that we'll do the territories. Lot's of things on our list.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

North Dakota, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii. Don't know that we'll do the territories. Lot's of things on our list.

I lived in Washington & Hawai'i, and have passed through Oregon.
If you're looking for ideas, just ask. Hawai'i is easy if you stick to the tourist areas, weird and interesting if you leave the tourist areas. Bring your snorkeling stuff.

Planning a trip right now (probably for 2026 or 2027) for Portland, then the Redwood forest.

The only territory I have been to is Samoa, and it was a good trip. Gorgeous natural scenery, but no nightlife at all.
U.S. Virgin Islands are on my short list, but not during hurricane season.

 

[SofiaLaFrench]

I lived in Washington & Hawai'i, and have passed through Oregon.
If you're looking for ideas, just ask. Hawai'i is easy if you stick to the tourist areas, weird and interesting if you leave the tourist areas. Bring your snorkeling stuff.

Planning a trip right now (probably for 2026 or 2027) for Portland, then the Redwood forest.

The only territory I have been to is Samoa, and it was a good trip. Gorgeous natural scenery, but no nightlife at all.
U.S. Virgin Islands are on my short list, but not during hurricane season.

We have friends in Washington who are planning our itinerary. Will likely stick to 101/OCH through Oregon, and pop down to see the Redwoods before CA figures out how to torch them. No interest in the shit hole that is Portland.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

We have friends in Washington who are planning our itinerary. Will likely stick to 101/OCH through Oregon, and pop down to see the Redwoods before CA figures out how to torch them. No interest in the shit hole that is Portland.

Re: Portland.
I lived in NYC in the 1980s. Our shit hole scale may be calibrated differently.

 

[cascadiabound]

We have friends in Washington who are planning our itinerary. Will likely stick to 101/OCH through Oregon, and pop down to see the Redwoods before CA figures out how to torch them. No interest in the shit hole that is Portland.

Portland is a lovely city and if nothing else you should consider a visit to Powell's City of Books.
The Willamette waterfront park areas are beautiful and I have had some really great restaurant meals.
Obviously, you do you, but it is not factually correct to characterize it as a shit hole (unless of course you believe any city that votes Democrats into positions of leadership is by definition a shit hole.)

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1D4aqpZpZn/

 

[SofiaLaFrench]

Portland is a lovely city and if nothing else you should consider a visit to Powell's City of Books.
The Willamette waterfront park areas are beautiful and I have had some really great restaurant meals.
Obviously, you do you, but it is not factually correct to characterize it as a shit hole (unless of course you believe any city that votes Democrats into positions of leadership is by definition a shit hole.)

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1D4aqpZpZn/

My opinion is based on friends who live there.

 

[Mike130]

Traveling now. The lovely Italian island of Sardinia.

 

[SofiaLaFrench]

I'm with Sophia.

Thanks for the support, but let’s please let’s not turn this into a PB thread. @cascadiabound is entitled to her opinion, just as I am entitled to mine. My opinion of, and avoidance of Portland will make absolutely zero difference to anyone.

 

[cascadiabound]

My opinion is based on friends who live there.

And my opinion is based on both friends and family living there for decades and visiting it multiple times a year over many years. There are many issues of urban life there including homelessness and untreated addiction and mental health issues. Some of the visible nature of these issues have to do with Portland being a very temperate place to live, and some have to do with the city trying to provide resources to such folks that is often lacking elsewhere.
I don't have an interest in having a political fight anywhere on Lit, but I do have an interest in advancing civil discourse. Sometimes that means hearing other people's opinions without getting triggered by them and choosing language that is less incinderary.
I grew up in the Midwest where I was led to believe that the hallmark of being a patriotic American meant to be anti fascist. To reach for the betterment of our fellow humans and to seek more equality rather than less. If that makes me ANTIFA, then I claim that proudly along with every US soldier who fought in WWII.