Vacation dreams

Poppy715 · October 2013

Where is your favorite vacation spot? Where is somewhere you've dreamed of traveling? What did you love about it? What was the worst part?

DH and I have whipped our budget together. With my newly added income we have money to set aside for a vacation. We said we were each going to make a "Top 5 Desired Vacay Destination" list and then compare. So help me make my list!

Poppy715 · October 2013

Thanks @kristyW13, we aren't going to go right away but we both agreed it's easier to spend money when you have a goal. If Hawaii, or wherever, is our destination putting money towards that fund will happen much quicker I bet! I'd love Hawaii. We almost went with his family in February but the timing was really bad, for obvious reasons.

luciddreamer106 · October 2013

We went to Kauai in January and can't wait to go back!

BluEyedGirl26 · October 2013

Dreams in Riviera Maya is one of our favorites, and on the cheaper side. I've always wanted to go to Aruba and had planned on going there for our honeymoon but DHs mom got sick so that's been put on hold for now. I also loved Nassau Bahamas! I guess really anywhere with a beach and drinks works for me

Poppy715 · October 2013

Rafterk2 said:

Dreams in Riviera Maya is one of our favorites, and on the cheaper side. I've always wanted to go to Aruba and had planned on going there for our honeymoon but DHs mom got sick so that's been put on hold for now. I also loved Nassau Bahamas! I guess really anywhere with a beach and drinks works for me

This is what I'm thinking. I love Cabo for this very reason! He wants to go places like Asia and Europe. I want to lay by a pool and drink fruity drinks. We have to compromise.
:-/

p3ngu1n · October 2013

Have fun wherever you choose to go!

Our top 2 vacation destinations are a little more unusual. We both want to to go Alaska. DH is working toward getting his private pilot's licence, so ideally we would love to fly up there ourselves.

And I have always, always, always wanted to go to Ireland. My grandparents immigrated for there, so I would love to go!

Poppy715 · October 2013

p3ngu1n said:

Have fun wherever you choose to go!

Our top 2 vacation destinations are a little more unusual. We both want to to go Alaska. DH is working toward getting his private pilot's licence, so ideally we would love to fly up there ourselves.

And I have always, always, always wanted to go to Ireland. My grandparents immigrated for there, so I would love to go!

Alaska is incredible. That's where we conceived A. We were on a cruise. It's beautiful everywhere you go. For us it was kind of like home but on steroids with even more space!

MsAmandaPants · October 2013

Poppy715 said:

Rafterk2 said:

Dreams in Riviera Maya is one of our favorites, and on the cheaper side. I've always wanted to go to Aruba and had planned on going there for our honeymoon but DHs mom got sick so that's been put on hold for now. I also loved Nassau Bahamas! I guess really anywhere with a beach and drinks works for me
This is what I'm thinking. I love Cabo for this very reason! He wants to go places like Asia and Europe. I want to lay by a pool and drink fruity drinks. We have to compromise.
:-/

I love Thailand. Some of the world's most gorgeous beaches (see Koh Phi Phi). Added bonus, after the cost of getting there, it is really cheap:

You could also do anywhere in the Mediterranean (below is Cinque Terre in Italy)

Tuscany is equally gorgeous (and the food!)

I adored all of Spain. We rented a car and toured the whole country, but the Alhambra is incredible:

Paris remains one of my very favorite cities and all of Provence is gorgeous (worth renting a car and exploring).

LizBlue · October 2013

We went to a little island in the Grenadines called Bequia and it was a little slice of magic. Not over developed or touristy. Just absolutely beautiful. Highly recommend.

Poppy715 · October 2013

MsAmandaPants said:

I love Thailand. Some of the world's most gorgeous beaches (see Koh Phi Phi). Added bonus, after the cost of getting there, it is really cheap:

You could also do anywhere in the Mediterranean (below is Cinque Terre in Italy)

Tuscany is equally gorgeous (and the food!)

I adored all of Spain. We rented a car and toured the whole country, but the Alhambra is incredible:

Paris remains one of my very favorite cities and all of Provence is gorgeous (worth renting a car and exploring).

I've been to Cinque Terra! It's seriously stunning. Sorrento was my very most favorite place in all of Italy! I would love to take DH there some day. Thailand isn't somewhere I'd normally put on the list because it sounds so expensive. But I bet it's cheaper than Italy or similar locations. The US $ is not strong there!

Loving all the ideas ladies! It's fun to dream. It's a big wide world out there.

alilbear · October 2013

Both DH and I loved our trip to Couples Sans Souci in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We LOVE it so much we hope to go back someday. It's an all inclusive resort that is for couples - no kids allowed.

Poppy715 · October 2013

alilbear said:

Both DH and I loved our trip to Couples Sans Souci in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We LOVE it so much we hope to go back someday. It's an all inclusive resort that is for couples - no kids allowed.

He went to Jamaica and didn't really love it. He said it was fun but they were told they couldn't really leave the resort. How was it for you? It looks insanely beautiful to me!!

megrae12 · October 2013

I LOVED Costa Rica! The people there are AMAZING!! The food is equally AMAZING!!

Also, I loved England! It was beautiful! Lots of history there, and well, I'm a nerd so I ate it up!

Hubby and I went to Disney for our honeymoon. It is bittersweet now as I was preggo at the time and just a week later I wasnt. But that is neither here nor there as it was my first time at Disney and I LOVE all things Disney.

If I were to have the dream vacay I would go to Bora Bora!! It just looks AH-mazing.

alilbear · October 2013

Poppy715 said:

alilbear said:

Both DH and I loved our trip to Couples Sans Souci in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We LOVE it so much we hope to go back someday. It's an all inclusive resort that is for couples - no kids allowed.

He went to Jamaica and didn't really love it. He said it was fun but they were told they couldn't really leave the resort. How was it for you? It looks insanely beautiful to me!!

What? Really?? Not the case for us! We went to Dunns River Falls and downtown Ocho Rios for shopping. The resort provided transportation to and from! For the falls, they actually paid the admission fees and reserved the tour guide for our group. There were a few more excursions we could have gone on, but we enjoyed the resort so much! My husband went scuba diving (which was free), I went to the spa (partially funded by our package) and we went snorkeling (free) - just to name a FEW things. It's a private beach, so you don't need to worry about vendors bugging you while you're relaxing on the beach.

I can send you a PM with more info if you want

libby+nate · October 2013

I would suggest Jamaica! We went to Tulum, Mexico and I was not a huge fan of the resort itself-the food was not very good and the beaches were sooo rocky at the shore line. We did go snorkeling in turtle bay and swam with sea turtles. Also, it is the second largest coral reef (Austrailia being the first) we went snorkeling in a natural spring down in a cave deep in the rainforest (freezing and lots of bats, but you could see clearly 75 feet below you!) and experienced the Mayan ruins which was magical. The resort is geared for weddings. If there is a different place to stay then I would recommend Tulum.

kalynn12 · November 2013

Am I really limited to just five? Not sure if I can do that. -Canada - Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper) or Quebec City and Montreal -Barbados -Costa Rica - must do arenal as well as beach area -Ireland including Northern Ireland -East coast of Australia -must must is the Whitsundays -Safari in Kenya and mountain gorilla tracking in Uganda Sorry it was too hard to remove one. PM me for more details on any of these and definitely before you book

kalynn12 · November 2013

Sorry you also said DH wants Asia, I haven't been but everyone I know who has been to Cambodia has raved about it.

jenkellen · November 2013

What is your taste? Beach? History? Relaxation? Urban? Temperature? I can try to tailor my suggestions below based on what you are looking for.

Anywhere in Ireland (obviously biased)

London

Tikal, Guatemala

Roatan, Honduras

My husband and I save for our trips too. We use a site called Smarty Pig and just get money taken out each month and plopped into different goals we set. House, Vaca, Car Loan etc. You can also set them up to have other people donate so if you wanted people to just contribute to your vacation fund for Xmas. It's pretty nice, and you get a decent interest rate for a savings account.

aschultz9 · November 2013

I second maui. We went for our 10 yr anniversary and cant wait to go back eventually

abryars · November 2013

lindsayhilleary said:
Some of my favorite past vacations are:
Belize
Hawaii (Kauai and the Big Island)
Australia
Greece

If you're looking for something in the continental US I love Colorado (Estes Park and Durango are both gorgeous), New Mexico, and Maine.

My dream is to go to Greece & Hawaii. I've also wanted to go to Egypt if it will ever be safe for me to go.

Poppy715 · November 2013

These are so awesome! I love the PIPs. You guys have given me lots to mull over.

DH keeps talking about Japan. It's always been his dream to go. Why couldn't his dream be to go somewhere tropical? Maybe be can compromise and go Europe. Halfway between those two worlds.

alm288 · November 2013

hands down - MALDIVES!!!!! DH and I dream of our vacation there . . . a water bungalow with a glass floor :x I live abroad and traveled around, but still want to go to Santorini (Greece), Hawaii, and someday a safari in Africa.

MyFirstRaspberry · November 2013

I am a lucky girl. I have traveled to 38 different countries and lived in England for 3 years. Some of that travel was for fun, most was for work.

I concur with all the great places listed by other posters. I am totally biased on England though.

I want to throw out a location that has not been mentioned. It is a long shot but why not dream big...

Capetown, South Africa
Work has sent me to South Africa twice and I always made my way to Capetown. The second trip I brought DH and we had a blast.

My DH and I hiked Table Mountain... that flat top mountain in the background.

And they have penguins on the beaches... how cool is that?

You can go to an animal reserve to play with the lion cubs.
(This is not me. I don't have access to my photos at the moment but DH and I did play with lion cubs and an adult cheetah named Eddie).

During my first trip to Capetown, I stayed in wine country at this beautiful boutique hotel:

alm288 · November 2013

MyFirstRaspberry - you are a lucky girl! 38 countries is quite impressive. One of my best friends is from South Africa. When she shows me pics, it's crazy. There are like random monkeys, giraffes, etc. in the pics. Very nice - it's on my list ;-)

BluEyedGirl26 · November 2013

alm288 said:
hands down - MALDIVES!!!!! DH and I dream of our vacation there . . . a water bungalow with a glass floor :x I live abroad and traveled around, but still want to go to Santorini (Greece), Hawaii, and someday a safari in Africa.

I just bought a 2014 calendar and there were 4 or 5 pictures from Maldives, it looks amazing there. We looked into price and sadly, it's extremely expensive to get there from the east coast! Looks like that might be on hold until our 10 year anniversary! Lol

TVLily · November 2013

Fun!!! I like the idea of top 5 list. DH and I have our list of HOT vacations. Touristy and North American/touristy They are: St Martins and Curaçao for hot Italy and Greece for Tourist BC and NYC for NA Costa Rica was definitely one of my favourite places it has the option of relaxing beaches but also rainforest adventure. I also went to Dubai before and it's very cool and different as well! Have fun picking, planning and dreaming of a great spot for the two of you yo save for @poppy715

MyFirstRaspberry · November 2013

alm288 said:

MyFirstRaspberry - you are a lucky girl! 38 countries is quite impressive. One of my best friends is from South Africa. When she shows me pics, it's crazy. There are like random monkeys, giraffes, etc. in the pics. Very nice - it's on my list ;-)

Thank you! While touring around, we did come across wild baboons. Those little guys are smart! Keep your vehicle doors locked because they will try to open the door and look for food.

alm288 · November 2013

Rafterk2 said:

hands down - MALDIVES!!!!! DH and I dream of our vacation there . . . a water bungalow with a glass floor :x I live abroad and traveled around, but still want to go to Santorini (Greece), Hawaii, and someday a safari in Africa.
I just bought a 2014 calendar and there were 4 or 5 pictures from Maldives, it looks amazing there. We looked into price and sadly, it's extremely expensive to get there from the east coast! Looks like that might be on hold until our 10 year anniversary! Lol

I know that's why we haven't been there either. When I look at pictures it makes me all giddy - it just looks like heaven!

megrae12 · November 2013

kalynn12 said:

Am I really limited to just five? Not sure if I can do that. -Canada - Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper) or Quebec City and Montreal -Barbados -Costa Rica - must do arenal as well as beach area -Ireland including Northern Ireland -East coast of Australia -must must is the Whitsundays -Safari in Kenya and mountain gorilla tracking in Uganda Sorry it was too hard to remove one. PM me for more details on any of these and definitely before you book

OMG! I LOVE Mt. Arenal in Costa Rica. Those hot springs were FABULOUS!!!!!

RustyGirl3 · November 2013

I don't know if I can narrow my list to just 5...let's see.

1) Hawaii- We went for our Honeymoon to Oahu and Maui (plus a day trip to the big Island) Oahu was for Pearl Harbor...you could always do a day trip there because that is a must see. We did Oahu first and then Maui and I cried the day we left. I want to go back to Maui and see Kauai.

2- Italy- I went when I was 10 years old for the summer with my grandparents. They used to go every year. My grandfather was born in Sicily and they would spend the summer with his family. It was amazing. This is a picture of the town he was born in. His family had a summer home in farm country near by...amazing.

3- London BABY!!

4- Ireland- Enough said

5- France

6- Germany

7- Bora Bora

8- Japan

kbedfox · November 2013

I got all excited about this thread bc DH and I JUST had the "we need to start a second savings for a big vacation" talk after I came across this on Groupon:

3-Night Iceland Vacation with Airfare (<<< click)

I don't love the cold, but I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights. And hubby is a big Game of Thrones fan and apparently they shot a lot of stuff in Iceland, so he's in lol. Maybe they'll offer the same vacation again someday. But this looks gorgeous, so I'm suggesting something outside the box!

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