Travel Poll!
As I've been cleaning out old posts, I came across a travel poll from 2016 so I figured I'd do one again.
I've made it to two of the four destinations that were in that 2016 poll - Spain/Portugal (a cruise around the outer edge) and Greece.
Here's some of what I'm considering now, for next year:
Machu Picchu and the Galapagos
This almost seems...hackneyed? at this point but I'm sure it would be exciting to see Machu Picchu. I suspect overcrowded, though.
An African safari
I've been a little bit "done" with Overseas Adventure Travel, as the pace is kind of slow and elderly. But I figure a safari consists of sitting in a truck most of the day so that wouldn't really matter. I have several friends who have done safari trips with them and really enjoyed it.
Costa Rica
Not sure if I would do this through OAT. I think ideal would be a yoga retreat kinda place where I would also have the option to book some adventures.
Iceland
I'm a little ambivalent about this because I know it's expensive and I don't think I would like the food. I think I would enjoy the landscape and the Blue Lagoon, though.
River Cruise in Europe
This was on my docket for 2020. We all know what happened in 2020. 😬 I'm feeling a little ambivalent about this one too...I do really enjoy cruising, it seems like it would be quite relaxing, but it also seems like it would be being paraded through a series of quaint towns, churches and castles. I think I would like it at first, and then I'd be bored.
What do you think?
In other news. My partner HWD is in a housing pickle. He lives in a small apartment in a duplex - or maybe triplex? - and had a sweetheart deal with the landlord who also lived in the building. Landlord died unexpectedly a few months ago. The building has now been sold and he needs to be out by April 30. He's been looking for a new apartment...but is discovering that NORMAL apartment situations that aren't sweetheart deals require a large deposit, which he doesn't have.
When he first got the news I said "If you need someplace to crash temporarily, of course you can stay with me". So he's now going to take me up on that. "Temporarily" will probably be longer than what I had anticipated. He's willing to pay rent to me. I don't really need rent from him, so I suggested he pay me and I'll set it aside, like a forced saving account, for his deposit.
I won't lie, I'm a bit apprehensive. What was I saying just last week? "I've lived alone for 20 years so it doesn't seem like that's going to change". HA! I was tempting fate. It'll be a big change from seeing each other one night a week - which still allows some "romance" to be maintained and he basically has continued acting like a guest in my home - asking permission before he eats any of my food, for example. And I REALLY don't want to become "Mom" but I'm thinking as a condition of doing this he needs to accept my help in putting together a budget for himself. He asked for my help at one point in the past, I started going through questions with him and quickly determined he didn't know answers off the top of his head, and then it was never brought up again.
So...we'll see.
It is hard to live with someone after being on your own for years, so hope it goes well once HWD moves in "temporarily" with you. The photos are stunning.For me as many of my friends travel to Costa Rica during our winter months and rave about it, I would consider going there myself. I am a homebody though and need to see the rest of my own country first, which I have not yet..
ReplyDeleteI like the way you put "temporarily" in quotes, lol. When I told my best friend about it, she did say "I suspect he'll want to stay longer than you're thinking". Jeez she and I were roommates a couple of times in our 20's, you'd think she'd remember I'm not easy to live with!
DeleteThere are many beautiful places to see in Canada! I've been to BC, Banff, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto.
Glad you got to see B.C. and Banff especially as they are both in my opinion spectacular.Nice you also visited my neck of the woods, or close enough to it with Toronto. Winnipeg is nice and have been there often. Next time you travel to Canada, the East Coast has even more to offer, hence part of the country I have yet to visit but want to..
DeleteFingers crossed living with HWD goes well for you. I can definitely relate to not being easy to live with myself..lol.
I spent a long weekend in Iceland. It's fascinating place to visit, though I didn't go to the Blue Lagoon. It is expensive but the food is very Western/American. I made the mistake of going in the middle of winter when it was freezing and also no whales were around to see.
ReplyDeleteI've done a one-day safari in Senegal. Though there were no lions, hippos and elephants to see, there were rhinos, crocodiles, zebras and warthogs.
My honeymoon was supposed to be a safari in Tanzania's Serengeti, plus a week in Zanzibar for its beaches. For one reason or another, mainly about money, we didn't go. But during my 'research' for the trip, many people highly recommended Namibia and Botswana as safari destinations - Botswana is a very safe country unlike, say parts, of Kenya.
Iceland food...I had heard stories of people being served things like whale. I'm sure you're right that westernized food is available almost anywhere.
DeleteOAT has five different safari trips - I suspect I would pick the "Ultimate Africa" which includes Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
I never saw whale on the menu when I visited Iceland.
DeleteI'd be wary of going to Zimbabwe as it's facing economic ruin. Also corruption is rife there; you have to pay 'dash' for almost any activity. I had to pay money to an official not to search my suitcase and to look after a hire car - if I didn't I'd have missed my flight and my car would have been trashed!
I'm fairly confident that if I was traveling with OAT I'd be insulated from things like bribery demands. That's one of the pros of group travel, that the operator is used to local "customs". The economic situation is something I should look into though.
DeleteI'm sure that a reputable tour operator would shield you from these demands. It's not as if 'dash' money ever amounted to much, far less than than a pound or a dollar. But I soon realised in Zimbabwe, it was the mid-1990s when I went there, I needed a 'minder' and not someone who could speak English to the locals but someone who would look after me.
DeleteNaively I went to a local Zimbabwean market, and I felt overwhelmed because, and I don't like writing this, I was a moneyed white man in a poor black person's market. I went straight back to my Zimbabwean friend, Paget, to feel safe, and I then realised that was the best way for me to see Zimbabwe. Have a minder, and tip him well.
I still have a couple of Zimbabwean friends who came over here to become social workers. They've repeatedly asked me and my wife over over to Zimbabwe, but they're unable give us guarantees of our safety in their country without them 'minding' us.
From my past experience on OAT trips, and also based on chatting with a few people who have done their safari trips, I'm sure the trip leader would be a local who knows the customs and has connections. I'm probably a lot less adventurous than you - I don't have a big problem with staying with my "minder" when I'm in a radically different culture.
DeleteI don't think you are less adventurous than me. One thing I don't want to do is to put you off going to Africa. It's a magical experience.
DeleteI really want to go in the hot springs in Iceland but I don’t want to have to deal with the food or tourists.
ReplyDeleteAs for your HWD situation, I have my fingers crossed for you. Theres been men in my life I get along with well but couldn’t live with them. I hope you both can make this work in a way that doesn’t negatively impact your relationship.
Yeah, that's the thing, a lot of the places that seem like they would be utterly amazing with a small number of people around - Machu Picchu, Iceland hot springs - are no doubt overrun with crowds much of the time. 😟 Part of the reason I'm thinking about changing my mode of travel.
DeleteThanks for the good wishes. He's been considerate as a weekly guest - doesn't leave the toilet seat up, makes the bed nicely if he's the second one to get up, etc. But I realize day to day life is very different!