Just something to get through a boring 'friday afternoon with little to do at work'

For me, my dream destinations (in no particular order):

- Tibet
- Peru
- Iceland

If I'd really have the means, to do it, going to Tibet by train (from Belgium, Europe) and then fly back, would be really cool.

"What is mind, don't matter. What is matter, nevermind!" - Homer J. Simpson.

Huh. We've had Machu Picchu and Iceland on our list for a while.

Iceland has slipped a bit-- we're food snobs, and everything we've heard about the traditional foods there has been awful. (The No Reservations (Anthony Bourdain's travel show) episode on Iceland was hilarious for this reason.) It's also surprisingly expensive to fly into-- continental Europe is cheaper.

Costa Rica and the Galapagos also look appealing for nature-oriented tourism.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

And travelling is very expensive already as it is, let alone double that

"What is mind, don't matter. What is matter, nevermind!" - Homer J. Simpson.

Mine:

1. Some deserted island in the S. Pacific. Whenever I do "beach vacations" I'm always annoyed by all the people, hotels, etc. I'd like to explore a beach nobody's been on for a while.

2. Hiking in the mountains. Not crazy "carry all your camp gear" hiking; I'd settle for day hikes. Not sure what mountains either. Maybe Canadian Rockies? I've been hiking in the Alps before- that was incredible.

3. Some sort of UK/Scotland trip.

I think my wife's planning a New England trip to look at the fall foliage. I want the whole nine yards- covered wooden bridges, etc. So...Maine? New Hampshire? Vermont? My New England geography is a little weak.

- I think my wife's planning a New England trip to look at the fall foliage. I want the whole nine yards- covered wooden bridges, etc. So...Maine? New Hampshire? Vermont? My New England geography is a little weak.

You really can't go wrong anywhere in New England for fall foliage. You don't even have to go insanely far north. Massachusettes will do. Even upstate NY. People always leave out NY because the entire state is colored by NY City, but upstate NY is fantastic, and beautiful. You could always check out the roughly 6 million protected acres in the Adirondaks, stop by Lake George.

But if you want the foliage and a little nightlife, stick with around the Boston area.

They're great yeah.

2. Not crazy "carry all your camp gear" hiking;

I've done that in Norway, 2 person tent, food* and clothing for 8 days, gas burner and gas supply, ...

Totally loved that, but I do prefer (very) active holidays. It's amazing how many times I've been called crazy for even enjoying it, so uh ... yeah

* More than you need to, cause carrying slightly too much is better than carrying too little.

"What is mind, don't matter. What is matter, nevermind!" - Homer J. Simpson.

Not entirely sure where. I was in high school and I wasn't the one who planned the trip. I think it was near the Bodensee (a big lake), which is right about where the borders of Germany, Switzerland and Austria meet.

I have a whole bunch of travel plans. But the biggest one I've come up with so far. A world tour by primitive (horseback, walking) means. From Tierra del Feugo to South Africa, via the Bering Strait. Travel in the summer, work wherever I'm at in the winter for coin. Work for food in the civilized places, hunt and fish in the wild. Through the Andes and up the coast in S. America, through the rockies in N. America. Through Russia on the southern border, across Turkey and along the Med to Spain. Across Gibraltar, back east across N. Africa along the coast to the Nile. Follow the Nile to its source, and contine on down the coastal region to S. Africa.

For whoever it was that said they wanted to do the deserted island thing, I reccomend traveling to Guam and then chartering a boat or something and going north to the N. Marianas islands. A bunch of them are uninhabited, and the distance is not unrealistic from Guam. You just need some basic seamanship skills and you could get there in no time. I'd say two days at the most in a small boat.

See my above post for a #1 reccomendation. Banff could be good for your mountain experience. The Canadian Rockies are amazing in that area, there are also a couple of hot springs. Fairmont is nice, but north of there, there is a place that is right in a canyon, the drive through there is amazing, I wish I could remember the name of the place.... Anyhow, there are I think four National/Provincial(Canadian) parks right in that area. You could even start down in Glacier Park(amazing hiking there), and work your way north. I'm from that area just south of the border and the whole area is incredible. If you ever get serious about a trip there, let me know and I'll check into a few things and let you know some "inside info" if I can. Also, I thought Maine was very cool, I'd like to go back there and take advantage of the coastline. I was stationed at a small base that is actually in Arcadia National Park, but it was winter, I was a seaman, and I didn't have my own car, so I squandered the awesome opportunity. I did drink alot of cognac though($20 a bottle Hennessy)....so it wasn't a total waste I guess. My cousin had his wedding in Hartford, that seemed like a pretty nice area. So yeah, there's some ideas for you.

"2. Hiking in the mountains. Not crazy "carry all your camp gear" hiking; I'd settle for day hikes. Not sure what mountains either. Maybe Canadian Rockies? I've been hiking in the Alps before- that was incredible."

I would highly recommend Nepal. I hiked the Annapurna ciruit in spring '05 and had an incredible experience. It takes 10-20 days to make the whole circuit, depending on how fit you are and what kind of pace you enjoy. Don't rush if you can afford to take the extra time though.

The route just follows the trails that run between the villages in the area. Great mountain views of something like half of the worlds' 8000m peaks, trails carved into the cliffside with long drops right alongside you, deep valleys, lots of water/rivers and rickety old suspension bridges to cross, paths through old forest, etc. Just consistently stunning scenery the whole way through.

There are villages pretty consistently every few hours and there are always a few small tea houses and lodges in each that cater to hikers and offer food and a place to stay. Lodging is extremely cheap, literally $2-3 per night as these places make their money mostly on meals, and the food is also pretty cheap by western standards. You can (and will probably want to given all the exercise) eat four large meals a day for maybe $10-15. So a budget of $15-20 dollars a day is plenty to have a comfortable trip.

Really everything you might want in a mountain hike, plus a lot of interesting and picturesque villages.


Downsides:

-Altitude generally makes carrying a sleeping bag and warmish clothes a necessity, even though the lower sections of the circuit can be as hot and balmy as a jungle. It sucks when half the weight you carry is from a sleeping bag/clothes you won't need for 35% of the trip. You will cross over a 5400m/17500+ft mountain pass though, and sleep several times above 12000ft in generally unheated rooms, so the warm clothes are pretty important. I am sure you CAN rent a sleeping bag/blankets somewhere in the colder villages, most people just bring their own for convenience's sake. All that stuff can be bought decent quality for very cheap in the capital (Kathmandu) though, so if you don't want to carry it anymore, it's not absurd to just donate it to the next lodge you stay at after you get through the colder section.

I would guess that traveling fairly light, but still carrying my own sleeping bag (and down coat/snow pants/etc which I only wore twice for the snowy parts), my pack weighed ~10kilos or ~25lbs. Whether that fits your definition of a light day-hike is up to you, but remember you can always hike a few hours to the next village, leave your pack in the lodge, and spend the rest of the day exploring and doing day-hikes. Locals will always be glad to point out interestig side trips.

-People. This is mostly a serious concern only if you are looking for a very solitary experience. You may run into an obnoxious person/group once or twice over the entire 3 week circuit, but mostly the people you meet on the trail and in the villages will be pleasant, interesting people from all walks of life and all parts of the globe.

It is not at all hard to keep to yourself or be alone for hours at a time on the trail, but if you don't want to even SEE other people this might not be the right kind of hike. Even if there weren't any other hikers (and there will always be a few), you will see nepalese porters pretty frequently as there are no roads between villages and porters are the only way supplies come in or out.

-Water purification. Very minor concern imo but you will be drinking a lot of water and will need to refill your bottle regularly. There are filter stations set up every few villages that will refill with clean water for something like $.10 and donate the money to conservation, but you will also want to carry iodine tablets with you to purify any water you fill up with between those stations. I found myself using tablets regularly so I could drink whenever I was thirsty, rather than going without until the next station.

Some people don't care for the taste after the tablets are added and use Tang, kool-aid, etc to mask the flavor. It's not hard to buy a small jar of Tang if you find it necessary but if you try some iodine purified water before the trip and don't mind the taste, don't worry about it.

I'm sure there's a lot more if you have any questions but I hope this helps, I think it might be the kind of hiking experience you're looking for. Also I got a lot of good, common sense advice from http://www.travelindependent.info/index.htm before I went, and I'd really highly recommend that site for most travel related stuff.

I think that's a little more adventurous than what I had in mind. First there's the "flying halfway around the world" thing, then there's the "I have a wife who isn't into carrying gear and hates camping" thing. And a kid now. So basically I'm looking at half-day hikes max and sleeping in a hotel/lodge/cabin at night.

We went to Motreal a few years ago, then drove over to Ontario and spent some time in Algonquin Park. It's a provincial park about 2 hours NNE of Toronto. We stayed at a lodge type place inside the park. It was fairly expensive, but you got your own cabin, canoe, etc. and they had their own restaurant on site. Plus you were within 5 miles of all the trailheads. That was nice. Maybe I can find someplace like that inside Banff?