How did you spend your last summer vacation?
What's the best vacation you had in Europe? What's the best vacation you've been on? Where did you spend your favorite summer vacation? What's the best vacation you've ever been on?
Where did you go? What did you do? What made it so great?
My old man has worked his ass off his entire life. He's gone without most of his adult life just to give my mother, my brothers, and myself a better life then he ever had growing up. As long back as I can remember he talked about wanting to go to Disney World. As a kid growing up his parents could never afford such a luxury and he always dreamed to be successful enough to afford to bring his kids there when he grew up. So my brothers and myself grew up and moved out of his house and we never did make it to Disney World. (lack of money, conflicting schedules, etc.) So this past year my father finally had enough money saved up. On Christmas he surprised us with the news that he had booked a trip to Florida and that we where all going w/ him to Disney World. Now being in my late 20's Disney World itself wouldn't be my first choice of places to go, but to my Dad it meant everything to go there. It wasn't just an amusement park or a vacation. No, this trip embodied his childhood dreams and everything he ever worked for. To him it meant an opportunity to share something with his family that his parents were never able to give him and his siblings. Not sure I appreciated everything Disney had to offer that same way I would of when I was a child, but the pure selfless joy it brought my father made it the best vacation I have or ever will go on.
Good to see so many people talking about Puerto Rico. We went for our Honeymoon last fall - it was hurricane season so it wasn't very busy at all. Our resort was right on the beach - when you went down they had staff who would drag the chairs to wherever you wanted. Then they'd go get a shovel and a large umbrella, digging a hole between your chairs for it. There was a small plastic flag attached to your chair, whenever you wanted booze/food - you just raised the flag and they came to you.
The best vacation I've ever been on was a 60 day (10,000+ mile) road trip around the US. I undertook this trip with a buddy of mine right after I got out of college. We had talked about it a few times, but right up until the day we actually loaded up the shitty old jeep and set off we didn't really believe it was going to happen.
This is probably pretty generic, but when I was 19 I had a couple friends who were travel agents and worked out an amazing deal on tickets through Iceland Air to Amsterdam. One of the guys who went with me had never really even been to a large metropolitan area before, so it was an eye opening adventure. We spent 1 day in Reykjavik and 5 in Amsterdam. Looking back we should've done some other things, but this was a great trip. Vondelpark was amazing. Just walking around the city was my favorite part. The only bad part about it was we were idiot 19 year olds who didn't really know what we were doing. Stupid Americans. We planned the trip at a relatives house 10 hours from home, using nothing but backpacker, mountainbike and alpinest magazines and an Atlas/Road Map of the US, and really only put dots on the map where we wanted to go. We ended up finding his long lost uncle, and going skydiving (his aunt happened to work at a sky diving place), we went backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, hung out places for as long as we wanted, drove past places we didn't. We snuck onto and off of indian reservations to see beautiful waterfalls, stayed with friends and had a totally awesome time. I'd recommend it to anyone that can take the time off.
Mexico for my 19th birthday. Some wealthy friends flew me out to their time share at Cabo San Lucas. It was great because it was my first time in Mexico, and I was living larger than I ever have before. Food and culture was amazing when we left the resort (probably not as amazing as Chile, but for me it was awesome) and the people off the resort were very entertaining. And I got offered cocaine for the first time in my life.
Went to Cat Cay, Bahamas back in 2007. It is a private island on which my aunt and uncle own property. It is about 3 miles long and a mile wide. We flew on a private jet to Ft.Lauderdale then took a 6 person helicopter and landed on the 5th hole of the golf course. It was incredible....they paid for everything. We went bottom fishing a trolling on their yacht and caught all kinds of fish, including barracuda. Went to Bimini one day and saw Ernest Hemmingway's beach house.
The summer before my freshman year of high school, my mother took me and my brother on a road trip. (We left my father behind because he had to work.) We only had a vague notion of where we were headed, didn't make any reservations, and took as many detours as we wanted. We started in Oregon, drove through Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia - through Victoria, Washington, and back to Oregon. Sights we saw included Craters of the Moon National Monument, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, etc. We had a blast, and I don't know how my mom pulled it off - July - two teenagers (13 and 14) in a Volvo without air conditioning. It really was the best vacation I've ever been on, and I'm sure it brought the three of us closer together. The year was 2005. Second year of law school. Working full time to pay tuition. No extra money. Houston Astros go to the World Series against the Chicago White Sox. Tickets are available to the public but the right to buy tickets is decided by lottery. I entered the lottery and won. I bought four tickets for $250 and sold them for $2000 to some White Sox fans down from Chicago (the game went 14 innings and the Sox won, so the fans got their money's worth). I took my then girlfriend now wife to San Francisco for a week. We had no itinerary. Just walked around in one of the greatest cities in America. We walked around Golden Gate Park and happened on an awesome orchid exhibit in a fantastic Victorian greenhouse. We went down the pacific coast highway to the Monterrey Bay aquarium. We went to the Exploratorium - which is a hands-on science museum, basically a children's museum for adults. After too much wine and tapas, we yelled at Scientologists in their Scientology center. Great week.
A week at Fernandina Beach with my wife and son. I grew up taking trips to Fernandina but this was the first time there for my wife and son. It was not just my best vacation, it was the best week of my life. We stayed at a hotel with a view of the beach. We toured Fort Clinch, hiked the greenway, rode bikes, did a sunset cruise, lounged on the beach and swam in the ocean every day, got surfing lessons for my son, ate a lot of great fresh seafood, and just relaxed and really enjoyed being together. It was a trip I think we'll all remember fondly for rest of our lives. For me, it had to be a week in Chile to visit my brother. The food was amazing, the culture was beautiful, and the landscape down there is breathtaking. I went on a cruise with my family when I was 17. I barely saw them since I met some randos and made friends on day one. We had a great week dicking around the ship like we owned the place. The ports of call were beautiful and I got to do all the usual stuff like jetskiing, surfing (on the ship, lol), bacardi tours and such, but the best part of the trip was honestly hanging out with those week-long friends.
Went to Cat Cay, Bahamas back in 2007. It is a private island on which my aunt and uncle own property. It is about 3 miles long and a mile wide. We flew on a private jet to Ft.Lauderdale then took a 6 person helicopter and landed on the 5th hole of the golf course. It was incredible....they paid for everything. We went bottom fishing a trolling on their yacht and caught all kinds of fish, including barracuda. Went to Bimini one day and saw Ernest Hemmingway's beach house. One of the best moments was when I woke up at 3am and looked outside. The moonlight was stunning on the sand and water and the sky looked like someone dusted it with "pixie dust" diamonds. It was a truly romantic paradise.
Possibly a very impromptu and very badly planned trip to London. We were on the bus and I said to my friend: "Do you remember what the hostel was called?" Neither of us did. It was a spur of the moment thing, since tickets only cost €15 round trip, and so did the hostel for 2 nights. One of the cheapest mini-vacations ever.
Switzerland was the best destination, in the sense that's it's breathtaking and just an amazing place to visit. But there was considerable drama since it was on the tail end of my marriage, which made the trip kind of suck (for perspective, we split up about a month later). The most enjoyable thing was probably my honeymoon in Mexico (which is weird considering what I wrote in the first paragraph). I also spent a week in Iceland in 2003 that was a lot of fun. Went horseback riding through the Icelandic countryside, saw Gulfoss, did some clubbing (clubs, not baby seals), and even saw a few films at a film festival.
Good to see so many people talking about Puerto Rico. We went for our Honeymoon last fall - it was hurricane season so it wasn't very busy at all. Our resort was right on the beach - when you went down they had staff who would drag the chairs to wherever you wanted. Then they'd go get a shovel and a large umbrella, digging a hole between your chairs for it. There was a small plastic flag attached to your chair, whenever you wanted booze/food - you just raised the flag and they came to you.
YES! Vieques is far and away my favorite place on the face of the Earth. My grandfather lived there from the time I was born until I was about 15, so I've been there probably 30-40 times. The most beautiful beaches you'll ever see and if you know your way around, you can be on the beach all day with out seeing another person. I went this summer with 3 of my friends, my sister and 3 of her friends, and my dad and his girlfriend, and it was the best time I've ever had. Beach all day, drinking all night, hooked up with the hottest of my sister's friends and was there for a huge street festival they have every year. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna move there someday.
I went to Skibo Castle in Scotland. I was greeted with a shot of sloe gin when I walked in the door. There was archery, skeet shooting, falconry, and horseback riding. There were drinks by the fire before dinner, and the bathroom in my suite was bigger than my entire apartment now. There was a cigar room, a snooker table, and a very large friendly staff. You had to dress up for dinner, and Boxing Day specifically was black tie. I rubbed elbows with the crème de la crème and drove around the grounds in a Morris Minor.
My (then) boyfriend and I went to Bend, Oregon. I'd never seen mountains before and they were breathtaking with their jagged slopes and bright snow caps. The air smelled clean and there were pine trees everywhere. We picniced in the park and a random dog came and sat by us. We fed the ducks and walked by the river. We hiked to the top of a waterfall and felt truly at peace. It was a wonderful week and I will never forget it or who I spent it with--especially now that he passed away earlier this year. It was a moment when we were able to forget the monotony of the real world. It was perfect.
Island hopping in Greece. We threw on the backpacks, no reservations, and went from island to island by ferry. People with B&B's wait on the docks with pictures of their place.
We started in Mykonos and finished by renting a private villa owned by an architect and fashion designer on the volcanic caldera in Santorini. Went sailing in Naxos, explored ruins in Delos, hiking in Amorgos. We even wound up appearing on the Travel Channel with Samantha Brown on Paros. The islands are so beautiful and the lifestyle laid back. Fresh seafood all the time. Most of the first three weeks in Israel were labor (archaeology), but I count it as a vacation anyway. One weekend we went to Masada and the Dead Sea. Covering myself in mud and laying out in the sun and rinsing off was the best thing I've ever done for my skin, and the floating! It's insane how easy you can float. I tried not to float and it was difficult.
Most weekends we went to Jerusalem. We stayed in a hostel in the Old City, right outside the Muslim quarter, and during the day we bargained for souvenirs, had falafel and fresh squeezed orange juice, and went back to our bunks to nap. In the evenings we walked to Zion Square in the New City, drank free shots and bought beers at bars, then went dancing. I often forgot the walk back. In Egypt we went to Sinai and stayed on a beach by the Red Sea in a hut (they called it a hoo-sha, but I don't know how it's spelled). We slept outside in mosquito nets, woke up at sunrise and only got out of bed when we were hot, at which time we would simply walk a few yards and take a dip in the water. Weed was everywhere. Cheap and freely smoked out in the open. The Bedouins provided it. During dawn, daytime, and dusk we snorkeled. One day we scuba dived.
Best part was when I was on bow watch and noticed the boat shudder. I looked down and a 60 foot Right whale was scratching it's back on the side of the boat. I was 10 feet from it and I was completely speechless.
Where did you go? What did you do? What made it so great?
My old man has worked his ass off his entire life. He's gone without most of his adult life just to give my mother, my brothers, and myself a better life then he ever had growing up. As long back as I can remember he talked about wanting to go to Disney World. As a kid growing up his parents could never afford such a luxury and he always dreamed to be successful enough to afford to bring his kids there when he grew up. So my brothers and myself grew up and moved out of his house and we never did make it to Disney World. (lack of money, conflicting schedules, etc.) So this past year my father finally had enough money saved up. On Christmas he surprised us with the news that he had booked a trip to Florida and that we where all going w/ him to Disney World. Now being in my late 20's Disney World itself wouldn't be my first choice of places to go, but to my Dad it meant everything to go there. It wasn't just an amusement park or a vacation. No, this trip embodied his childhood dreams and everything he ever worked for. To him it meant an opportunity to share something with his family that his parents were never able to give him and his siblings. Not sure I appreciated everything Disney had to offer that same way I would of when I was a child, but the pure selfless joy it brought my father made it the best vacation I have or ever will go on.
Good to see so many people talking about Puerto Rico. We went for our Honeymoon last fall - it was hurricane season so it wasn't very busy at all. Our resort was right on the beach - when you went down they had staff who would drag the chairs to wherever you wanted. Then they'd go get a shovel and a large umbrella, digging a hole between your chairs for it. There was a small plastic flag attached to your chair, whenever you wanted booze/food - you just raised the flag and they came to you.
The best vacation I've ever been on was a 60 day (10,000+ mile) road trip around the US. I undertook this trip with a buddy of mine right after I got out of college. We had talked about it a few times, but right up until the day we actually loaded up the shitty old jeep and set off we didn't really believe it was going to happen.
This is probably pretty generic, but when I was 19 I had a couple friends who were travel agents and worked out an amazing deal on tickets through Iceland Air to Amsterdam. One of the guys who went with me had never really even been to a large metropolitan area before, so it was an eye opening adventure. We spent 1 day in Reykjavik and 5 in Amsterdam. Looking back we should've done some other things, but this was a great trip. Vondelpark was amazing. Just walking around the city was my favorite part. The only bad part about it was we were idiot 19 year olds who didn't really know what we were doing. Stupid Americans. We planned the trip at a relatives house 10 hours from home, using nothing but backpacker, mountainbike and alpinest magazines and an Atlas/Road Map of the US, and really only put dots on the map where we wanted to go. We ended up finding his long lost uncle, and going skydiving (his aunt happened to work at a sky diving place), we went backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, hung out places for as long as we wanted, drove past places we didn't. We snuck onto and off of indian reservations to see beautiful waterfalls, stayed with friends and had a totally awesome time. I'd recommend it to anyone that can take the time off.
Mexico for my 19th birthday. Some wealthy friends flew me out to their time share at Cabo San Lucas. It was great because it was my first time in Mexico, and I was living larger than I ever have before. Food and culture was amazing when we left the resort (probably not as amazing as Chile, but for me it was awesome) and the people off the resort were very entertaining. And I got offered cocaine for the first time in my life.
Went to Cat Cay, Bahamas back in 2007. It is a private island on which my aunt and uncle own property. It is about 3 miles long and a mile wide. We flew on a private jet to Ft.Lauderdale then took a 6 person helicopter and landed on the 5th hole of the golf course. It was incredible....they paid for everything. We went bottom fishing a trolling on their yacht and caught all kinds of fish, including barracuda. Went to Bimini one day and saw Ernest Hemmingway's beach house.
The summer before my freshman year of high school, my mother took me and my brother on a road trip. (We left my father behind because he had to work.) We only had a vague notion of where we were headed, didn't make any reservations, and took as many detours as we wanted. We started in Oregon, drove through Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia - through Victoria, Washington, and back to Oregon. Sights we saw included Craters of the Moon National Monument, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, etc. We had a blast, and I don't know how my mom pulled it off - July - two teenagers (13 and 14) in a Volvo without air conditioning. It really was the best vacation I've ever been on, and I'm sure it brought the three of us closer together. The year was 2005. Second year of law school. Working full time to pay tuition. No extra money. Houston Astros go to the World Series against the Chicago White Sox. Tickets are available to the public but the right to buy tickets is decided by lottery. I entered the lottery and won. I bought four tickets for $250 and sold them for $2000 to some White Sox fans down from Chicago (the game went 14 innings and the Sox won, so the fans got their money's worth). I took my then girlfriend now wife to San Francisco for a week. We had no itinerary. Just walked around in one of the greatest cities in America. We walked around Golden Gate Park and happened on an awesome orchid exhibit in a fantastic Victorian greenhouse. We went down the pacific coast highway to the Monterrey Bay aquarium. We went to the Exploratorium - which is a hands-on science museum, basically a children's museum for adults. After too much wine and tapas, we yelled at Scientologists in their Scientology center. Great week.
A week at Fernandina Beach with my wife and son. I grew up taking trips to Fernandina but this was the first time there for my wife and son. It was not just my best vacation, it was the best week of my life. We stayed at a hotel with a view of the beach. We toured Fort Clinch, hiked the greenway, rode bikes, did a sunset cruise, lounged on the beach and swam in the ocean every day, got surfing lessons for my son, ate a lot of great fresh seafood, and just relaxed and really enjoyed being together. It was a trip I think we'll all remember fondly for rest of our lives. For me, it had to be a week in Chile to visit my brother. The food was amazing, the culture was beautiful, and the landscape down there is breathtaking. I went on a cruise with my family when I was 17. I barely saw them since I met some randos and made friends on day one. We had a great week dicking around the ship like we owned the place. The ports of call were beautiful and I got to do all the usual stuff like jetskiing, surfing (on the ship, lol), bacardi tours and such, but the best part of the trip was honestly hanging out with those week-long friends.
Went to Cat Cay, Bahamas back in 2007. It is a private island on which my aunt and uncle own property. It is about 3 miles long and a mile wide. We flew on a private jet to Ft.Lauderdale then took a 6 person helicopter and landed on the 5th hole of the golf course. It was incredible....they paid for everything. We went bottom fishing a trolling on their yacht and caught all kinds of fish, including barracuda. Went to Bimini one day and saw Ernest Hemmingway's beach house. One of the best moments was when I woke up at 3am and looked outside. The moonlight was stunning on the sand and water and the sky looked like someone dusted it with "pixie dust" diamonds. It was a truly romantic paradise.
Possibly a very impromptu and very badly planned trip to London. We were on the bus and I said to my friend: "Do you remember what the hostel was called?" Neither of us did. It was a spur of the moment thing, since tickets only cost €15 round trip, and so did the hostel for 2 nights. One of the cheapest mini-vacations ever.
Switzerland was the best destination, in the sense that's it's breathtaking and just an amazing place to visit. But there was considerable drama since it was on the tail end of my marriage, which made the trip kind of suck (for perspective, we split up about a month later). The most enjoyable thing was probably my honeymoon in Mexico (which is weird considering what I wrote in the first paragraph). I also spent a week in Iceland in 2003 that was a lot of fun. Went horseback riding through the Icelandic countryside, saw Gulfoss, did some clubbing (clubs, not baby seals), and even saw a few films at a film festival.
Good to see so many people talking about Puerto Rico. We went for our Honeymoon last fall - it was hurricane season so it wasn't very busy at all. Our resort was right on the beach - when you went down they had staff who would drag the chairs to wherever you wanted. Then they'd go get a shovel and a large umbrella, digging a hole between your chairs for it. There was a small plastic flag attached to your chair, whenever you wanted booze/food - you just raised the flag and they came to you.
YES! Vieques is far and away my favorite place on the face of the Earth. My grandfather lived there from the time I was born until I was about 15, so I've been there probably 30-40 times. The most beautiful beaches you'll ever see and if you know your way around, you can be on the beach all day with out seeing another person. I went this summer with 3 of my friends, my sister and 3 of her friends, and my dad and his girlfriend, and it was the best time I've ever had. Beach all day, drinking all night, hooked up with the hottest of my sister's friends and was there for a huge street festival they have every year. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna move there someday.
I went to Skibo Castle in Scotland. I was greeted with a shot of sloe gin when I walked in the door. There was archery, skeet shooting, falconry, and horseback riding. There were drinks by the fire before dinner, and the bathroom in my suite was bigger than my entire apartment now. There was a cigar room, a snooker table, and a very large friendly staff. You had to dress up for dinner, and Boxing Day specifically was black tie. I rubbed elbows with the crème de la crème and drove around the grounds in a Morris Minor.
My (then) boyfriend and I went to Bend, Oregon. I'd never seen mountains before and they were breathtaking with their jagged slopes and bright snow caps. The air smelled clean and there were pine trees everywhere. We picniced in the park and a random dog came and sat by us. We fed the ducks and walked by the river. We hiked to the top of a waterfall and felt truly at peace. It was a wonderful week and I will never forget it or who I spent it with--especially now that he passed away earlier this year. It was a moment when we were able to forget the monotony of the real world. It was perfect.
Island hopping in Greece. We threw on the backpacks, no reservations, and went from island to island by ferry. People with B&B's wait on the docks with pictures of their place.
We started in Mykonos and finished by renting a private villa owned by an architect and fashion designer on the volcanic caldera in Santorini. Went sailing in Naxos, explored ruins in Delos, hiking in Amorgos. We even wound up appearing on the Travel Channel with Samantha Brown on Paros. The islands are so beautiful and the lifestyle laid back. Fresh seafood all the time. Most of the first three weeks in Israel were labor (archaeology), but I count it as a vacation anyway. One weekend we went to Masada and the Dead Sea. Covering myself in mud and laying out in the sun and rinsing off was the best thing I've ever done for my skin, and the floating! It's insane how easy you can float. I tried not to float and it was difficult.
Most weekends we went to Jerusalem. We stayed in a hostel in the Old City, right outside the Muslim quarter, and during the day we bargained for souvenirs, had falafel and fresh squeezed orange juice, and went back to our bunks to nap. In the evenings we walked to Zion Square in the New City, drank free shots and bought beers at bars, then went dancing. I often forgot the walk back. In Egypt we went to Sinai and stayed on a beach by the Red Sea in a hut (they called it a hoo-sha, but I don't know how it's spelled). We slept outside in mosquito nets, woke up at sunrise and only got out of bed when we were hot, at which time we would simply walk a few yards and take a dip in the water. Weed was everywhere. Cheap and freely smoked out in the open. The Bedouins provided it. During dawn, daytime, and dusk we snorkeled. One day we scuba dived.
Best part was when I was on bow watch and noticed the boat shudder. I looked down and a 60 foot Right whale was scratching it's back on the side of the boat. I was 10 feet from it and I was completely speechless.
