my husband & i are working on planning our next big vacation for feb 2009. we're trying to decide where to go. while we enjoy relaxing, we don't want a vacation where we just sit on the beach.

some places we have thought about are: hawaii, egypt, argentina, galapagos, cambodia, new zealand, brazil.

we would have 10 - 14 days (including travel time), and would like to do something that we might not be able to after we have a family.

Quite a range of options you have there. I would expect you would make a decision based on your interests.

While I would highly recommend a trip to Cambodia to visit the temples of Angkor, I don't know that I'd call it relaxing! I don't know where you would be flying from, but you'd likely lose a day in travel. If you had a full two weeks, including travel time, you could visit Angkor and one or two other stops. You'd likely get to Cambodia via Bangkok and could spend some time there.

You are welcome to view our Angkor photos as well as photos of other paces In SE Asia at www.marlandc.com

go to hawaii. with the current downturn in tourism, you might find a great deal. hope the ed don't delete this post for touting my home state. lol.

We are also traveling before having children.

We've been to New Zealand (loved it). It's a great place to spend 2 weeks. However, I think it would be a really good place to travel to with children, so keep that in mind. I can see us renting a campervan and spending 2-4 weeks there with future children.

We spent 2 weeks in Asia this past March-- Tokyo, Hong Kong, Siem Reap, and Bangkok. Amazing. I would be less inclined to travel there with young children, although it's entirely possible. We really loved it, and hope to return there sometime soon.

Egypt and Argentina are at the top of our list, currently.

Hawaii? Never been, but not someplace we're really interested in visiting, especially without kids. It's easy to get there from here, and so on.

My vote is for Cambodia.

Actually, I'd second Hawaii if you have never been. Tim and Liz you have missed out - it is one of the most awesome destinations on the planet and not necessarily one to be visited with kids. I am biased as Jeane and I honeymooned there and have been to many more "exotic" places since then but ared, if you are in your 20's or 30's and don't want to just sit on the beach, Hawaii has sooooo much to do. In two weeks you can do maybe 3 islands comfortably.

That being said, a SE Asia trip that includes Bangkok, Luang Prabang Laos and Siem Reap Cambodia would be quite interesting if you had all 14 days.

Yes, Hawaii would be a good choice if you've not been. I agree, lots to do. Oahu has city life plus beach, plus some really nice quieter places as well. Plenty of activity to keep you busy. Then, you could visit a couple of the other islands where the pace is a bit slower. Each island has its own charms.

They all sound good, but the Galapagos is is a place unlike any other. Of course you have to like looking at wildlife (mainly large birds, sea lions, tortoises and iguanas. If you can and are interested, it's good to combine it with other parts of Ecuador or, what I enjoyed a lot was combining it with a trip to Macchu Picchu and Cuzco, in Peru.

thanks for all the responses. we have traveled some in SE asia -- honeymooned in bangkok, phuket, kho phi phi, & hong kong. We also just returned from peru -- where we did the salkantay trek to machu picchu. that was for my husband's 30th birthday. we have also been to various national parks in the us -- hiking, etc. and italy -- venice, rome, florence -- with just simple wandering around. but we also aren't the type of people who would enjoy a large tour group & tour bus.

the main rate limiting step for us right now is cost. we were planning on doing a biking tour on the south island in new zealand, but it would be a very expensive vacation.