Travel 2018 : good, bad, so-so...unforgettable
 

As the year is coming to the close I hope you can share your 2018 travel experiences with us.
If you already have a wish list for 2019 , it would be interesting to hear it.
I will start:
February, five nights in Mexico City. It was my first visit to this great city , it
surpassed all expectations . the highlight :Teotihuacan
pyramids...enormous and mysterious .

April, a week inLondon. Not me favourite city, but MH wanted to go.
We revisited galleries and museums we like and discovered a “ few “ great pubs.
The huge everywhere were a bit annoying.
A bout ride to Greenwich was a lovely new experience.

June, four nights in NY. It had been a while since the previous visit. It was enjoyable
to wonder around on my own. The highlight was

“Guggenheim Museum Presents Giacometti” exhibit.....interesting work in this unique

space. Disappointing...a few restaurants near the Lincoln Center.

October, ten night in Spain. Six days in Madrid with a friend and three in Barcelona
alone. I love both cities
(visited each some ten times ) Spain is my happy place:
food, wine, art, architecture, weather, late dining, people, language.....

For 2019...already booked another visit to MC in February.
And , Spain will be there somewhere for a yearly visit ...spring or fall.

Portland early in the year and then leaning toward Portugal in the Fall. I guess anything that starts with P-O-R-T.

((H))

Thanks...I follow your fab. trip reports.

Oh, in 2018 I fell in love with Piemente ... and Bologna ... and Milan ... and Turin ... and Orta San Giulio ... and white truffles.

((H))

In 2018 I got stuck trying to exit an enter turnstyle in London Bridge tube station. Got trapped by a suitcase. It was awful. I swear the turnstiles were on the wrong sides.

Brexit will only make things worse. I may stay home.

Sorry..I meant to say “ huge crowds” in London
we got to the BM and quickly turned around...

i get the suitcase “wrong side” upset.
crossing streets in London is “ stressful “ : ...look left, no , look right..look again....ugh
....

I started a new job this year, so my travel was limited. Started the year off in Joshua Tree. Later I squeezed in a short trip to Northern Italy, and like maitai I fell in love with Torino. And Camogli/SML/Rapallo. Great hiking in this area. I also became well acquainted with the new Polaris Lounge at SFO where, due to some serious delays and aircraft switches, I spent many more hours than I had anticipated. Shopping in Torino is excellent. I know this because my luggage arrived three days after I did.

As for 2019, I'm not sure. I don't plan my trips more than a 2-3 months in advance nowadays. I hate commitment!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...09946d5feb.jpg

Breakfast with a happy guy in Torino.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b72f8bebbe.jpg

Waiting for a (bigger) boat in San Fruttuoso.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6e001ffeb8.jpg

Hailstorm in Milano.

2018: the month of May in Peru -- wonderful!
https://www.fodors.com/community/sou...untry-1655521/

2019: a month, mostly in May, in southeast France, currently in the preliminary planning stage and still welcoming thoughts:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...rance-1661398/

How fortunate I feel to be able to travel!

2018: April in Sicily. We covered a lot and had an incredible time, loving it all, then a few days in Rome.

Two quick trips to the Jersey shore were lovely. We don't beach much but we love the wetlands and a little birding and being away from home.

October to Washington DC for the San Francisco Ballet at the Kennedy Center, lots of art, and the Newseum, when I liked way more than I had expected.

For 2019, we're set for Paris for a week at the end of February and beginning of March.

2018: Venice --> Trieste --> Verona --> London

2019: Planning on Ukraine with a few days in London.

2018
Jan: a week in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands - OK but one week was enough
Apr: two weeks exploring Spain's eastcoast - wonderful, as Spain is one of my favourite countries
May: midweek Barcelona - a city that never gets boring
Jun: midweek Bologna - not 'my' city
Jun: a week cycling in Alsace,France - very pretty but, ouch, those hills! and hot, hot, hot!
Jul: a week cycling on the island of Texel, Netherlands - to be repeated!
Sep: two weeks cycling in SW France, Charente Maritime and the Landes - great
Oct: a month at the Costa Blanca, Spain with a few days in Toledo - good, as always, except for the weather. Too many clouds and rain!

2019
Jan: 18 days tour in Costa Rica
Apr: Mallorca (husband cycling)
That's it so far.

august/september 2018. Spain and Portugal. Had migraine on plane from dubai to Lisbon and it was awful. another migraine in Seville. will never ever ever go to Europe in the summer
October 2018. NYC. I arrived at JFK but my bag didn't. Had 24 hours with no change of clothes. Staff at the hotel gave me toothbrush, but i had to go to Macy's and buy change of underwear and pj's as well as a change of clothes. nothing worse than flying melbourne to nyc for 21 + hours and staying in the same clothes.

2019. not getting on another long distance flight

April: three week road trip to Big Bend NP. Stopped at Carlsbad, elevators broken so you had to walk down, then up, so it was nearly empty! Hit an unbelievable West Texas dust storm, horror movie quality. Big Bend was cool. Actually it was hot but we spent a nice week there. Stopped by Border Patrol on the way home, surrounded by heavily armed agents as they rifled through our car and my wife’s bag. Infraction, driving with Colorado license plates.

June: three weeks in Wales, hiked a portion of the Pembrokeshire coast trail. Highlight was Skomer Island for puffins. Then up North Wales for usual suspects of castles, manor houses, gardens, Neolithic sights, all during front page news heat wave. Great trip but will never rent a car in foreign country again. Roads in Wales drove us to drink, which isn’t that hard, but … wow.

Other minor trips including just back from 2 glorious nights in Cheyenne Wyoming. No kidding, we had fun.

Next year, August for me: Switzerland for a comfy version of the Walker’s Haute Route, only 2 hut nights.

Who knows what else? …
Safe travels to all!

Sorry you had a miserable visit to Spain and Portugal . Lost luggage is always PITA
I stay away from Southern Europe in the summer, especially Andalusia.

we visited Australia ten years ago...I get the “ no more long flights “

In June 2019 four of us are supposed to celebrate the 34th anniversary of a trip we took to Ireland in 1985. We took that trip one week after the Air India crash off the southern coast of Ireland. That flight also originated in Toronto. I know I was a bit nervous getting on the plane as security seemed lax, to put it mildly, and it was unclear then what had happened to the Air India flight. Another bomb had blown up almost simultaneously at Narita airport after a flight from Vancouver. Seems like yesterday.

First time in a log while I did not go to Europe

Stayed stateside with trips to PA, NJ, NYC, Wisconsin & New Mexico

We mix our trips up for a bit of variety.....

- Feb. A bog standard All Inclusive couple of weeks in a nice hotel in Side, on the Turkey Mediterranean Coast.

- Apr. Amost 3 weeks d-i-y to Macedonia. Quality and inexpensive.

- Jun. 3 weeks in Romania. Almost all of the time spent in Transylvania, travelling round independently by train. One of cleanest and greenest Regions we've ever been.

- Nov. An enjoyable indulgent 15 night cruise from Palma [Majorca] across the Atlantic to the Eastern Caribbean.

Plus 3 mid-week superb value coach holidays in UK to Blackpool, Scarborough, and Morecambe.

A nice mix I think. After many years of independent travel around South East Asia we suddenly became fed-up of long haul. There's so much to see closer to home [Hampshire, UK].

And providing we stay away from €uro la-la-Land our money goes a long way.

It was all good.


March 2018 - 9 days Portugal with a friend (Algarve and Lisbon) https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...018-a-1651723/


June/July 2018 - 3 weeks Germany, Austria, Slovakia with husband - https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...weeks-1660634/


followed by 2 weeks Greek islands solo (ending with 5 days London) https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-july-1659955/


For 2019 have 2 weeks Spain (Mallorca to Valencia)in March and 4 weeks Italy, Croatia and France in July planned

In June we took a family vacation to Norway. Flew into Bergen and flew home from Stavanger. What an astoundingly beautiful country. Then November/December we went to Egypt. We went to Cairo, Aswan and Luxor, that included a Nile river cruise. The cruise was a first for us and certainly won't be the last. We loved Egypt and always felt safe. If you have any interest at all, now is the time to go. USD was strong, tourism is picking up.

It's pretty easy to travel from where we live, and pretty cheap, so we gallivant around a lot. Our 2018 travels took us to Milan and Lago Maggiore, to Paris a couple of times, to Bordeaux, to Agen and Narbonne and Collioure and the Midi-Pyrenées, and just recently to Morocco for almost two weeks. Every one of them special and memorable in its own way.

We're only just starting on 2019 travels, but I'm already looking to book the month of February in an apartment in Essaouira. Easyjet now flies from Bordeaux direct to Essaouira for about 30 euros each way, and an apartment is about 400 euros a month. It's cheaper than staying home and I am a Morocco fanatic, so yes, we're gone. Other possible plans for 2019 are Portugal, St-Petersburg, back to St-Sebastián, maybe Malta, Greece and Turkey...I figure we have to profit from being so close to so many wonderful places.