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

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

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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 05:10 AM
  #21  
 
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2018:

1 week at the end of May in France with my husband and my daughters (5 and 2 years old) and friends:
Quick trip to Paris and Lake Annecy with kids

3 weeks in July and August: Bali, Java, Singapore, and Andalucia with my parents, husband and daughters:
3 generation trip live trip report Indonesia

4 days in September in the East Cantons out of Montreal, Lake Brome

5 days in the Amalfi Coast in October with my daughters:
Quick Trip to Italy: The Amalfi Coast in October with Kids

The bad: Andalucia in August during a heat wave. The good, all of the rest.

2019:

6 weeks in June and July: France, Switzerland and Greece

Last edited by ToujoursVoyager; Dec 23rd, 2018 at 05:12 AM.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 05:58 AM
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Let's see, winter, a few frigid days in D.C., visiting National Gallery and seeing our son.

May, a week fly fishing for trout in the Catskills.

June, wonderful time in London, the Cotswolds and Oxford.

For 2019

February, return to Oaxaca and Mexico City

Spring: Having a hard time. Abandoned plans for Greece in favor of Israel/Jordan, but am now considering Switzerland.

Fall, possible trip to the Southwest.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 06:32 AM
  #23  
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I envy those living in Europe on easy and ( often) inexpensive access to so many
fantastic destinations . Fifty euros to fly Madrid - Lisbon or Berlin - Amsterdam ...wow
Not to mention excellent railway system in many countries and , of corse, possibility of simply driving ..
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 07:41 AM
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danon, it is insanely wonderful to be able to travel all over Europe for pennies. You can hardly sit at the breakfast table having a croissant and a poached egg and café au lait without tossing around the idea of a trip somewhere.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 11:54 AM
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“envy those living in Europe”

Grass is always greener.

We could cash in, buy a house with a dock for a yacht near Charleston and a clapboard house in the Out Islands of The Bahamas.

Since we have made zero provision for healthcare and rely on the British NHS we will be stuck in “sunny” Scotland for some years or may try our chances in France.

Yes, EasyJet make life easier but have you sailed in Scotland recently? 55oF is a heat wave.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 12:02 PM
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Originally Posted by MyriamC
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.
Hey, Myriam

Charente Maritime is on my route, I’m cycling Bordeaux ,La Rochelle, Nantes, St Malo, Portsmouth, Oxford, Telford , Manchester next May.

Your husband will love Mallorca, the drivers are very respectful and the terrain is varied. April can be an incredible time for flowers.

Last edited by BritishCaicos; Dec 23rd, 2018 at 12:17 PM.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 12:05 PM
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St Cirq

What at do you do about healthcare as a US citizen in France ?

Once we are out of the EU March, it becomes an issue for us. Never had to worry in the last.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 12:44 PM
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Good year of travel--
Started 2018 spending 7 weeks of the winter in Barcelona, Valencia, Almeria, Malaga, Granada, Sevilla & Madrid. Wonderful!

Spent a month in Morroco in Spring.

In August went to the GTG in lovely Toronto

Fall took us to Rennes & Normandy ending with a week in Paris.

Several trips to CA and NYC to visit kids and grandkids.

2019 includes being snowbirds and going to S. CA & AZ.

Spring will be 5 weeks in Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro & Sarajevo

BAck to Maine for lobster int he summer.


In the process now of planning a fall trip for 5 weeks to Japan. Our Japan Itinerary If you've been, help us out with the planning.

Last edited by yestravel; Dec 23rd, 2018 at 12:49 PM.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 12:59 PM
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2018 - couldnt resist a second Azamara cruise to revisit alot of our favorite places -- Venice, Sorrento, Rome, Florence, Monte Carlo, and Barcelona with first visit to Croatia, and the lovely town of Cassis near Marseilles. Gosh, havent been to Monte Carlo in 30 years -- Eze then and now are not the same, but what is?? It was a wonderful, sunny trip. We succeeded in our goal to avoid crowds in Venice, Rome & Florence pursuing other smaller venues/museums.

2019 - starting the year as usual with several weeks in southern CA with son and family; who knows where we'll wander.... this summer we are taking son & family and daughter & family for a total of 12 of us to Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas, where we will have honeymooned 50 years ago!! Seems like the only place to keep our six grandchildren suitably entertained (ages 9-15).....

Happy New Year!
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 01:36 PM
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2018 - 2 weeks in Naples and Rome. Lots of great moments, but my best memory was the enchantment of Livia's garden frescos in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. It reminded me of the first time I was floored by Monet's water lillies at the l'Orangerie. The worst experience was getting completely lost looking for the entrance to Domus Aurea and missing our tour.

2019 - Long list of possibilities, but may just go back to Rome to see the things on my list we missed this time (including Domus Aurea) and adding Florence this time.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by BritishCaicos
“envy those living in Europe”

Grass is always greener.

We could cash in, buy a house with a dock for a yacht near Charleston and a clapboard house in the Out Islands of The Bahamas.

Since we have made zero provision for healthcare and rely on the British NHS we will be stuck in “sunny” Scotland for some years or may try our chances in France.

Yes, EasyJet make life easier but have you sailed in Scotland recently? 55oF is a heat wave.
Well, I must admit I had a different location ithan “ sunny “Scotland in mind,
although the cold weather is not an issue with us ( we live in Canada!)
I was born and lived in Europe for 25 years....still miss the diversity of cultures and languages.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 05:17 PM
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A couple of New York City weekends in the winter, one with my husband and one with my college friends, who do this every year.

Paris for two weeks in March, where I met new friends and old, went to theater and lectures and concerts and wonderful meals of all kinds. I came home with a black eye, and I gave my friends three choices how I got it. They mostly believed me when I insisted I did not get into a fight in a bar in Paris.

A week in the San Francisco Bay Area in April with my daughter’s family. I had two wonderful get togethers with some Fodorites I had never met although I felt like I knew them through the years, and now I actually do.

A week in France in October, centered on a conference in the Normandy beach resort of Cabourg, with forays to Chartres with Fodorite friends and to Monet’s house and gardens at Giverny, and a day exploring the D-Day landing beaches.

Thanksgiving week with my daughter in the Bay Area, with a two night stay in Yosemite, where I hadn’t gone since 1975.

I am very much looking forward to Valencia in March.
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 06:02 PM
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2018:
A long weekend in Budapest (March)
A week in Iceland (July)
Annual weekend in San Francisco for Outside Lands (August)
Weekend in Toronto with many fellow Fodorites (August)
A week in Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora (November)
A few weekends to see family in Madison WI and Chapel Hill
A dozen or so trips to Scottsdale to check in on my mother

2019:
Madrid and Valencia in March
Long weekend in Amsterdam in July
Somewhere else later in the year, probably in Asia but undecided
Another dozen or so trips to Scottsdale

We aren't planning anything longer than a week right now due to work, mother and 19-year-old cat.

danon, Mexico City has been on my short list for awhile. Maybe this will be the year we can get there???
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Old Dec 23rd, 2018, 07:19 PM
  #34  
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I had four full days but that included a half-day trip to Teotihuacan .
A great city with numerous museums, parks , good restaurants ...
This time I am going with MH for another five nights.
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Old Dec 24th, 2018, 03:24 AM
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British Caicos, it took us a couple of years and mountains of paperwork, but we're covered now under CPAM for healthcare in France. It puts American healthcare to shame.
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Old Dec 24th, 2018, 04:11 AM
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Nikki and Ms Go - what dates will you be in Valencia in March? I will also be there in March.
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Old Dec 24th, 2018, 04:20 AM
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Is this the new trip report section?

Feb- Paris and Verdun
March-NY
May-Nashville
August-Cape Cod/NY/Vermont
Dec-Paris/Brussels/Lille

Small trips here and there
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Old Dec 24th, 2018, 05:16 AM
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Originally Posted by isabel
Nikki and Ms Go - what dates will you be in Valencia in March? I will also be there in March.
We will be there March 15-19 for Las Fallas (which is amazing to see and photograph, by the way).
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Old Dec 24th, 2018, 06:49 AM
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Isabel, there is a large Fodor’s get-together being organized in Valencia around Las Fallas. Mostly being planned on Facebook. My husband and I will be arriving March 14 and leaving March 20 (possibly for a few days in Lisbon, where we met twelve years ago!)

What are your plans?
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Old Dec 24th, 2018, 07:36 AM
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St Cirq, is it dependent on your Irish citizenship, or is it possible to get (eventually) for others staying long term but not French/EU citizens?

2018 has been a stay-at-home year.

In 2019, for the first time I am going somewhere other than Europe. In October I'm headed to Uganda and Kenya, which I've been talking about for three years. Finally going to happen!
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