Retirement trip
 

Hello all;
My wife and I are retiring next March, we would like to go on a memorable vacation, does anyone have any suggestions outside of North America? The timeframe we are looking at to be away is 1 - 2 months. Thx

Well outside of North America, you have a couple choices.
Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, Australia/New Zealand, Antartica are all good options. Any could be memorable depending on what you like. Which do you prefer?

I guess I should have been more specific, I agree all are good choices that's why I'm stumped. I haveen to France 2, our likes are visiting historical places, museums (to some degree) enjoy good food, wine. We have thought of Egypt, we were told it's almost not worth the trip as everything (monuments) deteriorating and cannot see the fine details.

An African photo safari would be my first choice, hands down, but given your interests, how about Italy/Spain/Greece? Antiquities, natural beauty, great food and wine, and good weather, unless you intend to go in high summer. Good luck--the planning alone should be a ball!

I think the U.K. would suit your desires. Congratulations on your retirement!!

Turkey and Greece come to mind also. A month is a nice amount of time to see them, and May or June would be a perfect time to do it.
Splurging into the two month category? Add Italy and maybe Prague, Budapest, Vienna.

Japan!

If great wine is imperative, you would need to stay in good hotels or dine in good restaurants there to get that. (although sake is another matter). Great food, incredible scenery, gracious people, amazing architecture, castles, glorious temples, very good museums, wonderful history and pop culture at every turn. A very different world, but easy to travel independently (amazing train system w/rail pass availability), and it doesn't have to be expensive as people make it out to be. Fall colors are amazing as is the spring bloom. Check out the Asia forum here.

There are so many places that fit your requirements, why not make it your retirement plan to visit as many places as possible. Make a list of the places you want to visit, pick the first one on the list for this trip, when you get back start planning your next one. Before you know it many years will have passed and you'll have had the pleasure of seeing the world. another one next year

After hearing your tastes, my first thought was France/Italy. Personally, with up to two months and this being a retirement trip, I could see three to four countries. Maybe add Spain and Switzerland. You could also spend one of those months or more really seeing a country in detail. You could start at one end of Italy and work your way up or down.

I also think the Greece/Turkey combo is a great idea.

Outside of Europe, if I were planning this type of trip, I would think about places like Australia and Africa. They are very memorable and benefit from having lots of time to travel.

I would do 4 wks in Italy, come back and wait a year. Then do the Far East--Japan Hong Kong China Thailand. I have been to all except deep into China and all have their good points. My problem with two months is that you would have to a very social person to make contact with others in each location, in order not to be bored to death with your spouse.
This board hates tours but a lengthy time abroad except in one or two locations may be easier to manage with a tour. How about a QEii cruise?

First, congratulations.

Without knowing your preferences or budget, it's hard to be too specific. But here's some food for thought.

In this day of rocketing trsvel costs, there are some excellent bargains to be had by thinking out of the box a little. Here are two suggestions - one we've done once and would like to do again, the other we're starting this weekend. BTW we're not retired, but able (thank the stars) to take the time. Or more specifically, don't want to put off things that might not be so easy later given the way life can turn on a dime. Also thank the stars for the great financial concept that permits all this - debt. :'(

One - freighter cruise. Look at http:://www.freighterworld.com or http://freightercruises.com for itineraries and info. Generally they are longer itineraries than conventional cruises, with none of the hoopla or midnight buffets, but instead going to interesting non-touristy places and giving you numerous sea days to read or reflect, a great insight into the world of commercial shipping, and generally at a fraction of the cost of comparable land-based or cruiseline vacations. We sailed on a container ship from New Zealand to California via Fiji a few years ago and to this day it stands as one of the most memorable trips we've taken. Very special indeed.

The second idea is less exotic but if you have 2 months and want to see a lot, think about round-the-world airline tickets. For a fraction of what point-to-point fares would be, you can use one of several programs run by the airline alliances (Oneworld, Star, Skyteam) or some combinations of individual airlines (for example, Air New Zealand, Singapore AL and Virgin Atlantic) that allow you to circle the globe, making anywhere from 5 to 20 stops, with a year to use the tickets. This weekend we're off to Europe to pick up 2 "RTW" tickets in Turkey, then over the next few months (with interruptions for... bleh ... work) we'll travel around the US, then Australia, then southern Africa, and ending back in Europe in the fall. The Red Center, Kruger Park, a few wonderful cities - how bad is that? These tickets are very flexible and refunfable within limits, so you could absolutely put together a dream trip. Even business class is a (relative) bargain with these tickets.

Let us know more about your budget and preferences and we can help further. Happy planning.

Gardyloo; The freighter is a fabulous idea. Several years ago when I was stationed in Okinawa my parents took a freighter from NO to Japan on a Chinese crewed ship. My mother still talks about that trip. I remember the ship even had a small pool.

My particular interest is the British Isles, so for my retirement trip we did a 4-week tour of England, Scotland, Wales, and both Northern and the Republic of Ireland.

Of course, it only hit the highlights, but it did let us know where we would like to go back and spend more time. It was a great trip.

do you plan to do similar length trips in the future? if not, then i'd go far away---new zealand, australia, bali, singapore, thailand, vietnam, hong kong, china.