140 replies to this topic

[NewMarketSean]

However, for some reason, Portugal has been on my mind a lot lately. I went last spring and visited Porto (where they make port wine), Lagos (on the souther coast) and Lisbon. My wife and I are talking about retiring in Lagos and buying property within the next few years.

Aren't you, like, 30-ish? And you're thinking of retiring to Portugal within a few years?

What kind of work are you in, Sean?

Yeah, 32. Make decent/good money. Property over there is pretty cheap. If we did buy we'd rent it out for years until we retired whenever that will be. At this rate probably 80.

[glenn__davis]

However, for some reason, Portugal has been on my mind a lot lately. I went last spring and visited Porto (where they make port wine), Lagos (on the souther coast) and Lisbon. My wife and I are talking about retiring in Lagos and buying property within the next few years.

Aren't you, like, 30-ish? And you're thinking of retiring to Portugal within a few years?

What kind of work are you in, Sean?

Yeah, 32. Make decent/good money. Property over there is pretty cheap. If we did buy we'd rent it out for years until we retired whenever that will be. At this rate probably 80.

Ah, I see. Misread your quote, I thought you meant you would actually retire within the next few years. But even to be able to buy property there would be pretty cool.

I'm 30 myself and haven't been able to travel nearly as much as I would like. I've been all up and down the east coast but that's pretty much it. Took a 2-day trip to Phoenix for work - does that count?

My wife grew up in Barbados and she has been to pretty much all of the major Caribbean islands, so I'd like to go there. And I want to go somewhere in Europe. I honestly don't care where. If I had my druthers I'd probably start with Spain, but I really don't care. I can't think of a place in Europe which would seem totally unappealing to me.

But all of that will have to wait for a while. Have 3 kids, and the oldest 5. No trips like that anytime soon.

[NewMarketSean]

Now is not a good time to travel to Europe, or anywhere flying, IMO. Airfare is so expensive and most airlines are horrible...charging for this and that and uncomfortable.

The Euro is still higher than the dollar, meaning $1.00 USD gets you like $0.68 over there.

A few years ago I went to Prague, Vienna and Budapest over Thanksgiving. Airfare to Europe then was cheap (everyone is flying domestically in the US). Prage (Czech Rep.) and Budapest (Hungary) aren't on the EUR and it was pretty cheap. I still cant get over paying $60 total for a meal at a really nice place in Budapest that would have easily cost more than $100 over here.

I'd recommend that trip for you if you just want to see Europe and don't really care where. It's generally cheap, although Vienna was really expensive, the trains are cheap and reliable and you wont spend more than 4 hrs getting to either city and they're all amazing.

Portugal is cheap too. You can get direct flights from DC. The city of Porto is Europe's undiscovered gem. Great train system, awesome wine and the country is beautiful.

It'll still be there when your kids get older...but don't wait too long.

[NewMarketSean]

Also, if you don't feel like flying, you can drive to Montreal. It feels a lot like a European city, especially the old town. It's a 10 hour drive from Baltimore...mostly scenic. Gas is expensive, I know, but flying to Montreal is super-expensive so it's worth it.

You could stop somewhere on the way up and back to break-up the drive time.

Quebec City looks even more like Europe.

[JeremyStrain]

My best friend is getting married in OBX in early June. He's rented a freaking mansion on the beach (one of those places only accessible by 4WD car through the sand) and everyone is going to stay there for the entire week (and two smaller, ~25-sleeper houses for the weekend when family comes in for the wedding). It's got like 25 bedrooms, a movie theater, and all sorts of awesome amenities. I've spent a week in Corolla two of the past three summers, and have had an amazing time. This will be my first time at a place only 4WD accessible, and I'm ridiculously excited. Basically will be a 5-day party for 30 or so of our best friends, then all the family comes in for the end of the week for the wedding on Friday.

We went to Key West for his bachelor party about a month ago. That was incredible. It was 82 and cloudless the entire time, the night life was a blast, and we chartered a fishing boat for one of the days and then had a local restaurant cook and feed us our catch from the day. Highly recommend it for anyone looking for a very relaxing environment that still has lots of bustling night life. The beaches are kinda crappy there, though, is the only problem. Stay by the pools during the day.

Ahhh Carova. That's where a couple hollywood stars have houses, so don't be surprised if you are staying in Tom Cruise's house Watch out for the horses though, they are crazy up there since there are no roads and like to get in the trash at night.

We were going to get married at the country club there, but changed our minds and went with Vegas instead. The day we were having out ceremony, they got hit by a hurricane. All worked out well

[Mackus]

Ahhh Carova. That's where a couple hollywood stars have houses, so don't be surprised if you are staying in Tom Cruise's house Watch out for the horses though, they are crazy up there since there are no roads and like to get in the trash at night.

We were going to get married at the country club there, but changed our minds and went with Vegas instead. The day we were having out ceremony, they got hit by a hurricane. All worked out well

Last time I was down there was in September when that hurricane hit there, here, and NY real hard. We were supposed to check in Saturday morning, which was the day the eye hit, so the entire Outer Banks was closed. They opened up Tuesday at 10am, and we were waiting at the gates. We had 4 cars in a caravan that left Canton at about 4am. Short week, but still had a blast.

[JeremyStrain]

Ahhh Carova. That's where a couple hollywood stars have houses, so don't be surprised if you are staying in Tom Cruise's house Watch out for the horses though, they are crazy up there since there are no roads and like to get in the trash at night.

We were going to get married at the country club there, but changed our minds and went with Vegas instead. The day we were having out ceremony, they got hit by a hurricane. All worked out well

Last time I was down there was in September when that hurricane hit there, here, and NY real hard. We were supposed to check in Saturday morning, which was the day the eye hit, so the entire Outer Banks was closed. They opened up Tuesday at 10am, and we were waiting at the gates. We had 4 cars in a caravan that left Canton at about 4am. Short week, but still had a blast.

That's crazy!! We were down 3 weeks before, my godmother lost her renters that week and went down there to assess but had to wait longer since they were down in Hatteras, they had to build a new bridge so they couldn't actually get to their house for like 3 weeks.

[Nuclear Dish]

Just went to Prague for the first time a couple months ago, and absolutely loved it. One of my all-time favorites. And it's still inexpensive compared to many European destinations.

I didn't love Budapest. It wasn't as accessible to me as Prague was, and I didn't feel as welcome.

Italy: I loved Florence, but didn't love Rome. Didn't get to Venice. Nothing in Italy was better than just walking the small towns of Tuscany.

Didn't like London much. Thought Vilnius, Lithuania was pretty good for what was once part of the Soviet bloc.

Spain: Loved Madrid. Thought Barcelona was OK, but I feel like I missed something there. Would like to go back to try it again. Gibralter was incredible. Seville was OK, Toledo was interesting, Cordoba was so-so, and Valencia was pretty good.

Hopefully getting to Athens and Crete for the first time this summer.

In Canada, I love Ottawa. Montreal is great, but I hate the French (also why I haven't been to Paris yet).

In the US, I love walking around Boston, I like spending up to about 36 hours in NYC (any more and I start feeling dirty), I love summer in Chicago, I think Seattle is gorgeous, and I love driving in the areas around SF (north, south, and east). Vegas is cool, and Kansas City is really something special. Detroit and Philly scare the hell out of me (although I love South Street). Atlantic City is like a second home to me.

But my favorite travel destination (and for me it's really travel) is Camden Yards.

[Mackus]

In terms of places I want to go, New Orleans is #1 and Barcelona is #2.

I desperately wanna get to New Orleans. I'm terrified that I'll love it so much I don't come back, though.

I'm planning on getting to Barcelona in September or so. My girlfriend's sister currently lives in Cyprus (she's married to a British guy who's in their Army) and we're gonna take a week-and-half or so vacation to visit. Plan is to fly in Barcelona, spend a few days there, possibly hit a few other nearby places, then take a smaller plane over to Cyprus and spend the rest of the trip there. Pretty excited for it, but mostly for the Barcelona part.

[NewMarketSean]

In terms of places I want to go, New Orleans is #1 and Barcelona is #2.

I desperately wanna get to New Orleans. I'm terrified that I'll love it so much I don't come back, though.

I'm planning on getting to Barcelona in September or so. My girlfriend's sister currently lives in Cyprus (she's married to a British guy who's in their Army) and we're gonna take a week-and-half or so vacation to visit. Plan is to fly in Barcelona, spend a few days there, possibly hit a few other nearby places, then take a smaller plane over to Cyprus and spend the rest of the trip there. Pretty excited for it, but mostly for the Barcelona part.

Sounds awesome. I really want to go to Spain.

New Orleans is my favorite American city. Awesome, awesome place.

[DJ MC]

That's crazy!! We were down 3 weeks before, my godmother lost her renters that week and went down there to assess but had to wait longer since they were down in Hatteras, they had to build a new bridge so they couldn't actually get to their house for like 3 weeks.

We were there a week before Irene. It was weird to see that the roads I had just driven down were washed out and cut by new inlets.

[JeremyStrain]

That's crazy!! We were down 3 weeks before, my godmother lost her renters that week and went down there to assess but had to wait longer since they were down in Hatteras, they had to build a new bridge so they couldn't actually get to their house for like 3 weeks.

We were there a week before Irene. It was weird to see that the roads I had just driven down were washed out and cut by new inlets.

Yeah I couldn't believe those new inlets cut in so quick. The one big one went EXACTLY through the spot where that house from Nights in Rodanthe used to be. The owners took the money they got for the movie and moved it a couple blocks in, SMART MOVE apparently.

I haven't been down since, but my godmother was telling me the "new bridge" is a show and it snarls traffic.

[Nuclear Dish]

My wife and I have a list of places we still want to get to. Amsterdam is very high on the list. In the US, our top choice is Savannah, Georgia (we both loved Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).

[NewMarketSean]

As a child we went to Florida (Melbourne area), The Keys, Myrtle Beach, and Ocean City.

The places I go to regularly are OC, New York, Philadelphia, DC and Baltimore. Love 'em all.

As an adult, I've been to:

Bahamas (Nassau)
Cancun
Newport, RI
Dominican Republic (Punta Cana)
Boston, MA
Greece (Athens, Mykonos and some other Greek Islands and Kusadasi, Turkey, which still blows my mind that I set foot on Turkey).
Jamaica (Montego Bay)
Montreal
New Orleans
Italy (Positano, Rome, Florence, Venice)
Las Vegas, NV
Antigua
Cincinnati, OH
Los Angeles, CA
Tahiti (Moorea & Bora Bora)
Pittsburgh, PA
Prague / Vienna / Budapest
Asheville, NC
Portugal (Porto, Lagos, Lisbon)
San Francisco / Napa
Jacksonville, FL

[Oriole85]

Everyone should visit Italy at least once in their lives and see Rome, Florence and Venice...if not other places in Italy as well.

I went to Italy in 2010, loved those first two places and had a great time in Sorrento as well. Not so much fond of Venice. Food is always a big part of my vacations, I had by far my worst meal there so that probably factored into it. Walking across the bridges also got kind of tedious. Enjoyed the history of it as well as that in other places.

My biggest suggestion about international traveling, I think this might apply to Europe more so than other places: is avoid places that cater to English speakers. I know this might sound odd, but if they an English language menu at a restaurant, it's not usually a good thing.

[Oriole85]

My wife and I have a list of places we still want to get to. Amsterdam is very high on the list. In the US, our top choice is Savannah, Georgia (we both loved Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).

I've been to Savannah before, not since I was like 12 though. It's not really near anything else. My family would typically spend a day there because we went to Hilton Head nearly every year for maybe an 8 year stretch. Fun, relatively small city to spend a day(or two). I usually went to a minor league game when I visited. which is another one of my pastimes seeing different baseball stadiums.

[Nuclear Dish]

I've been to Savannah before, not since I was like 12 though. It's not really near anything else. My family would typically spend a day there because we went to Hilton Head nearly every year for maybe an 8 year stretch. Fun, relatively small city to spend a day(or two). I usually went to a minor league game when I visited. which is another one of my pastimes seeing different baseball stadiums.

Have you read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? If not, read it. You'll love it. It makes Savannah seem like a quirky place, which, apparently, it really is. I can't wait to get there for the first time. Maybe next summer.

[Oriole85]

I've been to Savannah before, not since I was like 12 though. It's not really near anything else. My family would typically spend a day there because we went to Hilton Head nearly every year for maybe an 8 year stretch. Fun, relatively small city to spend a day(or two). I usually went to a minor league game when I visited. which is another one of my pastimes seeing different baseball stadiums.

Have you read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? If not, read it. You'll love it. It makes Savannah seem like a quirky place, which, apparently, it really is. I can't wait to get there for the first time. Maybe next summer.

I have not. I would love to hear about your Savannah experience when you go since I haven't been there in over a decade.

[NewMarketSean]

Just got back from St. Lucia. Had a great time, the island is absolutely beautiful and feels more like the south Pacific than the Caribbean. The people were nice, but we drove around on our own a lot and some of the city folk are in your face beggars. It's to be expected I guess, and we never felt unsafe. It was a different kind of trip this time since we didn't stay at a resort, did our own food shopping and drove ourselves around everyday. A great change of pace but it made me appreciate AI Caribbean trips even more. This was one of those, "I need a vacation from my vacation" kind of trips.

[Nuclear Dish]

The people were nice, but we drove around on our own a lot and some of the city folk are in your face beggars.

If you didn't like that, I recommend you never go to Mumbai. Worst begging I've ever seen, and they blatantly use their children to do the begging so it's harder to say no. 8 year olds holding 2 year olds, all of whom have eye infections and skin conditions, swarming around you, and if you give even one of them, you will never be left alone. Just the worst abject poverty I've ever seen.