I'm going on my last vacation next winter, and I still haven't figured out where!

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Old Whatshisname

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Dawn and I like to travel to places where we've never been before, and this next one might be our last big trip. We'll still be going on shorter trips, of course, but given the economy, our ages, and increasing dangers we might run into means this will be limiting us to vacation trips closer to home.

I like doing "ology" stuff: geology, archaeology, paleontology, museums, lectures -- mostly nerdy things. Dawn likes art galleries more than museums, and also likes hiking and some other stuff and doing anthropology and history field work. But with my age (80 this year and with Dawn being (only) 69 (but with a new knee), our backpacking-into-the-wilderness shtick probably won't cut it, so this trip might be a little less strenuous than we'd been doing for the past 35 years.

I figure that we could spend about three weeks and should have enough saved up by next year to spend a maximum of $10k USD. This isn't something that we could just magically find the money for and go whenever; it's pretty important to actually have a plan and itinerary together. I'd love to hear some ideas. Do you have this one place you've been to which you remember as being a great trip? Or maybe you've always wanted to finally take that trip to ------, and do ------ while you're there as the capstone of your "bucket list"?

I'd love to hear any ideas/suggestions!
 
I really enjoyed Hawaii but that can get pricey, especially if you want to island hop so you can see the huge variety of what the islands offer.
Have you knocked off most things in the western USA? There's a ton of "ology" stuff there. Tons of geology, cultural anthropology from the natives, physical anthropology if you can visit dig sites and more trails in all the parks than you could ever want. Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Arches...
 
Ohio isn't a "GREAT trip", but there are a lot of things to see and do. Pretty far drive from Idaho, but there is the Air Force museum and art Museum in dayton, the Cod Submarine and Rock and roll museum in Cleveland, COSI in columbus, a ton of museums in Cincinnati and surrounding areas. Serpent mound, etc etc. Not to mention if you let us know, I'll buy breakfast/lunch or dinner at a nice local place, not a chain :)
 
We really enjoyed the Canadian Rockies. Waterton (and Glacier on the US side), Banff, Lake Louise. We didn't go all the way up to Jasper, but in retrospect I wish we could have made the time to do that. The farthest north we made it was the Columbia Ice Fields - which is a neat place, where you ride in giant ice climbing buses. This trip was in 2002 for us, so a while back.
 
Old Whatshisname said:
Dawn and I like to travel to places where we've never been before, and this next one might be our last big trip. We'll still be going on shorter trips, of course, but given the economy, our ages, and increasing dangers we might run into means this will be limiting us to vacation trips closer to home.

I like doing "ology" stuff: geology, archaeology, paleontology, museums, lectures -- mostly nerdy things. Dawn likes art galleries more than museums, and also likes hiking and some other stuff and doing anthropology and history field work. But with my age (80 this year and with Dawn being (only) 69 (but with a new knee), our backpacking-into-the-wilderness shtick probably won't cut it, so this trip might be a little less strenuous than we'd been doing for the past 35 years.

I figure that we could spend about three weeks and should have enough saved up by next year to spend a maximum of $10k USD. This isn't something that we could just magically find the money for and go whenever; it's pretty important to actually have a plan and itinerary together. I'd love to hear some ideas. Do you have this one place you've been to which you remember as being a great trip? Or maybe you've always wanted to finally take that trip to ------, and do ------ while you're there as the capstone of your "bucket list"?

I'd love to hear any ideas/suggestions!
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Based on what you've said in post: I'll suggest Egypt, focusing on the pyramids.

Maybe with 10k and a winning lotto ticket?
 
Enjoy your vacation as much as you can. Unfortunatly with age, comes more challenges. I love that you and your wife can still do these kinds of trips. Probably because you have both stayed so active. That is key!! I'm not one who has gotten to travel often over the last 30 years. I still remember trips to Colorado as a kid to visit my Mom's side of the family, Grandparents, Aunt, and another Aunt married to a farmer. Those were the best times growing up! My Uncle let me ride his horses and drive his combine and dump truck. I think I may have been around 12. Just sharing my ultimate vacation.
 
Most of our bucket list trips are likely places you've probably been, considering where you live. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, south Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, all the national parks and monuments out there. We also want to hit the northeast, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, upstate NY.
Around here the Appalachian mountains are spectacular.
$10 grand would make for a great trip
 
I definitely prefer the "get away from it all" vacations over the "get in the middle of it all" ones. But I guess that depends on personal taste. e.g., For me, going to Las Vegas has zero appeal. Going to New York City, Washington, D.C., etc. - zip, nada, you probably couldn't pay me enough to go there. However, if someone wants to make me a substantial payment offer, I'll at least listen to the pitch (then stay in my hotel room and read probably). National parks used to be good. Some may still be. But here in Colorado, you have to make reservations to get into Rocky Mountain National Park. You've got to sign up for buses to get to the Maroon Bells. It's ridiculous. Just too many people these days. Used to be, about ten years ago when I was still doing a lot of hiking, you could go into Rocky Mountain in late October or early November and enjoy the backcountry trails pretty much all by yourself. You had to get past the bottled Evian and pink Crocs crowd on the first half mile of trail though. I don't know if the backcountry is still crowd-free in late Fall however. It's been a while since I've been doing a lot of hiking. Used to be fun to go see the elk bugling in Fall. Hundreds of them in one place. But now you have thousands of people surrounding the hundreds of elk - half of them trying to perch their baby on top of one to get a selfie. Idiots.
 
Haertig said:
I definitely prefer the "get away from it all" vacations over the "get in the middle of it all" ones. But I guess that depends on personal taste. e.g., For me, going to Las Vegas has zero appeal. Going to New York City, Washington, D.C., etc. - zip, nada, you probably couldn't pay me enough to go there. However, if someone wants to make me a substantial payment offer, I'll at least listen to the pitch (then stay in my hotel room and read probably). National parks used to be good. Some may still be. But here in Colorado, you have to make reservations to get into Rocky Mountain National Park. You've got to sign up for buses to get to the Maroon Bells. It's ridiculous. Just too many people these days. Used to be, about ten years ago when I was still doing a lot of hiking, you could go into Rocky Mountain in late October or early November and enjoy the backcountry trails pretty much all by yourself. You had to get past the bottled Evian and pink Crocs crowd on the first half mile of trail though. I don't know if the backcountry is still crowd-free in late Fall however. It's been a while since I've been doing a lot of hiking. Used to be fun to go see the elk bugling in Fall. Hundreds of them in one place. But now you have thousands of people surrounding the hundreds of elk - half of them trying to perch their baby on top of one to get a selfie. Idiots.
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It's gotten like that in the Smokies as well. Over 14 million visitors last year. #1 visited park in the states. I hate it. Used to in the winter you could go anywhere and likely see NO ONE. There mostly isn't an off season anymore. We go to the national forest more now. But it's still a beautiful place, and I want to see as many parks as I can while I can.
 
Thanks to all of you for some great ideas and responses!

We've been to most of the US states (except for two, I believe: Maine and Alaska). We'd planned on taking the kids with us when we go to Alaska this summer, but it was outside their budgets, so our closest option would be in a town called Drumheller, AB for the incredible landforms and the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, which is one of the best in North America.

We usually try to get away every 6-8 weeks or so to visit the five National Parks and the monuments in Utah, since it's only a 4-6 hour drive. And of course visiting the brats in Phoenix and Seattle, both places I can handle for short periods of time. But this time we're going to places where neither of us have been; Dawn has spent time in Europe while I've never been there; she's never been to Asia, which I have.

Our first choice, which we probably can't afford, would be Kenya/Tanzania starting at Olduvai Gorge, where my great-aunt Lucy used to live, and then Ngorongoro Crater and the Zambezi River drainage during the herd migrations. Two other places would be Indonesia/Papua New Guinea or Patagonia (the southern half of Chile and Argentina). Beautiful hikes, views, and some of the best wines in the world!

OTOH, my champagne appetite does not play well with my Boone's Farm Budget, so something more realistic might be Maine and the Maritimes in Canada. It'd be nice to be able to pay the bills when we got back home!

But you've all given me some great ideas; I hope to hear more....
 
I was thinking Russia ;)
There are very nice gorgeous places in there
And not as some people think
Its safer than many other places


Surrounded by lush greenery and snow-capped mountains, this lake is known for its scenic surroundings and also home to different species of flora and fauna.

You can book hiking and wildlife tours around Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is one of the most exotic places to visit in Russia.

Lake Baikal​

1715523675799.png
 
Old Whatshisname said:
Dawn and I like to travel to places where we've never been before, and this next one might be our last big trip. We'll still be going on shorter trips, of course, but given the economy, our ages, and increasing dangers we might run into means this will be limiting us to vacation trips closer to home.

I like doing "ology" stuff: geology, archaeology, paleontology, museums, lectures -- mostly nerdy things. Dawn likes art galleries more than museums, and also likes hiking and some other stuff and doing anthropology and history field work. But with my age (80 this year and with Dawn being (only) 69 (but with a new knee), our backpacking-into-the-wilderness shtick probably won't cut it, so this trip might be a little less strenuous than we'd been doing for the past 35 years.

I figure that we could spend about three weeks and should have enough saved up by next year to spend a maximum of $10k USD. This isn't something that we could just magically find the money for and go whenever; it's pretty important to actually have a plan and itinerary together. I'd love to hear some ideas. Do you have this one place you've been to which you remember as being a great trip? Or maybe you've always wanted to finally take that trip to ------, and do ------ while you're there as the capstone of your "bucket list"?

I'd love to hear any ideas/suggestions!
Click to expand...
You are totally welcome here in Northern Rivers. Fauna and flora are like from no other place...the night sky vibrant and as you've never seen...nor...are the people! Winter there is summer, here. You'll love our beaches...or...my creek! We get plenty of guests...that bring a tent, put it out on the veranda for sleepy time, and make themselves at home. You won't spend anything near $10K...unless you want to! PM me, anytime.
 
Bacpacker said:
Most of our bucket list trips are likely places you've probably been, considering where you live. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, south Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, all the national parks and monuments out there. We also want to hit the northeast, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, upstate NY.
Around here the Appalachian mountains are spectacular.
$10 grand would make for a great trip
Click to expand...
I lived in Maryland (Washington DC suburbs, actually) from when I moved to the States, 1961-1978. The last couple of years before I moved to AZ, I became really interested in Civil War history; since most of the battles were within a couple hundred miles from DC. That was a wonderful experience. I also spent a lot of time doing Revolutionary War battlefields and would also hit the little towns in the Blueridge, wherever there was a bluegrass festival!

But I've been a westerner for over 50 years now; there's still a lot to see. Dawn and I would like to visit Alberta in the late summer, with the Canadian Rockies as well as visiting the town of Drumheller, which is about 100 km from Alberta in the Badlands area. But everything just costs so much....!!
 
I've been to a ton of Civil War sites in the past. Camped in Luray Va for a few days and rode around a bunch of locations Stonewall Jackson rode and made his name. Beautiful Country.
Alberta is somewhere id love to go, doubt ill ever make it there though
 
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