Trying to book our 20-year anniversary for next summer.

Budget ~$6k-$8k

Some of the Choices thus far...

Alaskan Cruise
Sandals Resort in Grenada or St. Lucia (Been to one in Jamaica for Hmoon - we do not drink so a little pricey)
California Coast (never been so I have no clue what to do)
Bermuda
Europe (she doesn't care to go which might be pointless for me to list)

Places we have been...

Many cruises
NYC
Hawaii


Do you have any suggestions?

Went on a Med cruise last May out of Rome. Lots of fun. Going on a 12 day cruise this year out of London, should be fun.

I've been to London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Dublin, Frankfurt and other places in Europe. All are fun and reasonable as far as money goes.

Hawaii is always fun and easy to do. Not that expensive. No customs, use the US dollar and some people even speak English.

My favorite is a 3 hour drive to San Antonio because I hate airports and commercial flying. Plus, I'm a cheap %@&$. My wife is sick of San Antonio but she's nice and goes with me once a year.

Do you ever do Guided Tours in Europe?

caleblyn said:

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Do you ever do Guided Tours in Europe?

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I've done a couple with my son. We had a fantastic time. The ones we did were designed for families, so there were other kids around. There are others that are more geared toward adults.

Something you might enjoy is a European river cruise. I've never done one, but I've heard great things.

No, we just go over there and wing it. I'm not against guided tours, we've done some day trip tours. If I were going to Israel I would go with a tour group. I think we will do that next year.

With your budget I think you can do some cool stuff.

Disclaimer: I'm an airline employee so we take a lot of trips on a whim and thus don't put a lot of thinking into it.

I didn't mention it, but for a long time Bora Bora was the choice. It was eliminated due to having to travel so much just to get there. I guess that same logic eliminates NZ

Went to north California coast and San Francisco for 10-year last summer. Loved it!

Two trips we've done that you might consider.
Bali - we flew 1st class but it was very economical once you get to Bali. We had a villa, driver for 8 hrs per day, butler, chef, and houseman. We spent msybe 150 on groceries for really good meals. We also ate out which was not bad. Great trip.

French Polynesia - flew coach but spent a coupke nights in overwater bungalows on Raiatea, a week on a catamaran ( with two other couples that we knew plus the captain/chef couple), and 3 more nights on Moorea. You could go to either with your budget.

What have your favorite trips involved? Do you prefer lounging on a beach, walking around and exploring a city, or hiking? Is photography important to you?

Where do you live? IAH has direct flights to Auckland

my mom and step dad do quite a bit of traveling. in the last couple of years, they have really enjoyed taking Tauck Tours.

Seven Costanza said:

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What have your favorite trips involved? Do you prefer lounging on a beach, walking around and exploring a city, or hiking? Is photography important to you?

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We really like all of the above. I have been on many cruises and one Sandals resort which all include a great deal of lounging. We have been to Hawaii which included some lounging and some site seeing. We saw every square inch of Maui. We have been to NYC where we walked about 10 miles per day. All of these we loved very much.

I do like photography. Traveling to go see something each day is fine but hours of traveling each day is not as appealing. We have an offer to go stay at a friend's condo in Anchorage. This is tempting, but it sounds like each day would take about 2 hours of traveling to go see something.

I live in Baton Rouge and will fly out of New Orleans due to my in-laws living down there. Anyhow, it will take two flights to g somewhere.

I appreciate the comments!

National Geographic Expeditions and Tauck both offer small group tours that focus on a theme. For example, Tauck has several Ken Burns themed trips (in the US and abroad). They also offer a couple of European river cruises that travel to the Christmas markets. Nat Geo Expeditions offers a trip that is focused all on D-Day, and they also offer some photography-themed trips. These trips (especially Nat Geo) might push your budget a bit, but they are worth a look.

Two more suggestions are the Galapagos or Macchu Picchu.

And a couple more companies that I've looked at that offer some unique/interesting travel opportunities are Backroads Travel (they focus on biking/hiking trips all over the world) and Uncruise. Both of these are on my wish list for future trips for myself and my son.

What about Costa Rica? You can do some of the beach/lounging stuff and also explore a great city in San Jose, as well as the rainforests. It is a beautiful place.

So...funny thing happened today. My wife told me she wants to go to California. I want to go to Europe. I think we will compromise and go to California!

Anyhow, I now need California advice.

We absolutely loved our Alaska Cruise. For that budget you could do a suite. My wife is typically a warm beach person but even she loved it. The beauty and grandeur of Alaska is special. I would do a south to north cruise from Seattle or Vancouver to Seward, and then do the added land trip to Denali.

Quote:

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So...funny thing happened today. My wife told me she wants to go to California. I want to go to Europe. I think we will compromise and go to California!

Anyhow, I now need California advice.

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If it was me.

I would do Northern California Focus.

Fly into SFO.
Head over to Half Moon Bay/Carmel/Monterrey for day or two on the coast.
Drive San Francisco for a night or two and hit all the touristy stuff (Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Cars, Dining)
Drive over to Napa for a couple nights and do the wine tasting and great eating and relax.

Depending on your schedule.

You could head up to Lake Tahoe for a couple nights (Spend some time on the lake, Hiking, go to the top of one of the gondolas and check out the views, relax)

Then Fly out of Reno back home.

Don't miss Big Sur, Pt. Lobos, Carmel.

If you spend time in San Fran be sure to visit Muir Woods to the north for a quick walk under the giant redwoods.