Hi everyone and welcome to Travel Tuesday. I finally managed to get it together on a Tuesday to write this post. Well actually I wrote most of it last night but I planned ahead and that deserves points. Travel points? I have a one track mind...
My plan is to talk about something related to travel every Tuesday. If you ever want to write a guest post, please let me know :)
Where to Go
It's not secret that I have a bit of a travel addiction. Since I love travel so much, it's very hard for me to decide where I want to. Anyone remember my endless list of possibilities for our honeymoon? Oh boy! Clearly I'm not an expert but I do have some ideas for places to go based on my own experience. I am going to divide each category into budget, mid-range and splurge. Of course, this depends a bit on where you live- Sydney would be a huge splurge for me but if you live in Australia, it may be a road trip for you :)
If you are looking for a city...
Chicago- Chicago is a great city to visit- nice to look at and lots of great things to do... not to mention deep dish pizza. My favorite things to do in Chicago include taking an endless number of pictures at "the bean," doing an Architecture River Cruise, and seeing a Second City performance.
San Francisco- What's not to love about San Francisco? Well... actually I'm not a huge fan of the food there to be honest, but the wine more than makes up for that! Anyway, everyone should bike over the Golden Gate Bridge at least once and if you want to go shopping for a bit, you can always entertain your male counterpart with a little Bushman watching (this entertained Eric and my brother for hours, not kidding). Alcatraz and Sausalito are worth a ferry ride as well. If you are in the area, it's obviously worth a visit to Muir Woods and Napa/Sonoma.
Sydney- I really just LOVE Sydney, that's all I can say. Well, I can say more: it's worth the crazy plane ride just to experience the beautiful Australian accents and "no worries" attitude. If you make it there, visit the Opera House, climb the Harbor Bridge (if you dare), take a ferry to Manly Beach and walk the amazing cliffs from Bondi to Coogee.
If you are looking for relaxation...
Cape Cod- It's no secret that Eric and I love the Cape. There is just the right number of things to do, but also time for relaxation. While I love to think of the Cape as unique, I also think that most people have a coastal or lake area similar in their area. What's yours?
Florida- Truth be told, I'm not a HUGE fan of Florida. However, when it comes to relaxation that is not going to cost an arm and leg (unless you try to fly on school vacation weeks), Florida really can't be beat. I like how areas like Miami have beautiful beaches but also great restaurants and entertainment. Just be careful, there is also some not-so-nice areas of Florida and I'm not sure if Disney World really counts as "relaxing" (though it's fun in it's own way).
Big Island, Hawaii- Eric and I went to the Big Island for the first half of our honeymoon and it was amazing. The landscape is awesome and very unique, black lava meets gorgeous ocean and in a totally different way than the Greek islands. It's totally possible to spend days on end at the beach, swim with dolphins or enjoy some of the tourist spots. For the ultimate relaxation you absolutely have to try snorkeling or scuba diving with the manta rays!
If you are looking for outdoor adventure...
New Hampshire- In the summer, I have the following favorites on my list of things to do in NH: waterskiing, wakeboarding, rafting, hiking and swimming. In the winter, NH is known for it's skiing, snowboarding and snow mobiling. If that's not enough outdoor adventure for you, I don't know what is.
Arizona- Between the beautiful hikes of Sedona and the crazy mule rides of the Grand Canyon, what more can you really ask for? Or if you prefer to go Eric's route, you can just throw snow balls into the Grand Canyon for a little perception on just how LARGE it really is.
New Zealand- To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the NZ outdoor adventure while I was there, but I did enjoy the outdoors. You can read more about my NZ adventures here and here. Thought I didn't try it out myself, New Zealand is known for it's bungee jumping and ski diving. So, outdoor extreme adventures!
If you are looking for history...
Boston- I might be a little bias, but Boston does have a LOT of history. Walking the Freedom Trail will give you a huge sense of Boston's history and you can reward yourself at the end of the walk with a tasty North End dinner. If you really love history you can take short trips out of the city to experience even more history- think witch trials and the Revolutionary War :)
Washington DC- Personally I just really like Washington DC and I haven't been there in about 8 years so I need to get back. You can see the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress, and Arlington National Cemetery (plus a billion more). Or you can go to my favorite place- The Air and Space Museum... I don't know why I just find it cool.
Rome/Athens... pretty much any city in Europe- Unless you are exploring Native American history, American history simply does not go back as far as European history and that makes European cities awesome to visit. Eric and my favorite thing about Athens was the fact that you'd be strolling through a modern city when all of a sudden...
Oh just the Colosseum... no big deal. Amazing. Man I love travel.
Now it's your turn: Where would you recommend for a city, outdoor adventure, relaxation and history?
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fun post! my all-time favorite city is Seville, Spain!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Congrats on kicking off Travel Tuesday. Oh how I would LOVE to visit so many of the places listed. So far I've only done Boston & Florida from that list. Pitiful!
ReplyDeleteI love this. Ditto NZ thoughts: I didn't do any of the crazy outdoor adventures but did some epic hikes and saw some of the most beautiful countryside ever.
ReplyDeleteCity: London, DC, Sydney
Outdoor: New Zealand (Queensland); Chiang Mai, Thailand
Relaxation: Thailand, San Diego
History: South Korea, London, Paris, DC!
I love this new series! You have been so many places!!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't done TOO much traveling and I really want to do more. I just wish it wasn't so darn expensive! So far I have taken some sort of international trip in every even numbered year since 2006. (2006 - Disneyland, 2008 - Germany, 2010 - Europe) so I told Eric we HAVE to take a big International trip in 2012. I'm thinking somewhere TROPICAL!
city: philly. i love it
ReplyDeleteoutdoor adventure: i've never been to anywhere in CO but that's what i think of when i think of outdoor adventure
relaxation: beaches. i've never been to the cape though!
history: versailles
now i want to do lots of traveling this very second ;)
Oh fun! This was awesome to read! I have been to Chicago many times but I Have not done any of the things you recommmended!! So I must do those things on my mext trip!
ReplyDeleteHere's my recommendations:
City: Chicago or New York City
Outdoor adventure: New Zealand or Steamboat Springs, CO
Relaxation: my parents lake cabin!
History: Paris
Wow you have been everywhere!! I love your list
ReplyDeleteCity - Chicago or Detroit
ReplyDeleteRelaxation - Ft. Myers, Florida, Traverse City, MI or Ocho Rios, Jamaica
I'm so jealous of your travels. That's the one thing I feel is missing in my life. I used to travel so much more, but during the past 5 years I've probably traveled three times, and none of those times were anywhere special. Sometimes I think about never having kids, and just traveling! I will definitely have to come back to this post for information one day. This could seriously come in handy.
ReplyDeleteGreat job covering so many places!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for me . . .
City - This one is easy . . . my beloved Paris!!! Honestly I think no other city in the world could be as spectacular! There are views so magnificent you swear they were designed for tourism! :o)
Outdoor Adventure - Banff and Yoho National Parks (British Columbia and Alberta, Canada). Nothing beats those magnificent mountain views. And there is so much to do! Of course how hard core you get is totally up to you . . . but the possibilities are endless!!!
Relaxation - Our wedding resort (Cabo Azul, Los Cabos). It's so ultra luxurious and perfect for an adult relaxing vacation. I dream about going there again . . . for the third time! :oP
History - Int he Americas . . . definitely Washington DC! It's such a magnificent place with such a glorious sense of history! You Americans know how to do a capital the right way!!!
PS I would LOVE to do a guest post for one of these!
ReplyDeleteYou have been to so many wonderful places! I am definitely starring this post! :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't done much travelling, so I'm not going to be great on recommendations, but I did like San Antonio. I think we're headed to Chicago for the summer so I'm really looking forward to that!
ReplyDeleteI love to travel too! There's soooo many places I want to go! I also want to go to every major league baseball park.
ReplyDeleteCity: Tough! I did like Boston! Such a fun city.
Outdoor Adventure: We went to Huntington Beach, CA and loved it. My aunt & uncle are there, so we visited them and did lots of outdoor fun stuff!
Relaxation: Hmm, I don't really ever relax on my vacations! My husband does not like that part of me. :) Maybe Frederickburg, TX
History: I loved Ireland! We went to Galway and Dublin. So beautiful with all the churches and castles!
I love your "Travel Tuesday" idea! Such a great way to share stories.
ReplyDeleteAs for my choices:
City: Dublin. What can I say? Any city where I can get drunk with multiple generations of my family is aces in my book.
Outdoor Adventure: Berner Oberland, Switzerland. There's so much to see and do (although it can be a wee bit expensive).
Relaxation: I don't really do 'relaxation' when I travel (I get pissy if I have to sit on a beach for more than a day), but I loved Zanzibar Island, Tanzania. Beautiful beaches and enough activities to shut me up.
History: York, England. You can have tea in the third most haunted building in England and watch the closed camera to the room where the lost Roman legion was spotted, what's not to love?
City: Austin, Texas where I currently live. It's got the best eclectic live music scene! I mean about every night and weekend days, you can hear music sometimes free and cheap! You name it from rockabilly to rap. Two great nationally known music festivals held here: Austin City Limits and SXSW! It has a variety of museums to see, from photography to history. Best BBQ places and if you're vegan, you'll find even bbq eateries creating dishes to fit your lifestyle! TexMex or authentic interior mexican? we got it. Food Trailers? We got all sorts. At nearby Luckenbach, you can hear awesome live country music and dance!
ReplyDeleteFor Outdoor Adventure in Austin: nearby Mt Bonnell, the trail around Townlake, you can rent kayaks and learn to scull on TownLake, or go to Lake Austin and sail. Camping on Lake Austin as well. Come during the Spring and you'll see an abundance of wildflowers and vist LadyBird Wildflower Center.
Relaxation in or around Austin: Everything above! and yeah Fredericksburg, texas is the best place to relax at a bed and breakfast!
last but not least History: How bout I just give you a map of all the missions of Texas, including the Alamo, so you can see and read about the history of the making of our great state. We have a wonderful museum of our History in Austin.
Yes, I'm from Texas but I don't work for the travel industry. I just love my state. I also love the Sox and it's how I found your blog! Love it and hope you and your hubby will visit here.