Favorite Vacation Spots?

[JUMBO PALACE]

Hey Everyone. I've always liked to travel and see new places and people. I spent a couple weeks this past summer in the car with my best friend and we did a road trip around the US. We live in New Jersey so we flew to Colorado to begin in Denver and cut out the Midwest, rented a car, and proceeded to hit a number of national parks, cities, and other spots we had always wanted to go to. Ever since then I've been even more itchy to see new places, so I wanted to ask the members of the Escapist about where they've been and what they consider must-sees. It can be in the USA or anywhere else in the world.

I have a little over $4,000 extra cash saved up from bonuses, tax returns, etc, and I'm trying to decide if I might want to take my girlfriend on a really nice trip or start going to national parks and mini trips every couple weeks. I live in NJ so driving distance is cool but flying is not off the table at all. I'm a very physical person so hiking and out-doors stuff is awesome.

Just to avoid repeats, here's a number of the places I've been and our itinerary for the trip. Happy to talk about any of them if anyone else has been or is interested going.

Denver-Yellowstone-Salt Lake City-Reno-Lake Tahoe-Yosemite-San Francisco-Drive down Pacific Coast Highway-Vegas-Grand Canyon-Through Texas and various southern states-home.

1 week in Italy: Venice-Florence-Rome-Sorrento

A couple of tropical vacations: Punta Cana and the Bahamas

 

[jademunky]

Depends, I would probably do the Vegas thing myself since I had a blast there on my honeymoon and I dont even gamble. If you are renting a car, you can see the Grand Canyon as well (we did not, too wiped after the wedding, also had to miss several concerts we planned on attending due to simple weariness).

It sounds like you want an adventure rather than a vacation though. If it were me, I would just spend the week in Vegas (or maybe 4 days there, 3 at various national parks).

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Thailand. Always something going on in Thailand.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Macedonia & Albania.

All the benefits of a vacationing at the Mediterranean, but at less than half the cost and nowhere near as 'touristy' as say Greece, Italy or Spain. My advise would be to rent a car and just tour around them, going to whatever places strike your fancy and see what you discover. They're very road trip-friendly. It does help that I have several good friends from there. It makes it much easier to find all the best spots to eat, drink, party, go swimming, hiking, and so on.

 

[Guffe]

My extra money goes on trips to Liverpool to watch Liverpool play football!
We're going to Scotland with my GF in a couple of weeks to Isle of Skye.
Sun isn't the most important part for relaxation, she likes to photograph and I like pubs and football

 

[sageoftruth]

My desk. Nothing beats the good ol' desk.

I've got quite a setup. I can play games, watch videos, write stories, or just rest if I feel like it. If I need company, my roommate is just outside, and if I need to be more social than that, I've got plenty of other groups and events that can help get me good and tired of being social again.

The privacy and freedom make it far more relaxing than any high-stress trip to another state or county. Years of vacationing in other countries as a child taught me that.

 

[Llardino]

I like to run, especially I like to run along the coast of the sea, I dream of running along the coast of the ocean

 

[Rshiella]

On my next vacation, I will go with my family to Pattaya, this is the main mainland resort of Tailayda, and as the capital of the sex industry)

 

[aureloiz]

I like playing football on my free time. [http://siriusblack.org/ginseng/] Just passing time with friends and play one or two hours. [http://mr-ginseng.com/ginseng/]

 

[Randomosity]

The Bad Lands up in South Dakota are good fun. A good time for climbing and hiking.

 

[Lisker84]

I second Vegas. They have a lot of stuff like pyramids and castles modeled after real places, and it's almost as good as the real thing

 

[justinrhodes]

My favorite vacation spot is Hawaii.

 

[Artina89]

I go to Montreal quite a lot as I have a lot of friends that live out there. It is especially fun to go and see a hockey game, and if you go up to the top of Parc du Mont Royale you can see a lot of the Montreal skyline which is quite breathtaking, especially at night.