The New Travel Thread: Now with write ups in the OP

Goldenbear_hk_84 Ever been to Halong Bay? You live in Hong Kong right? Seems like you probably would know the most about SE asia.

 

When are you going again? You ready? Gonna be awesome.

 

Southwest just mailed me four drink coupons for no reason.

That's quite lovely of them.

 

I've never even had them make me pay for drinks

 

Ark already had to read this but I think it's funny:

In the last hour I've booked a United flight, got SWA coupons, got my AA credit card and have been asked to join Delta Platinum

 

If you are looking to get off the beaten path, Georgia (the country) is pretty awesome. I went for two weeks in August and the mountains are even more beautiful than Colorado, they are the birthplace of wine and have their own unique styles, it's ridiculously cheap and the food is different but good. The people are also probably the most hospitable people I've experienced.

 

Countdown is officially on.
-42 days until our fiscal year ends
-67 days until I leave for Cope and Berlin
-80 days until I put in my notice
-104 days until I leave for Asia

But I'm not keeping track or anything.

 

I feel like I should start reading this thread more often but i mostly travel domestic. is this thread only for international travel?

permission to ask a question on San Diego
booked flight for wife and I for MLK weekend in January. She doesn't know I booked the flight and I plan on telling her on her 30th birthday in December. Part of me wants to lock up an Airbnb before December so I have more options to choose from. Does anyone have a suggestion on the best area or neighborhood in SD? Already favorited a few in the North Park and Hillcrest areas

we're obviously going to go to the zoo, gaslamp quarter, la jolla at some point over the 4 days we're there. we prefer to live like the locals when we go so being close to restaurants/bars/retail is a plus.

 

Anyone been to Aruba lately? Think gf and I are going to go there late April-early May.

 

Plenty of domestic in here. I've done San Diego a few times this year, and if it were me I'd stay in ocean beach, pacific Beach, or gas lamp

 

North Park and Hillcrest are both great. Going to get much more of a locals scene there than if you are downtown. North park is more the hipster area, Hillcrest is the gay area. The main area for both is along University. Between the two you'd probably rather stay in North Park. Plenty of restaurants and bars walking distance. Pretty much everything in Hillcrest is gay bars, but a great area to go grab brunch. Most tourists are going to stay downtown (Gaslamp, Little Italy, East Village). There's definitely more restaurants and bars down there than in North Park/Hillcrest but its going to be a lot more people. If you're more into a locals scene you're probably better up in North Park. Easy uber ride downtown if you want to hang out there.

 

appreciate it. we will probably end up in north park in that case. if it was summer we'd probably try to find something closer to the beach but that isn't the main attraction for us this time around.

forgot to mention that we will likely do a bit of brewery hopping too so all suggestions appreciated

 

Hit one of the ballast point brew pubs. I liked Bolt brewery in little Italy, mission brewery, Coronado brewing and modern times were the other ones I've made it to.

Re: the beaches. Lots of good food and drink down there even when it's not beach season. Those are my favorite areas just to hang out in

 

Modern Times is my favorite SD brewery. Ballast point in Little Italy and thorn street are a couple of other favorites. Blind Lady Ale house and Toronado are also both great places with great beer selections.

 

I stayed in Gaslamp and loved it EMAW FC

I had never done shared uber/lyft before there and was surprised how cheap it was to get around if you didn't mind an extra passenger along the way

 

No I have not. I've been to Guilin/Yangshuo in southern China, which has a similar type of scenery with the limestone erosion patterns. I see trips there advertised from all the travel agents in Hanoi, I guess you usually take a bus or some shuttle transport from Hanoi, and then on to some chartered junk or boat to explore the bay. I am pretty sure some of the other posters here have been through there. I have been to Hanoi and Saigon numerous times when I used to cover that market for work.

 

I'd say one good thing about Hanoi is that the old city center has been better preserved(less renovation etc) compared to other big cities throughout Asia. If you are staying a few nights, then the old quarter is the place to be. The beer street at night is good, and there are plenty of tasty pho, banh mi, and bun cha places around.

 

You were ASKED to join Delta platinum? How does that work?

 

Just a solicitation, didn't mean to make it seem fancy

 

Oh, I thought you were talking about Platinum Medallion Status.

 

I've heard from most everyone that has traveled Vietnam that it gets much seedier the further North you get. I've always understood the people in Saigon and in the South are much, much friendlier, whereas in the North everyone's trying to rip you off and there's still a lot of anti-American sentiment. Would you agree with this?

Several people I've met abroad have advised me to say I'm from Canada when in North Vietnam. Not in a dangerous way, but they really dislike the US (for obvious reasons).

 

Anybody have any insight on Iceland? Thinking that may be my next trip.

 

I've heard that, but also met a few people that told me it was totally overblown.

 

ask away. some good posts ITT but i have no idea what pages.

 

I imagine it's definitely overblown a bit, but it's also easy to see how they still hate the US, and I've read/heard so much I have to think there's some truth in there.

 

southside is currently in South Africa and posting pictures to social media that make me want to shoot myself

 

Went in May for 2 weeks. A few good write ups somewhere in here.

 

there's a really good tangent in the presidential thread about shooting yourself if you need tips

 

ive got plenty of guns and i know how to work them so i think i'll be alright. that thread would just make it worse

 

Let me just explain a bit about my travels in Vietnam. They have always been business trips. I have probably been to both Saigon and Hanoi about 8 times each, and Da Nang just once. Usually I was going in to meet with (potential) customers and local distributors, but I would also make time to see both cities on my own free time. I have never met any Vietnamese of any age who showed any ill will towards me, knowing I was an American and also working for an American company too. I would usually go in on a Saturday to have the weekend for sightseeing, spend a couple days each in Hanoi and Saigon, and then stay on until the following Sunday for the short return flight to HK. In general I would say my experience was that Saigon was more 'seedy' compared to Hanoi. Taxi drivers were much more likely to try to take advantage in Saigon. The nightlife & girlie bars are much more open in Saigon. Also at a bar in Saigon was just about the only place where I have seen in Asia where pot was being used openly. To me it is almost like Beijing compared to Shanghai. The capital is where the communists rule, things are kept under control. The further away you go, the more liberal things become. But I never ever encountered any anti-American sentiment, even when I visited a hospital in Saigon that had a ward for children affected by Agent Orange. The last time I was in Hanoi was May/June, and Obama happened to be there too. I saw hundreds of Viets waiting on the streets to catch a glimpse of his motorcade, and I believe in Saigon there were millions that lined his route into town. The main complaints I had as a visitor to Vietnam were the noise levels you must endure riding in a taxi(bring headphones or earplugs), and when walking around touristy areas you will be asked every 50 yards or so to buy something by vendors. But they never touch you, so to me, compared to other places they are just a minor nuisance and not very aggressive. The population is very young, their economy is growing, they really value education, I always have enjoyed my visits there.

 

Anyone know anything of EVA Air out of Taiwan? Lots of good cheap flights from the west coast to various cities in East Asia

 

Funny thing, that crappy $150 Sony cybershot I had been using for years broke the morning I was leaving. Hit a Best Buy on the way to the airport and bought the only DSLR camera they had left...best thing to happen to me. These pics are ridiculous.

Africa is so awesome. Just spent 4 days in the Kruger park area at this lodge on a river where I was the only guest. Headed to Cape Town tomorrow for the week.

 

you better share some here, but don't host them on here. probably get compressed to smithereens

 

Who's got Rec's for west bay, Honduras? All inclusive preferably my buddies at work are suggesting Mayan princess so I'm just looking for other equivalent alternatives or better.

 

According to this its a 10 ten world airline.

http://www.worldairlineawards.com/awards/world_airline_rating.html

 

Stayed at an airbnb in Point Loma. Had an amazing view of the harbor and downtown and it was just a 6-8$ uber ride to get downtown. Took a few morning jogs to the sunset cliffs which were amazing.

One thing I highly recommend is the sunset cruise with sail San Diego. Not that expensive and you get to hang out on a sail boat with free alcohol for three hours. My gf loved it. Ballast point in the little Italy area was cool as well.

 

I'm actually digging the vibe of Montevideo. Maybe because it's just in sharp contrast to BA but it's much less crowded, nice people, right on the water.

Hostel is dead though which sucks

 

Any recommendations for Seattle/PNW/Vancouver? Spending a couple of days up there soon.

 

Where in Seattle?

 

Right next to key arena but I do have a car as well.

 

If its really soon and the Sounders are still in the playoffs, try to catch a game.

 

Lots of low fares to London through March 2017 back up. Low 300's from Boston and NYC

 

If you're (general sense of the word) in the SE and relatively near Charlotte, most flights between CLT and NYC are in the $150 range. Just FYI.

 

Yeah Charlotte and charleston are both cheap to NYC. Charlotte to Boston is cheap too

 

Been in Seattle the last couple months for work. Good that you have a car as the best eats are outside downtown (other than Pike). Use this as your food guide: http://seattle.eater.com/ - Go to the eater 38 and hot now lists and pick out what sounds good to you.

 

Posted this in the CC thread too, but I thought it was interesting.

Cliffs: these new travel agents find points deals and help you figure out how and where to transfer your different types of points (e.g. Amex, Chase UR, etc) to get the best travel deals.

http://www.cntraveler.com/story/why-you-should-hire-points-hackers-to-book-your-next-flight

 

Not really the same type of travel most in here are doing. But does anyone have any dinner recs for the Kiawah island area? Friends that have gone do not recommend trying to go up into Charleston unless you have a driver. So, going to try to avoid that. We are staying in a house on the island with access to all of the Kiawah clubs, so those are options, I guess.

 

You can uber downtown, or take a cab to johns island. The restaurants that are in the clubs are very good. Fischers makes good food at bohicket, only had drinks at nacho mamas but I've heard positive things about the food, they're new. Don't eat at red's their food sucks but they have a nice porch for drinking. King Street grille is mediocre. Chez fish is good stuff