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

Hey - it rained probably half the time I was there or more, pattern was nice in the AM then afternoon and overnight showers. Not big heavy stuff, but enough to want a rain jacket.

Wind also followed the same pattern, light in the AM then ripping off the mountains starting mid-afternoon.

I thought the bus system was excellent and inexpensive. If you’re doing the O - treat yourself to a nicer room at Refugio Frances or Los Curenos on the W section at bare minimum

 

Damn, just had one of the best culinary nights of my life. Drinks at Little Red Door to food at L’Oiseau Blanc in Paris

 

Its a full days travel for sure but I'll throw out new zealand.

 

Been twice, just got back in March from the second trip. Been meaning to get around to posting about it. What do you like to do on vacations?

 

Trip to Montevideo > Buenos Aires > Iguazu > BA next month is shaping up. Super pumped, hotels and most reservations taken care of. THere's a lot of insight on those in this thread, appreciate yall.

First time in South America. Hate to be a nervous nellie American, but for those that have been, what did you do in terms of like backpack/fanny pack/etc. I'm thinking I can pretty much carry my own stuff in pockets and what not, but my GF will likely want to have some sort of bag during the day. Im looking at those like money belts, but they really dont have much storage tbh.

 

I front pocketed my wallet but never had any issues. Just crossbody the bag for peace of mind

**caveat**I was there in 2017, the economy has only gotten worse, so maybe there’s more of that activity now?

 

Thanks. Yea most of the blogs I've seen/read and even our hotel contact in BA said phone snatching and general "tourist" crime is very very high. I think with general awareness and being smart it's totally fine, but bags seems to be an issue themselves.

 

I managed fine basically following these points:
- Wallet in the front pocket.
- Try to wear form fitting clothes so that it’s harder to just reach in and grab without being noticed.
- Two hands on the phone when having it out in a populated area or near the road in general (making it harder for someone to snatch it and drive off).
- At least one hand in the pockets when walking through crowded areas
- Be careful about having your phone on the table at an outdoor cafe, bar or restaurant. Had to be warned about that one since I’m so used to placing my phone on the table when I sit.
- Thankfully didn’t need them but put a back-up card or two in your luggage (+ a back-up phone if you have it)

 

Anyone here ever fly Royal Air Maroc? Thinking of getting business class tickets on the airline for my honeymoon.

 

I've spent the better part of two years in South America and have never had close to a scary experience, but I was talking to a friend this weekend that got robbed in Buenos Aires while she was going for a run at 7:00 AM in Palermo last month.

Front pocket wallet, or just buy a money clip and only carry cash/card (but if you're in Argentina, hopefully you've read about the black market exchange rates and plan on bringing a wad of cash).

I wear my backpack virtually everywhere I go, never had close to an issue. If I'm using my phone on the sidewalk I usually hug the closest building and somewhat turn my body towards it.

Agree with this.

 

Are you going with a significant other? I think that may be the determining factor.

Absolutely love both locations, but Kauai is extremely sleepy so probably best to do that with a SO. Everything closes around 7 PM. It is more "authentic Hawaii" I guess and less touristy, and extremely beautiful. Maui is more of a mixture of beauty but more built up than Kauai and may have more to do in the evening or on days where the weather isn't great. Kauai also gets the most rainfall of all the islands by a pretty wide margin so that is a bigger factor than you think. If you opt for there, I would definitely stay on the Southside near Poipu for much drier weather, but make the road trip up north on a nice day to explore Hanalei Bay for sure.

I love Maui because it is more of a compromise between Kauai and Oahu. It isn't so built up as Oahu, but there is just enough for you to do at night if you want, but it retains most of the natural Hawaiian "feel" of Kauai, if that makes sense.

Definitely do both at some point- Road to Hana vs. Napali Coast would be interesting debate, but both are some of the coolest experiences I've had.

 

Flew it from Casablanca to Marrakech. It was a prop plane. Surprised the aircraft was able to make it off the ground. Don’t think there was business class on that route.

 

haha I used the exact same book. I've only done the South Island but as others have mentioned, Milford Sound and Queenstown are must dos. A lesser visited area that I really enjoyed was Lake Tekapo and Aoraki. Two days is enough there but I thought it was pretty gorgeous scenery.

I also really liked visiting Abel Tasman National Park near Nelson. You can do a sailboat day trip among the islands there for pretty cheap. You're going during a good time of year for that. If you're interested I will try to find the company I used. We had about 5-6 people on the sailboat and it a was really nice hiking and enjoying the beach and ocean.

I do think that doing both islands in 10 days is very ambitious. I think I did the South Island in 10 and felt it was hard to fit everything in.

 

Spent a week in BA last month. Stayed in Palermo near Don Julio. Felt really sketch for the first day but once I found my bearings I felt really safe.

I spent a day walking around the area around the Congress building, Obelisk, Pink House, etc with $3k worth of camera gear on my back. I felt sketched out by that but had no real issues. My camera bag does have a rain cover that covers all zippers so I used that to hide it a bit more.

Most suggestions here have been covered but I'd also add that if you have a bag, keep it on the front of you. You'll see a lot of locals doing this. It's easier to monitor so no one can get into it without you knowing.

Also, at night you might just want to Uber or cabify. No need to be walking around needlessly when cabs are so cheap. We did walk around Palermo at all hours of the night and had no issues but that's up to your safety threshold.

Look into typical Argentinian fashion for the time you're visiting. You're going to stick out as a tourist but there are some dead giveaways. Flip flops for example. Locals do not wear them because the sidewalks are janky and you'll stub your toes. So if they see someone wearing flip flops it's a dead giveaway that they're not local.

La Boca definitely felt more sketch and a complete waste of time. I set aside half a day for it and really regretted it.

As with any big city crime, it's usually a crime of opportunity. Don't make yourself more of a target than you need to be and you'll be fine.

 

There are pretty compelling reviews out there if you search. Oneworld partner so if you go the revenue route you can get some good earnings for AA or AS...

 

Looking back, I used to walk 1+ mile home at 2 am in BsAs a lot. Probably dumb.

Lucky I'm so physically imposing...

 

Trying to use chase points to book a room at the Ritz in St Thomas in July and it says it’s sold out/booked. If you go to the actual Ritz website it isn’t sold out. Guess I’m gonna have to call Chase. Anyone experience something similar before?

 

Ritz somewhat operates on its own rules within the Marriott kingdom, so might have blackout dates on points usage. Still call Chase though

 

That Ritz doesn't take Chase points. Pivoting to different options. Just priced out the Ritz in Turks and Caicos . Also La Samanna a Belmond property in St. Martin. Anyone been to either hotel? Anyone been to Turks and Caicos or St. Martin and have thoughts on those areas?

 

The flights into St. Barts are crazy expensive. You fly out of Charlotte to Puerto Rico then to St. Barts. Cheapest one is like $2300 from where I am. Also the flight leaves here at 7AM and doesn't get into St Barts until 6PM

 

Yea I’d just rent some jet skis in PR and save some coin

 

Caribbean always seems expensive unless you can get on one of those budget airlines.

 

Look at flying out of New Orleans. They have good flights to Central and S America, not sure about the Caribbean though.

 

Yeah, everywhere to the Caribbean is absurd from Atlanta.

 

As someone who hates the Caribbean and never goes there I wasn't aware of how expensive the flights are. That's completely crazy it costs so much to fly not that far.

 

It's not high on my list either, but it is objectively beautiful. Great if you wanna veg out and not do a lot.

Also expensive on arrival. Gump's an ambulance chaser tho, he'll be aight

 

Turks and Caicos flights were $752 for American and $1075 for Delta. St. Martin flights are $812 for American and $1087 for Delta. Comfort plus is $1,295 a seat. $700ish isn't terrible. I don't feel like flights in the low $1000s are that bad. But fuck paying $2k for a flight that isn't taking you to Europe.

 

Agree, which is why I don't travel there that often. I was trying to get to Marsh Harbour from Florida and it was over $1,500 pp for economy on Delta. Silver Airways was like $350pp.

My parents went to Turks last year and loved it but said the flights, accommodations and everything were extremely expensive and said it would have been cheaper to go to Hawaii.

 

Turks was kinda meh. Felt like Gulf of Florida. Nothing unique or interesting. Mega hotels on a hot beach, chairs everywhere from said hotels blocking sand, and everything was EXPENSIVE as fuck

 

Miami customs is a disaster & AA basically owns the Caribbean out of Miami.

 

I told my wife that. She was looking at the Ritz. I said the Ritz in Turks looks like the damn Phoenix X in Orange Beach. Giant 20 story high rise condo but just has immaculate sand and crazy beautiful water. Turks looks awesome if you just want to lay on the beach and see beautiful water. I've flown through there before and it legitimately had the prettiest water I've ever seen. But I'm interested in the BVIs, USVIs, and these other islands like St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Martin, etc. Would like to get out and about and see the area and culture while I'm there. We traveled to the Caribbean a good bit as a kid and I love it. Would rather go to Europe but the max the wife wants to leave my 1 year old daughter with my MIL is 5 days . Obviously can't do Europe in 5 days. So I'm cool with this plan. 99% doing the Belmond on St. Martin.

 

I think some can be better. St John will always have a place in my heart

I was just looking at Cancun and I can get there from ATL for like $650. Every other island is 1k direct from Atlanta.

 

I love beaches, but way more drawn toward the remote, Bohemian vibe than anything else.

It's probably like some repressed childhood trauma, but I feel awkward at resorts and fancy places with people aggressively waiting on me.

 

Yeah, we always have a house keeper. She shoes me away constantly when I'm trying to wash dishes or clean up after my son made a mess or generally clean up. I get it, it's her job...but still feel super awkward doing nothing. Would feel like a dick.

 

why do you hate the Caribbean? I'm curious as someone who has only been to the Bahama and St. Thomas.

 

Cancun deals pop up all the time. I flew direct from Tampa there 3 weeks ago for like $320 round trip on Jet Blue.

 

I'm planning on spending some time in Northern Michigan for a long weekend this summer hiking, outside etc..

I was looking at places to stay, and it sorta struck me how few hostels there are in American cities compared to most other places. Does anyone have any idea why this is, other than the fact that Americans in the 18-35 age bracket travel internationally far less per capita than our peers from Europe/Canada/Aussie/NZ?

This makes me want to try and start one in the US, obviously some cities are far more desirable than others. Places like Charleston, Miami, Austin, etc..
This seems as good of a place to ask the question as any.

 

Room 15

 

Headed to Big Sky, Montana in mid July for a bachelor party. Any recs for activities or restaurants or companies to assist in planning fish,hiking, etc. ?

 

Hi yes I’m starting a hostel AMA

 

I'd be very curious to hear the details, can shoot you a DM if you are more comfortable discussing it there.

Part of me thinks that more remote spots (out of the way beach towns, lake spots up here in the Midwest, etc) might have a better chance of succeeding.

 

el tigre perezoso

 

Nah I’m happy to talk about it, was gonna post again about it in here soon anyways.

https://lazytigerhostel.com/

basic story is there. Opening up in July, God willing. Been a long journey over the last 5 years, but getting close.

IMO the best bet is to find towns where real estate costs haven’t sky rocketed yet. Big cities would be hard to do unless you had a lot of capital behind you and built a big hostel + bar or music venue or something else.

 

This will likely be the brand of my white label beer

 

I'm sold, Charlotte is home for me and hiking up there in the fall is the best. Can't wait to see it.

 

The TMB discount is real

tell your friends plz

 

Honeymoon is set. NYC to Athens, Athens to Santorini, Santorini to Naples, Rome to NYC. 14 total days. Any and all recommendations are welcome for anywhere in between.