Where have you travelled (going to travel) open thread

[Smallc]

Cold fronts are no fun when you've paid for what you were hoping would be a sunny beach vacation. Can't blame the hotel or the city for the weather though!

Definitely not. It's just less likely to be cold further south in PV (it was apparently cold when we were there - the locals were wearing sweaters. At 25 degrees it was amusing to me to see people all bundled up.

[Bryan]

Definitely not. It's just less likely to be cold further south in PV (it was apparently cold when we were there - the locals were wearing sweaters. At 25 degrees it was amusing to me to see people all bundled up.

In all the years I've been going to Cuba, I've only seen temps that 'low' once (and it was in Varadero). Days in the 30s were the norm in Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Coco. It is funny to see people considering mid-20s to be cold, for sure.

[Smallc]

In all the years I've been going to Cuba, I've only seen temps that 'low' once (and it was in Varadero). Days in the 30s were the norm in Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Coco. It is funny to see people considering mid-20s to be cold, for sure.

My brother was really unlucky. One day, it was in the mid teens.

[Benz]

I went in Cuba (Varadero) in 1991. So I am not a good reference. The hotel was new and I had a good time. But I know someone who went to the same hotel 20 years later and it was not comparable.

[-TSS-]

Freedom will spoil Cuba. Much to the disappointment of 50's cars fanatics the Cunans may even start having modern cars on their roads.

[-TSS-]

Is it common that Americans or Canadians have travelled extensively in Europe but have never explored their own continent? Countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador etc?

The usual excuse for Americans for their lack of travel is that it is expensive. I'm sure they are right that it is expensive to cross the ocean. However, it can't be that expensive to travel to South-America.

Or is it that you just don't care the rest of the American continent?

 

 

 

[Altai]

Nope I have never travelled to another country and I dont want to. My grandma went to US about 2 weeks ago and my little brother will be there in Jenuary. I will probably never leave my country during my life (except Saudi Arabia).

[msj]

People travel, or not, for lots of reasons. Some good, others not.

I've been up and down the west coast of Canada/US from Port Hardy to San Diego and over to Maui and Honolulu.

Nice places, nice to live in this area, it's boring as hell. 

Been through the CDN Rockies to Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg.  Still boring as hell. 

Been to Europe and find the Mediterranean nice (Greece) otherwise France, Holland, and Germany are like an older version of home with better food/wine/museums.  

Ecuador was fine but it too is like visiting Europe although the wildlife is cool.  

SE Asia is where I feel most at home: a combination of similar outlook on life, good food, pleasant surroundings....the wine is always too warm, the beer isn't very good ...

It's always a trade off between new cultures, new food, new/unfamiliar  this vs old/familiar  that etc... and  warm or cold, adventurous or laid back, etc etc....

My father has taken a cruise to Alaska and thinks I'm nuts getting all my vaccines so I can travel to Cambodia. 

I think he's boring for wasting his time on Alaska.

To each their own.

 

 

[overthere]

2 hours ago, -TSS- said:

Is it common that Americans or Canadians have travelled extensively in Europe but have never explored their own continent? Countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador etc?

The usual excuse for Americans for their lack of travel is that it is expensive. I'm sure they are right that it is expensive to cross the ocean. However, it can't be that expensive to travel to South-America.

Or is it that you just don't care the rest of the American continent?

 

 

 

Actually. South America is considered a different continent.  

And it is very expensive and time consuming to get to South America for me.  It is likely the most expensive (populated)place in the world for me to get to.....Asia, Europe, Australia are all easier and often much cheaper.  

 

Is cost ever an issue for Europeans when they travel. or is it only a valid excuse for Canadians?

[msj]

1 hour ago, overthere said:

Actually. South America is considered a different continent.  

And it is very expensive and time consuming to get to South America for me.  It is likely the most expensive (populated)place in the world for me to get to.....Asia, Europe, Australia are all easier and often much cheaper.  

I'm curious as to how you travel and from where? 

The flights from Vancouver to Sydney or Ho Chi Min or Munich or Lima all seem to be within similar dollar amounts and amounts of time.  

Certainly some of these places are more convenient from Toronto or Montreal so mileage will vary but it seems to me that the world is pretty small no matter where you choose to go. 

[Smallc]

4 hours ago, -TSS- said:

Is it common that Americans or Canadians have travelled extensively in Europe but have never explored their own continent? Countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador etc?

The usual excuse for Americans for their lack of travel is that it is expensive. I'm sure they are right that it is expensive to cross the ocean. However, it can't be that expensive to travel to South-America.

Or is it that you just don't care the rest of the American continent?

 

Okay, first, South America is just as much another continent separate from North America as Europe is.  The word you're looking for is hemisphere.  Second, it costs just as much to get there as it does to get to Europe, for the most part.  Third, South America is a more violent and less developed place than Europe.  Oh, and the spiders - they scare me.

[The_Squid]

On 10/22/2016 at 0:30 PM, -TSS- said:

I'm sure they are right that it is expensive to cross the ocean. However, it can't be that expensive to travel to South-America.

Or is it that you just don't care the rest of the American continent?

From the west coast of Canada:

$1500+ to fly to Sao Paulo and a 17 hour flight.

$1300 to fly to Helsinki and a 13 hour flight.

 

Even from New York:

$1800, 10 hour flight to Sao Paulo

$700, 7 hour flight to go to somewhere in Europe.

 

I don't think you realize how big and/or far away South America is from North America.

[msj]

We can play this game all day: 

Vancouver to Lima: 14 to 15 hours around $1,200. 

Vancouver to Santiago: 19+ hours around $1,100. 

Vancouver to Paris: 14 hours around $1,100.

Vancouver to Munich: 14 +hours around $1,200. 

Vancouver to Athens: 14+ hours around $1,600. 

Vancouver to Ho Chi Min: 19+ hours around $1,200.

Vancouver to Sydney: 16+ hours around $1,900. 

Etc etc.... 

That 19 hours or so it takes me to get to Ho Chi Min is why I'm taking a month off for travel in December. 

If you are going to go that far which will take a full day of travel on each end then you may as well spend as much time as you can manage to take off while you are there. 

[The_Squid]

My point was responding to the comment about S.America and that it must be cheap to fly there from the other Americas...  it's generally cheaper to get to Europe, if the point is about price.  TSS thought it would be cheap and close for people to go to S. America.

[msj]

I know. 

And my point is that it is going to depend on where one lives, how much one is willing to spend, and how much time one gets to take off to make the investment in time/money worthwhile. 

From Vancouver Island, where I am, SE Asia looks about the same as Europe and South America.  

I'm not sure if I am looking forward to Africa or not:  YVR to Cape Town is 25 hours and $2,200. 

 

[Wilber]

On 2016-10-22 at 0:30 PM, -TSS- said:

Is it common that Americans or Canadians have travelled extensively in Europe but have never explored their own continent? Countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador etc?

The usual excuse for Americans for their lack of travel is that it is expensive. I'm sure they are right that it is expensive to cross the ocean. However, it can't be that expensive to travel to South-America.

Or is it that you just don't care the rest of the American continent?

 

 

 

Western Canadians traveling to South America have to connect through Toronto or LA and may have other stops enroute.  Most destinations in Europe, Asia, Australia NZ etc can be reached non stop from Vancouver. You can now travel direct from Vancouver to Delhi.

[msj]

Yes, that flight to New Delhi is amazing. 14 hours and not even very pricy at $1,400.  Worth the extra few bucks just to save 7+ hours of time.  

[Smallc]

You can also connect through Mexico City now when travelling south to Vancouver.  There are something like 10 flights a week on Aeromexico.  Air Canada also flies direct from Vancouver to Mexico City 7 times a week.

 

I will admit though - it's hard to get very far south without a two stop ticket from where I live.

[-TSS-]

Ok, point taken.

I remember how as a kid I always wondered what's the point of having so many different countries in South- and Central-america because excluding Brazil and a couple of other smaller countries they are all Spanish-speaking. Later on it was easy to realise why there are so many different countries though they are all "Spanish".

Actually isn't the indigenous language(s) in Paraguay and Bolivia the most spoken language in those countries? Spanish only serving as the official language.

 

[bush_cheney2004]

Miami International has non-stop flights to 25 South American cities:

http://www.miami-airport.com/cities_served_nonstop.asp

 

[-TSS-]

I myself haven't really travelled anywhere, it's something that other people do, but my mother and her late husband ie my late step-father really travelled far and wide all over the world on every continent and made even two round the world trips.

They told me that the worst and most frightening places they visited where they really felt unsafe were some of the Central-American countries such as Belize, Salvador and Honduras.

They told me that even though Brazil is rough but it is such a big country that it has a lot of good areas but those aforementioned Central-American countries were horrible. 

[WestCoastRunner]

Vancouver airport named the best airport in the world. The first NA airport to win the award. 

 

CAPA gives the award to the airport that is considered the biggest standout strategically and the one that has advanced the progress of aviation internationally.  

[overthere]

On 10/22/2016 at 6:10 PM, msj said:

I'm curious as to how you travel and from where? 

The flights from Vancouver to Sydney or Ho Chi Min or Munich or Lima all seem to be within similar dollar amounts and amounts of time.  

Certainly some of these places are more convenient from Toronto or Montreal so mileage will vary but it seems to me that the world is pretty small no matter where you choose to go. 

Alberta.  By air. 

There are only deals on travel to South America from here  in mid winter, and they all involve a useless transit via Toronto, then at least one flight and more often two to get to most SA destinations.  Travelling around SA is also expensive as it is large   , there are few cheapo carriers like there are in North America, Asia and especially Europe.

 

I can almost always get cheap flights from here to anywhere except South America.  One exception is a direct (winter only) flight to Panama, which is a major hub to much of SA, especially the northern SA countries.  A better hub is Mexico City.

[Smallc]

How does everyone feel about Rome and Venice (3 days in each) in May?  I'm thinking about that right now.  I had to pick something this year, lol.

[Michael Hardner]

Why not ?