Vacation. Which country would you go to and why ?

You really do have interesting off topic stuff. I'd go to Japan because I have limited time off, and my in-laws are in their 90s. (My wife is Japanese, which is probably obvious from that). If I had unlimited time, I would like to go to Thailand and see the elephants. My wife, whose business has her travel a lot, has been there several times. Here's a picture of her being silly, pretending to fight an elephant statue. https://srobb.net/elephantkick.jpg and another of her with an actual elephant.

As you can see, she's having a lot of fun.
 
None of those.
I rather stay in europe.

Not only because of ecological concerns I don't fly half around the world for vacation.
I also don't like to compensate the expensive flight by being in a dumping price country simulating interest in foreign cultures which I'm not really am.
Also I do not enjoy the feeling of being the old rich white cash-bull beguiled by poor people. Actually it makes me feel uncomfortable.
(I never been a sex-tourist, nor intended to buy me a women, so cannot help you there 🤪 - but I knew people who catched a wife from overseas. Can become ...very interesting when her parents visit 😁)

I rather spend the money I save for long travel distances for...the rest.
Also long travel distances come off your recreation-value, by the stress comes with long-range travels, especially when jetlags are involved.
Except you go for at least four weeks, which most people of course don't.

This is not ment for who really is interested in foreign cultures, not staying in tourist's comfort zones, only, but actually live among inhabitants, and share their real life at least partially by geniune interest, and respect.
But, come on, cross your heart:

Almost none of the europeans, or north-americans are even remotely interested in this.
Mostly boozing and feeding at the pool by the beach in some nicely climatized, western-style hotel, with western-style food ("Damnd is this hot!!" No, it's not. Actually it's quite stale, adapted to western taste. Taste some real authentic spiced food, and your head will fly off. No matter what tough hot-spicy-enthusiast you think you are 😁)
Leaving the resort for one or two one-day-trips.
Check off the most famous tourist attractions on an island-hopping fotoshooting. Where for each already exists 1B pictures on the internet of the exact same view in the exact same poor unprofessional quality. At which never ever any-one will take even the slightest peek again. Not even yourself. But being a good reason for a NAS. Except for the ones being used for What's-App-status.
Watch a pathetic show of colorful dressed children, or half-naked women performing half-bored their native dance.
Buying some useless 'authentic' dust-collectors made in China for the poor bastards at home who must not dare to dump the rubbish right-away.
Have some cheap bus-travel-agency's arranged 'original authentic national dish' in some 'real authentic' tourist-trap with an authentic large bus parking lot. Make pictures of it, because to look at it is more comfortable than to taste it. While dreaming of the Boeuf bourguignon you will have that evening (again, exceptionally) in the hotel's restaurant.
Have forgotten anything the very moment you hit the chair in the climatized coach.
Was this a temple, or a palace? Built when, by who, for whom? Doesn't matter. Don't care. Only remember the guide enumerated many very impressive large numbers, not able to recall a single one correctly.
Have a Heineken. Not because you like it. Nobody likes Heineken. Since there is no beer anymore this world wide victory of capitalism is the only icecold not-water, and not-Coca-Cola drink available.
After leaving the national reserve parc, the last two 'sacred' acres (officially it's three acres, but one is used for the parking lot, the visitor's center, and the gift shop) for the pitiful last three kinds of the quasi already extinct 'strongly protected' nation's heraldic species, you stare tired, bored, and impassively out of the window on destroyed nature, and dirty, damaged streets. Praying for the bus-driver with his kamikaze-driving style will stay on the pothole infested strip they call a road, not falling from some cliff, or crash into a petrol-tanker.
Passing by almost-wrecked industrial zones, garbage hills, and starving people living in slums. Make youself believe this is the romantic foreign colorful culture we don't get. Maybe watch some military while securing the freedom.
But mostly just looking forward to your all-you-can-eat-buffet, and the long chair at the nice, clean beach.
Which some never seen people getting a pittance but never a tip (like the room-maid) for cleaning it every dawn from all the plastic garbage the cruise liners dump into the ocean.

For me it doesn't really matter where you go, to have that.
You can get this also in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisisa... - but without a jetlag.

Enjoy your vacancy 😁😎
 
When I was student I (we) used train, auto-stop to travel all around a Europe. One year we went for two months in India (auto-stop, buses, train), North African countries, down to Namibia, Botswana and back with old Range Rover...
Now we are using airplane - Peru, Ecuador, Cuba, Uruguay. I like to go in Brazil (Amazonian).
 
Just got back from France, Germany, Switzerland and Hawaii (not a country).
Going to Ireland in September.
Quebec City in Canada maybe next year.
Future plans are for Austria and Italy.

Have a friend who owns property in New Zealand but I think that's rented out to others. I'd be interested in that but it's a long way to go.
 
My first vacation outside a short distance travel for 15 years will be Norway. No long haul, small luggage and let's see what happens.
 
Alain De Vos said:
Options , Thailand, Cuba, Philipiness.
Click to expand...

I have been to Cuba and there are much nicer Caribbean Islands to visit...

Andros Island is a favorite.

The Tongue of the Ocean | NOAA CoastWatch

The Tongue of the Ocean is a deep water basin in the Bahamas that is surrounded to the east, west and south by a carbonate bank known as the Great Bahama Bank. The deep blue water of the Tongue is a stark contrast to the shallow turquoise waters of the surrounding Bank.
coastwatch.noaa.gov coastwatch.noaa.gov
 
Come to Switzerland.

Why? Because I live there and we like to give tourists a good time (in exchange for their money - but don't tell anybody that part).

Edit: Also because I'll gladly show you a good time with beers, raclette & fondue
 
jbo@ said:
Come to Switzerland.

Why? Because I live there and we like to give tourists a good time (in exchange for their money - but don't tell anybody that part).

Edit: Also because I'll gladly show you a good tie with beers, raclette & fondue
Click to expand...
Expensive for me.
 
Just the total opposite of a large city.
There is almost nobody. Just nature. That's the fun.
Making soup on a gas-stove. & Primitive living. Quiet & peace.
You can sleep in a cabin/hut for free.
You can do there totally nothing. But enjoy the natural environment. Priceless.
Italian mountains are also ok for this.
 
%pupil -sceptical said:
After my package vacation parody maybe it's time to put some ideas into the brainstorming that might animate the process more constructive:
Click to expand...
You're funny. And that was not a parody, it very much hits the nail.

I always tried to get as far away as possible from these operations. And that did actually work, and was not even difficult - in fact I ended up at places where the map still has some white areas, and travelled with the ethnologists working there.

%pupil -sceptical said:

Welkom op Singlereizen.be!

www.singlereizen.be www.singlereizen.be
Click to expand...
Not sure if I get the point what this actually is, but it looks to me like already too much organization. I recommend get yourself a good guidebook and an airfare. Everything else can be arranged ad-hoc.
 
PMc said:
Not sure if I get the point what this actually is,
Click to expand...
It was ment for Alain simply to put some other perspective than just where to go into the pot.
(I hope I got it right, and his mother tongue is dutch; I always confuse the french and dutch speaking Belgians.
And I hope I didn't pissed him, because that's what I definetely not want.)

PMc said:
You're funny. And that was not a parody, it very much hits the nail.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Best jokes come from reflections on observing oneself. 😁

The german comedian Torsten Sträter, who's openly talking about his depression, in an interview once said:
"Life is not about to use shortcuts, but to the devious routes. The one who always takes the fastes ways, and the short-cuts missed life."

That's what you said.
The most famous tourist spots mostly are overrated, and anyhow totally overflown by masses who only check it off from their bucket list (a terrible term btw). Trying the impossible, to preserve it for eternity by taking pictures, instead to understand that exactly this obsessive fotoshooting kills the value of their vacation.
Many running their whole holidays with a board before their head (a german phrase for having a blocked brain), looking only at their smartphone, filming everything. 🤪
Once I observed that on myself I have no camera with me in no vacation anymore.

My wife and I found the best places when we were forced to uses devious routes, got lost, or simply spontaneously decided to bend off, voluntary following the first street randomly.
And you don't have to go far for it.
To me europe is bigger than I could visit in a life time.

Besides the main routes are also many places, at least as interesting as the tourist hot-spots.
Most hot spots are simply 'interesting' because they were mentioned somewhere, and became popular.
You just have to be there, to say you've been there.
The cattle is rushing through the whole Louvre, passing hundreds of masterpieces, just to take the 23,456,364,687,251st (bad) pic of the 'Mona Lisa', which is the only one, you cannot regard because of the mob, killing the picture with their flashlights, while the museum's attendants constantly shouting: 'No flash! No flash!' I believe, and hope it's not the original picture anymore, which is back in a save place, but a copy 😁
The cattle will not recognize it anyway. Those who do, know when, where, and how to look at the original.
Best example: The leaning tower of Pisa.
There are towers even more leaning than that one (e.g. Bologna). The associated cathedral is way more interesting, but mostly almost empty. While for the tower you have to wait at least half an hour. 🤪
It simply was in some english tourist guide a hundred(?) years ago. Now everybody must have seen it, because everybody have seen it.

Already second row the restaurants are better, and cost less.
If you're in Venice, take the alleys parallel to the main road.
They're almost empty.

But according to all the posts here, you already figured that out.
Of course - this is a FreeBSD, not a Windows forum.
Not staying on the main road, is quite normal here.
Sorry, my mistake. 😎
 
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jbo@ said:
Come to Switzerland.

Why? Because I live there and we like to give tourists a good time (in exchange for their money - but don't tell anybody that part).

Edit: Also because I'll gladly show you a good time with beers, raclette & fondue
Click to expand...
Switzerland is nice. I've been lucky to be there a couple of times (motorcycle holiday).
 
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