Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 29, 2015 8:08:43 GMT -5
What interests you, Phoenix84? History? Geology? Architecture" Art? Sports? Plan a trip on what interests you. Do you subscribe to any magazines which focus particularly on an interest of yours? Often times, these magazines and publications advertise trips that might be of interest to their subscribers. Don't be a tourist-be a traveler. Hiking and parks, but nothing extreme like mountain climbing. I like spending a few hours hiking. I loved hiking around Aspin, Co last year. I like history and museums. To a certain extent, art and architecture, but not quite as much as above. Don't mind sailing or flying. That's a good start! There are lots of things you can do on the East Coast, if you don't want to fly or go too far. Cities such as DC and Philadelphia have good trails for riding bikes, parks for exploring, plenty of interesting museums, and easy access to beaches and mountains within a two hour drive. You could spend some time in the Appalachians, Poconos, Virginia/Maryland/Delaware beaches. Do you like baseball? Cooperstown is a really cute town with stuff to do, and the Ommegang tour is great. Or maybe get a good workout and ride the Kentucky Bourbon trail? I'm just thinking that since you moved from Colorado that exploring your new coast could be fun.
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Jun 29, 2015 14:40:31 GMT -5
I'm impressed. I prefer traveling with an SO, my Mom, or people I know. "Here, taste this excellent salsa" really sucks, when you only have the wait staff to express your glee to. (YMMV obviously.) My solo vacations were time off, but learning vacations. I went away for a week, two different years to learn a martial art.
The local libraries here also sponsor various day trips or weekend trips. I think about them time to time. Especially the one that includes the Culinary Institute (of America?) in NYC.
Really? Wow we've had different experiences. My "omg this is soooo good" to the waitstaff usually gets me a free drink. I actually find I meet more people solo traveling because I'm an extrovert and I have to talk to people and so I make random conversations. It's going to take a rare person for me to give up that freedom to travel with. I have no schedule, no nothing, and I only have to do what I want to do!! An example of is half full v. is half empty?
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jun 29, 2015 17:10:55 GMT -5
Hiking and parks, but nothing extreme like mountain climbing. I like spending a few hours hiking. I loved hiking around Aspin, Co last year. I like history and museums. To a certain extent, art and architecture, but not quite as much as above. Don't mind sailing or flying. How about something unusual like a guided hiking tour of Camino de Santiago in Spain? You get the hiking, the history, art, architecture, fresh air, local food, etc. You don't have to be Roman Catholic or even spiritual to enjoy a unique hike and walk. And you do not have to complete the whole walk. Start any where on the trail to where you will have enough time to end up in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Walk of a lifetime: Why the epic Camino trail across Spain is a route to true happiness Camino del Rey in Spain might be better.
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Jun 29, 2015 17:41:57 GMT -5
How about something unusual like a guided hiking tour of Camino de Santiago in Spain? You get the hiking, the history, art, architecture, fresh air, local food, etc. You don't have to be Roman Catholic or even spiritual to enjoy a unique hike and walk. And you do not have to complete the whole walk. Start any where on the trail to where you will have enough time to end up in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Walk of a lifetime: Why the epic Camino trail across Spain is a route to true happiness Camino del Rey in Spain might be better.
Mmmmmmm...................................... No.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 30, 2015 6:14:27 GMT -5
I use TripAdvisor so much I have the app!
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 30, 2015 7:00:12 GMT -5
Good advice so far. Any ideas of interesting places you've visited in North America? Just for some further inspiration.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 30, 2015 8:42:15 GMT -5
Single guy on a singles cruise? You'll be glad you paid extra for the single supplement!! I want to go on a singles cruise...can you do that if you're married ?? Planning on staying married?
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Jun 30, 2015 8:55:42 GMT -5
Good advice so far. Any ideas of interesting places you've visited in North America? Just for some further inspiration. DC and NYC are two of my favorite places to visit. So much to see and do in both. I like Boston and I've only been once, so it's on my list for a return visit. Ditto with Philadelphia.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 30, 2015 10:02:44 GMT -5
Good advice so far. Any ideas of interesting places you've visited in North America? Just for some further inspiration. DC and NYC are two of my favorite places to visit. So much to see and do in both. I like Boston and I've only been once, so it's on my list for a return visit. Ditto with Philadelphia. Summer in Philly is awesome. Lots to do, lots of beer gardens!
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 30, 2015 10:11:32 GMT -5
Good advice so far. Any ideas of interesting places you've visited in North America? Just for some further inspiration. DC. NYC. Philly. Boston. Montreal. Quebec City. Lake Placid.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 30, 2015 10:22:51 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do?
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Jun 30, 2015 10:31:20 GMT -5
I feel like us YM singles should go on a group vacation to one of those places that are like a kid's summer camp! Yes! I like this idea.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jun 30, 2015 10:39:35 GMT -5
I'm starting back at the OP and forgive me, I haven't read it all. Here's what I do: - start by looking at tour groups destinations for places I might like to go. Eg - REI trip to Peru. See where they are going. Get inspired by the pictures. Get a rough estimate of what can be accomplished using their group schedule. - visit virtualtourist and trip advisor and start making lists of things to do in the location - sketch out top 10 things to do (or whatever) and write a rudimentary calendar out. See if there are any hard-stop limitations in my itinerary (e.g. the Lourve isn't open on Monday, the Inca trail tickets must be bought 6 months in advance, etc). Arrange the hard stops, purchase tickets in advance that must be booked, or in my case usually booking permits for backpacking. - check out flights, see if there are cheaper ways to do things, reorganize and rearrange. - book flights - book hotels - think about backup plans, don't squeeze too much into every trip. - add potential restaurants, etc. I would be an excellent travel coordinator if such things existed. I've planned dozens of 2 week trips for myself, usually including several overnight backpacking trips, etc. I've done 3 weeks in Argentina/Chile/Brazil, multiple 2 week trips to NZ, 2 weeks in Peru, 2 weeks in Hawaii, 2 weeks in Canada, a week in Ireland, etc. I usually make a calendar in Word, like this one - this was for my trip to Banff/Jasper for my babymoon (6 months pregnant and rockin the campgrounds!). Aug 20 Depart 1397 STL 12: 50 PM Arrive CHI 2:00 Depart Chi 4:50 701 arrive Calgary 7:25pm Aug 21 Drive to Banff Bow falls Vermillion lake Gondola Putzing around city Stay: 2 Jack Lake CG Aug 22 Banff Lake Minnewanka Whyte Museum Stay: 2 Jack Lake CG Aug 23 Day trip to Kootenay? Stay: 2 Jack Lake CG Aug 24 Drive to Lake Louise along Bow Valley Parkway Johnson Canyon Stay: LL HI hostel (booked) Aug 25 Lake Louise 6 glaciers hike or agnes tea house Canoe on lake Stay: LL HI hostel (booked) Aug 26 Yoho NP Natural bridge Takakkaw Falls Spiral Tunnel Stay: Takakkaw Falls or Kicking Horse CG (KH has showers) Aug 27 Yoho NP Hoodoos hike Emerald Lake Stay: Takakkaw Falls or Kicking Horse CG KH closed? Aug 28 Icefields Parkway Bow Lake Falls hike Peyto Lake @ CG- hike to Cirque or Chepren Lake Stay: Waterfowl lakes? CG Aug 29 Columbia Icefields Drive there in AM. Glacier hike. Wilcox pass in afternoon Stay: Columbia Icefields CG Aug 30 Drive to Jasper Athabasca Falls Mt Edith Cavall Stay: stayinjasper.com Aug 31 Jasper Maligne Canyon & Lake. Cruise on lake. Stay : same Sept 1 Day trip to Mt Robson park? Walk to Kinney Lake Sept 2 Drive back to Calgary Sept 3 Depart YYC 6:55 1166, DFW 11:45 890 DFW to STL depart 3:55 pm arrive 5:30
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 30, 2015 10:40:46 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do? Lots. Google is your friend.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 30, 2015 10:41:31 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do? the things you'd find in any mid-size to large city: historical sites (and sights ), museums, great restaurants, interesting activities, and a vibrant nightlife.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 30, 2015 10:48:03 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do? Gee. Lots. Fairmount Park Hiking the Wissahickon Trail Biking the Schuylkill River Trail Eastern State Penitentiary Mutter Museum Art Museum (run up those steps, tourists!) UPenn museum of anthropology and archaeology Franklin Institute Rodin museum Barnes Foundation Zoo Liberty Bell Independence Hall/Independence Park Reading Terminal Market Italian Market Spruce Street Harbor Park Penn's Landing National Constitution Center Great restaurants Beer gardens Philadelphia Orchestra It's easy to get a Phillies ticket Theaters I can continue. :-) ETA: Valley Forge Park out in the burbs (not far at all from Philly). Brandywine valley is also nice.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jun 30, 2015 10:48:51 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do? Well, you could go in search of the best Philidephia Cheesesteak sandwich in town. If you're at all interested in American history, you could visit the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were born out of debates that took place at Independence Hall, and were adopted there. Philly is truly where the foundation of our country was laid. Can it really get any better than walking the streets that the fathers of our country, such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and others walked? Or to learn about what it might have been like to participate in the founding of our country?
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 30, 2015 10:54:29 GMT -5
Ermagherd I need to get back to Reading Terminal Market. The food....
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Jun 30, 2015 11:01:30 GMT -5
I'm impressed. I prefer traveling with an SO, my Mom, or people I know. "Here, taste this excellent salsa" really sucks, when you only have the wait staff to express your glee to. (YMMV obviously.) My solo vacations were time off, but learning vacations. I went away for a week, two different years to learn a martial art.
The local libraries here also sponsor various day trips or weekend trips. I think about them time to time. Especially the one that includes the Culinary Institute (of America?) in NYC.
Really? Wow we've had different experiences. My "omg this is soooo good" to the waitstaff usually gets me a free drink. I actually find I meet more people solo traveling because I'm an extrovert and I have to talk to people and so I make random conversations. It's going to take a rare person for me to give up that freedom to travel with. I have no schedule, no nothing, and I only have to do what I want to do!! Simser, the time I tried that I did not want an extra drink. I was with XH at a big conference. A kind co-worker of his, let me borrow his rental car, and I was redoing my wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma Valley solo. I think the conference was in SanFran.
I stopped for lunch between tastings and had this amazing salsa with fresh cilantro. All I got was smiles AND I completed my winery tours too quickly because there was no one to slow me down and it was a weekday during the day. While I had fun, I wished I had gone with a group, possibly to something I would like less. When the attendees had conference burnout they would congregate in the lobby and pick a place to go. Obviously we are different, and that's a good thing.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jun 30, 2015 11:02:03 GMT -5
Ditto to Apple's comments on traveling in Europe. The nice thing is that if you can be flexible about when you travel, you can travel to Europe pretty economically. A lot of it is about when you travel. Winter time is the off season and between Thanksgiving and the new year is the dead season. That means that airfares can be as low as about 50% of summer season cost. And hotels and the like are discounted. IIRC, I saw a week long tour to Dublin, east cost airfare, and hotel for about $1,100 per person around the holidays a year ago. I've seen similar kinds of travel deals on flights to Frankfurt and other European destinations.
A less expensive way to go would be to book your own flights and use Ireland's extensive network of B&B's. Irish B&B's are run like small hotels and cost about half the cost of a hotel room. Or, as Apple suggested, VRBO for short term apartment rentals at significantly lower cost than hotel rooms.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Jun 30, 2015 11:05:22 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do? Well, you could go in search of the best Philidephia Cheesesteak sandwich in town. If you're at all interested in American history, you could visit the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were born out of debates that took place at Independence Hall, and were adopted there. Philly is truly where the foundation of our country was laid. Can it really get any better than walking the streets that the fathers of our country, such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and others walked? Or to learn about what it might have been like to participate in the founding of our country? They also have a Zoo, some great art museums and somewhere nearby is TLoony and her market. Surely that in and of itself, is reason enough to go. Oh, and US battleships anchored nearby. I think some can be visited, but I have not been to those.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Jun 30, 2015 11:07:31 GMT -5
I've never really been to philly, what's there to do? Gee. Lots. Fairmount Park Biking the Schuylkill River Trail Eastern State Penitentiary Mutter Museum Art Museum (run up those steps, tourists!) UPenn museum of anthropology and archaeology Franklin Institute Rodin museum Barnes Foundation Zoo Liberty Bell Independence Hall/Independence Park Reading Terminal Market Italian Market Spruce Street Harbor Park Penn's Landing Great restaurants Theaters I can continue. :-) Please continue. Where are the good food areas and also where do the high end shops exist? TYIA.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Jun 30, 2015 11:09:58 GMT -5
Cookies Galore, I have never stopped by Penn's Landing but have driven by it on the expressway many times. If I wanted to go there to watch the July 4th fireworks, where would I park? Is it all paid parking?
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 30, 2015 11:12:18 GMT -5
Ditto to Apple's comments on traveling in Europe. The nice thing is that if you can be flexible about when you travel, you can travel to Europe pretty economically. A lot of it is about when you travel. Winter time is the off season and between Thanksgiving and the new year is the dead season. That means that airfares can be as low as about 50% of summer season cost. And hotels and the like are discounted. IIRC, I saw a week long tour to Dublin, east cost airfare, and hotel for about $1,100 per person around the holidays a year ago. I've seen similar kinds of travel deals on flights to Frankfurt and other European destinations. A less expensive way to go would be to book your own flights and use Ireland's extensive network of B&B's. Irish B&B's are run like small hotels and cost about half the cost of a hotel room. Or, as Apple suggested, VRBO for short term apartment rentals at significantly lower cost than hotel rooms. or AirBnB. I've used it a lot and I've only had 3 subpar experiences - one wasn't very clean; the next wasn't that clean and the area wasn't good; the third wasn't bad really but the host couple was a little weird and nosy.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jun 30, 2015 11:45:20 GMT -5
Ermagherd I need to get back to Reading Terminal Market. The food.... My hotel was across the street from there last time. I was over there daily. The Macy's on the other side was good too.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jun 30, 2015 12:28:06 GMT -5
Good advice so far. Any ideas of interesting place you've visited in North America? Just for some further inspiration. Oh goodness there are simply thousands of places to visit. Especially if you are a hiker. I can't think of a place of been to that I think wow that place was disappointing. As an adult, a cruise to the Bahamas, cabin in Gatlinburg Tennessee, Northeast trip including Niagra, Lake Placid, Acadia, Cape Cod, Boston, and even Ithaca NY (that was with my Aunt and UNCLE who live about an hour away and it was great). With kids, St. Augustine and St. George Island in Florida. As a young adult (17 and 20), trips with my parents included 2 western trips - Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, and points in between and Carlabad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, and San Antonio TX. As a kid I've done more. But I have a list of places just in Iowa I want to go foe the day or weekend. I still have about 50 plaves in Missouri and Arkansas I never made it to. Honestly, I will google and pintetest or just fly over on google earth and say well that looks cool. Then I Google more to find out if it really is cool. Turns out most of the time , it really is cooler in person.
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simser
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Post by simser on Jun 30, 2015 12:39:23 GMT -5
Quoted but I messed up the quote: Simser, the time I tried that I did not want an extra drink. I was with XH at a big conference. A kind co-worker of his, let me borrow his rental car, and I was redoing my wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma Valley solo. I think the conference was in SanFran.[/p]
I stopped for lunch between tastings and had this amazing salsa with fresh cilantro. All I got was smiles AND I completed my winery tours too quickly because there was no one to slow me down and it was a weekday during the day. While I had fun, I wished I had gone with a group, possibly to something I would like less. When the attendees had conference burnout they would congregate in the lobby and pick a place to go. Obviously we are different, and that's a good thing.
[/quote] Fair point. I find it easier to travel solo in other countries just because I'm not "expected" to know social conventions there. In the U.S. My dress and my accent gives me away as "belonging" so when I go outside of social norms it's apparent. When I go to another country in "different" so I get leeway on things like eating alone... A thing to think about phoenix!
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