Friday Fun: What is your dream vacation and why?

[Summer Hogan]

Hello everyone, 

I’m looking for inspiration for trips and want to discover places I have never heard of, which I bet there are a lot of. I have taken a lot of beach trips and trips around the United States and I want to branch out to visit some more exotic and interesting places. I love visiting places with rich history and those that have had an impact on our way of life as it is today. I also love to visit beautiful places with lots of opportunity for adventure! My aspirations right now are to visit Rome, Venice, and Amsterdam and to go on an Alaskan Cruise. I feel my list is limited and want to add more destinations to my travel bucket list.

So, share with us. If you could go anywhere in the world:

• Where would you go?
• Why do you want to go there?
• Wat is the top thing you would do there?

Thanks in advance for sharing! 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

[Chris Iacovelli]

Back to NZ.

Visit the Coromandel Peninsula this time around.

Disclaimer: Not my photo but one I have as my personal laptop background.

[Chris Iacovelli]

Why - because I missed visiting the first two times to NZ

To Do - snorkeling, lazing in the sun, drinking great NZ beers, thinking of my coporate exit plan

[Summer Hogan]

This looks amazing @Chris Iacovelli! I've been torn between NZ and Australia, but maybe you have made my mind up with that pic! 

[Esther Strom]

NZ and Australia are also my dream trips - I have family there I've never met, and would like to, but it's such a long trip that I'd need to take at least two weeks (not counting travel time) to make it worthwhile, and that isn't realistic right now.

[Summer Hogan]

I can relate to the long amount of time off needed @Esther Strom! 

[George Pomar]

I live for golf and luckily I have a tolerant wife who allows me to indulge in my favorite activity, golf, whenever possible.  So my dream vacation is to take the wife wherever she wants to go as long as I can bring the clubs and play a round or two.  We both have roots in Scotland, so it would be a great time to explore that country and it's golf courses !  I would also love to take her to her ancestral land of Poland, so we can go to the village her family is named after.  I haven't a clue what people do in Poland, but I'm still excited at the idea of more exploration with my best friend.  There's probably a golf course too, just saying.

[Esther Strom]

Scotland is gorgeous! And as the home of golf, you should be covered! St. Andrews has seven public courses (according to Wikipedia; I don't play) and is a really beautiful old town. And if you're old enough to remember the movie Chariots of Fire, the famous "running on the beach" scene was filmed there! 

[George Pomar]

I do remember that scene :)

[Summer Hogan]

Love your idea @George Pomar, especially the part where you are going where your wife wants to go! So sweet! 

[Esther Strom]

I've always been into history, museums, and walking tours of beautiful cities. But in December my sister and I went to Costa Rica for a week - picked at random from a tour company's offerings because there were spots available and it was a relatively short distance (only 4 hours from DFW, where I already was for a work trip.)

While they certainly have their share of museums and beautiful cities, it's really known for ecotourism - rainforests, volcanoes, etc. It's one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world. And because it's relatively small, you can get beaches and rainforests and urban nightlife in a single trip. Highly recommended.

(This is the view from our hotel room at the base of the Arenal volcano at sunrise.)

And because of that trip, my bucket list has changed somewhat (well, gotten bigger 🙄). Our last day was spent snorkeling (my first time) on the Pacific coast. I loved it, but that side of Costa Rica is all black volcanic ocean beds, so you don't get to see the really bright fish and sunlight through the water. So now I've added the Caribbean (haven't narrowed it down to a specific place yet, although my brother and SIL love Turks and Caicos) so I can spend multiple days snorkeling.

[George Pomar]

Costa Rica is a wonderful country!  We used to surf there quite a bit back in the 1980s and early 90s, and have even surfed both sides of the country in the same day!  Highly recommend picking up the cross-country train too.  Great memories there, and that is a beautiful photo!

[Summer Hogan]

Love all these ideas @Esther Strom and @George Pomar! I'm adding Costa Rica to my list now! Love the pic! So beautiful! 

[LoRi]

Def adding Costa Rica to my list!

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Costa Rica always ranks very high on global happiness index. There are many reasons for this but after just spending 6 weeks there I understand some of the reasons why:

• Nature, don't underestimate the power it has to humble you, relax you, make adrenalin pump through you. Whether it is flora or fauna, it can amplify every one of your senses. 
• People and community. Head out of the cities and into the rural communities and  the values are ones that countries like mine (the UK) left a long time ago.  There is a real sense of giving, of community, of simplicity.  People are living in harmony with the environment and mostly benefiting it without exploiting it.  
• The sun.  Again, not meaning to bash the UK but it is a country that is globally famous for wet and windy weather.  It is no surprise that my friends and family were miserable, ill and tired as spring slowly edged in this year.  They hadn't had a healthy does of Vitamin D for 5 or 6 months and it shows.  The sun boosts your mood, your 
• I have travelled across the world for 2 years and this is the only country I have been to where people generally supported their government.  They believed in vision of the future and they are trailblazing environmental sustainability
• Diet.  While not overly exciting they have one of the 5 blue zones and their diet of rice, beans, fresh fruits and veg keeps them fit, healthy and living longer  
• Different environments.  The north west is dry and desert like, the south west has some of the most biodiverse tropical forests and mangrove systems, through the centre are cloud forests and mountains, to the east, more mangroves and rainforests, you have the wild and rugged pacific ocean to the west and the Caribbean sea on the east

While my wife and I will continue to travel the world, enjoying as much of the beauty of this planet before it is changed beyond recognition, Costa Rica will stay in hour hearts and somewhere we will almost certainly go back .

If you love nature, check out my Instagram as a lot of it is Costa Rica
https://www.instagram.com/mikeday1983/  

[Summer Hogan]

Thanks so much @Dreamsuite Mike for all the suggestions and info! Greatly appreciated and thanks for sharing! 

[Andy Gladstone]

For me, and I can't say exactly why, I have always been drawn to Northern Europe as a dream destination. Starting in Denmark to visit all of the historical landmarks in Copenhagen, and working east and north through the Fjords of Norway, the aurora borealis in Sweden and forests of Finland. Maybe because I have lived in densely populated cities my entire life I yearn for open areas on the globe. I am lucky to have lived almost my entire life less than a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, so I don't need oceans or seas, I need open horizons and clear skies.

[Summer Hogan]

Great ideas @Andy Gladstone! Some of those are on my list also! Thanks for sharing! 

[Marjorie]

Traveling in my RV, with my husband and dog, to the national parks in the US.

[George Pomar]

Rolling home around is tempting!  Something we've done a couple times, and will surely check out more, is Georgia state parks.  Most have cabins/resorts attached and offer some pretty cool things, not just limited to campsites.  I don't know if other states do it too, I'm unfamiliar with any in Florida, but being able to play disc golf, or archery, or target shooting, boat rentals, hiking, fishing, and even golf courses, are available in GA.  They're very affordable, clean, and well-located.  The state parks there always have the RV hookups too.

[Summer Hogan]

Oh this is one I never thought of @Marjorie! I have travelled all over AZ and gone to many of Arizona's state parks and state parks in other states, but never thought of RV'ing around from park to park. Thanks for the suggestions! 

[Stuart Capel - London]

I would love to go to Beijing and meet my partners family. We had first class flights booked with all the Avios points I'd saved up from travelling for work. Booked for September 2020, I'm only just recently allowed into the country!

[Summer Hogan]

Great idea @Stuart Capel - London! I love going back to where my roots were formed! You should totally reboot that trip! I also have a bucket list item for going back to Okinawa, Japan where I partially grew up. 

[Ollie Guan]

Welcome to china, have a good trip! @Stuart Capel - London 

[Stuart Capel - London]

Thanks, I can't wait!

[Ollie Guan]

There is a Chinese saying, literally "above, there is heaven; below, there is Suzhou and Hangzhou"), referring to the legendary beauty of this region.

My dream vacation is Suzhou and Hangzhou, two cities that can be reached within 30-60 minutes by train from Shanghai where I live. I just went on a trip last week, it is really beautiful!

[Stuart Capel - London]

Wow, that looks beautiful! 

[Summer Hogan]

That looks amazing @Ollie Guan - thanks so much for sharing those beautiful pics! 

[Dreamsuite Mike]

I can't pick a favourite place from all where I have been as everywhere has its own merits and no where I have been has disappointed. 

I do know what gives me the best feeling and that is being immersed in the wonders of nature and the explosion of nature really is incomparable within the tropics.  Whether it is land or sea, there is an indescribable overload of colour, sound, quantity, danger and wonder and it is just amazing.

Nature isn't for everyone though, although if you aren't a nature person and are looking to step outside your comfort zone, nature can truly be life-changing.

So Nature is my number 1 category, followed by people and food.

Nature 

Land

For tropical forests:

• Costa Rica
• Borneo

For big animals:

• South Africa

For a balance of what you'll see:

• Sri Lanka

For Mountains:

• Columbia

Sea

For coral reef:

• Coron and El Nido - Philippines
• The Maldives (this can be done on a budget)

For big animals:

• Baja California 
• Costa Rica

Food 

The best food I have experienced on all my travels comes from Malaysia

People

This is easy, every single place we have been to, we have met the most incredible people.  We are by no means wealthy but we are comfortable.  Yet, the people we often meet on our travels have a fraction of the freedom, fortune and wealth we have and are some of the kindest people we have ever met. We have been fed, welcome into peoples homes, picked up when its pouring with rain.  You go to countries outside of what we call the western world and you will meet the most amazing people.

[George Pomar]

You made me think of the most obscure place I want to vacation at, Croatia.  Never knew this place looked like a storybook!

[Summer Hogan]

Love it @Dreamsuite Mike and @George Pomar - Those are great ideas and Croatia does look dreamy! 

[Fabio Racobaldo _Herzum_]

Hey @Summer Hogan ,

my dream trip is to travel through time and relive my childhood moments. Simple right? :)

[Summer Hogan]

Me too @Fabio Racobaldo _Herzum_ - that would be simply awesome! Let's ask the tech world to get right on that! 

[Peter Van de Voorde]

For me it's taking my family on a tour of Australia and New Zealand to meet all the amazing people I've got to known thanks to my time at Atlassian and in the Atlassian community.

Soo much to do and soo much to see there :)

[Summer Hogan]

Great ideas @Peter Van de Voorde - I would like to visit both Australia and New Zealand myself! 

[Jimmy Seddon]

Sorry I'm late to this, I'm not a big traveler.  I've technically already done my dream vacation, but given my wife and I have two little ones I imagine we will do it again in the future.

To recap, for our honeymoon, we went on the Disney Land-Sea Package.  That was 4 days at Walt Disney World in Orlando and 3 nights on their Nassau cruise ship.

We will likely just do Disney World with the kids in the near future but it truly is one of the happiest places on Earth ;)

[Marjorie]

• Where would you go?
  • England
• Why do you want to go there?
  • My dad was born there.
• What is the top thing you would do there?
  • Visit the house he lived in while he was little.

[Summer Hogan]

Oh that would be great @Marjorie ! I hope you get to do that soon! 

[Dan Breyen]

For Domestic US, I like the RV idea and travel around the US.  I still like the idea of staying in one of those beach houses that is over the water.

[Summer Hogan]

Sounds like a great idea @Dan Breyen

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Wow! So much fun to read these and look at the pics!

I have the whole of Asia to discover (among other places). I think it would be some epic tour of certain parts of Asia.

[Ram Kumar Aravindakshan _Adaptavist_]

I always wanted to pay a visit to Japan and go sightseeing.

[Muhammad Hassan]

My dream vacation is dubai and i love to visit dubai. because there is so much diversification of culture people and environment as well. you can get huge round of diversification in just single place that will blow up your mind and gain new experiences of life. sometime i also dream about dubai and confuse that what is meaning of this dream but i still laugh on my self. and one more wierd thing i like which is also dream of water flowing

[Muhammad Hassan]

Also my dream is to get scholorship and to get acquire study visa in middle east countries. I was calculating my gwa which fulfil my criteria and i was so happy for that. you should also try or calculate gwa if you want high accuracy