... 2.) I'm not fond of simply being a tourist. I don't like crowds of tourists. I don't like being in tourist traffic on the roads. 3.) We don't mind going off the beaten path. When we went to Italy we hardly had an itinerary. We mostly just went wherever the mood took us and it was mostly to places where people didn't speak English and there were no English menus (which, by the way, is how you get the best Italian food!). 4.) We don't mind hiking, walking or driving out of the way to see good stuff that the tourists might miss. 5.) I am into photography and that would be an integral part of what I would enjoy on the trip.
So, with those things in mind I'd love to hear what you folks have to say. I know it isn't tractor related but I also know you guys will give me a wide range of good solid advice and opinion. You always have.
You mentioned avoiding the tourist mobs and traffic as well as just going where you wanted to go when you wanted. We have had quite a few vacations that are very structured, and they needed to be, but we prefer to be able go where and when the wind blows. Far more interesting and enjoyable for us.
Have you driven up the Blue Ridge Parkway? I have done it a couple of times in NC and there is a quite a bit to see on and off the Parkway. You could make hotel reservations at strategic locations and do what you want between hotels. Stay at a few given hotels for a few days to allow exploration of an area. One problem with going out west, when one lives in the east, is the huge amount of time it takes to get out west. Unless one has lots of time, one has to fly. Driving takes too long and even the train burns up precious time.
A coworker does little to no planning for trips. :shocked::laughing: She will wait for a cheap plane flight and then go somewhere. Somewhere could be in the states or overseas. Over Christmas break, she found cheap plane tickets to Las Vegas and flew out there to see the Grand Canyon. It was a spur of the moment trip. She was looking at tickets on say Wednesday and they were $500, which was an ok price, and her daughter pushed her to buy the tickets. She waited until Thursday and the tickets were around $100 so she bought them. :laughing::laughing::laughing: Tis kinda crazy, but it gets her to places she wants to go too for little money. She is just flexible on where to go right now and goes where the cheap air fare take her. :thumbsup: Not a bad approach if one wants to travel.
Her kids are adults and out of the house so she can travel this way. We can't since we still have kids anchoring us down. :laughing::laughing::laughing:
I don't really like cities per say, and have no desire to see any US city. :shocked::confused3: DC might be an exception because of the museums. Having said that seeing Fer'n cities is something we want to do. We over nighted in Hong Kong and got to see a bit of the city but not enough and we would love to go back. Same thing for Glasgow Scotland. Spent a bit more time in smaller cities and towns in mainland China, Ireland and Scotland but not enough and want to go back. The nice thing about the non mainland China cities is the people sorta speak English, :shocked:
, so it is easier to get around and the places are loaded with things to see. In Ireland we took the bus from one town in the south to Dublin. Lovely drive, and since it was the bus, we could sit back and watch the scenery go by. During our trip to Ireland/Scotland, one of our ideas was to land in Dublin and take the bus, train and ferry to Scotland before returning to Dublin. That did not work out but we really wanted to do that trip since it would allow us to see quite a bit of Ireland and Scotland in a way more like the locals.
I share your desire to avoid the hordes of tourists and resulting traffic especially in areas where nature is the reason to visit.
Later,
Dan
