This week is Tucson. Galapagos is January.
Not sure yet if I will try to squeeze in another trip in December.
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Itās not this year, but I just bought tickets to a concert in Kiel, Germany for next July.
We are going to the beach for a few days next week, and bringing the dog along. We like to go to the beach off season, and we like to book on short notice when the weather forecast looks favorable. It will be high 60ās and mostly sunny, so thatās decent enough. Sometimes we get lucky and get high 70s.
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Going to Tucson early January for a week of winter break.
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My son and I are struggling to decide where to go for spring break this year (late March). He will be 21. Weāre in the Seattle area, and have gone to Boston and NYC the previous two spring breaks. Heās been to Chicago several times as a kid. Iām aiming for around $2500 for travel and accommodations, especially since I might take my younger son somewhere for his spring break in April, and we hope to do a family vacation in September. I prefer to not have to deal with driving, so ideally somewhere walkable and/or easy public transit. Current ideas on my end are:
- San Francisco, taking the train one way. (Heās expressed interest taking the train down the coast, and itās about $600 one way for the both of us for a roomette.)
- Toronto and/or Montreal. Heās a big hockey fan, so Iād need to look at game schedules.
- Disneyland. Heās never been since he was afraid of rollercoasters and not much patience for waiting in line as a kid.
- Maybe Washington DC? I have looked at costs for that.
- Honolulu. Heās expressed interest in the past, but itāll be more expensive, and I wasnāt a huge fan Honolulu. (Family vacation last year was Maui.)
- I toyed with the idea of somewhere in Europe, but thatās a consideration for the whole family in September. However, if there was somewhere relatively inexpensive, I might consider it.
Other than what was mentioned above, heās not done much traveling outside of visiting family. Heās easy to travel with and is fine doing a lot of walking.
Thoughts/suggestions?
Weather is usually awful in Toronto and Montreal in March but no worse than in northern US cities. There is a lot of interesting indoor stuff going on in TO/MTL.
And you will be pleasantly surprised how much more your US dollars currently buy in Canada versus in a big US city!
As far as Europe, everyone who has been there recently has raved about how cheap and fun Portugal is. And these are Canadians with our weak dollar. Southern Portugal is lovely in March.
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Honolulu is pretty shitty versus any other place on Oahu and any other island. So, if you go to Hawaii, go anywhere except Honolulu and Waikiki. That is for first-timers who donāt know any better. (Yes, I was a first timer who didnāt know better.) North Shore, west end, east end of Oahu.
Southern Utah. That will require some driving, though it shouldnāt be snowy. PLENTY of walking.
Vegas. Just get it over with. Again, plenty of walking.
Spring Training in AZ if baseball is a thing. More driving though, again, no snow.
What other interests are there? Museums, attractions, historical learning, new food?
Iāve been to Toronto once years ago, in February. Looks like thereād be an opportunity for a Leafās game.
I looked at Expedia for ballpark prices for Lisbon and was surprised. We donāt speak anything other than English and my only international travel has been to Canada & Mexico, so I admit Iām a little intimidated. Itās an intriguing thought, though.
I was not a fan of Honolulu, either, so I torpedoed the idea of going there when we did our Maui trip.
We did a family SW road-trip to Arches, Canyonland, and the Grand Canyon several years ago.
I did consider Vegas, since heāll be 21, but probably not the trip you want to take with a parent. Iāve been once, which was enough for me, but Iād go if he wanted to.
My son likes aquariums, hockey, Formula 1 racing, visiting notable college campuses, some museums, walking around to see the unique/notable sights.
Iāve considered NYC again, too.
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Canāt speak for Montreal, but we did QC in March and while it was cold and snowy, it was also very lovely.
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Only speaking English is not a barrier in Portugal. The tourist trade is geared to foreigners. People are welcoming.
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You could go to L.A. and go to UCLA/USC/Caltech, Long Beach Aquarium and maybe the Getty museum or something.
Also Long Beach grand prix if the timing is right - itās in April.
Portugal is probably the best country in southern Europe for speaking English. They couldnāt afford to dub tv shows into their own language like Spain or Italy so they watched English language shows with subtitles (this is what my Spanish friend told me). Also the alliance between Portugal and England is the longest lasting alliance in the world.
I knew one word in Portuguese when I visited and had no problem.
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Go one time; see the U.S.S. Arizona, the Capitol, Iolani Palace. Then hop over to a different island.
Polynesian Cultural Center was meh.
Jan: Iceland
Apr: Netherlands
Oct: France
Feb: Baltimore (Kidsā Birthdays)
Mar: Dallas (meeting for volunteer work)
Jun: Denver (Met Game & Golf)
Chicago (meeting for volunteer work)
Jul: KC (Met Game & Golf)
Atlanta - 4, 5 times to visit dad
Albany - 2, 3 times to visit Grand kids
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And the friendliest. I canāt think of anywhere I want to visit in the US more than a return trip to Portugal.
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My wife and I observe our 50th wedding anniversary in 2025 so we will celebrate that with an ambitious travel schedule like yours!
I view GoActuary as a trusted community so will eventually post photos of us as twenty-somethings and seventy-somethings to show how little we have aged. 
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I always find this expression confusing. Does that mean you will be having an out-of-body experience (which may be very well what you have planned)?
Congratulations, btw.
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Thanks. I should say celebrate rather than observe!
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just passed 40th.
Have been travelling like this since COVID
2024 (DC - (volunteer work); Nassau Cruise (to get next status); MD (Daughters Wedding); Hilton Head; Disney Cruise (grand daughter); Norway
2023 Aruba; DC (volunteer work); Mediterranean Cruise, Hilton Head, Rhode Island (volunteer work), Baltimore (Sonās wedding); Panama Canal;
2022 German River Cruise; US National Parks Tour
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