Normally I am not stumped for where to travel. There are so many places I have never been that I want to visit. But this time is a bit different.

We haven't done a real overseas trip since my horse came home from training nearly five years ago. Also, I had some health issues that at last seem to be resolving (knock wood!) Mr Pique believes he is getting a bit long in the tooth (I think he'll be running marathons when he's 100) and so it is easier than usual to persuade him to do something more adventurous than just lie on a beach. We plan to do extensive travel when he finally retires, and so something more adventurous would be a good test run for long term travel together.

Here's my requirements:

Weather has to be terrific in February, i.e. warm and sunny
Must be some place I've never been before
Prefer a radically different culture from the U.S.
Beach/mountains/cities or all of them
Mr Pique doesn't want to be gone longer than 2 weeks so farthest corners of the earth probably won't work this time. Don't want to take more than two days to get there from Montana.
But we have enough miles to go just about anywhere, as long as there are Delta or United partner airlines going there.

My first thought was Colombia, as it is incredibly diverse, and I'd heard that the guerrilla warfare is over. But today I read the state department travel alert for Colombia and apparently there is still guerilla fighting and kidnappingn after all. It would be safe in Bogota and the beach, but travel is so restricted everywhere else, we'd be pretty limited as to where we can go, it looks like.

Then thought of Andalusia, but was warned about rain.

Now thinking about Egypt. Maybe a formal tour on horseback one week and then live like locals in the cheap for another week.

Any places coming to mind for you travel veterans? (Jon, I'm looking at you).

I'm probably over thinking this because it's so hard to get Mr Pique to do anything more than lie on a beach, I've usually ended up traveling alone for work. This could be my only chance!!

Porto, Portugal!

Or, have you been to Belize?

Security is iffy for tourists in Egypt of late.

Brazil.

1) Beach/Mountains/Cities - Check. In fact, its kind of hard to name any other world class city that has world class beaches. I mean, some people might put Miami in that category, but not me. Rio fits the bill for sure.

2) Logistics are good. It's the same(ish) time zone as US so no jet lag. Flight both there and back are overnight so you don't waste a day traveling. (flights go from NY or MIA non-stop to Rio). Despite the flight being longer, it's far more convenient than Europe for that reason. I've actually done long weekends there.

Traveling within Brasil is fairly easy, if you wanted to go up to Manaus and check out the Amazon. THere's a lot to explore in that huge place, culturally and ecologically.

You could even catch Carnival if you play your cards right. You'd want to avoid flying right before or after because of the crowds, but to be there during is fascinating.


Alternatively, or in combination, consider Argentina. Buenos Aires is like Paris but with better looking people. No beach right there, but there's one a couple hours south or do what the Porteños do and take the shuttle up to Punta Del Este (Uruguay) for a couple of days.

Of the two, Brazil is definitely the one more culturally distant from what you're used to, and has greater variety culturally and geographically.



If you want a bit more adventure, consider a trip to Patagonia and Tierrra del Fuego. In 2008 Rachel and I went to Argentina and Chile and combined it with a 3 day 'marine expedition' (i wouldn't cll it a cruise) that left from Tierra del Fuego and rounded Cape Horn and dropped us off in Punta Arenas. Part of the adventure was getting on Zodiac boats and exploring glaciers, etc. You might remember my posting about it here. This is the outfit we used.

Another option is Peru. You can get to Lima via DFW so you should make it in one full day (maybe United does it via Chicago or Houston, Delta does it nonstop from Atlanta). Lima is larger than NYC now, lots to do and see. Then you can head down to Arequipa (highly recommended!), where you can hike on 3 active (but dormant) volcanos. Also Cusco/Macchu Picchu is an option. Travel within Peru is cheap and easy enough on Peruvian Airlines.

quote:

Picture of Nina

posted 03 January 2019 01:47 PM Hide Post
Porto, Portugal!

On my list! Especially interested in going to the Goleta horse market and/or riding Lusitanos. But isn't it rainy there in Feb?

A cousin who has lived all over the world says Portugal would be her first choice to live as an expat.

quote:

Buenos Aires is like Paris but with better looking people.

But are they better dressed?

Great suggestions, Jon, I will start looking into these.

I'll throw out 4 suggestions, and one opinion.

First the opinion. Forget choosing based on the weather. Make a list of possible destinations you're interested in. Nevermind warm vs cold, sunny vs cloudy, etc. Do a modicum of research on each destination. In our experience one of the destinations will always "stand up and speak to you". That's where you go.

My 4 current top choices are (in no particular order):

Barcelona, Lisbon, Copenhagen, and Bergen Norway.

Barcelona and Lisbon will probably be warm, but perhaps rainy. Going in February means you'll get to enjoy the city and surrounding area without crowds of tourists.

Copenhagen and Bergen will certainly be colder, but remember that their seaside locale will (usually) moderate the weather. Both are amazing cities and well worth a visit any time of year.

Most of all? Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Planning is at least 1/2 the fun of travel!

Thanks, Dan! If you lived in Montana like I do you would not be advising me to ignore the weather. the whole point of traveling in February is to escape winter. And, I don't particularly enjoy planning because it steals too much time, energy, and attention from other things--but only because I am OCD about it.

Having said all this, I'm definitely going to put your recommendations on my list for a nicer time of year. Though Portugal is in the running as of now.

Meanwhile, I've been reading the NYT articles for the series "52 places to go in 2018" all written by one woman who went to every one of them on assignment and wrote about each one. She also recently wrote a piece about what the whole experience was like, and it sounds like a pretty harrowing assignment--as I thought it would be. I actually saw the job listing when it was announced and momentarily considered applying, but quickly realized it would not be fun to go to a new place every six days AND be constantly on deadline. Plus the pace required would have been crippling, physically. Nevertheless, 13,000 people applied!

Anyone else see this series? She got to travel to some of my dream destinations--Bhutan and Tasmania, for example. And her piece on Bogota made me want to go to Colombia after all.

Well, there are many islands in the Caribbean that have much more than beaches to offer. I say much more, because you could also do water activities in addition to mountain climbing and other outdoor things. I'm thinking many islands in the windwards ... Guadeloupe, Martinique, the Grenadines. You'll get cultural difference too.

As I've mentioned, we spent the week before Christmas in Bonaire, which is the least populated and least touristy of the ABCs. We could explore underwater in the morning, take in a mountainous nature preserve in the afternoon, and dine in town in the evening. A lot of potentially interesting landforms all over the Caribbean, and it's relatively easy to get to most of the islands, especially in the winter. Even from Montana! Everyone speaks English, but you'll hear Papiamento, Dutch, and Spanish all the time.

If you do put Colombia on the map it could check all your boxes too. I haven’t been to Bogota in 20 years but I remember it being pretty exciting and it is much safer now then it was in the 90s. Last year we spent a week at Cartagena, which you would also want to add to your itinerary for a few days at least. Cali is supposed to be nice too.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
Cali is supposed to be nice too.

You think she's in the market for cocaine?

quote:

Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
Well, there are many islands in the Caribbean that have much more than beaches to offer. I say much more, because you could also do water activities in addition to mountain climbing and other outdoor things. I'm thinking many islands in the windwards ... Guadeloupe, Martinique, the Grenadines. You'll get cultural difference too.

As I've mentioned, we spent the week before Christmas in Bonaire, which is the least populated and least touristy of the ABCs. We could explore underwater in the morning, take in a mountainous nature preserve in the afternoon, and dine in town in the evening. A lot of potentially interesting landforms all over the Caribbean, and it's relatively easy to get to most of the islands, especially in the winter. Even from Montana! Everyone speaks English, but you'll hear Papiamento, Dutch, and Spanish all the time.

We ALWAYS go to the Caribbean, and I have been to Bonaire, so that is off the list. I loved the snorkeling on Bonaire and the mix of cultures, but the lack of beaches means it won't ever be on our greatest hits list. Last vacation was to Salt Cay in the Turks and Caicos. I never wanted to leave, and still think about renting a shack there for a month or two to write.

To get to the Caribbean from Montana takes two full days, btw. We would usually overnight in New York, Atlanta, or Houston. Because of limited service out here it hasn't been possible to connect with flight to the Caribbean the same day.

So pretty much any place we go out of the country will be the same story.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
If you do put Colombia on the map it could check all your boxes too. I haven’t been to Bogota in 20 years but I remember it being pretty exciting and it is much safer now then it was in the 90s. Last year we spent a week at Cartagena, which you would also want to add to your itinerary for a few days at least. Cali is supposed to be nice too.

Oh I did not realize you had been there! I am strongly leaning towards Colombia again, as we could get in beach time at the start to satisfy Mr. Pique's need to do nothing at first, then visit a couple of cities, and even go to the Andes or the Amazon. I am going to look into horse treks into those, so that i dont have to figure out everything.

What first got me thinking about Colombia is I had a composer friend from music school from there. He was a wonderful person and always spoke so glowingly of his home country. I believe he's now a conductor in Medellin. I haven't talked to him in 30 years, but we are FB friends and i am still close to a mutual friend of ours. On the fence about messaging him. I wonder if he even remembers his English. It wasnt very good even when he lived in NYC.

Jon, would you elaborate on your experiences there? And do you remember which airline you used?

Didn't realize that February was such a rainy month. You might be wise to schedule your Porto vacay for a different time. Bummer.

New development... Should we wait until the shutdown is over to make plans? Lots of safety issues, more than I'm sure I can even imagine. And what if planes stop flying while we are gone? How do we get home?

quote:

January 2, 2019
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Trump:
On behalf of the 61,000 pilots of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), I
am writing to urge you to take the necessary steps to immediately end the shutdown of
government agencies that is adversely affecting the safety, security and efficiency of our
national airspace system.
The nation’s airspace system is a complex transportation network that involves
government and industry partnerships to function properly, and the disruptions being
caused by the shutdown are threatening the safe operations of this network. The
government agency partners in the Department of Transportation (DOT) and
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have dual roles. They are both regulators and
service providers. When any of their responsibilities are placed on pause due to a
shutdown there are safety, security and efficiency gaps that immediately emerge.
For example, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) there are fewer safety
inspectors than are needed in order to ensure the air traffic control infrastructure is
performing at its peak levels of performance. There are also airline and aircraft
manufacturing oversight activities that either stop or are significantly reduced. These
safety and oversight inspections will potentially allow for the introduction of safety
issues that put passengers and airline crews at risk. Although the 2018 holiday season is
now behind us, the number of recreational drones, or unmanned aircraft systems
(UAS), has likely grown significantly in the past several weeks. The shutdown is a
significant stumbling block in the FAA’s efforts to ensure the safety of the airspace from
those drone operators who may be operating in an unsafe manner.