Where should I go on vacation?

starlancerii

So I've got two weeks of vacation this year, and no idea where to go. Anybody have recommendations based on past experiences? Here's some relevant info:
- 25 years old single male, traveling alone since I have no friends [who do not already have plans]. This is probably the most annoying part.
- Based in NYC, have traveled the east coast of to US and to Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan) but nowhere else
- Looking for an experience-type vacation - expand my horizons, that kind of stuff. not really into lounging on a cruise ship or shopping.
- Budget = 5kish? also up for 2x 1 week vacations

Karrmer

Australia + New Zealand

Jinn

Traveling alone is actually pretty awesome if you approach it with a certain mindset, and based on your third point it sounds like you're on a promising track. I've traveled a good bit in Europe by myself and love love love spending days just walking around the cities on foot. Everything is old and has some kind of history that is interesting and traveling the cities on foot is a much different experience than using transit to zip from one tourist spot to the next. Museums and historical sights are fun and you'll know which ones you don't want a miss in a given city, but my favorite thing is to walk until I get hungry, find a tiny local place, eat, soak in the atmosphere, maybe read a book or do a bit of writing, and then move along and repeat. It can be very relaxing and extremely enriching.

$5,000 is a very nice sum of money for a little European adventure. Since airfare is so generally so expensive, my thought would be to only pay for that once and make it a 2 weeker.

As for where you'll want to go specifically, that's entirely up to you-- just hop on wikipedia or lonely planet and read about some cities and find ones that sound interesting to you. Your money will go a lot further in Eastern Europe. Scandinavia is really clean and fun and pretty but expensive. London is my favorite city in the world but will drain your wallet faster than an pickpocket in Rome. Paris is the best for aimless wanderings. The Mediterranean coast is where I'd go with 2 weeks and five grand.

oldsak

South America

I spent two weeks in just Peru and Argentina. I wish I had more time to go elsewhere. The rain forest, in particular, was a life changing experience for me.

starlancerii

How would I schedule a trip to South America / Australia? just get a lonely planet guide, read, book, and go? Or do you have some sort of a group thing in mind

oldsak

For South America I basically just figured out where I wanted to go, booked flights to those locations, booked a hostel for the first location, and figured everything else out along the way. I tend to fancy myself an adventurer so I tend to prefer loose plans that I can change on whim. If you like, I can outline that trip a bit just to give you a better idea of how things went.

I enjoy going the hostel route because you meet other travelers who give you tips on places to go and check out, and you make friends along the way.

Karrmer

A friend of mine was shot in Peru while walking back to his Hostel, but that can really occur anywhere (and is far more likely in the US I'd say). Main point here is to be safe - in his scenario, a group of kids (about 13 years old) approached him and told him to give them his wallet/backpack and he said no, and was then shot a couple times but luckily for him it all went into his arm and he was fine.

So give kids your shit if they have a gun and be smart and don't walk around late at night.

ceres

How much of an experience, and how in-shape are you?

I had a friend a while back who took a few trips with ibike. They sounded brutal, but definitely life-changing.

Be aware that this it the nuclear option.

starlancerii

Getting shot in the arm? that is not very high on my to do list.

I'm pretty in shape, and I already did a week-long biking trip (with panniers) on the east coast. I'd love to do it again, but I'm not sure where. A good bike trip would take a while too not sure if I have enough time.

Skoal Cat

Middle East? My sister loved her time in Turkey. The Arabic world is going to be radically different from anything else you've experiences.

ChopperDave

I second the backpacking/hostel route. If you're alone it's a really great way to have fun encounters and make new friends. Every time I've gone to a hostel alone I've ended up falling in with a group of really cool people and doing fun/crazy things, and I still keep up with some of them on facebook and through e-mail.

Location wise, Turkey and Greece are super nice this time of year. Well, maybe not Greece, seeing as its in financial meltdown mode. But definitely Turkey! I lived there for a year so I can tell you all the places to go.

witch_ie

Another thing you might want to consider is if there is anything specific you want to DO on your vacation that might help you pick where you go. For example:bungy jumping, camping, a convention, a concert, cuisine. For all of these, there may be a specific location that makes it all the more awesome or unique of an experience. We went to Italy and while we took in the sights, the primary reason we went (well at least why I went) was the food.

firewaterword

Karrmer wrote: »

...New Zealand

This.

Aussy is kind of neat too I guess. I guess.

Bagginses

Skoal Cat wrote: »

Middle East? My sister loved her time in Turkey. The Arabic world is going to be radically different from anything else you've experiences.

It's also westernized enough that you won't find many problems. This Sunday's NYT had a good feature on an island outside Istanbul. Actually, the whole section was really good, and made the Albanian coast and Madrid sound really nice. I'd also suggest Lamu, Ghana, and the Galway Gaeltacht.

Lankysean

Skoal Cat wrote: »

Middle East? The Arabic world is going to be radically different from anything else you've experiences.

The Arabic world is amazing, I've never actually been to the middle east but I do have quite a few Arabic co-workers and their customs, food, home life are all very interesting and very cool.