First post...
Where do you want to go?
Wed, 2012-03-14 01:20
#1
Where do you want to go?
Wed, 2012-03-14 01:28
#2
So? Where do you want to travel to?
I found a slightly outdated travel guide to Finland for a couple of bucks and bought it on a whim. I've been reading it, and Helsinki-dreaming since. And then I started looking at some of the surrounding areas to Helsinki, and thinking, gee, it would be neat to take some side-trips to St. Petersburg, Russia, and Tallinn, Estonia, since they're nearby (although Russia would be a bit more of a pain since you need a visa to visit there).
Probably isn't going to happen any time soon, but it's fun to dream. :)
Wed, 2012-03-14 01:36
#3
Catchfire
Ooo! I have been to Latvia and Stockholm--and my friend and I were this close to hopping on a midnight ferry to Helsinki. Had I gotten on that boat, my life would be quite different, I think...I would love to have the chance to go to Finland again. I'd take it for sure!
Since I've been living on the West Coast, I've had a big desire to go to China or Japan since we're so close (well, relatively. And not counting water) and there are so many cultural resonances here in Vancouver. Tickets are still super expensive and I can't speak any of the languages, so...I don't know when that will become a reality!
Wed, 2012-03-14 02:24
#4
You could always go abroad and teach English for the CIA, I mean Disney. Four weeks TESL training in Thailand and then off to god knows where in China for a minimum one year contract.
Wed, 2012-03-14 02:33
#5
I'm very much a homebody, but Japan and Ireland would be my two oversea destinations of choice. Closer to home, and a little more feasibly, I'd like to visit [url=http://www.farmsanctuary.org/farm/newyork/index.html]Farm Sanctuary[/url] and Quebec City. And just once I'd like to see an NFL game in person.
Wed, 2012-03-14 13:46
#6
Timebandit
Norway. Back to England. Back to Beijing and Shanghai. Nice. Rome. Ireland. Scotland. Berlin. Australia. Castara, Tobago again for sure.
Wed, 2012-03-14 13:57
#7
Boom Boom
I've been to Wales, and I'd like to go back. Maybe France and Scotland too, and explore my roots.
Wed, 2012-03-14 14:10
#8
You have probably been a hit whereever you went Boom Boom. 
Wed, 2012-03-14 14:14
#9
Boom Boom
I have to stay out of Italy, though. 
Wed, 2012-03-14 15:33
#10
I've been from one end of England to the other and seen a bit of Wales and Scotland. Drank vino and ate bread at hotel called la Gare du Nord. Does anyone sleep in Paris for all the damn noise? Of course, I'm hard of hearing now so it wouldn't matter. Did the obligatory Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and walked through the Arch de Triomphe. I loved Paris. Except for that time when a gang of skinheads were chasing another bunch of hoods down the streets. I'd never seen so many leather jacketed hoods all at once. That was back in the 1980s.
I have to stay out of Italy, though.
What did you do? Confess!
Wed, 2012-03-14 16:51
#11
Boom Boom
Gorgeous castles in Wales - I have them on 35mm prints somewhere. I'd also like to visit that place where people are always telling me to go - Hell. 
Wed, 2012-03-14 17:15
#12
I'm so happy you started this thread, Michelle. I spent a lovely summer in Finland as a kid - to me, it looked exactly like Northern Ontario.
We are off to the Netherlands in a few weeks. My 6-year-old really wants to visit this:
Not meaning to hijack your thread, but Mr. Ripple and I thought we'd go to Paris for a couple of days. Other than shopping at Louis Vuitton (obviously), what else would babblers recommend?
Wed, 2012-03-14 17:21
#13
Timebandit
The Musee d'Orsay is a fantastic art museum. Don't forget to visit the cafe on the top floor.
The flea market, or Marche de Puces, is fantastic. You can walk for hours, everything from very high-end antiques to kitsch and vintage clothing.
The Latin Quarter was also very cool, some reasonably priced, very good restaurants there.
ETA: Now I want to go back to Paris, too. 
Wed, 2012-03-14 17:48
#14
I'm 2nd generation Canadian, so I'd like to visit the countries my grandparents left to come here.
When I think about it, it would be easier to list the places I don't want to be.
Wed, 2012-03-14 18:04
#15
Gorgeous castles in Wales - I have them on 35mm prints somewhere. I'd also like to visit that place where people are always telling me to go - Hell.
I have seen a few of them, beautiful, yet monstrous, when you consider what they were built for.
And strangely enough, I have also always wanted to visit hell:
http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/01/haw-par-villa-unusual-singapore-theme....
The 10 Gates of Hell, part of Haw Par Villa in SIngapore, built by the brothers who invented Tiger Balm
But one place I think I have a better chance of getting to is one I missed going to last year - Chaco Canyon:
http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm
In fact, many of the places I already got to around Four Corners I would love to get back to.
Wed, 2012-03-14 18:09
#16
Gorgeous castles in Wales - I have them on 35mm prints somewhere. I'd also like to visit that place where people are always telling me to go - Hell.
I have a photo of me as a teenager standing at the drawbridge of this one. It's in a box somewhere. I remember lots of road signs that made no sense to me. From there we drove south down to Plymouth, Polperro and Penzance. Landudno etc. Lots of narrow cobblestone streets, I imagined Polperro being a haven for smugglers and pirates centuries ago. Really beautiful with the warm ocean current. There were a few palm trees even. I couldn't believe I was still in England.
Wed, 2012-03-14 19:29
#17
Catchfire
I spent a lovely summer in Finland as a kid - to me, it looked exactly like Northern Ontario.
That glamourous, eh? "Ahh, Helsinki is lovely, but it hasn't a button on Kirkland Lake."
Other than shopping at Louis Vuitton (obviously), what else would babblers recommend?
Can you pick me up the 2012 handbag?
I was in Paris 12 years ago, so perhaps it and my tastes have changed. But TB is right on: the D'Orsay is (was) amazing. Better than the Louvre if you like modernist art. Somehow, though, I think you'll be alright no matter where you end up.
I've only been to the Eastern part of Wales, and around Cardiff. It was beautiful countryside, but not what you'd call typical, evocative Wales--that's apparently more the seaside. When I told my Welsh friend about my trip, he was outraged: "What? All you learned was that Wales do England better than the English! What a waste!"
One thing that was cool was hearing young people switch effortlessly between Welsh and English in pubs. Although I heard that only the upper class, urbanite Welsh youth can do that. Unlike, say, Gaelic or Scots.
Wed, 2012-03-14 19:33
#18
Boom Boom
I've been all over Wales, thanks to a friend who has relatives there. They live on a sheep farm - wish I could post a photo of their house.
Wed, 2012-03-14 19:38
#19
I have friends from Ireland who switch from Gaelic to English fairly well. But to be fair, the Irish have been resisting the eradication of culture and language for a very long time.
Wed, 2012-03-14 19:51
#20
I've been to about 40 countries and would mostly like to see places I haven't yet seen.
However, these are places I would like to return to:
1. St Petersburg.
2. Oxford Mississippi.
3. St John's
4. Odessa
5. Valaam (look it up)
6. Buenos Aires
Thu, 2012-03-15 00:41
#21
Well, I was thinking more of the cabins, saunas, lakes, and birch trees ... But if it's culture you want, Timmins has the Shania Twain museum.
Thanks for the Paris suggestions, Timebandit and Catchfire.
Thu, 2012-03-15 01:10
#22
I would love to see Africa, Morocco, the Sahara, Cairo, and some lions and giraffes. They say we all have genetic ties to Africa. I would like to see it very much.
Thu, 2012-03-15 08:31
#23
Ripple, you so weren't hijacking the thread! Totally on topic, and I'm glad you got some suggestions!
I never travelled much at all until the last couple of years. Before that, the extent of my travelling has been to Florida once as a kid, and the occasional trip to some northern US states. I'd never travelled outside Canada and the US until a couple of years ago.
I went to Cuba in 2009, then Iceland in 2011, and now the travel bug has bitten me and there are lots of places I'd love to see. I've also become addicted to those old Pilot Guides travel show episodes.
I used to really want to go to Germany since half of my family is from there. But since going to Iceland last year, I have also longed to go to other Scandinavian countries as well. Strangely enough, I've never had a burning desire to go to the UK, even though the other half of my family's ancestral background is Welsh and Scottish, as far as I know. Could be interesting, but it's not at the top of my list.
Thu, 2012-03-15 08:37
#24
Catchfire, re: your remarks about going to Stockholm and Latvia - that's kind of where my dreams are going right now. I'd love to go visit that area just because there are so many countries we could visit in one trip! Land in Helsinki, stay a few days there, go to Estonia (I'm reading up on it now, and wow, it sounds amazing, especially the old section of town in Tallinn), Stockholm, Latvia, Lithuania...all within a reasonable distance of each other! Kind of a Gulf of Finland-Baltic Sea tour. But I think I'd have to have at least three weeks or even a month to really enjoy such a trip. And the money it would cost! Eep.
Well, as I was saying above...it's nice to dream. :)
Thu, 2012-03-15 08:40
#25
I'd like to go Mars.
Thu, 2012-03-15 09:53
#26
A good organization for those interested in travelling and hosting travellers:
Fri, 2012-03-16 06:43
#27
This is a really neat site I heard about as well, for people who want to crash on people's couches while travelling, and host people on their couches (or spare rooms).
Fri, 2012-03-23 21:30
#28
I've just been for a paddle on the Rio Negro and seen where Brazil nuts are harvested. Try it it's way cool.
Sun, 2012-03-25 08:20
#29
Fidel, that is beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
Rereading some of the posts above, you're making me want to go to Wales as well. :)
I have my fantasy Baltic Sea seaside cities tour all mapped out now, with various cities to visit. Start at St. Petersburg, Russia. Train to Helsinki, Finland. Ferry to Tallin, Estonia. Bus to Riga, Latvia. Another bus to Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Now, here I run into a snag, because there is apparently no ferry to Gdansk, Poland from Klaipeda - can't imagine why! Maybe because Russia is kind of "in between" and you'd have to cross into Russian waters? (You have to have a visa to go into Russia, but not the EU). Anyhow, okay, so I find a way to go to Gdansk, this is a fantasy after all.
Then a ferry to Kiel, Germany (there's one from Klaipeda - maybe we skip Gdansk, or go there afterwards or something). Then some way to Copenhagen, Denmark. And then a flight to Stockholm, Sweden, where I end the tour and then fly home.
I'm sure it would only take a month or so, and thousands of dollars. Time to start buying lottery tickets and saving vacation time! ;)
Sun, 2012-03-25 15:13
#30
@ Michelle
Climb up Snowden. It is a trip, and unlike most Canadian National Parks, you have a millenium's worth of marked paths to choose from. Even with an experienced mountaineer, we got lost in the dark on the way down, and almost fell off a cliff.
But really, some of the moors and mountain country in Yorkshire are even more gorgeous.
I also recommend the Brecon Beacons.
And no ferry option via scandinavia?
Tue, 2012-04-03 12:45
#31
Maybe Lapland during Kaamos (December-January when the sun does not rise at all) is more affordable. You can see this
from here
Tue, 2012-04-03 13:00
#32
Catchfire
AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
This world and its wonders...
Tue, 2012-04-10 01:28
#33
I would love to travel anywhere, since I love to just explore new places. I went to Labrador a few months ago, but that was a horrible experiene. 
Tue, 2012-04-10 06:21
#34
I'm sorry to hear that, CanadaApple. rr and I are being seduced lately by the tourism ads from Newfoundland and Labrador. What was bad about your experience?
Tue, 2012-04-10 08:08
#35
I need to get home to NL soon.
Tue, 2012-04-10 11:56
#36
bagkitty
[...]
Not meaning to hijack your thread, but Mr. Ripple and I thought we'd go to Paris for a couple of days. Other than shopping at Louis Vuitton (obviously), what else would babblers recommend?
I have always approved of a stop my friends consider mandatory (I think they are trying to tempt me to actually travel), Stalingrad Metro station and having your photograph taken under the sign.
Wed, 2012-04-11 00:39
#37
I'm sorry to hear that, CanadaApple. rr and I are being seduced lately by the tourism ads from Newfoundland and Labrador. What was bad about your experience?
Well, it wasn't the trip itself that was horrible, just the reason I went. I don't want to get into details about it, but let's just say I got my heart broken by someone...again. 
However, it was certainly a beautiful land from what I saw of it, and most of the people there were as nice as they say they are, so you might like it. Pretty cold though, even in October, so do bundle up!
Sat, 2012-10-20 07:41
#38
Cool weather wouldn't bother me too much, although I would probably be more tempted to go in the summer.
Another fun idea that radiorahim inspired was a nice October trip to Europe, Casablanca, and Senegal. Strange combo? Yes.
You see, rr is a ham radio operator, and their major worldwide contest is during a weekend near the end of October. The point of the contest is to make as many contacts in as many areas of the world as possible during the contest time.
A fun thing to do if you don't want to just hang out at home with the guys and do your ham thing from the basement all weekend, is to travel to a "rare" location (that is, a location where people have a hard time making contact with ham radio operators) and operate from there. You get a zillion people from all over the world trying to contact you.
So, there are people all over the world who rent out small apartments or houses, fully equipped with ham radio equipment (so you don't have to lug your own stuff), including in some of the more "rare" places. rr noticed ads for places in Suriname, Senegal, etc.
So we looked at the Senegal one and got dreaming. In order to get to Senegal, your flight has to stop over in some European city or other - I didn't see any direct flights. So if we took a month off, flew to some European city (e.g. Lisbon, Paris, etc.), stayed there a week or so, then flew to Senegal for a week or so (a few days before the ham contest, and a few days after so we could wander about a bit as well), then perhaps flew back to Casablanca (just because it's rr's favourite movie, and who doesn't want to see Casablanca?) stay there for a week or so, and then fly home.
A nice dream. Again, we'd have to save up vacation time and a lot of money!
Sat, 2012-10-20 07:42
#39
I'd like to go Mars.
But I want to go to Venus!!!
Sat, 2012-10-20 10:42
#40
Fidel slept in one of the noisiest areas in northeastern Paris, Gare du Nord. If you had pushed on to some parts of Belleville or Menilmontant, you might have found a much quieter location. I am fonder of the still somewhat more proletarian East, though even those areas have gentrified to some extent. In general cheaper than the Quartier latin, for nice bistros. I like la Promenade plantée, a park along a former railway line (it inspired the High Line in NYC). I like simply walking around neighbourhoods more than anything else. I have several friends in Paris and have been their many times (often for conferences or other work/research - I am very far from wealthy).
I do want to return to Italy, especially go back to Perugia where I studied, and to Rome (where I also have friends).
The region I've never been to where I most want to go is el Cono Sur, the southern Cone of South America. Many Chilean and Argentinean friends - though they or their parents had to leave those countries very quickly and in most dramatic circumstances back in the 1970s! Studying Italian migration obviously interested me in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. They have good red wine in those countries too, though I'm sure I'd find the cuisine rather too meat-centric, although I'm not a vegetarian. I was at a benefit picnic here for Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo some years ago and the foods were the same as at any similar Italian event - but the proportions were VERY different. About four times as much meat.
Michelle, there are places in Germany I'm sure you'd love. Even in Bavaria, Munich is a very cool and attractive city. And of course, there's Berlin...
I'd have a hard time going to Finland in the winter. Helsinki is much farther north than any large Canadian city. The only time I've even set foot in Scandinavia was to Copenhagen for a fly-in, fly-out meeting to plan the European Social Forum. It was about 15 December and even when the sun was supposed to be out, it was very gloomy. And of course Helsinki is very far north of there. So I didn't ever ride a bicycle in Cophenhagen, which is as cycling-friendly as Amsterdam, and a very beautiful city. I'd love to go to the cities farther north, but in the summer, or late spring.
Sat, 2012-10-20 11:35
#41
You'd probably fare a lot better on my southern Europe and northwest African trip than we would, lagatta, with your French, Italian, and Spanish! :)
Sat, 2012-10-20 12:28
#42
New Zealand.
Sat, 2012-10-20 12:39
#43
I`d like to visit the Limousin region in central France.