AIBU to ask where you would go for 5 weeks, with £7750.

[Dontforgetyourtowel]

NC as very outing! I will soon finish a 9 year long stint of work and study, and to celebrate my freedom (i.e. not having to study evenings and weekends ever again), my DH and I have decided to go somewhere, anywhere, for a period of 5 weeks, in autumn 2018 (we're in the UK).

We have been thinking Hawaii, 'do' all 4 of the main islands. He's quite set on it but I'm being indecisive..! My main worry (not really an appropriate word but ykwim) is that our budget is 'only' around £7500. This would need to include everything (flights, car hire, food etc.) for the both of us (no DC).

I did the maths and I know that we can go to Hawaii on that but we'd have to be very careful (airbnbs, cook our own food, only pick a couple of big budget adventures, and spend the rest of our time hiking and snorkelling). Imo we might be better off going to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Things are so cheap out there that we'd never really feel we'd have to budget all the time.

Where I really want to go is Galapagos or Bora Bora but I know that the budget most definitely won't stretch to that!

So I wanted to ask, if you had 5 weeks and £7750, where would you go? Inspire me! We love adventure, diving, sun, good food, nature and meeting people!

This isn't a stealth boast, we've pretty much been looking forward to this and saving for it for a good few years, scrimping and saving on everything else

Maybe talk to someone like Audley Travel to give you some ideas of destinations/itineraries in your budget. Audley have organised a couple of trips for us - you give them budget and what you want to do and they can suggest what works. I don't normally use travel agents but they are worth it for special trips.

I'd do Canada then drop down into the states. I'm desperate to visit New England, we always go to New York.

Though it's not quite what you are after, my Aunt and Uncle spent the six weeks holidays in Budapest for just under £2,000.

Once you are in Asia, flights are as cheap as buses. We flew singapore to phuket in thailand for 30quid each return. Malaysia and Thailand and Singapore are all amazing. People say Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are all wonderful. You would have an amazing time travelling all around South East Asia for 5 weeks and probably have enough left over for a Chinese takeaway when you get back.

Latin America without a doubt; I'd either go into Bogotá, then Cartagena and Caribbean coast, into Venezuela and trek to Angel Falls, then on to Brazil, going to Manaus and one of the Amazon wildlife lodges, then Rio.

The other option for me might be Rio, in to Iguazu falls, then either Argentina or Chile and the Torres de Paine park or Isla Chiloe and the penguins then head north towards Santiago.

I don't know about budget as I did these trips on an absolute shoestring years ago but long distance buses are pretty comfortable and internal fights cheap. It would still be quite cheap to live I think too.

I think Vietnam meets your criteria - I spent 4 weeks there on honeymoon, for similar work related reasons. We snorkelled there rather than diving, then my DH got his PADI in Langkawi where we were having a more restful time.

Vietnam has so much better food than Hawaii too (which I've also visited, for two weeks). When I went 4 weeks was the longest you could stay, but we went via Bangkok and had another 4 weeks in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. We had worked for a very long time without a holiday!

If you do go to Hawaii, the helicopter over the lava spilling into the sea is a don't miss experience.

PM me if you want more detail.

Or Canada fly in to Calgary and out of Seattle and over land in between. Vancouver Island, Banff, Lake Louise ...

Or South Africa as a po suggested, Cape Town, that famous train I can't remember the name of and on to a safari...

The possibilities! What a fab dilemma, I hope you enjoy researching it all.

Turquoise too for bespoke holiday planning and quotes. Give them a region, budget, dates etc:

www.turquoiseholidays.co.uk/

Bolivia and Peru are amazing, such beautiful, interesting places.
You could then visit elsewhere in S America as Huppopapa suggests ( i would love to go to the Galapogas).

India, Nepal and Bhutan? Have done the first two, would love to go to Bhutan.

Hawaii is incredible, but I think you're right about your budget bit stretching. We did 10 nights on Big Island with a night in San Francisco on the way back and it was around £4500 plus we spent around £2000. We weren't holding back though and you could undoubtedly do it cheaper. I wouldn't personally bother going to any of the more built up islands. I think a road trip in America (just California maybe?) and a week in Hawaii would be great though.

@sprinklestar we’re mid thirties and loved our us trip. Ideal gateway travel for us, I don’t really have a problem with sanitised :) but tbh it does depend where you go. Yes, tourist areas are very managed. But the little towns on highway 345 up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, the craziness of the desert dwellers, the mountains ... loved it. And there are still parts of San Francisco that feel distinctly unsanitised..

I spent 5 weeks this summer travelling in Central America and it was amazing. It has everything you're looking for and is well within your budget, I probably spent about £3k all in (although I am very much a backpacker type traveller). I started in Mexico then did Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and it was amazing. I went sea and cenote diving, snorkelled with turtles and whale sharks, visited mayan ruins, climbed volcanoes and ate some amazing food.

I've been to the Galapagos as well and it is incredible. It's more of a 2 week trip than 5 weeks though, and you could do it with that budget. It's much cheaper to fly to Ecuador and then arrange the Galapagos once you're there than to do it from the UK. It's the same with Antarctica - trips that are advertised for £7-10k+ when booked in the UK can be found for less than half that when you're in Ushuaia.

I’d do Thailand. Flights might cost a bit but you can really nice accommodation for good prices and food is very cheap. Not sure what the weather is like in autumn though

Agree with op who said you should take the opportunity to go on a real adventure while you have no children to worry about. Personally I would happily take my kids to North America/Canada/Caribbean/Antipodes etc but would be less keen on travelling to less developed parts of Asia and South America now we have children. Before I had them I said I would but my attitude to risk (especially deciding on someone else's behalf) has really changed.
We had a fabulous holiday on safari in the Masai Mara and then learnt to dive off Zanzibar. Would recommend both.

This is an incredibly insensitive OP . I do not often say that on money issues but this really is OP

Ooo, the thought of five weeks holiday makes me very jealous. All I know is the States are pricey, we spent about that on a fortnight touring the South Californian coast last year. It was worth every penny.

I think I'd go with South America for five weeks. Never been but it looks heavenly and presume you get a bit more bang for your buck.

It's not about money. It's about travel.

Get over yourself, @stop

I'm afraid I'm really dull and would do Europe! From France to Portugal via as many countries as possible - including eastern Europe!

What's insensitive about it??

Someone has studied/worked for NINE YEARS and is asking for ideas to celebrate on a realistic non-over-the-top budget.

Don't you think an achievement like that deserves some celebration?

This is an incredibly insensitive OP . I do not often say that on money issues but this really is OP

Seriously, why? There's people of all lifestyles and stages here, cultures, money, etc. Are we only allowed to post if we're struggling?
I love reading about others lives. It gives me a chance to daydream and see into other worlds, looking at all these different places!

'From France to Portugal via as many countries as possible'

Um. Spain and Andorra, then?

Having traveled quite extensively to other parts of the world, I would spend 5 weeks traveling South America. Not been there yet but in the planning.

It's not about money. It's about travel.

Get over yourself, @stop**

Oh, and this.

This is an incredibly insensitive OP

To who? Do discussions about holidays of a lifetime need trigger warnings now? What an odd thing to find insensitive .

@reetgood - glad you had a good time in our (current) adopted homeland! For me, the US is too 'easy' to be considered somewhere you'd 'travel'. If you want an adventure, a real adventure, for me, the excitement is in the language barriers, the different customs, religions and so on, doing things you'd never have the chance and opportunity to do in a first world, English speaking country. Sure, the US a big place and extremely diverse, there is certainly lots to see and do, but it's nowhere near the travelling I've done in other parts of the world. Many of the big cities are homogenous, same shops, Starbucks on every corner, it's really not all that compared with other regions of the world and that's without even mentioning Trump!

*disclaimer - I have lived here for a long time and am likely jaded! I can walk to the White House and think nothing of popping up to NYC for the weekend shopping so it holds less excitement for me than it might for many.

If you'd read it properly, I added including Eastern Europe, sort of in a loop - lowlands, Germany, Austria Eastern European countries ,just travelling all around.