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

My dream 5-6 week trip is a few days in Singapore, then fly to Australia. Travel from Melbourne to Adelaide and then take the Ghan train through the Red Centre to Darwin. Then fly to Bali for a relaxing end to the trip.

Either that or I'd do Japan and then Hawaii. It's only about a 5 hour flight between them!

I'd do the US for five weeks (you could include one Hawaiian island maybe?) or do Bora Bora for two weeks. I would love to go there....

In spring 2016, I did a 4 week trip to Phuket, Singapore, Cambodia tour with Intrepid and back via Abu Dhabi, that came out at ca. 2000€ all flights and accommodation, so that might help give you an idea price wise. I think I'd add on some Malaysia or Indonesia to get up to 5 weeks.
Yes, NZ and Oz are great trips for that time span, but wrong time of year unless top end Australia.

Hawaii is popular with wintering Canadians, so there are pretty good flight connections so it is a destination that could be combined with a West coast US/Canada tour.

I'd like a trip to the Cook Islands myself. That would do very nicely, but I will be applying for Rugby World Cup 2019 tickets so Japan has priority.
You're going to have a great time wherever you go I am sure!

I'd go to Churchill and Baffin Island, via Greenland. Either that or Alaska.

Another vote for SE Asia. Your money will go miles and Thailand is one of my favourite places. Vietnam is lovely and surprisingly easy to travel through. You could also stop in Singapore or Hong Kong en route for a more modern city experience. I absolutely love Bangkok and Hanoi but they are both bonkers.

Hawaii is lovely too but Oahu is quite touristy. It depends what kind of cultural experience you’re after really. I like America but with that budget I’d strap on a backpack and do some proper exploring.

I think you can pretty much afford to go anywhere with that budget, as long as you aren't necessarily looking for a luxury holiday. ( I travel extensively and for long period of time with much much less money and I would feel like I had won at the lottery if it was my travel budget tbh )

My vote would go for South East Asia if you want some luxurious holiday at low cost surrounded by some of the greatest landscapes and people. Definitely loved my time in Thailand and Cambodia and would love to go back!

Australia and NZ are also gorgeous and I especially loved QLD and the Southern Island in NZ but it's very very expensive and I think you would be quite limited in what you can do with that budget (considering you plan on staying 5 weeks). If you happen to go, I would probably pick NZ over Australia as I enjoyed the landscapes there much more (though the great barrier reef and the wildlife is worth seeing!) and you would have enough time to really enjoy the country unlike Australia where everything is so spread out.

The US offers a great variety of landscapes, sometimes even within one same state (California for example) and has a lot to offer. It won't be as adventurous as a place that's really out of your comfort zone and lead a very different lifestyle to the one of the UK but enjoyable nonetheless.

I agree that spending 5 weeks in Hawaï is too long. I have never been but I used to live in one of the Caribbean Islands and got bored rather quickly. If ''beach and relax" is what you are after then the Carribeans and I assume Hawaï is a great option.

My big dream is to do a road trip of South America and see Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile (along with the others). I have yet to make it happen but it's definitely on my bucket list!

I am heading to the Seychelles Island and South Africa in Spring (I found flights for less than 500€ for both countries and couldn't let this opportunity pass!) so I will report back but I think Africa is also a great option if you want a mix of adventures and great beaches (Zanzibar, Kenya, South Africa etc...) with your budget you could definitely treat yourself to some luxurious safary adventures, discover some tribes/villages and spend the rest of your holidays on a costal town enjoying the gorgeous blue waters.

So many options! Definitely report back to tell us where you are actually going and congratulations on almost being done with your studies! :)

Vietnam, Thailand and Laos would be my first choice if I had never been there.

As I have, I think I'd go to Iceland,visiting Greenland while there, and then go to Canada.

USA road trip with airB&Bs along the way. Route 66 and s nice hire car!!

(Some people on here are so spiteful with jealousy! Unbelievable!)

Hire a modest size motorhome - or even consider landing, buying one, using it then selling it before you come home - and drive either around the usa, Canada or Australia.

no need to airbnb it if you have your own accommodation with you.

Would be SE Asia for me. Or India.

This thread is giving me inspiration for our own grand holiday/trip in 2023, our silver anniversary year. All going to plan we should have about 11 k saved by spring '23 to book for the summer. So many places to choose from! We may have one or more of our three DDs with us, so need to factor that in.

Wherever/whatever you choose, OP, you're going to have an amazing time!

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

Are you going to come back and say why you think this? Are you aware that people will have different financial circumstances, are people who can afford this type of holiday not allowed to post because others cant afford any holiday?

CAMBODIA!!!

Another voting for South East Asia, your money will go far you and you will have a cultural experience.

Enjoy whereever you end up, you sound like you deserve it.

I'd go to the USA and do the Coast Starlight train journey, then on to San Francisco.

I always thought it was a breast?

Japan and then on to south east Asia. Japan is an incredible country

USA all the way- have a week in Hawaii. Travel, explore and enjoy- it has everything you could possibly wish for.

We are going to California in Feb and I cannot wait. Beach in the morning and ski in the afternoon.

Have a fantastic trip whatever you decide!

USA for sure - but don’t hire a motor home you will only see campsites and meet other tourists. Vary your acccommodation between motels and trophy hotels in special places, ie monument valley. The better car rental companies will do you a special deal on a long rental. Have fun and enjoy it.

£7750 on the current exchange rate won't take you round the US for five weeks if it has to include flights too. You will be budgeting so hard it will stop feeling like a holiday. I am originally from the US and had to go back recently for work and once for holiday to see family. I was absolutely shocked at the prices in absolute terms. I was expecting the Midwestern town my parents live in (not Chicago) to be very different from NYC but the prices weren't THAT different. I felt mugged. Sorry to be a downer but for the US I think with flights three weeks is more realistic. Otherwise some of the more exotic locations will be cheaper to get round and also v v interesting. Our friends just came back from Vietnam and Cambodia - FAB.

OP enjoy your trip.
Am annoyed by some of the daft comments on here about how this is such an insensitive thread! By some people's logic - anyone who is struggling financially really must just stay indoors with the telly switched off - just in case they might see someone with a nice car or a big house and become overly distressed. Honestly.

New Zealand - hire a car and stay in campsites, or hire a motor home. You'll be able to do it for your budget, and see pretty much most of what NZ has to offer. It has amazing diving (check out Poor Knights Islands), good weather at that time of year, friendly people, amazing landscapes, and so much more! I wish I was going!!

Flying from here to Hawaii and then back to the mainland to criss cross the country. Ha! I'd wager you'd not get change from ten grand on a trip like that, over five weeks.