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 partner and I used to travel 6 months every year (we met travelling in Africa). My recommendations would be Sri Lanka, Costa Rica or Borneo (Malaysia). Borneo has some of the best diving in the world plus jungle adventures with wild orangutans, proboscis monies and plenty of Birdlife. Costa Rica has turtles, jaguar, lots of varieties of monkey and sloth - the Ossa peninsula is spectacular and it was here we saw hundreds of scarlet macaws, sloths, kayaked with dolphins at sunset into a bay with bioluminescence lighting up the sea like fairylights. Sri Lanka has beautiful, friendly people, wildlife, some diving but certainly not the best, temples and giant Buddhas and great food. It sounds like you want the luxury experience but it is still worth looking on hostelworld.com.com and hostelbookers.com as there are lots of boutique guest houses which include palaces and forts and you can get 5* facilities and service and a better atmosphere. I also spent 6 weeks in the Galapagos before I met my partner - it is achievable if you can be bothered to book your flights to Ecuador, flight from Quito to Galapagos, hotel in Santa Cruz and cruise around the islands on whichever types vessel you choose (tall ship, yacht, cruiseliner, etc.) separately. I'd be happy to give you any info you need but the best thing is to buy a copy of Wanderlust magazine and read the ads as well as the articles - you will be amazed at what you can do!

I'd do a cruise from Sydney to Japan and all the stops in between :) it's a 4week long cruise IIRC so you'd also have some time to visit somewhere in SEA region!

I would go to Australia as you may not always have that length of time - direct flights will be roughly £1k each and then I would get an apartment to save money.

I've also been to Costa Rica, South Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean and I would recommend them all but I would be bored of an island after 2 weeks and the other 3 I'm not sure about doing on that budget re safety esp in SA and Brazil (heard shooting). Costa Rica might be possible - we cuddled a sloth there, saw monkeys, raccoons at evening meal, ziplining, hot springs, kayaking, water slide through jungle etc. For 4 of us for 2 weeks including 5 excursions, hotel and all food/bills it was c.£9k. Used TUI. Amazing holiday but not sure if you could fund 5 weeks, maybe 3, although 3 is probably enough.

We are going to Australia next summer and there's lots of great activities just around Sydney alone - breakfast with a koala, seeing koalas, wombats, kangaroos etc in the wild, camel rides on the beach, Sydney itself, beach, watersports plus loads more if you travel around Australia.

What a lovely decision to have to make!

I'd go for a train trip the whole length of South America finishing with a trip to the Galápagos Islands.

Whatever you decide, have an amazing time.

We went to Thailand and Vietnam for 7 weeks which cost us about 10k but we changed the plan quite a bit along the way. We could have done five weeks for 7k

Having read the hate and jealously alive and well on this thread, I felt compelled to join and post - first up well done OP, cracking effort to save so much money. Secondly, don't apologise for looking forward to such an amazing trip - the joy of travelling is second to none and you should relish every minute of the planning, the doing and when you come home, the remembering - money spent on memories will pay dividends for years to come. I think you should listen to your gut re costs - after flights, you'll prob only have ca. 6,000 which you will run through in Hawaii - it is an expensive place. I would also steer clear of Aus, NZ, or USA - all very expensive too and instead of having the reward you deserve, you'll be stressing about how many $$ you're spending. Instead, head to some cheaper - Asia, South America or India - and and then put aside a set amount to really live it up in a 'cosmopolitan' city like Singapore. Have an amazing time and happy planning!!!

Myself, DH and DS spent 5 weeks in the Algarve, just after his after his SATS , won't get the chance again to spend that many weeks together, cherish all the time you can get together, no matter where you end up. congrats on saving all that money, ignore other comments, you have worked really hard, ENJOY, wherever you end up, you might never have this chance again, it is possible though as we have done it twice, but never again as DS is now in year 7. Can't take him out of school ever again😣😂😂😂😂😂

We had fabulous time travelling around Borneo. Has everything beaches, jungle, mountains, diving! Flights about £800 each I think, dirt cheap to stay. We had few days chilling at beach then climbed mountain kinabalu, then looking for orangutans in jungle, then stayed on turtle island and watched mummy turtles laying eggs then baby turtles being released back to the sea. Only blew budget last 3 nights staying in sea bungalows in sipadan which was £350 a night. Everywhere else between £40-£100. Flew via singapore stayed there for couple of nights, was amazing and we probably spent about £4000 in 3 weeks so you'd have amazing time with £7500!

Also Andaman Islands in Indian were fabulous and not touristy!

Sri Lanka also fab for travelling and obviously Australia if you haven't been before. Have a fabulous time. We travelled loads before the kids and am glad we did. Best money we have ever spent. Ignore anyone negative on this thread!

I'd either go interrailing in style or something that included Buenos Aires.

We did Hawaii but via Vancouver which was absolutely fantastic.

Id do the Trans Siberian railway.
Or Hawaii, looks interesting.

Oooooooooh, you lucky bugger.
I am a seasoned traveller OP. See name

I have been to Hawaii. Personally I didn't think it was that great. There are other great cultural experiences to be had. The thing that pissed me off about the place the most was that everything cost a fortune. Your 7K will slip away. It is a rip off.

I would make that 7K stretch as far as possible. I would fly into Australia via a place in SE Asia (stop off on way, no extra cost) such as Singapore, Bangkok, or HK and then go onto Perth. Whilst in Perth I would either get a camper van and go north, then south or hire a car and drive south to the Margaret River. Then I'd do the main sites such as Ayers Rock, Sydney (including Blue Mountains), Melbourne, Cairns (stay in resort north of here) and go out on the reef (perhaps a live aboard to go diving) and then into the Daintree Rainforest. On the way back stop over in another place in SE Asia and or stop off in Dubai.

Congrats on having the opportunity to travel.

Ignore those trying to piss on your dream.

Op! How fabulous!!
Have you thought of Japan?
I have travelled quite a bit and by far the most amazing place has been Japan. I would do bottom to top starting on the tropical islands (cannot remember name ... on train right now), do a mix of ryokans and hotels, they have the most amazing ryokan accommodation and onsen spas.
We went there for 3 weeks with DH and wish I had more time
Good luck and tell us your decision!
X

Thats nowhere near enough money for Japan.

I'd be going to New Zealand, no other choice for me. That amount would do you nicely for 5 weeks especially if you hired a camper van - transport and accommodation sorted straight away. Otherwise you could stay in hostels as you travel around. 5 weeks would allow a good amount of time to explore both islands as well.

Haven't read all the thread but for what it's worth I'd head to Canada, Vancouver Island, kayak out of Telegraph Cove to see Orca and humpies, camp on one of the islands (they're privately owned but there are expedition groups that do this for you) and hopefully see the northern lights, maybe do a trip to see the grizzlies, then cross the island to Tofino, do the hot spring. Then to the top of the island, get the ferry to Alaska overnight through amazing scenery, then the train back through the Rockies. 5 weeks would fly by and £7k would let you have a great time. Enjoy what ever you do and the planning part of it!

I think I’d pick New Zealand if it were once in a lifetime trip. Got all that gorgeous scenery and I don’t know if it’s still the case but I’ve heard it’s cheaper than costs here.

South Africa- absolutely stunning country, really charming people, great value for money. Beaches, safari, wine lands, culture it really has it all.

Isn't the caves of Bora Bora where Bin Laden was hiding?

I think some of the ideas on here are a bit ambitious for the time you have available. Five weeks would be perfect for a trip to New And it would tick all your boxes. DH and I went pre-DC for three weeks and I reckon another couple of weeks would have been perfect. I would go back in a heartbeat if I had the time/money.

I haven't read all the posts so not sure it's been mentioned but I'd go to Oz for part of it then fly over to Fiji. Another option is Malaysia and Borneo. I've spent 4 weeks there and you could afford some amazing accomodation, see lots of wildlife and tropical islands....bliss 😎

*New Zealand

We did California for a month this summer: road trip along the coast from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, LA and San Diego, desert to Palm Springs and Las Vegas, all national parks up to and including Yosemite then back to San Francisco. Doable on your budget, especially if you camp some of the time, and a wide range of experiences.