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

I agree with above we have little money left over but i cant see anything wrong with what the op has asked.

For me i would love to do disney land but i have kids but i doubt even 7500 would get 5 weeks there.
Other than that i would tour america or austrilia.

What ever you decide i hope you have an amazing time.

I would spend 4 weeks in New Zealand for the adventure, nature, hiking and meeting people. Autumn is a good time of year to visit.

Then a week somewhere in SE Asia on the way back where you can have plenty of sunshine and dive. There are loads of good places to dive in that region. Or do the beach/diving first.

Urgh so many haters.......obviously not tried to plan a 5 week trip ever. I can't get 2 weeks in the States for under £4k anymore with the way flights have changed.

Well done you working so hard, hope you manage to get everything you want for in your budget.

Could you do a Hawaiian Cruise for a couple of weeks? That way you "do" a lot of Hawaii without needing to worry about the travel between or separate accommodations and all your food should be covered.

Then maybe start and end elsewhere?

Our dream trip (for when DD is older) is Yosemite, LA (I used to live there and haven't been back for a while) and then over to Hawaii to relax.

I would go to Africa. Start in Cape Town, you can go whale watching. fly to Kruger for a few days on safari the go to Johannesburg and take the train to Victoria Falls and a boat trip on the Zambezi river. After all that adventure you might need a few days to recover in the Seychelles or Mauritius.

I recon if you were really careful you could do most of that with your budget.

I'd want to rent one of those amazing Californian beach houses that are all glass and white sand (or all timber clad and stylishly rickety ) and spend the whole five weeks just soaking it all in and pretending I live there. Would also need a convertible mustang for cruising aimlessly up and down the coastal roads.

It's a lot of money to spend in one destination. I think I'd do an American road trip or a train tour of Europe and stay in some fab hotels.

Trans Siberian railway and then China.

Enjoy!

Australia/NZ are amazing, but both really expensive, and I imagine the slump in the pound will only have exacerbated that. Money will definitely go further in SEAsia than USA or Aus/NZ, OP I think it will come down to whether you'd rather go exactly where you want and scrimp on accommodation, tours etc or have more to play with in terms of nicer hotels and organised activities. The food in SEAsia is certainly amazing and stupidly cheap - you can sit down at a street food place in Vietnam and have gorgeous pho and beer for a couple of dollars (or you could in 2014 anyway).

SE Asia and Australia/NZ will be full of drunk 18 year olds on gap yahs.

It's true what they say...misery really does love company. Some people have been dealt bad hands but equally some have made bad choices. In either case none of this is the fault of the OP so stop trying to make her feel bad.

OP enjoy your holiday, organinsing it is half the fun!

So 'good for you, you earned it' messages are a little unfair on those who also work their asses off to little avail

God I loathe that attitude. It's horrible. Nobody is ever allowed to be happy about something because someone else doesn't have it. She did earn it and she does deserve it, the fact that others may well deserve it too makes no difference to that fact.
Don't be a joy sucker.

I'd also go for Southern Africa. Flight to Cape Town, visit Etosha and the Caprivi, Choke, Vic Falls and Masvingo, up into the mountains in Lesotho, Mozambique if feeling adventurous. It wouldn't be staying in push Safari Lidges. But you could hire a Toyota and stay in guest farms.

Have a wonderful trip OP- you are a lucky sausage 🙂

SE Asia and Australia/NZ will be full of drunk 18 year olds on gap yahs.

Absolutely everywhere is full of 18-25yo backpackers if you're staying in hostels and cheap accommodation. OP can always stay in AirBnbs if she wants to minimise the chance of running into drunk teenagers. I travelled all over Europe, India, SE Asia and Australia/NZ as a working adult with no intention of hanging with drunken teenagers and had an absolutely lovely time. The rowdiest bunch of backpackers I ran across were in a guesthouse in central Russia.

How about China? It's changing fast, so now is the time to go. Getting around by train or plane isn't too difficult, and the scenery is breathtaking. Language can be a problem, but the chinese are really helpful and friendly, and you'll soon pick up the basics. It also isn't too expensive. You could maybe start with an organised tour to get your bearings and go independent from there. Don't miss the Pandas at Woolong!

Another vote for Thailand / Cambodia / Vietnam / Laos!

SE Asia and Australia/NZ will be full of drunk 18 year olds on gap yahs.

I think this massively depends where you go, and particularly where you stay. We had our honeymoon in Vietnam and we didn't stay in mega-luxury hotels or anything, but we weren't in hostels and so saw relatively few 'gap yah' types. Our trips to Halong Bay and to the My Son temples were mostly with people aged between 30 and 50, again probably because we went for not mega-luxury-but-not-mega-budget options.

What a lovely holiday to look forward to.

If you are set on Hawaii I would break it up with a USA road trip. San Francisco to LA via Yosemite and Grand Canyon. It took us just over two weeks.

Then LA to Hawaii. We rented a small flat right on the beach on the east coat, well away from Honolulu and then had a B & B for the last few days. Used buses to get around. Lots to explore for free, hikes , beaches.

With careful planning your budget is great.

South East Asia: Vietnam for Hoi An (can stay at nearby beach in family homes eh Lam Hung for $10 night with beachside shacks selling cocktails in coconuts for cents). Clothes made Super cheaply- look on fora for names that come up frequently. Jenny #9 was raved about (but shut when we visited at Tet). Catch the overnight reunification express train to Hanoi.
Relax in a cheap 5* in Bangkok and then consider flying directly to Bhutan. Best place in the world. Great time to visit (look at Bhutan Tourism Company Ltd.).
Hop over to Singapore and catch the ferry to amazing cheap as chips Malaysian spa: Tempat Senang for a couple of nights. Maybe also stay for one night at Marina Bay Sands just to wedge yourself into the infinity pool at 6h30 with all the other selfie tourists. Views of Gardens by the Bay are fab.
Consider also a ferry to Batu Batu in Malaysia for island life and turtle spotting.
Visit Siam Reap for amazing food and spectacular Temples via tuk tuk.
There are lovely hotels and real price differentials in most of these places. We quite like taking a punt on somewhere cheap.
If you could afford Japan it is amazing but so are so many places around Asia. Enjoy your trip wherever you decide to go!

Lucky you, enjoy it! If it was me alone (or rather, my wishes alone ), I'd be thinking about South America (specifically Argentina and Chile), Mexico, or perhaps Japan. Although the latter might have to be for three rather than five weeks.

If DP was involved, it would be a US/Canada road trip or New Zealand.

I think you should go for as long as you can afford to wherever you've always really wanted to go. If that means 3 or 4 weeks in Hawaii rather than 5, then so be it.

I was going to suggest Necker Island but you can't afford it - it's approx £17k per couple per week.

I would probably rent a palazzo in Venice and enjoy living there in luxury for five weeks.

As someone who has gone to Moorea & Bora Bora I would go there for 2 weeks & spend maybe 3 weeks in America.

Although I went in 2010 so unsure what prices are like now but I booked it all separately rather than a package which was simple enough.

Fiji

Also maybe use Bali as a stopgap for Gili Islands (volcanic activity permitting). I found Bali (the easy to get to bits at least) quite Mallorca like. Lots of chances to have your hair plaited or buy cheap DVDs. We were pretty close to the airport tho'

French Polynesia. You wouldn’t get Bora Bora, but there are so many Islands - Rangiroa is beautiful and the diving is amazing. Try places like Pension Bounty, rather than overwater bungalows, which are ridiculously expensive. You could island hop to Tikehau, Raiatea. We went to the Marquesas which are extraordinary.

Such great suggestions, I want to do them all!! Maybe I should prioritise Vegas, put it all on red like a poster suggested, and then I can do it all