Ideas for long haul in July/August

[reluctantbrit]

I have a milestone birthday in 2 1/2 years and we think to go away for a larger trip and I try to get ideas together to see what we can do.

Due to flight distance we would prefer going for 3 weeks in Summer instead of cramping it into Easter or October half term

Problems are:
DD will be 15 - can't miss school
DD and I do not do well in heat and humidity
I have a knee problem and have issues with physical stuff, no long hikes, esp no uphill, can't do watersport or similar
DH is getting sea sick on a cruise ship
no strict Muslim country like Malaysia

We love history. Original we thought about Asia (Thailand/Cambodia) but I fear the rain season works against us.

We would like a certain amount of comfort, no backpacking/hostel, no tents or rough outdoor.

Until Easter we thought about Sri Lanka. Obviously the trip is still a huge amount of time away so the whole political situation may be very different again and worse somewhere else. Is Sri Lanka something to consider in high Summer?

Budget is a max of £20k.

borneo and the gulf of Thailand are not rainy in August. its very hot though.
we have also been to the Florida Keys in August. absolutely beautiful but again, very hot
how about Costa Rica?
Or Canada if you done want the heat.

Malaysia is definitely not a strict Muslim country
Lots of people walking around in shorts and t shirts, lots of bars and restaurants serve alcohol and pork

Muslim is the majority religion

Canada is amazing (although when I was in the Rockies and Vancouver over the summer months it was bloody boiling).

What about New Zealand? Costa Rica is meant to be beautiful too.

Japan Japan Japan Japan. Did I mention Japan? So many different aspects in one country from north to south islands. I don't like to go anywhere more than once and we have been twice and plan to go again.

Alaska is amazing. We took a ship up the inside passage (no waves) a ship across the gulf (plenty of waves but also humpback whales) a train up to anchorage (most spectacular rail journey in my life) then rented a rv/camper to explore the interior - national parks, hot springs etc. The rv was massive and pretty luxurious (king size bed etc). Trip of a lifetime - we did it the budget way on the state ferry with toddlers but there's higher budget options.

Thanks so far.

Japan - very reluctant. I know it is a great country, a friend is married to a Japanese but my gut feels that it is too alien.

Alaska - I would love but it may too many boat trips. DH gets sea sick on a ferry to the Isle of Wight or being inside a Thames Clipper as well as cruise ships.

New Zealand - May need to think a out that. Wouldn’t it be too wintery?

Costa Rica - that is worth checking out

Malaysia - I was under the impression that it is more religious.

Thanks so far.

Japan - very reluctant. I know it is a great country, a friend is married to a Japanese but my gut feels that it is too alien.

Alaska - I would love but it may too many boat trips. DH gets sea sick on a ferry to the Isle of Wight or being inside a Thames Clipper as well as cruise ships.

New Zealand - May need to think a out that. Wouldn’t it be too wintery?

Costa Rica - that is worth checking out

Malaysia - I was under the impression that it is more religious.

Could you do a week (or longer if you’re doing more than a fortnight) somewhere colder like New Zealand and then a week somewhere hotter like Bali (you can get a direct flight there from NZ).

I went to Malaysia about 20 years ago and I would never have thought it was an overly religious country. Not one jot.

Bali is great at that time of year.
You can avoid the busy areas easily, hop on a cheap flight to Lombok and go up to the Gillis.
Also, cheap as chips when you get there, and a v easy language to learn a few words of.

Recommend a trip to trailfinders travel agent. We went in there to book our honeymoon and they compared all the rainforecasts etc..We went to Bali in July and didn't get much rain, but it was the tail end of season.

Safari?

What kind of heat do you struggle with? Costa Rica is both hot and very hilly.

Malaysia is not a strict muslim country.
Have you considered Malaysian Borneo?

Thanks for the lovely suggestions. Safari was looked at but I am concerned about DD’s age. From what age do they take teen on. Ormal ones, not family orientated?

Borneo and Bali sounds at first more like nature trips, may need to look more into what you can do there.

I def would add a stopover in Singapore, I went there for a 10 day work trip and really loved the city,

Heat wise, i hate the Mediterranean in August and can’t do a lot of humidity. So I wonder if .august is. The wrong time anyway.

Argh!!!

You sound a bit risk averse! My DDs did safaris at 8 and 10 and again when they were older, several times. There are camps that take children but the lower age might be 12. Mine enjoyed the thrill of seeing the animals. They loved it! We stayed in brilliant camps and it is wonderful. It is a fantastic experience and is fine in July/August but hot during the day. You rest up then!

As you don’t want extreme heat, I would go to South Africa. Virtually no time difference, not expensive, brilliant guest houses which are excellent value and there is plenty to do and see. If you can be in Hermanus in late August you should see whales just off the town shoreline.

This is low season on SA so prices would be reasonable. It’s warm in Kruger though and I would definitely do a safari. Bush camps are amazing there. The garden route from Cape Town would also be an easy drive and Kwa Zulu Natal is excellent. It’s beautiful. It’s not as far as NZ so it makes sense.

We have also done an Alaskan cruise (super smooth) and late summer is a good time to go. It’s also a good time to go to Peru. Both are within your price range. You could also look at Boston and go to Cape Cod and travel north of Boston.

Japan is fantastic by the way! It’s not alien. It’s a unique experience. Try and shed a few prejudices and you’ll have a great time.,

I’m also going to recommend Canada. We did the Rockies, Vancouver Island and Vancouver last year and are returning to do more of the Rockies and Toronto this year.

DH can’t do hills or hiking due to a medical condition but we got about easily and saw so much. It was fantastic.

Southwest India would scratch a similar itch to Sri Lanka, but you'd want to go as far into August as possible. I went for first three weeks and managed to miss most of the monsoon (and therefore insect) season but there was still a daily downpour, but obviously monsoon is differ t every year. I didn't find it too hot or humid and wasn't ill at all, best holiday I've ever been on

Canada! Hot ish but dry so not humid. My brother lives there so we're visiting again this summer - Vancouver, drive through rockies, end in Calgary. For us it's a mix of city and nature.

Australia might be worth looking at, not too hot as their winter and you can stopover in Singapore enroute if you want though that will be hot in August. We did 3 weeks last summer Sydney/Port Stephens - breakfast with koala, Sydney Opera House / Harbour Bridge, whale watching though that's a boat, sandboarding, blue mountains and saw kangaroos (weather 14c to 22c when we were there) and up by Cairns - Great Barrier Reef obviously a boat, can do by plane but not as good, lots of animals in Atherton Tablelands, tree kangaroos, cassowary pademelon possums etc in wild, koalas escaped us just saw in zoo (Magnetic Island has them), Daintree rainforest saw crocodiles there.

Costa Rica went in August, was about 27C, loved it but a very active place, and rainy season though its rainforest so fine with us.

Bubbles, it is not that I think DD is too young, I just don’t want a kind of safari where there are smaller children. These ones are set up differently than the adult ones, purely because I would assume smaller children can’t stay quite longer.

We looked into safaris aeons ago before and most family friendly ones seemed to be just not what DH and I wanted to do. So we thought we wait until DD is old enough. She loves animals and plans either to be a vet or otherwise working with them so it would be totally for her as well.

My question was is 15 old enough to be deemed an adult for a safari or would it still be a family one.

I quite doubt that I suffer from prejudice. But I would like doing something I actually look forward to do and see, not because it is something I never did before, DH and I went to Thailand and while I love it I doubt I want to go again for a special trip. We will go again but I want something different, not the same we did before despite Thailand being the holiday I loved the most.

Ships are a no, absolutely, you won’t get DH anywhere near them, how smooth it may be.

West Canada may something we look into, we thought about going last year but shelved it for a couple of reasons, some are still valid so it may depends on how the next two years develop.

The pp who suggested India in the summer is barking! Hot would not describe it!

Your DD would be an adult at 15 which opens up some amazing wildlife camps. You didn’t need “family” ones and they are few and far between. We stayed at Governors Camp in the Masai Mara when our DDs were below 12 but most guests were adults. The most important thing is that DD likes wildlife. Very few young children do these holidays and very few camps cater for them so they are easy to avoid. If DD wants to be a vet, there are so many exciting places you could visit with wild animals. She could even be part of a tracking project.

Just a few: Canada has bears and whales, California has whales, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana has everything you can think of that lives in East Africa. Madagascar is a great summer destination and has lemurs and various other indigenous creatures. It’s a shame DH is so difficult (not stepping on a ship does limit you) because you could have gone to the Galápagos Islands. Also big cruise ships have stabilisers. You don’t get these ships in the Galápagos Islands but you would get to see amazing indigenous wildlife. Many people feel a bit sick to begin with but it soon passes. The gain is worth the pain.

After taking to DH we think looking into safaris and Malaysia/Singapore are current favourites.

So if anyone can recommend a good agent for safaris, ideally one I can go to and talk is the next step as we seriously need to then consider budget.

We are in London so quite flexible where to go.

@bubblesbuddy must have been a bad year when I went to India then 😂