'Once in a lifetime' trips?

[TubeLover]

Have any of you been on any trips you would consider 'once in a lifetime' trips?

I'd like to take my DH somewhere we will likely never be able to (afford to) go again for his 30th in 2025 and I'm looking for some ideas.

Places that we considered 'big' trips that we've already been (aware this is subjective, and these arent once in a lifetime for many people), are New York and Toronto/Niagara Falls

@TheChosenTwo The first time I went to Japan it was for one week 😂 I've also been to India for a week on a school trip. Worth it, but both experiences were quite intense in terms of not much time to recover from the journey.

Have you done Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia. I could spend the rest of my life puttering around Halong Bay.

Okay I think you've swayed me with Japan. I could probably try and do it next to bank holidays so that I get some recovery time.

I've not done Vietnam. Or Thailand actually. Both places I've fancied going fot a while. I expect they'd be cheaper than Japan!

I second Sri Lanka, that's a very healthy budget, you can have an amazing trip for considerably less.

Book 2 nights in Colombo (one if you arrive really early morning, some flights do) I recommend the Kingsbury hotel, amazing service with multiple restaurants including a Sri Lankan beach bar style restaurant by the pool.

Head inland on the train to Kandy and stay a couple of nights, then from Kandy either use public transport or book a driver to take you up to the interior cultural sites, if you want to keep a driver with you, larger hotels have specific accommodation for this often. It's possible to book 2-3 nights safari, visit the tea plantations, climb Adam's Peak .... depending on what you enjoy. Finally book a beach resort - we stayed south of Colombo last time and did a river safari, we to the turtle hatchery, but also there's the elephant sanctuary, you can surf and take in a game of cricket, Galle is lovely for that

Honestly, Japan is as expensive as you make it. There are budget accommodations and restaurants just the same as any other countries. Yes, it's not going to be as cheap as somewhere like Thailand but Sweden and Norway were the countries where we nearly ran out of money. We came back from Japan with about £500.

Half of our £5k budget was spent on the flights as we went Premium Economy.

@TheBirdintheCave very true, only place I've felt was ridiculously expensive was Iceland and even then, I plan to go back!

I am off to Sri Lanka next week, was there 4 years ago and can highly recommend it. So much to see and do or equally just relax on a stunning beach. The food, people, culture are wonderful.

If you take a night flight on Friday and come back on the Saturday with Sunday to recover from jet lag, then you'd get 13 full days in Japan. You can definitely visit Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo in that time and maybe go into the countryside too - a ryokan on the samurai trail or a buddhist monastery stay on Mount Koya

Stand out trips for me have been:

Japan - best holiday ever, though I'd definitely go back so not once-in-a-lifetime.
Kenya - safari
NYC
Iceland
Jordan - Petra, Wadi Rum, Dead Sea

Places I'd love to go:
Grand Canyon
Sri Lanka
Peru

DD and I spent a few days in Buenos Aires and then flew to Ushuaia and did a cruise to Antarctica. The Golden Triangle plus Shimla in India is pretty spectacular too. If money were no object I would cruise through the North West Passage.

Indonesia. So mang places to visit there

you can see komodo dragon island

pink beach

bali

or i would recommend lombok better than bali

raja ampat (very beautiful)

also indonesia is cheaapppp

The Grand Canyon is a big hole in the ground. I've been twice and once you get there it's 'Yeah...and?'
Also it was so hot my shoes melted.

My #1 choice would be safari in Africa (I haven’t been) and my #2 choice would be Alaska, probably by cruise ship with lots of excursions including to Brooks Falls to see the bears.

I did Kruger Park in South Africa and it was wonderful. You could combine with Cape Town /wine regions. Trailfinders do some good packages.

@TubeLover save trips like Oman/ME for when you might have a family. The region is brilliant for that. Speaking as an old girl, do trips now that are not suitable/trickier with kids in tow. Would highly recommend South Africa. It has everything, food and dribks are incredibly good value and the internal flights are cheap. Start in Cape Town, then move to the wine region and then up to Kruger for a safari. Flights to Cape Town from the UK are cheaper if you go via Johannesburg. No issues with safety if you pre book drivers from the hotels etc. If you sign up to something like Jack’s flight club (it’s about £35 a year and I’ve saved a fortune) you’ll get alerts for cheap flights/deals to destinations everywhere so if you choose Japan, have a look for flights there too.

Have a great time!

South America is spectacular, each country has amazing food, interesting cultures, wonderful people and the most fabulous natural wonders you have ever seen ... the biggest, largest, greatest everything. Also relatively cheap too. I did 4 months and it blew my mind. Nothing compares

Most memorable places I’ve been - some can’t go to/would not recommend atm:

Sunset on a felucca in Aswan listening to the call to prayer. Something shifted in me deep inside

Stone Town, Nungwi and Matemwe in Zanzibar, swimming with dolphins in the wild and the whitest sand I’ve ever seen, combined with wonderful culture and spices

St Petersburg - a crazy mix of familiar and very different with mind blowing art riches

Sian Kaan biosphere, Yucatan peninsula Mexico - incredible variety of wildlife and undersea beauty

Places I’ve not yet made it to and probably too late as still not a good idea:
Eritrea
Lebanon

There is something about Africa….

We met a lady in Greece who waitressed there each summer and spent earnings travelling to South America each winter. She’d been doing the same with her husband every year for about a decade. She was totally in love with it!

Peru.
Lima, Cusco, hiking the Inka trail, Lake Titicaca and Nazca Lines.
I fell in love with the Andes and busy saving up for a trip to Argentina!

Yosemite all day long.
You can tie in a tour of California but Yosemite is the big draw. It's just stunning.

We went to Japan last year, amazing, would definately recommend.

... and maybe not quite as out there than other places mentioned but I am going Greece in April for 2 weeks visiting the ancient sites and finishing off at a beach for a few days relaxing.

To maximise 2 weeks leave, look at a late flight on maunday Thursday (17th April in 2025) you then have a weekend/two bank hols, so 2 weeks leave would start on Tuesday 22nd April, going through to Wednesday 7th may (because Monday 5th is also a Bank holiday) - giving you almost 3 weeks of time.

Japan - I did just over 2 weeks but you will be able to see and do so much in 2 weeks, it's amazing.
America road trip - San Francisco down the coast. We did 2 weeks and also included grand canyon, death valley and Vegas.
If you fancy an adventure holiday we went to Ethiopia and it was hands down the best place I've ever been, lots of trekking though.

@Lizzieregina oh you've reminded me that we watched a YouTube video of an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver and he said that would be amazing!! One to add to my research.

Thanks for so many replies. Lots of ideas here and I'm getting really excited now (while to wait yet though 😅)

@beguilingeyes - that's weird. DSis went and loved it so much she has been back three times! Lots of people have said the non touristy side is better than the other side - peaceful and beautiful. I'd go when the weather makes hiking down into it and back up possible. I'd still love to see it.