Upcoming trips - vague intentions - half-done plans

[TravelMusings]

Can we have a general travel chat thread? Somewhere to discuss trips we're looking forward to or places on our radar that we've started to loosely plan for?

For me: Moldova is pretty well planned but waiting to see what happens in the elections next month then happy to go asap.
Monaco just needs to be booked for early summer.

I don't know if we can, but we should.

Moldova sounds great. I've only read Playing the Moldovans at Tennis so that's not really on my radar.

I'm looking at the area around the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, and the Stans. Not the properly scary Stans but Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan sound great.

Autocorrect was doing some heavy lifting for my spelling of those.

I'd love to go to lots of places that are far too dangerous right now. But I can wait. When I'm 80 I can go to Iran!

South America is the only big part of the world I haven't at least nominally visited. So there as well.

I'm in Uzbekistan right now! Tashkent specifically, we have an overnight sleeper train to Bukhara booked for tonight. Its wonderful, huge, feels safe, very hospitable, I'm very excited about the rest of our trip.
I was lucky enough to travel to Iran in 1999, another wonderful country.
I've never been to South America,virs definitely on the 'retirement ' list.

South America is my next "gap year". I don't know when but I really want to do a big year-long stint over there.

Have either of you made it to the South Pacific? I've got various vague jottings about it. Think it's a contender for my next big big trip (big big as opposed to big in the same way out out out is opposed to out 😂).

I've just discovered my friend has two friends who are missionaries in Moldova. I won't proffer my opinion on that sort of thing but my friend is going to get some info from the missionaries about the general vibe around the upcoming elections. I can't see it getting too riotous but I've been caught up in protests and riots before and they can be quite the pain in the neck.

Very jelly. How are you booking the trains?

OP, I've been to Fiji but nowhere else anywhere near.

And the issue with demonstrations is that your travel insurance doesn't cover you, which is a pain.

@MrsTerryPratchett I checked the FCDO pages for Moldova today and they say the protests are generally small and peaceful. So it looks promising but I think we all know how easily things change, especially when tensions have been stoked for years. I'm crossing my fingers I'll be there in Oct or Nov anyway.

@Bananabrioche Do let us know what you made of Bukhara when you've got time!

I’m currently contemplating a Norwegian fjords cruise.
also a trip to New York.

I check all the different foreign offices and sources and they vary wildly about how much risk there is in different places. Partly because certain nationals are at risk in certain places and partially because they assess risk differently. I listen to DO NOT TRAVEL. But I've had lovely holidays in places with warnings!

😂I do that too. The Australian one in particular for some reason. I think I'm playing with a bit of anchoring bias. Looking for sources to support my initial idea of going to Moldova. I really should get this current work assignment finished though or I'll be going nowhere!

Whereabouts in NY? NYC?

I've been invited to Stockholm by a smokin' hot man I've met on a dating app. I am wildly excited.

Yes, New York City. Never been and would love to go.

@MrsTerryPratchett we booked them all in advance on the Uzbekistan Railway website. Bookings open 40 days before travel and popular routes do sell out. Website is pretty easy to navigate. Sleeper train a hoot, conductor spent a lot of time chivvying us up!

Great idea, following for inspiration. Family hitting late - mid teens and finding I want to do more than just lounge all day so our usual 2 weeks in the sun is not really cutting it.
Been a mix of shorter city breaks and week in sun this year. Looking at Budapest, Croatian Islands and either Seville or Valencia as potentials for next year.

We haven’t travelled abroad for several years mainly due to cost although we’re fortunate to have a tourer caravan in the Dales to use. I’ve semi retired after getting Long Covid but now recovered so have now got the time and opportunity ! We’ve got a 2 night trip to London in December, 4 nights in Krakow in April (wanted to visit for years) and then a week in Berlin with DS 2 post A’levels. Can’t wait. Visited Germany a lot pre kids, Berlin in the early 2000s, so will be fascinating to see it now.

My husband and son were in Germany for Euros this summer, they loved it

We’ve got 10 days in Grobming in Austria roughly planned for August. We’ll be travelling by train, ideally the sleeper on the way out. Going back I want to go via Friedrichshafen as I spent my year abroad near there.

I’d love to go to Berlin. Maybe the year after next.

I’m vaguely thinking of going to Saint-Cyr-Sur-Mere alone for a lazy holiday.

We went to Berlin in August for a long weekend. I loved it and want to go back as there is so much to see. Next week we are off to Valencia - 3 nights with my friends and then DH is flying out for another week. Next year I am thinking Calabria in late May, but am also wanting to do a Scandinavian trip at some point. Copenhagen, Flam, Bergen, Stockholm. The cost of eating and drinking is horrendous though.

Thanks! I'll have a look. I love a post communist sleeper train!

I'm in the middle of planning a trip to Australia with my husband over the Christmas holidays. I booked the flights last week and will be flying with Emirates and we'll have 20 hours in Dubai and under 2 hours in Singapore before we arrive in Melbourne.

We'll be 3 weeks in Melbourne to see our son who will be there for Christmas, he's currently doing his rural work in NSW. On our return flights we'll spend 2 days in Singapore and have 6 hours in Dubai.

Our outward flight arrives in Dubai at 0.40am so I need to book a hotel near the airport. I'd like to do a short tour of Dubai but need to find one that either collects people from the airport or hotel.

I should have made more plans for our trip to the Antarctic next year! I have the cruise and flights to Buenos Aires booked but nothing else. I hope to have a quick peak at BA, and look around Ushuaia and then after the cruise possibly go to El Calafate before flying up to Iguazu falls before returning to BA for our flight home.

I'm currently busy in India but going to Seoul next week to join DH and DD to visit DS. Nothing but flights and a hotel are arranged, we've been a couple of times and DS is (fluent and) off work for much of our visit so we're winging it ! DD wil want to do Korean beauty....

@honeyrider i had a stop in Dubai after my India-DXB missed my onward fllight. I cant remember which hotel Emirates put me in (it was mediocre and missable) but they ran tours around the city. I hadnt slept on my overnight flight so I went to sleep but i regret not jumping on a tour as it went from the hotel door and was super easy.

California next year. I am very, very lucky as I have friends in Napa and Sacramento so no hotel costs to worry about, so can spend more time there and do more things.

Anyone know if taxis are expensive in Dubai?

Uber is cheaper than UK. Same thing with sometimes not turning up though, as in the UK.