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.

This is a great thread! Loads of great ideas here. You are all very adventurous!

I am trying to plan our holidays for 2025 and 2026. My DCs are teens. They like swimming but aren’t really ones for sitting by a pool all day. None of us like the heat much. We’ve done the Alps the last few summers (French and Austrian) which has been lovely but we feel like a change this year. Plus we are stuck with school holidays.

@TravellingSpoon and @MrsTerryPratchett
It does make it more difficult, my DS has autism so finds hot crowded noisy places a challenge. He prefers nature and open spaces (loved walking in the alps).
Fortunately he’s not a tricky eater. We found taking a kindle e-reader loaded with a ton of books really helped as when he was in a busy place (eg train station) he’d sit and read so could zone out the noise.
Also trying to have a balance of chilled outdoors days and sight-seeing days so that he has time to recharge.

However the DDs like exploring new places, they like interesting shops and culture, DH likes nice restaurants and history, so it’s hard keeping everyone happy! But DS would happily go to the same place every summer..

They all loved Athens when we went in February so thinking of another winter / spring city break, maybe Rome. No idea yet what to do in the summer.

Maybe Japan next Easter….DDs are very keen to go.

Here's hoping you didn't go!

@TravelMusings are you back yet? I've been wondering how you got on in the Kingdom.

Ahh, I've been avoiding this thread so as not to compound my disappointment. Life went a bit crap, I don't want to discuss details at the mo, so I had to cancel KSA and Moldova (which was meant to be happening now). Luckily I only lost £100 overall.

Probably not going to get away to anywhere until April. Assuming life does not lob any more curveballs in my direction.

Did anyone get away recently? What's coming up tripwise for everyone?

I'm currently on a road trip on the Great Ocean Road outside Melbourne. Have been to Dubai to break up the journey, spent two weeks in Melbourne with my DS, older DS joined us, spent 3 nights in Tazmania and a night in Philip Island.

We head back to Melbourne tonight (Monday here), older DS flies home on Wednesday,.we fly home on Thursday and will break up the journey with 2 nights in Singapore.

Just been to Tamsui in new Taipei,Okinawa,Ishigaki and Singapore for the holidays.All pretty great and mostly clean/relaxing.Next trip (Easter/Ramadan time) is lined up to be Hainan,crossing China to Mongolia then South Korea and a boat to Nagasaki from there to fly back to KL from Fukuoka.Japan I found very affordable so I d like to do a full tour later in summer.

Depending on who's travelling I would suggest a reservation here:

www.marinabaysands.com/restaurants/ce-la-vi-club-lounge.html#:~:text=C%C3%89%20LA%20VI%20SkyBar%20%26%20Club,in%20Singapore%20%7C%20Marina%20Bay%20Sands

You can go up and have drinks without a reservation but, when you get to marina bay sands you'll see tickets for the sky deck, just to note - that's not the bar, that literally a level below that's an observation deck. So many people make that mistake, head for the bar the views are just stunning and you can't amuse yourself watching the instagram folk on the pool.

Have a quick google of rooftop bars it's the best way to see the city, altitude is the highest in the world I believe, they do really know how to make a city.

Orchard road is worth a stroll, and china town is equally good for a wander.

And in the evenings boat quay and Clarke quay are great for food and they do boat rides around the marine which a good value, you don't need to book these.

The city is safe and clean and you can't really wander to anywhere "bad" I used to live in little India, which was demoed to be an non ex-pat area but I loved it.

There are no Ubers in Singapore just the local taxis and the MRT (underground) is so easy to use.

Have a fab time, oh and don't forget to go to raffles and the long bar for a Singapore sling, it's a bit "touristy" but if you are there it's a great thing to do.

Thanks for that creamsnugjumper, good tips there

Sorry to hear about curveballs @TravelMusings hoping you are back on your travels soon!

Got Athens booked here so excited to be planning that now. Decided not to bolt on an island this time partly because I don’t want to use too much leave up so early in year. We are doing 7 nights in Athens so might try and get further afield to some other places around Athens too.

Also DH has decided (after working through 3 other countries) that he wants to do Japan for his big birthday next year! We are only going to have 2 weeks but excited to be planning it. Eldest DD unconvinced (and most likely to find cities overwhelming) but have promised her Disney while we are there. Part of me feels like it is too ambitious trip with two neurodivergent DCs and one fragile teen with eating issues but another part just thinks we have to try these things. Big birthdays don’t come round very often! That said, I am tempted to minimise city time to accommodate DD and try quieter places rather than the tourist trail. I suspect DH and I will go back in the future anyway. DH excited about trains and food. Youngest already talking about shopping! Good to hear it is affordable once there @SurabayaMas as the flights and accommodation seem very steep.

@Travellinghopefully2018 we went to Japan with then 8&11 yr old DC and are planning our second trip for next year when they’ll be 14&17. It’s actually wonderful with kids and you can definreuly leave the big cities and get to the zen and quiet bits

that sounds good @Citygirlrurallife if you have any recommendations for more rural places would love to hear them!

@TravelMusings I am sorry to hear 'life' has been happening to you and been interfering with your plans. I hope you are able to get some new plans in place for April or soon after.

I'm just getting groundrush for our trip to Antarctica - somehow with a year's notice we're still not totally sorted. Im not sure about the wisdom of dashing about before heading down to Ushuaia but it's all booked now!

@Travellinghopefully2018 I assume you have found the helpful Japan thread running here

@SurabayaMas can i ask the route your ferry takes from S Korea? We visit DS in Seoul periodically and im interested in ferries to Japan.

Hi @SurabayaMas I saw your post but haven't had an opportunity to respond before now. We have travelled on the Fukuoka-Busan ferry (quick) and the Busan-Osaka ferry (fun experience) before so I wondered about a Korea-Nagasaki ferry as we enjoyed Nagasaki and would liked to have stayed longer and are keen to return to this corner of Japan. Hence my interest in a ferry that went there. Thank you for posting.

Any updates or further inclinations/plans? I did make Moldova in the end! 😍 Will post a proper update soon.

Hi all

Ooh I’ve found my people!! Please can I join, my favourite pastime is holiday planning!!

We have GCSEs this year so sadly not much before summer but did have a fab trip to Iceland in Feb and DH and I were supposed to go to Mumbai a few weeks ago but dreaded lurgy meant we had to cancel that!
we’re off to Japan for the second time in summer, to the Japanese Alps which I can’t wait for! A week in Portugal, and currently looking at what we do for October half term, contemplating South Korea or the Golden triangle in India, we only have 8 days and want to max places we go with DS before he decides he does t want to come any more! Any other suggestions v welcome though! I’m off to Tbilisi for a long weekend which I’m super excited about and we’re taking my 78 year old mum to Thailand at Christmas, she’s never shown an interest in long haul travel and declared she wanted to go so I didn’t need asking twice! We’re doing Bangkok and Koh Chang.

I've travelled a lot in Asia, Australia and New Zealand and we loved Canada, Peru and Mexico, planning a trip to Brazil or Indonesia ( Flores etc) next summer. I’d also love to go to some of the Stans, and explore more of Central and Southern America I think

that all sounds amazing @Waffles21 would love to hear more about Japanese alps, our plan at the moment is Easter next year doing South Korea then either fly to Okinawa or ferry to Kyushu (we've done the usual Japan route on Honshu) but I'm trying to convince everyone to go to the North in the summer instead so we can go for longer.

This year is all about shorter cheaper trips for us. DH and I just had 3 lovely nights in Bruges and Ghent, DD and I are heading to Florence by train next week via Paris and Turin, DH and DS driving to Germany to run some race tracks and visit ESA post GCSEs, I might snap up a cheap eurostar ticket and take him to Lille for a day as well. In the summer we're staying in the UK, West Wales and furthest Kent

So glad you are back travelling @TravelMusings 😎

We've just got back from our Antarctica trip (which was a-may-zing) but i have an op scheduled for next month so my travel wings are temporarily clipped. I'll need to go to India with work in Sep but may tie in a trip to South Korea to see DS, but DH and I are considering a winter trip as we usually go to see him in spring or autumn and fancied a change.... Otherwise considering a recuperative trip to the med to rest up and eat good food and not charge about like we usually do!

We enjoy South Korea and like to suggest it to others. @Citygirlrurallife the ferry from Fukuoka to Busan was really sraightforward and i can recommend it. Not sure which 'North' you mean for the summer though.

Sounds wonderful! We are desperate to go to Kyushu and Okinawa but the wrong season in July ( not an ideal time to go but worked for various reasons!)
We’re still doing a few of the normal things but going to Mount Koya, Takayama, Kanazawa, Shirakawago and Nagoya ( hopefully for the grand sumo tournament!), also hoping to do part of the Nakasendo trail.we also looked at Hokkaido which looks amazing but decided with 2 16 year olds we needed a bit more of a mix. So much to explore in Japan!
good to hear a few of you have been to South Korea, for a 7 day trip would you recommend Seoul and Busan with side trips or something else in October? Thanks!
Antarctica sounds AMAZING! Def on my list but prob for a way off in the future I think ( currently looking at whether French Polynesia another good option for next summer!!)

I'm dithering about Bhutan. In August.

Our overseas holiday for this year wa to Rome. We've a number of British holidays booked. Off to Brighton next weekend, then Cornwall at the end of the month. Then Nottingham and Newcastle. These are all for various sporting events.

Then we need to fit in a trio to Manchester and Cardiff for family visiting.

I'm exhausted at just thinking about it.

Hopefully next year we'll do a train trip through Scandinavia.

@Waffles21 we went to Hokkaido - and decided it shares some characteristics with Scotland so if the teens wouldn't like Scotland it may not be right for you this time...

Seoul and Busan are a decent pairing, or Seoul and Jeju, or just Seoul and day trips. We had a fabulous overnight to Sokcho and the Seoraksan National Park. We havent tried to book recently but last time we tried to book online in advance it was tricky as they wanted a local bank card so we ended up booking the mid level coach which was great (and you get to experience Korean service stations 😎) but the bus station in Busan is a 45ish min tube journey into town. I have an idea they will take overseas cards now though.

Thanks so much @Specialnameforanoutingthread yes that’s what we decided! They love Scotland but we thought they’d prefer other aspects of Japan.
Great tips for South Korea thanks, I’m waiting to see what happens tomorrow with the impeachment ruling before looking seriously. 🤞🏻

Doh! When i was waffling about booking online, i was referring to booking the (KTX) train ....😳

Some of these trips sound wonderful!
I have booked our post gcse/a level trip to Montenegro (kotor Bay and Durmoitor national park) then on to Bosnia (Trebinje, Sarajevo and Mostar). Flying in/out of Dubrovnik so last couple of days there. It took a lot of planning to work out a viable itinerary using public transport and I had to manage my expectations of how many places we could visit in 18 days!
Future trips I'd love to explore some less touristy parts of Italy and into slovenia maybe, Poland and Estonia/latvia/Lithuania. I've not done long haul in years and these days actually quite interested in slow travel. Next year will probably be back to campervanning in France but I am looking forward to not being tied to school holidays in the coming years!