What are some countries still worth visiting?

[Haertig]

Having just put in my passport renewal online today, I'm starting to think about places I still might want to visit in this world. I've never been an international traveler. Outside of the USA, I've only been to Canada and Mexico. And two other non-mainland parts of the US - Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands. I'm retired now, and the wife may be soon, so we're ripe for travel. I've thought about where to go before - maybe even asked here in previous posts - but the world changes so fast there may be updates.

Any ideas on places to put on my "want to go" list, or places to avoid? Places that I still consider possibilities:

Below are some of my current thinking, just off the top of my head

• North America: Canada, but I've been there several times and would probably want to explore other destinations first
• Central America: No desire to go there, but maybe could be nudged to go to Belize or Costa Rica
• South America: No burning desires there either, but maybe Chile or Argentina. I have wanted to go see Machu Picchu in the past, but I think Peru is dropping in desirability and safety these days.
• Africa: Only the eastern and southern areas, and the islands, sound even remotely appealing, and I have no great desire for any of them- Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Seychelles
• Asia: Japan. And if I could get in decent shape to handle the heat - Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines. Bhutan and Nepal might be interesting too.
• Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Fiji
• Europe: Quite a few countries still intrigue me - Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Iceland. Second tier for me would be places like Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein. Some of the "standard places" that many people visit don't draw me very much - I would call them third tier - but I would still maybe go there - Italy, Greece, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal.

 

[Neb]

I took vacation after a business trip to Jerusalem in 2010. It was peaceful year and I enjoyed wondering the streets of the Old City.

I did get funny looks from the Palestinians.

It is the only place my wife and I would travel to see again.

Hint: fly 1st class. 13 hours is a long flight.

Ben

 

[sonya123]

we have been to lots of places, and I liked some more than others. It all depends on what you like to do and what interests you have
My favorite trips outside the US ever: India , wanted to go there since I was a kid and finally went a few years before we moved here
and Scotland, another places I always wanted to visit. Went there long time ago .
My favorite area of Germany is Bavaria , been there many times
Austria is nice too. Overrated: Venice

 

[DrHenley]

My daughter recently had a great trip to Iceland.
A lot more to do than you would imagine.
And it was incredibly inexpensive to fly there.

 

[Supervisor42]

Having just put in my passport renewal online today, I'm starting to think about places I still might want to visit in this world. I've never been an international traveler. Outside of the USA, I've only been to Canada and Mexico. And two other non-mainland parts of the US - Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands. I'm retired now, and the wife may be soon, so we're ripe for travel. I've thought about where to go before - maybe even asked here in previous posts - but the world changes so fast there may be updates.

Any ideas on places to put on my "want to go" list, or places to avoid? Places that I still consider possibilities:

Below are some of my current thinking, just off the top of my head

• North America: Canada, but I've been there several times and would probably want to explore other destinations first
• Central America: No desire to go there, but maybe could be nudged to go to Belize or Costa Rica
• South America: No burning desires there either, but maybe Chile or Argentina. I have wanted to go see Machu Picchu in the past, but I think Peru is dropping in desirability and safety these days.
• Africa: Only the eastern and southern areas, and the islands, sound even remotely appealing, and I have no great desire for any of them- Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Seychelles
• Asia: Japan. And if I could get in decent shape to handle the heat - Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines. Bhutan and Nepal might be interesting too.
• Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Fiji
• Europe: Quite a few countries still intrigue me - Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Iceland. Second tier for me would be places like Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein. Some of the "standard places" that many people visit don't draw me very much - I would call them third tier - but I would still maybe go there - Italy, Greece, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal.

You left out Jamaica Mon!?
I love that country!
Visit down there and you instantly become 'wealthy', and they treat you like royalty.
Better weather than even the Bahamas too!
And they speak English that you can understand.

 

[elkhound]

yall are something else...i get excited going to town ever so often....!

 

[elkhound]

p.s. if gas prices get under $2 a gallon and i can get me a little 4x4 economy rig gets 30mpg...well i am going to burn up me some usfs logging roads and more....

i end my nightly prayers with please $1.50 gas !

 

[Haertig]

You left out Jamaica Mon!?
I love that country!
Visit down there and you instantly become 'wealthy', and they treat you like royalty.
Better weather than even the Bahamas too!
And they speak English that you can understand.

My daughter went for a "study abroad" in Jamaica her college sophomore year (she did Australia her junior or senior year). The students lived on their boat while in Jamacia. She said the first day they got there, all the people surrounded her and were begging her to get their horses/donkeys to mate (I forget which it was). She was a Wildlife and Conservation Biology major. She told them, "I'm just a sophomore, we haven't learned about donkey breeding problems yet." She said the people were very friendly. And very poor. Their boat was moored far away from the tourist areas.

 

[Supervisor42]

My daughter went for a "study abroad" in Jamaica her college sophomore year (she did Australia her junior or senior year). The students lived on their boat while in Jamacia. She said the first day they got there, all the people surrounded her and were begging her to get their horses/donkeys to mate (I forget which it was). She was a Wildlife and Conservation Biology major. She told them, "I'm just a sophomore, we haven't learned about donkey breeding problems yet." She said the people were very friendly. And very poor. Their boat was moored far away from the tourist areas.

Plenty of others know about my 'Secret Heaven':

Wiki: Half the Jamaican economy relies on services, with half of its income coming from services such as tourism. An estimated 4.3 million foreign tourists visit Jamaica every year.

 

[sonya123]

i end my nightly prayers with please $1.50 gas !

you are dreaming....

 

[elkhound]

you are dreaming....

SOOOOOOOOOOO....what wrong with dreaming and being a silly heart...i tried being an adult...that sucked big time for awhile...now...i am back to being happy go lucky dog....in last portion of my life now going forward...i am going to have fun if it kills me.

dream big...it makes a larger target and easier to hit and you get to say you hit a bigger proportion of your dream !!...lol

 

[Caribou]

I’ve been around enough that when I renewed my passport once they decided to give me a double thick passport. Of all the places that I’ve visited the number one place I want to go back to is Tonga. When I was there they didn’t even recognize what a credit card was, so take some cash. My favorite hotel was a grass shack on the beach where a bunch of bananas was hanging from the office porch, if you were hungry between meal times. Fantastic snorkeling.

 

[Peanut]

The world is a dangerous place these days. There are only a few places I would like to see that I missed seeing as a young man, Ireland, Scandinavia, Australia and Japan. I saw Norway but was only there a few hours, would like to spend a couple days at least.

I've seen most of europe and the middle east, parts of africa... Those are far too dangerous given the current political climate. I got attacked by Palestinians in Israel and that was 40yrs ago. Had an old fashioned brawl, 15 sailors against 60 #$% on top of Mt Olive. We were holding our own with sticks and rocks but I was glad the idf showed up. (with real weapons)

And yes, if it's more than an 8hr flight, fly first class. It's worth the price.

 

[Jen]

Having just put in my passport renewal online today, I'm starting to think about places I still might want to visit in this world. I've never been an international traveler. Outside of the USA, I've only been to Canada and Mexico. And two other non-mainland parts of the US - Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands. I'm retired now, and the wife may be soon, so we're ripe for travel. I've thought about where to go before - maybe even asked here in previous posts - but the world changes so fast there may be updates.

Any ideas on places to put on my "want to go" list, or places to avoid? Places that I still consider possibilities:

Below are some of my current thinking, just off the top of my head

• North America: Canada, but I've been there several times and would probably want to explore other destinations first
• Central America: No desire to go there, but maybe could be nudged to go to Belize or Costa Rica
• South America: No burning desires there either, but maybe Chile or Argentina. I have wanted to go see Machu Picchu in the past, but I think Peru is dropping in desirability and safety these days.
• Africa: Only the eastern and southern areas, and the islands, sound even remotely appealing, and I have no great desire for any of them- Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Seychelles
• Asia: Japan. And if I could get in decent shape to handle the heat - Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines. Bhutan and Nepal might be interesting too.
• Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Fiji
• Europe: Quite a few countries still intrigue me - Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Iceland. Second tier for me would be places like Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein. Some of the "standard places" that many people visit don't draw me very much - I would call them third tier - but I would still maybe go there - Italy, Greece, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal.

My son took his family to Spain and Sardinia (took a ferry to Sardinia) last summer and they enjoyed it. Sardinia is sort of off the beaten path for tourists at the moment so it is rustic. I lived there two years and the food is excellent. European tourists have gone there for years. I think Americans are beginning to discover it. Beautiful place.

If you go to Germany, I recommend Bavaria. Munich and south - Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Oberammergau, Bergesgaten. There are castles to see there, glass smooth lakes to traverse, and I think you can still go up to Hitler's Eagles Nest though I hear it has become commercialized.

Lastly, I know several people who have recently taken a cruise down the Danube River into the countries that border it. All of them have raved about what a great cruise it was.

 

[Jen]

yall are something else...i get excited going to town ever so often....!

Same here now. I am done leaving the country. I will have to go to Seattle and maybe to NY again (if Oklahoma ever gets me a real ID). I would like to be done flying and I am done leaving the USA. I traveled a lot when I was young and loved every minute of it. Didn't get Monetzuma's Revenge when I went to Mexico City.

 

[Jen]

My daughter recently had a great trip to Iceland.
A lot more to do than you would imagine.
And it was incredibly inexpensive to fly there.

I have heard such great things about Iceland. I had friends who lived there. That might be the one place I would go if I wanted to leave the country.

 

[Patchouli]

@Caribou the Tongans are sweethearts. I know several.
I wish I could go to Fiji. Have always wanted to go to a place where the water is pleasantly warm but not too warm, clear as can be, nothing scary to bite or sting me. Eat seafood, mostly fish, and tropical fruit. Stay in a grass or palm frond hut. lol
We can dream even if the world is falling apart.
My inlaws travel frequently for cheap. I don't know how. I know she's a tight wad and frugal so...whatever. They enjoyed Italy except Naples, bunch of thieves there, his pocket was picked while on a packed bus. They greatly enjoyed Portugal, Slovakia, Albania, Poland, Iceland. A few years ago they went to Belarus. I quit worrying about them. They stay in cheap hotels and Air B&Bs. They like to drink a lot and go to the local bars and meet people to find out other cool places to go while there. Into historical and political vibe.
They've been to Belize (Central America) but they didn't care for it a great deal.
Best places for stargazing include Atacama Desert in Chile, clear dry skies 300 days a year, high elevation; Namib Desert in Namibia.
What kinds of stuff are you interested in seeing or doing? @Haertig
I also want to travel to the cities my ancestors are from (in Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, and I don't know about G.B.)
Wonders of the World?

 

[Supervisor42]

Same here now. I am done leaving the country. I will have to go to Seattle and maybe to NY again (if Oklahoma ever gets me a real ID). I would like to be done flying and I am done leaving the USA. I traveled a lot when I was young and loved every minute of it. Didn't get Monetzuma's Revenge when I went to Mexico City.

As long as you stay in the big cities, you are fine.
We encountered it when we traveled inland on our trip to Chichén Itzá.
Any water you encounter in small restaurants etc includes a free side-order of 'the revenge'.
All of the locals are immune to it, so it is a non-existent problem.
Bring Imodium with you... you're gonna need it.

 

[Jen]

As long as you stay in the big cities, you are fine.
We encountered it when we traveled inland on our trip to Chichén Itzá.
Any water you encounter in small restaurants etc includes a free side-order of 'the revenge'.
All of the locals are immune to it, so it is a non-existent problem.
Bring Imodium with you... you're gonna need it.

True.
In Sardinia we got bottled water back when bottled water was rare. I"m sure they filled it with tap water but we lucked out I guess. We ate out every single day in Palau, Sardinia - a very small town. We got juice for our son. Unpasturized? Probably.

In all the countries I traveled in in Europe we went in our own car so we stopped in many other places than the big cities. And we never had the revenge. Doesn't mean it wasn't there - but we didn't experience the badness of it.

 

[Jen]

@Caribou the Tongans are sweethearts. I know several.
I wish I could go to Fiji. Have always wanted to go to a place where the water is pleasantly warm but not too warm, clear as can be, nothing scary to bite or sting me. Eat seafood, mostly fish, and tropical fruit. Stay in a grass or palm frond hut. lol
We can dream even if the world is falling apart.
My inlaws travel frequently for cheap. I don't know how. I know she's a tight wad and frugal so...whatever. They enjoyed Italy except Naples, bunch of thieves there, his pocket was picked while on a packed bus. They greatly enjoyed Portugal, Slovakia, Albania, Poland, Iceland. A few years ago they went to Belarus. I quit worrying about them. They stay in cheap hotels and Air B&Bs. They like to drink a lot and go to the local bars and meet people to find out other cool places to go while there. Into historical and political vibe.
They've been to Belize (Central America) but they didn't care for it a great deal.
Best places for stargazing include Atacama Desert in Chile, clear dry skies 300 days a year, high elevation; Namib Desert in Namibia.
What kinds of stuff are you interested in seeing or doing? @Haertig
I also want to travel to the cities my ancestors are from (in Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, and I don't know about G.B.)
Wonders of the World?

We found the cheap hotels in odd ways. But we were in Europe back when things really were cheap.

 

[Haertig]

What kinds of stuff are you interested in seeing or doing? @Haertig

I like outdoors. Natural beauty. I don't like big cities. I don't like "fancy". I think most of what I want will be found in places where there aren't a ton of people. If places like that even exist anymore.

All of the below, no matter what they are, or how famous they may be, would be a hard NO for me:

 

[Magpie]

I've always throught everywhere was worth visiting once!

I've been accepted for a conference so hoping to get to Prague this year.
Those considering Ireland it is very expensive for tourists. The weather is so topsy turvy it no longer matters what time of the year you come though.
If you can, don't hire your car from the airport, look for places away because its cheaper. Also, they are terrible at the airport for hitting with you with charges when you return the car, so if there are scratches when you get it, make sure its recorded, and hoover/clean the car before you give it back. Other than that - its a great place for scenery, and easy to pop across to Europe / UK.

If someone was coming here for any length of time I'd suggest getting a small house / flat outside of Dublin, and buying food at the supermarket- pub food is good too.
If you intend to get on a bus to anywhere other than the city- pre book. https://www.buseireann.ie/routes-and-timetables
When you walk out of the airport all the buses go anywhere in the country, so its handy.

 

[Magus]

I used to want to go to Scandinavia and Finland, but since the Arabs took over...
NOPE!

 

[Amish Heart]

I like outdoors. Natural beauty. I don't like big cities. I don't like "fancy". I think most of what I want will be found in places where there aren't a ton of people. If places like that even exist anymore.

All of the below, no matter what they are, or how famous they may be, would be a hard NO for me:

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Wow! We lived in Europe, South of France, in the early 80s and I don't remember seeing crowds like that! We've traveled a whole lot of Europe around that time, and again around 15 yrs later. I'm content to stay put now. Have seen a good bit of the US, too.
'

 

[Morgan101]

"The World is Mine Oyster" go wherever you want. Have you thought about taking a cruise? It is a really nice way to travel. You can see several countries from one room. Rooms are small, but food is wonderful. Take day excursions to see sights. Now they advertise them with no casinos and no kids. The cruise line will handle a lot of the busy work. We really enjoyed it.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I've traveled to 6 out of 7 continents. I've seen enough. I'm happy staying home.

 

[Duncan]

Having just put in my passport renewal online today, I'm starting to think about places I still might want to visit in this world. I've never been an international traveler. Outside of the USA, I've only been to Canada and Mexico. And two other non-mainland parts of the US - Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands. I'm retired now, and the wife may be soon, so we're ripe for travel. I've thought about where to go before - maybe even asked here in previous posts - but the world changes so fast there may be updates.

Any ideas on places to put on my "want to go" list, or places to avoid? Places that I still consider possibilities:

Below are some of my current thinking, just off the top of my head

• North America: Canada, but I've been there several times and would probably want to explore other destinations first
• Central America: No desire to go there, but maybe could be nudged to go to Belize or Costa Rica
• South America: No burning desires there either, but maybe Chile or Argentina. I have wanted to go see Machu Picchu in the past, but I think Peru is dropping in desirability and safety these days.
• Africa: Only the eastern and southern areas, and the islands, sound even remotely appealing, and I have no great desire for any of them- Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Seychelles
• Asia: Japan. And if I could get in decent shape to handle the heat - Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines. Bhutan and Nepal might be interesting too.
• Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Fiji
• Europe: Quite a few countries still intrigue me - Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Iceland. Second tier for me would be places like Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein. Some of the "standard places" that many people visit don't draw me very much - I would call them third tier - but I would still maybe go there - Italy, Greece, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal.

I grew up in Oceania: Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Rep of Palau. Lived in Kahului, Maui as a little kid, and spent ~a year in Japan, courtesy of Boeing. Never been to South America but spent lots of time in Mexico and Central America. In CA, both Belize and Costa Rica are great, and Mexico is probably Dawn's and my favorite.

If you are monolingual, Micronesia is a great place to visit and/or live. English is the second language there, you can go to and fro within all the countries there without a passport, and the currency is USD. Truk Lagoon in particular has the best diving in the world, even better than Belize and the GBR in Australia.

Just about all the places I mentioned (except maybe Belize) actually have better (and cheaper) healthcare than the US; as an old couple, this could really come in handy for us. If you can speak Spanish you could check out the places in CA or Mexico, and -- although I've never been there -- I would check out Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay.

Europe? Dawn's been there on several occasions, but I haven't. If I could, I'd love to visit most of Europe, but who can afford it? Anyway, from what I hear, Americans are becoming less and less welcome in most of the places we're talking about!

 

[Haertig]

Have you thought about taking a cruise?

I have thought about it, but we've never taken one. The wife worries about getting her motion sickness riled up. But I think that is mostly a thing of the past these days with modern ships. I worry about ending up trapped on a floating vomitorium. Your read about all kinds of norovirus outbreaks and the like. I imagine most of that is exaggeration and over-reporting though. I also imagine this giant ship hitting a port somewhere and a bazillion passengers disembark and totally flood the destination city - the ship itself creating the crowds that I wish to avoid. Just the concept of a massive ship conjures up images of people everywhere. Unless you're content to stay in your room, there just doesn't seem to be that many places you and 1000's of other people could go to be semi-alone on a ship. Maybe I'm being too critical.

I have thought about those river cruises in Europe. Those would seem to be more appealing to my tastes, but I don't really know. I get the impression that there is not much going on onboard the ship itself, it's more like a floating bus. But that's just what I'm imagining, I have no data of facts to back up this conclusion I've come to.

 

[Haertig]

I grew up in Oceania: Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Rep of Palau. Lived in Kahului, Maui as a little kid, and spent ~a year in Japan

A lot of the places you mentioned are appealing to me. The large World wall map I have on the wall next to me here in my office is centered so the Pacific shows in its entirety - not split between the left and right edges of the map like is more typical of World maps. I bought one like that on purpose because the Pacific does call to me (most World maps are centered on the Atlantic). I like being able to see - in one area of the map, not split - where Fiji is in relation to French Polynesia in relation to Micronesia in relation to New Zealand in relation to Hawaii.

https://www.worldmapsonline.com/americas-centered-standard-blue-ocean-world-political-wall-map/

The above map splits China and Russia - something that does not bother me as much as splitting the Pacific.

This is the more typical "split the Pacific" World map:

 

[Morgan101]

I have thought about those river cruises in Europe

We have some good friends who took a Viking river cruise last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. They raved about how good all the services were.

Look them up on You Tube. There are several videos that are very informative. Pluses, Minuses, Likes, Dislikes. Questions to ask, What to watch out for. You can learn a lot.