Wish List 2013-2014

[flipstah]

With my 2011-2012 travel year in the books, I was able to go to many great places and it became the catalyst for my bucket list dream of seeing the world.

With 2013-2014 ahead of us, I was hoping to make a thread of what people's dream places were and where they're hoping to go next.

It can act as a place to keep ourselves determined; maybe the place you're going to this year is someone's dream trip and vice-versa.

Maybe it'll jumpstart other people's trips.

I'll start...

Mine would be to see Morocco for 2013:

I'm a sucker for historical places and with Morocco full of cultural flavor, it's a great start to explore the Africas.




» Click image for larger version

Another trip would be to Jordan or Egypt but they're iffy at the moment, which is unfortunate.

2014 would be a Euro-trip for me; at least that's what I had in mind.

In general, if Iran or Iraq are safe, I would go there (no lies!)

What's yours?!

[urrforce]

my family and i are headed to europe this summer kind of our "last family outing" as my dad put it and i am so stoked for that (done a lot of travelling but never been off of this continent)

as for personal trips my gf and i would really like to see the more touristy parts of asia and i really want to see the middle east one day so much history there!

[civicrider]

my hit list this year

Morocco
South Africa
Brazil

and possibly Italy

[maxomilll]

Peru for the Inca trail, and I want to spend time in Nicaragua.

[max_boost]

I have 2 weeks off in april but dunno where to go.

[dj_patm]

Going to EDC for sure, would also love to hit one of these (+ obligatory stop in Poland for family if Im in europe)

- Iceland
- Germany
- UK

and maybe a trip to Mexico

[Gainsbarre]

2013:
*Booked 3 weeks for Amsterdam (2 nights) and Istanbul. Looking to go to Iran for 10 days during my time in Turkey explore the northwestern provinces (mostly West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan) as well as the Caspian Sea region (Gilan province). Working with a tour operator to get a visa for Iran now and finalize my itinerary -- getting a visa for Iran was so much easier in 2011 when all I had to do was send my passport and a simple application form to the embassy in Ottawa (and the questions asked were far less invasive than for instance the ones asked before I could get a visa for P.R. China last year). Iran is completely safe, except for maybe the impoverished province in the south east (Sistan and Baluchestan) where the locals have serious drug (opium) problems.

*Maybe one road trip in the summer to Denver so I can catch another MLB game.

2014:
*Have the World Cup in Brazil on my mind, but nothing has been ironed out yet.
*If not Brazil, then Thailand/Laos/Vietnam/Cambodia is a possibility...

Many more in mind past 2014 (Azerbaijan/Armenia/Georgia) but that's for another thread

[95EG6P]

i like to go to brazil

[busdepot]

Originally posted by flipstah


Another trip would be to Jordan or Egypt but they're iffy at the moment, which is unfortunate.

Was in Egypt for new years. Definitely hold off on that one for a while. I felt extremely uncomfortable there, and I consider myself a pretty seasoned traveler. I'd probably avoid most of Northern Africa and the non-GCC middle-eastern countries. UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain are still relatively safe places for the time being. Not sure about Morocco, but the conflict in Western Sahara is still pretty active from what I know (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara#Dispute)


For my next trip, I really want to do South America. Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Tierra del Fuego is something I've always wanted to see. And, if I have the dosh, I would love to jump down to Antarctica.


India and China are also coming up on the visit list!

ADDED: Here's a pic of Tahrir square on New Year's day. Not exactly welcoming...

[msommers]

Africa this year. SE Asia next year. Australia + NZ or South America the year after.

Glad to see another person has the travel bug

[flipstah]

There we go! Everyone has so many great places to think about!

I'm digging this.

Originally posted by max_boost
I have 2 weeks off in april but dunno where to go.

I would stick around our continent; maybe Europe max.

Asia trips are too long to waste on flying alone.

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
2013:
*Booked 3 weeks for Amsterdam (2 nights) and Istanbul. Looking to go to Iran for 10 days during my time in Turkey explore the northwestern provinces (mostly West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan) as well as the Caspian Sea region (Gilan province). Working with a tour operator to get a visa for Iran now and finalize my itinerary -- getting a visa for Iran was so much easier in 2011 when all I had to do was send my passport and a simple application form to the embassy in Ottawa (and the questions asked were far less invasive than for instance the ones asked before I could get a visa for P.R. China last year). Iran is completely safe, except for maybe the impoverished province in the south east (Sistan and Baluchestan) where the locals have serious drug (opium) problems.

*Maybe one road trip in the summer to Denver so I can catch another MLB game.

2014:
*Have the World Cup in Brazil on my mind, but nothing has been ironed out yet.
*If not Brazil, then Thailand/Laos/Vietnam/Cambodia is a possibility...

Many more in mind past 2014 (Azerbaijan/Armenia/Georgia) but that's for another thread

So would you say Tehran is a safe place to go to? It's giving me ideas...

Originally posted by busdepot



Was in Egypt for new years. Definitely hold off on that one for a while. I felt extremely uncomfortable there, and I consider myself a pretty seasoned traveler. I'd probably avoid most of Northern Africa and the non-GCC middle-eastern countries. UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain are still relatively safe places for the time being. Not sure about Morocco, but the conflict in Western Sahara is still pretty active from what I know (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara#Dispute)


For my next trip, I really want to do South America. Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Tierra del Fuego is something I've always wanted to see. And, if I have the dosh, I would love to jump down to Antarctica.


India and China are also coming up on the visit list!

ADDED: Here's a pic of Tahrir square on New Year's day. Not exactly welcoming...

Yeah, I was thinking of waiting for the volatility to be rectified before I went to Egypt but from what I've read, Morocco is relatively stable.

If all else fails, Africa is a big continent.

Originally posted by msommers
Africa this year. SE Asia next year. Australia + NZ or South America the year after.

Glad to see another person has the travel bug

Your trip is the polar opposite of mine.

SE Asia + Australia was 2012; Africa 2013.

I have the travel bug and I absolutely love it. I was also thinking of Vietnam and Cambodia since they're close and my relatives said it's gorgeous. Same with Morocco; nothing but positives.

[busdepot]

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
2013:
*Booked 3 weeks for Amsterdam (2 nights) and Istanbul. Looking to go to Iran for 10 days during my time in Turkey explore the northwestern provinces (mostly West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan) as well as the Caspian Sea region (Gilan province). Working with a tour operator to get a visa for Iran now and finalize my itinerary -- getting a visa for Iran was so much easier in 2011 when all I had to do was send my passport and a simple application form to the embassy in Ottawa (and the questions asked were far less invasive than for instance the ones asked before I could get a visa for P.R. China last year). Iran is completely safe, except for maybe the impoverished province in the south east (Sistan and Baluchestan) where the locals have serious drug (opium) problems.

Istanbul is awesome. I absolutely loved it there. Be sure to take some time and check out the cisterns. They will blow your mind. So much to see there, I'm super jealous you're going.

Also, since this thread seems to have a few history buffs, there's a little square near the blue mosque and Hagia Sophia which is called the Hippodrome of Constantinople. It has has two obelisks in it; one modern and one ancient. The ancient one is from the Karnak temple in Luxor, Egypt.

The obelisks from the very same temple are now also in Paris at Place de la Concorde and the other is in Rome at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. So, Gainsbarre, if you've been to Paris, and saw the obelisk at the very end of the Champs Elysse, remember that the obelisk in Istanbul is from the exact same place in Egypt!

Sorry for the history lesson

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by flipstah


So would you say Tehran is a safe place to go to? It's giving me ideas...

With Tehran being the capital/largest city it's pretty much impossible to avoid during any trip to Iran. It's perfectly safe, however...
*There's little in the way of historical sites / impressive architecture in Tehran -- it's pretty much a big concrete slab imo. Tehran has only been the capital of Iran for the past ~200 years (negligible in the context of Persian history). Given the earthquake risk, there are few tall structures (besides Milad Tower) in the city
*Might want to avoid South Tehran, which is the poor/more conservative part of the city. I had no problem there, but I found nothing interesting there
*I didn't really stand out in Tehran -- the people there seemed to be far more used to seeing foreigners than in other parts of the country (and trust me, standing out as a foreigner in Iran among the common people that you meet is a good thing )
*Shiraz is the place to be if you ever travel to Iran -- tremendous history there and I'd say that it's the least conservative part of Iran (had the largest number of girls chasing me and got the most phone numbers/emails when I was in Shiraz ...I'd rank it as my favourite city in the world)
*Esfahan is nice too with lots of history, but there were many Revolutionary Guards around when I was there, which kind of ruined Esfahan for me
*Be wary of the upcoming Iranian "election" on June 13 -- will probably want to avoid that time of the year and the likely fallout from it...

Long story short, I wouldn't plan any trip to Iran around Tehran (unless you know people there) -- I'd only spend a day or two on Tehran at the most.

[lil*tymer]

Going to Coachella in April and doing some surfing on the coast, and then it's off to Colombia for 2 months. From there I will probably head down to Brazil for half of the trip.

Would like to do Octoberfest this year too.

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by busdepot


Istanbul is awesome. I absolutely loved it there. Be sure to take some time and check out the cisterns. They will blow your mind. So much to see there, I'm super jealous you're going.

Also, since this thread seems to have a few history buffs, there's a little square near the blue mosque and Hagia Sophia which is called the Hippodrome of Constantinople. It has has two obelisks in it; one modern and one ancient. The ancient one is from the Karnak temple in Luxor, Egypt.

The obelisks from the very same temple are now also in Paris at Place de la Concorde and the other is in Rome at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. So, Gainsbarre, if you've been to Paris, and saw the obelisk at the very end of the Champs Elysse, remember that the obelisk in Istanbul is from the exact same place in Egypt!

Sorry for the history lesson

Thanks! Yes, it is my first trip to Istanbul and I haven't planned anything yet (going to be there end of April/beginning of May), so this is useful information.

[flipstah]

All this Istanbul talk made me regret not sniping that KLM deal last year.

[austic]

Mami for UMF and music week
Bali (Dive Trip)
Maui (Dive Trip)

[flipstah]

I Googled Shiraz and its good thing I did this thread because I would've ended up in Iran. Shiraz is beautiful!

[l/l/rX]

I was just in Istanbul and Prague over the Christmas holidays!

2013:
-Bahamas
-Croatia (yacht week)
-Belgium (tomorrowland)
-and somewhere else inbetween the 2, we haven't decided where yet

[tirebob]

The wife and I did France in 2012, so we were planning on doing England, Scotland and Ireland this summer, but just before we booked the flights, my buddy in France called and asked us to come to their wedding there this year so instead we are heading back to France. I am not disappointed in the slightest as France was absolutely wicked! Paris is probably the sickest city one could ask for, and then driving down all the way through to the south of France leaves you with so much to see and do...

That said, on the future travel agenda is definitely Iceland, Scandinavian countries, Russia and the Ukraine, as well as Europe in General. Australia and New Zealand one day for sure too. I have no real desire to do Asia yet but that may change with time. A true bucket list thing for me would be to somehow get down to and set foot on Antarctica. Now that would be cool!