The Travel Thread

I usually travel on my own but spend at least part of my trip on group tours with random strangers - it's a great way to meet people and I've made some good friends that way Occasionally travel with my sister or friends.

I'd be here all day if I started listing favourite places, but highlights include the Angkor temple complex in Cambodia, Petra and Wadi Rum in Jordan, Uluru in Australia, Sarajevo, Jerusalem, Budapest, Copenhagen, Memphis, New Orleans, Hong Kong and Melbourne, all for very different reasons!

My favourite place in the world apart from London is still probably New York though, I love spending a few days indulging in theatre and just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere:)

Next trip for me is South Africa and Zimbabwe in the Spring - been on my bucket list for ages so I'm very excited!

That's a great idea, it's so nice to receive postcards. Especially since it's not common anymore. I love the last sentence!

That's impressive @posterj, the variety of places you have visited! Tours are indeed a great way to socialize on a solo trip, I do that too. NYC is in my top places as well, just can't get enough of that city. Then I also really love Italy and am now planning my trips there for this summer. But first it's Portugal in March and that will be a new country for me.

I have been to just under 30 countries on 5 continents, and now my goal is to double that in the next 10 years. This is to encourage me to visit more new countries and do less repeat visits, which I do often. I've done some cruises as a couple, many beach resorts with friends and quite a few city trips alone. I like traveling alone and enjoy the freedom to do whatever I want.

I think we're lucky to live in Europe where in just a couple hours of flight you can immerse yourself in a totally different culture. Not to mention our powerful passports for travel to the rest of the world. I know that not everybody has the means, ability or time to travel and am grateful that I can.

I’m off to New Zealand on 6th Feb, and I’m just a wee bit excited!
Most of my travelling has been in Europe and North America before now. Love New York - been 5 times now - and Italy is another favourite, especially Rome.

As a student we did the typical busabout experience of fitting about 10 different countries into a 2 week trip. There’s still a few cities I need to go back to from that trip; we managed about half an hour in Bruges before we had to get back on the bus.

I’ve been lucky to travel a bit for work, though work travel is still work and never as much fun as people think it is.

I enjoy an organised tour group - especially when I’m travelling alone, as I will be in NZ. It takes the stress out of the experience and you do meet some interesting people. I’ll be doing a couple of group tours in NZ, before flying over to Sydney for 5 days before heading back to London. I’ve got some theatre booked in Sydney - Opera at the Opera house because it just had to be done, and a Sydney Theatre Co production of Black is the New White.

I'm currently in Beijing on a work trip. It's -12 out so not going too far. Next week I'll be going to Cairo for the first time so will be looking forward to some heat, not to mention two more trips to Johannesburg next month.

As far as a "holiday", New York is planned for June, for another show binge

Sorry I’m not sure how to quote just part of a post .
In Prague I stayed in a really nice, spacious apartment in the Smíchov area , the apartment was in a lovely old block beside the river , directly opposite the “dancing house” , cheaper than an hotel, very handy for sightseeing, some good coffee shops and restaurants nearby. I didn’t find it too cold , but I don’t mind cold anyway, and had some nice sunny days.
For India you now get a visa online , it’s a very easy process (just make sure you use the official government site , rather than an agency. There are several agencies , their sites look similar to the official government one , but they charge more).
In the past it was (in my experience) torturous to get an Indian visa , and expensive . It involved sending your passport away and (for me) a visit to the Indian consulate .

Thanks bimse, all very useful info. That's indeed what I had heard, that you had to visit the Indian consulate etc. Good to know it's easier now.

If only I’d read this a week ago...  Was directed to and got caught out by one of the agencies which charged $50 more (although they did resize your photos for the privilege!) 

Nice thread. We could ask Admin to lock it and change the title to...

This year I am going to

Regarding e visas :
@caiaphas it’s easily done, the sites look very similar, and if you search Indian e visa on google, the agencies (I think there’s more than one) are listed above the official government site.

I got caught out, was a bit suspicious when I was asked to input my payment details at the beginning, but I pressed on and got very suspicious when I was invited to upload a jpeg scan of my passport rather than a pdf file, which my partner had prepared for me.
I didn’t complete the application , and the payment was paid back very quickly after I emailed them .

I must go back to Copenhagen - spent an evening and a night there a couple of years ago before catching a flight to New York the next day (it was an air miles thing) so got to see just enough of it to whet my appetite.