What would be your ideal vacation?

As a side-shoot from Pete's cruise thread and so as not to raise the ire of Alpha I decided to make my own thread as I have never been on a cruise and have less than zero desire to ever go on one.

At this point in my life I can't fathom spending the kind of money it takes to go on a real vacation. That being said we are, we will be going to the wonderful world of Disney for Thanksgiving week this year. The wife has been planning this since our son was born, she wanted him to be old enough to be able to do most things, but young enough to still enjoy the "magic" of it all. We have been saving for over five years and we still wouldn't have been able to afford it without the generous help of her parents who have decided to bring all of their kids and spouses down together for Thanksgiving.

As much as I am looking forward to it for the boy and the wife's enjoyment, I am not looking very forward to it myself. I'm sure we'll have fun and make some memories but the wife already has almost every day planned to a T. All of the meals are planned with reservations. I imagine I'll come back home completely exhausted and the whole week will seem like a stressful whirlwind. Rushing from one must do thing to the next. Unfortunately, she thrives with that structured approach. I need more spontaneity.

So, I was reading the aforementioned thread and got to thinking what I would like to do on a "real" vacation.

I've been thinking about this for a couple hours and while it's not a "family" vacation, what I would really like to do is just wander around the country for a month or so. Just me on a bike or in a very special car with no destination and no must do attractions or timelines.

This will never happen because the money will never be there and my wife would feel extremely insulted that I would even consider going away without her. But our idea of travel/vacationing are complete polar opposites of each other.

Anyway, that's what I want to do.

Each February, when the rates are low because I'm a cheap bastard, I go to New York City by myself for a long weekend. Yeah it can be cold, but I have a sweet GRM hoodie. I always stay at the same place on 32nd.

What do I do there? Wander the city, visit guitar shops, see friends and family, and soak up lots of late-night jazz. My plans are minimal. When I get hungry, I find a deli, diner or some Chinese.

It's heaven but, sadly, never a long enough visit.

National Parks in a Westy.

Rt 20 coast to coast on a bike.

I'm spending my vacation at the Solo Nationals. It's a week long of drinking and doing racecar things with my racecar friends. It doesn't get much better than that.

I like camping, canoe trips, backpacking, fishing, golfing, drinking, dancing, carpentry, card games, board games, coffee outside with a view on cool summer mornings, touch football, tinkering, puttering, bags, darts, pool, foosball, eating, grilling, hard physical labor as long as I'm getting something done, swimming, the smell of sunscreen, bacon, eggs cooked in bacon grease, flip flops, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, boats, amongst others, in no particular order.

I'd like any vacation that has any of that combined with any of my favorite people in the world.

I'm sure you can make a similar list for yourself and find a few at Disney.

Solo Nats is a pretty fun week. Even without the car stuff, it's a great group of people.

In reply to Robbie:

I like laying on the couch thinking about things I would like to do one day

I'm about to go to the boundary waters for a week, into Canada. That will probably be pretty sweet.

We did an all inclusive in Jamaica. That was wonderful, we'll probably do that again.

But my favorite is my family's spot(s) in the up. Sit on a beach, fish, golf, watch tv, boat, swim, drink. Wonderful.

Rafting/camping/hiking down in the grand canyon is on my bucket list. Niagra falls in the Summer is fun. Also went their 20 years ago or so when it almost froze solid. Cool, but not as fun. Lake Tahoe and Yosemite were incredible. Warning, camping at 10,000 feet... it gets real cold at night. Frost on the tent in the middle of summer. FWIW my kids are going on a cruise this summer with Grandma. I'm not going. To me a cruise would be like getting dropped off at the mall and getting picked up a week later. I'd go absolutely crazy.

Leave Chicago and head northwest towards North Dakota into Canada towards Alaska. Hang out in the mountains in Denali and tour Alaska.

Head south and hit up the PNW and head home. I drove some rural routes across Montana a few years ago and did Glacier National Park.

I want to see the Grand Canyon.

It's impossible for me to identify a single ideal vacation. I've got enough plans to last several lifetimes and bankrupt a medium-sized government. Just a few:

• Unlimited Railpass around Switzerland.

• Hike Hadrian's Wall end to end.

• Transcontinental rail trip, either US or Canada (I think the latter is the better option at this point, at least as far as the train itself).

• Drive cross-country via non-interstate routes.

• Tour Scotland from distillery to distillery.

Whatever it is, there should be as little planning as possible, aside from lodging and transport. I like to get up, walk around, take some photos, stop in cafes or pubs, and just generally explore. Thankfully, my girlfriend has exactly the same attitude, so we travel well together.

14 years into parenting all I want is a nice relaxed road trip where I can wander around and sleep in my car and not have to spend the whole time concerned for the safety/entertainment of others. Once they're gone I'll probably realize that trips like that are way lonelier than I remember.

I've thought of driving the Lincoln Highway west in an old sports car and ending up in SFO. I drove part of it from Ohio to Joliet and then Joliet to LaSalle, Illinois.

I spend too much time on advrider. I really want to disappear with a bike, some camping gear and just keep going until I run out of money for gas and ferries and do what I want.

It is amazing how much opposition wives can have to an idea like that.

I'll settle for a month touring North America. I really want to hike in Banff, the PNW, ride canyons in CA, raft the Grand Caynon... . I would excel at being a lotto winner. I should play one of these days.

Woody wrote: I want to see the Grand Canyon.

My son moved to Irvine, CA and I tagged along for the drive and flew back. We did Route 66 - the interstate portion and made a day trip to the Grand Canyon - GO!!!!! It was cool.

This was the summer I did Glacier and my normal sales travels. I think I drove 12,000 miles in three months.

My daughter and I are going to Acadia NP this summer. With a quick stop in Great Smokey Mountains.

Next year we will be riding instead of driving.

The plan is to hit as many National Parks as possible before I get too old to sleep in a tent.

My wife and I used to rent a 38 ft. sailboat with another couple on the Chesapeake. Cruise until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, get showered and head out to dinner or BBQ on an beach; different place every night. We thought about doing that in the Caribbean but probably won't. I think a windjammer in Maine would be fun for a few days, not ideal for kids though.

Woody wrote: I want to see the Grand Canyon.

We went last year. In all honesty, I wouldn't bother going to "see" it - yes it's majestic beyond words, and pictures do not begin to grasp the scale of it...but for that matter, neither does standing on the rim looking down. It's that berkeleying big.

You really need to plan ahead of time to either take a guided tour, or make plans to hike down and camp overnight.

My dream vacation, even though I'm not into "camping", would be to rent some type of RV with modest offroad capability spend a couple weeks exploring the west/southwest. Some of it would probably include the more touristy destinations, but I'd also like to just drive out into the desert/mountains and find a nice spot to spend a day every now and then.

I like semi-structured vacations to tour some general region. With some general source of things to do, like visit breweries, or landmarks, or race tracks. I pick out a couple things I must do or places I must visit, but give myself flexibility on which day I'll be doing them rather than planning down to the minute when I'll go there or how long I'll stay; Just like "We'll be in this city/town for these days, maybe stay a day longer if we like it, or move on a day sooner if we don't. Somewhere in that stretch we'll visit this particularly cool museum."

I've got a couple things I want to do like that. I want to go to Scotland and wander beaches, tour castles, and mostly visit and tour distilleries and breweries. I don't want a scheduled tour. I want to use my creds as a professional brewer to talk my way into a couple private tours and just hang out chatting with folks about brewing an distilling. And of course spend a couple days driving famous race tracks.

I'd love to go back to central Europe. Stay in a landhaus/winery in the Rhineland and get in a full, proper track day at the Nurburgring. Then head on down to Austria and Switzerland and just wander around eating good food and drinking good beverage.

petegossett wrote:

Woody wrote: I want to see the Grand Canyon.

We went last year. In all honesty, I wouldn't bother going to "see" it - yes it's majestic beyond words, and pictures do not begin to grasp the scale of it...but for that matter, neither does standing on the rim looking down. It's that berkeleying big. You really need to plan ahead of time to either take a guided tour, or make plans to hike down and camp overnight.

To add to this, I think any of the great natural wonders in our National Parks, in isolation, are just OK. It's when you take a grand tour and see multiple amazing and varied things that your really appreciate what a spectacular thing the park system is.

We've tried a lot of different types of vacations. Not sure if the ideal standard was ever reached.

Except for one thing- complete separation from work. So I've liked all vacations, just differently.

mazdeuce wrote:

petegossett wrote:

Woody wrote: I want to see the Grand Canyon.

We went last year. In all honesty, I wouldn't bother going to "see" it - yes it's majestic beyond words, and pictures do not begin to grasp the scale of it...but for that matter, neither does standing on the rim looking down. It's that berkeleying big. You really need to plan ahead of time to either take a guided tour, or make plans to hike down and camp overnight.

To add to this, I think any of the great natural wonders in our National Parks, in isolation, are just OK. It's when you take a grand tour and see multiple amazing and varied things that your really appreciate what a spectacular thing the park system is.

I'll also add that going to the South Rim/Grand Canyon Village is a bit like going to an amusement park. IIRC they have ~300,000 visitors per day, so as you'd expect parking is a bitch and in the more popular areas you'll experience all the joys of Disney World...minus the giant mouse(although the squirrels provide quite a bit of entertainment).

For that matter, book a room in Williams far in advance, and get tickets to take the Grand Canyon Limited into the park. It's not cheap, but it sure looks like a cool way to travel, and you'll miss having to wait to get through the gate of the park.

Nick, your original post suggested that you'd like to do something reasonably priced, not expensive. It seems the thread has gotten somewhat off course with dream vacations that would be pretty costly. You're in Texas I think, and own a motorcycle. Why not a solo bike trip for a few days through Hill Country?

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: This will never happen because the money will never be there and my wife would feel extremely insulted that I would even consider going away without her. But our idea of travel/vacationing are complete polar opposites of each other.

If she's fine dragging you along on a vacation that's going to leave you exhausted and stressed, she should be willing to tag along for something she's not interested in, or at least give you the freedom to enjoy yourself for a week.

Or split the difference. Pick a location/region. She gets to plan 2 days down to as much of a T as she wants, you get to lead the family around as leisurely and spontaneously as you want for 2 days. At least schedule a "spontaneous" day in your planned trip.