Travel Thread

[ColonialsHockey10]

How'd you like Ghana? I might be there in April (is a sentence I never thought I'd say)

Where in Ghana will you be?

It's OK...a lot safer and more developed than other west African countries. This is especially noticeable in Accra. Totally fine to walk around in Accra and Cape Coast during the day by yourself, even better if you're with a group.

Weather is brutal though - unbearable heat that I have never experienced before. I was there in April like you and the weather was 95-100F with 70-90% humidity. You're going to be perpetually covered in sweat.

Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle are really amazing, and that entire city is dripping culture. Kakum National Park is an hour north of there and is really cool too, especially the canopy bridges if you're not afraid of heights. The beaches in Ghana are also beautiful - big beachfronts lined with palm trees.

If you enjoy traveling and have never been to that part of Africa I think you will enjoy yourself, even if you're there for work. It's a lot different than NYC where I live and it was a great experience.

 

[Hansen]

Have next to no interest in Africa outside of going to Egypt maybe

 

[HisIceness]

Sorry if its been discussed already but anyone been to Panama?

 

[Jumptheshark]

Sorry if its been discussed already but anyone been to Panama?

25 years ago

 

[Panteras]

Sorry if its been discussed already but anyone been to Panama?

I went last November with a colleague/friend of mine from Japan. We work in the maritime logistics business so was logical even though was for vacay. Just spent 3 days in Panama City. Nothing to write home about in my opinion. But I'm sure Panama itself has great natural things to offer if you're into jungles and such. Costa Rica has better natural things to offer.

Anyways, I literally just got back to the states from Easter Island Chile. Passed my bday there, was on my bucket list. Spent 6 nights which was more than enough for the island but not for a chick that I met there I wanted to bang so bad. But at least I got couple of hugs and a hell of a lot of flirting and we became friends on facebook

 

[TheTimTamSlammerMan]

Have next to no interest in Africa outside of going to Egypt maybe

Egypt was ok. South Africa is dope.

 

[fan75]

Sorry if its been discussed already but anyone been to Panama?

I was there in Panama City for 24 hours in August.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I've been to Cancun, Barcelona and Valencia this summer. I really liked Spain, but I was mostly at the beach or on the mountains, didn't have the time to do cultural stuff, especially in Cancun. My favourite of the three cities is Barcelona.

 

[Panteras]

I've been to Cancun, Barcelona and Valencia this summer. I really liked Spain, but I was mostly at the beach or on the mountains, didn't have the time to do cultural stuff, especially in Cancun. My favourite of the three cities is Barcelona.

ohh dude going to Chichen Itza is a must, or at least Xcaret or Tulum, I didn't get to go to Tulum but the other 2 were awesome. I mean having been born in the Caribbean and been to several places in the Caribbean beaches wasn't even on my top list in Cancun anyways. But I guess I'm spoiled in that regard.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

ohh dude going to Chichen Itza is a must, or at least Xcaret or Tulum, I didn't get to go to Tulum but the other 2 were awesome. I mean having been born in the Caribbean and been to several places in the Caribbean beaches wasn't even on my top list in Cancun anyways. But I guess I'm spoiled in that regard.

Chichen Itza is awesome - a must see.

Tulum is beautiful - and there is a beach area right there where you can go swimming.

I haven't been to Xcaret.

I love Cancun...any underrated place to visit. I think sometimes people think it's just sort of a trashy party place or something, but it's actually extremely nice. So is Mexico in general. The news stories make it seems very scary but it's probably my favourite 'warm weather' destination. Puerto Vallarta is also lovely...Cabo's great, too - but I like Cancun more because it's easier to swim off the beach there.

Where in the Caribbean were you born? and, ha ha, is it properly pronounced caRIBbean or caribBEan?

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

ohh dude going to Chichen Itza is a must, or at least Xcaret or Tulum, I didn't get to go to Tulum but the other 2 were awesome. I mean having been born in the Caribbean and been to several places in the Caribbean beaches wasn't even on my top list in Cancun anyways. But I guess I'm spoiled in that regard.

We only stayed 5 days there. I was with 3 of my best friends, and it was right after my final exams, so we were partying every night and enjoying the sun as much as possible.

Next time we travel together though, we agreed that we would like to visit more cultural sites than we did in Mexico. We saw a lot more stuff in Spain since we stayed 10 days instead of 5, but next time I'm going to push my cultural activities forward. Partying is fun, but discovering new places and cultures is just as fun.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Just booked my trip to the real world championships in Paris next year. Tix £250 hotel £500

 

[Panteras]

Chichen Itza is awesome - a must see.

Tulum is beautiful - and there is a beach area right there where you can go swimming.

I haven't been to Xcaret.

I love Cancun...any underrated place to visit. I think sometimes people think it's just sort of a trashy party place or something, but it's actually extremely nice. So is Mexico in general. The news stories make it seems very scary but it's probably my favourite 'warm weather' destination. Puerto Vallarta is also lovely...Cabo's great, too - but I like Cancun more because it's easier to swim off the beach there.

Where in the Caribbean were you born? and, ha ha, is it properly pronounced caRIBbean or caribBEan?

Yeah I liked Chichen Itza. Xcaret was one of the coolest "attraction parks" (don't even know what to label it) I've ever been to. I recommend it. I should've gone to Tulum.

I was born in Cuba, left when I was 9. In English to me it's the CaRIBbean lol

We only stayed 5 days there. I was with 3 of my best friends, and it was right after my final exams, so we were partying every night and enjoying the sun as much as possible.

Next time we travel together though, we agreed that we would like to visit more cultural sites than we did in Mexico. We saw a lot more stuff in Spain since we stayed 10 days instead of 5, but next time I'm going to push my cultural activities forward. Partying is fun, but discovering new places and cultures is just as fun.

it's all good man, I totally feel you. I don't think I would've gone to Chichen Itza if I was with 2 friends either lol even now that I'm 30 and have had the opportunity to travel to more places and I feel more experienced and more interested in cultural/nature things. Sometimes you travel somewhere with the intention of doing something in specific and that's part of traveling and vacation as well.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Just returned from my trip to Taiwan.

Magnificent country, I loved every second I spent here. Friendly people (although the lack of English was worse than even Japan), beautiful scenery and clean, modern cities. Taipei is like a hybrid of Tokyo and Hong Kong, although not as great as either in my opinion. It has bigger mountains than Hong Kong, but all of the humidity as well unfortunately, brutally hot.

Visited two other cities around the island, as transport is easy with the high speed railroad, and they were equally as great. Taroko Gorge had amazing hiking through rain forests with temples nestled against cliff faces.

The best part of Taiwan though, was without a doubt the food. Incredible night markets and everything is delicious, even the weirder things. If anyone is interested in visiting, let me know if you have any questions.

 

[ChiGuySez]

Taipei. Scooter city. All the cars have scooter scrapes on each side except for the black government (maybe asian mafia) vehicles. At intersections, they'll go between each row of cars and wont stop if they scrape your vehicle. POS city really.

 

[GabeTravels]

Well, we didn't end up doing the Balkans or the Baltics. Didn't end up going to NZ (too expensive) or India (too much to plan).

We flew into Zurich and drove up to Balzers, Liechtenstein, before driving down and spending the night in Lucerne.

Balzers was absolutely beautiful, as was the drive through the Alps to Lucerne...

The next day we drove and spent the day in Basel. Neat little town, what you'd expect.

Flew up to Paris and spent one day in the city. Weather was gloomy but towards the end of the day the sun peeked out at just the right time.

Then we rented a car and drove to Normandy. Did Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. Incredibly powerful and moving.

Wanted to do Mont St Michel but it was just too much driving. We stopped in Caen on the way back to Paris. Beautiful little town.

Had a great time. Explored France outside of Paris for the first time which was nice, and crossed off two new countries. Likely won't go back to either Switzerland or Liechtenstein anytime soon...VERY expensive.

I then had an extra few days so I flew from Paris via Hong Kong back to Cebu...doing my first Round the World trip. Spent 3 days there before heading home.

...Not 24 hours after getting home work tells me I'm heading back to Cebu at the end of the week for 16 days. :p

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

How have you found the safety in the Phillipines?

My friends and I want to go there for our yearly trip (did safari this year), but a few are having reservations after some of the comments the president has made about the US. I personally think it would be totally fine so long as we stayed in the northern part of the country, but would love the opinion of someone who has lived there for extended time.

 

[GabeTravels]

How have you found the safety in the Phillipines?

My friends and I want to go there for our yearly trip (did safari this year), but a few are having reservations after some of the comments the president has made about the US. I personally think it would be totally fine so long as we stayed in the northern part of the country, but would love the opinion of someone who has lived there for extended time.

Duterte's rhetoric isn't something to be worried about. The country is incredibly positive towards Westerners. What you have to be worried about is Abu Sayyaf. They've been aggressive in kidnapping Westerners for ransom, and beheading them.

Stay away from Mindanao, the southern island to be sure.


Being here for work, we get Corporate Security briefings pretty regularly. Mindanao has always been off limits.

Visayas, the central islands where I'm at (in Cebu), has been fine and I've never for a moment felt unsafe. Recently however, the State Department has issued an advisory for traveling to Southern Cebu (which is stunning and well worth seeing) because there have been concerns about Abu Sayyaf moving farther north. In response the Philippines have been stationing police at common tourist attractions.


I would recommend the Philippines in a heartbeat. An amazing, beautiful country. Not too familiar with Luzon (where Manila's at) in the north, but I can't recommend the Visayas region enough. The western island of Palawan is pretty consistently ranked the best island in the world. Swimming with whale sharks is one of the Top 5 things I've done in my life.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Anyone been to Jordan?

Just extended my Israel trip 3 days to go. Will probably stay in Aqaba and then see Petra and Wadi Rum. Can't wait!

 

[Panteras]

gopro vids I shot this past September in Easter Island.

First video is a time lapse did some editing, the other is in Rano Raraku which is the quarry my fav. place in the whole island, and the last one just me driving around the coast, sorry for the shaky camera work

 

[GabeTravels]

Super jealous you did Easter Island. I've wanted to do that trip for a while...

How long were you there? I've looked at pairing it with a trip to either Tahiti or Santiago. Doesn't seem like there's a ton to do.

Speaking of time lapse...I've had my GoPro in the window of my hotel room since I got here 12 days ago. Leaving Cebu in a few days, looking forward to seeing the results.

Gonna have to speed it up though, as even just one photo per minute will be something like 7 minutes of video.

 

[Panteras]

Super jealous you did Easter Island. I've wanted to do that trip for a while...

How long were you there? I've looked at pairing it with a trip to either Tahiti or Santiago. Doesn't seem like there's a ton to do.

Speaking of time lapse...I've had my GoPro in the window of my hotel room since I got here 12 days ago. Leaving Cebu in a few days, looking forward to seeing the results.

Gonna have to speed it up though, as even just one photo per minute will be something like 7 minutes of video.

yeah was for my 30th bday lol so I wanted to do a bucket list place. I was there for 6 days. Days can go by real quick when you're just out exploring and stuff, I did archeological and hiking tours and as you can see in my vid also rented a car , I took my leisurely time to relax and take the place in instead of just going to a site for 10 mins and taking a pic and leaving. But certainly can be something better paired with another trip. I met a lot of interesting people from all over the world, most of them were just passing by for like 2-3 days and doing something else in South America.

Yes there's a weekly fight from Tahiti so you can pair it with that.

holy fk dude 12 days? lulzwut! so you've had it hooked up that whole time? these things get hot just for 20 mins of shooting, how has it not burned up yet?

 

[DoyleG]

Anyways, I literally just got back to the states from Easter Island Chile. Passed my bday there, was on my bucket list. Spent 6 nights which was more than enough for the island but not for a chick that I met there I wanted to bang so bad. But at least I got couple of hugs and a hell of a lot of flirting and we became friends on facebook

Similar circumstances to me when I visited there years ago.

 

[Panteras]

Similar circumstances to me when I visited there years ago.

haha I was surprised for such a small place there's a lot of good looking women there. Met lot of people that have stayed there because they met someone. Very interesting place. When did you go?

 

[GabeTravels]

holy fk dude 12 days? lulzwut! so you've had it hooked up that whole time? these things get hot just for 20 mins of shooting, how has it not burned up yet?

Not sure, hahaha. I've got it plugged in to the wall and it's been quite cool.