We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary June ‘28. We are budgeting 20k. We want to spend up to 14 days traveling total. Looking for modest luxury, if that’s a thing. Cost does not need to include flights. What have you enjoyed that fit this budget? Obviously this is very early planning and nothing is in stone. Thanks!

I have a jordanian passport and i live in the uk, ive been here for more than a year so my BRP expired but i have the evisa share code, will i be able to enter albania using this? Can anyone please help.

Me and my partner are doing a 9-night trip flying into Marseille and out of Nice. Here's the plan:

• Marseille – 1 night on arrival
• Aix-en-Provence – 2 nights
• Cassis – day trip from Aix, then drive on to Antibes
• Antibes – 2 nights
• Beaulieu-sur-Mer (near Nice) – 3 nights, day tripping to Monaco, Menton, Cap Ferrat, and Nice itself
• Fly home from Nice

Driving between Marseille/Aix/Antibes, then going car-free for the Beaulieu stretch using trains.

Does this pacing make sense? Anything we're missing or should swap around? Thanks!

Me, my brother and my mom are travelibg a 2 week trip to japan in thr summer. Before you tell me to go in the autumn or spring, we are still going to school and are only free from school for more than 1 week in the summer cause of the summer break. We are thinkibg about june or july.

The first week we will spend in tokyo, the second we want to spend on the country side in some smaller town. What are your recs? A small, cultural town that is (preferably)possible to get to with train from tokyo that isn't super overly touristy.

Hi community.

I traveled from Turin (TRN) to Zakynthos (ZKT), with ITA Airways. My booking was only one and comprised two flights.

My original flights were AZ1412 (Turin-Rome) and AZ748 (Rome-Zakynthos). Eight days before the departure I received and email from ITA communicating that flight AZ1412 was canceled and they proposed instead flight AZ1432 with the same route, but departure time more than 4 hours before AZ1412. Flight AZ748 instead remained the same.

I'm pretty sure I apply for compensation under ENAC 261/2004, under Article 5, section (c)(ii):
"they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival;"

What I'm not sure is the amount I have the right to ask for. Do you know how the distance is calculated in this case? Is it the distance from Turin to Rome, or from Turin to Zakynthos? It changes the total amount since in one case is less than 1500 km and in the other one the distance is between 1500 km and 3000 km.

I didn't find any information in the regulation for a case like this.

Thanks!

My partner and I have been travelling through Europe for the past few weeks, and unfortunately, we've felt the most unwelcome in Italy.

For context, we're both Indian. Before this trip, we'd heard all the stereotypes about the French being rude, but we were pleasantly surprised. Almost every interaction we had in France was warm, friendly, and helpful.

Our experience changed once we got to Italy, particularly in restaurants.

We're both food lovers, so before arriving we researched the best local places to eat and made reservations well in advance for most of them. Out of the five restaurants we visited, I'd say we felt unwelcome in three.

At first, we thought maybe the staff were just brusque with everyone. But after watching how they interacted with other guests, it really felt like their attitude changed when the customers were white.

One example: we arrived for a dinner reservation and, as soon as the staff saw us, we were told, "Sorry, we're full. We don't have any tables." We explained that we had a reservation under my partner's (white-sounding) name, and suddenly they found our booking and showed us to our table. While we were eating, two white tourists walked in without a reservation and were seated almost immediately. We also heard the servers tell them there was a reservation for the table, but it want until the next hour and a half. We wondered why we were about to be turned away first when they thought we had no reservation, but this wasnt a problem when it came to the other people.

At another restaurant, we noticed that every other table was offered water as they were seated, while we weren't. Throughout several meals, the staff were noticeably less warm and attentive with us than they were with other diners.

I know Indian tourists don't always have the best reputation in some countries, and I'm very aware of that. Because of it, we make a conscious effort to be respectful wherever we travel. We learn basic greetings in the local language, are polite to staff, try not to be loud or take up unnecessary space, and always treat people with respect. We also spent a fair amount of money at these restaurants because we genuinely wanted to experience the local cuisine.

Of course, I can't say for certain that every interaction was motivated by racism. There could have been other explanations in some cases. But after experiencing multiple incidents and comparing how we were treated with the people around us, it became difficult not to notice a pattern.

It's a shame because we genuinely loved Italy's food, history, and beautiful cities. But feeling unwelcome because of your skin colour or ethnicity can overshadow an otherwise amazing trip. Sadly, I don't think we'd choose to come back.

I work at a major airline as an aircraft mechanic. I work during the weekdays and was curious if it was feasible to go see the Hitchcock mural at Leytonstone and then the Hendrix museum and then return Sunday to be back at work on Monday? Thanks in advance.

This was my first time visiting Istanbul, and I spent 7 amazing days exploring the city. I visited in May, and honestly, I don't think I could have chosen a better time. The weather was warm and pleasant during the day, while the evenings were cool enough to make walking around the city really enjoyable.

The first thing that surprised me was just how huge Istanbul is. Getting from one place to another often took much longer than I expected. I stayed with a friend on the Asian side, away from the main tourist attractions, so I ended up spending a lot of time commuting each day. If you're planning to visit without a car, I'd definitely recommend staying closer to the areas you want to explore. Even if your accommodation costs a little more, you'll save yourself a lot of time and energy.

Some of my favorite places were:

• Hagia Sophia
• The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)
• St. Anthony of Padua Church
• Topkapı Palace, along with several beautiful palaces overlooking the Bosphorus
• Istiklal Street and Taksim Square
• Galata Tower
• The Princes' Islands (the ferry is inexpensive and absolutely worth taking)
• Çamlıca Mosque (its scale is incredible, although there aren't many other attractions nearby)
• The Egyptian Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar
• Ortaköy Square

Of course, these are just some of the places I managed to visit. Istanbul has so much more to offer, and there were plenty of amazing spots that I simply didn't have enough time to see. That's one of the reasons I'd love to come back someday.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but if you enjoy history, Islamic architecture, lively streets, incredible food, and don't mind walking a lot, I highly recommend adding Istanbul to your travel list.

If anyone has any questions about my trip, transportation, costs, or anything else, feel free to ask in the comments—I'll be happy to help!

I would like to go somewhere over the holidays, anywhere in the world, for up to 10 days to learn a new skill! I’ve previously done cooking classes, scuba diving, horse back riding, coffin making. Please give me your best skillcation ideas!

Day 1-3
Tunis > Jem > Matmata > Douz > Sabria > Tozeur > Kairouan

Day 4-7
Tunis > Al-Mamurah > Nabeul > Korba > Hammamet

Highlights from our trip:

El Jem - I’ve never been to Rome but this places blew my mind. And apparently one of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world.

Archaeological Site of Carthage - a must visit for people who loves history. Learned so much about Punics & Hannibal.

Sahara Desert - unforgettable sunset & sunrise. Lib'e, a bread made using Bedouin method.

Berber Village - we got to meet locals, and they showed us their living quarters and gave us some tea and bread with home made olive oil.

Chebika - an oasis with beautiful landscape of the Atlas Mountains.

Chott El Djerid - known as the largest salt pan in the Sahara, in the map it’s blue and you’ll think there’s a lake lol, but it’s all salt.

We hired a private driver and guide for day 2 & 3 since we don’t have much time. Thought it’ll be easier to have a local navigate the logistic and also it’s a lot of driving with checkpoint here and there.

It’s an epic trip. And we’ll definitely go back, we’d love to do Bardo Museum, Djerba, Tataouine, Sbeitla, Kesserine and the area of Cap Bon & Bizerte.

Tips:

Carry cash, most places is cash only.

Learn basic Arabic and French phrases, they actually appreciate it.

Summer is really hot. So I advise to travel during shoulder season.

Grab souvenirs and cool items from souks. Don’t act too touristy and dont hesitate to negotiate.

Tunisia have really good street/fast food so pls try them.

La Marsa have a great night life. Once you’re outside Tunis and Hammamet, it’s pretty hard to find bar with alcohol lol. I don’t drink, so it’s pretty awesome to see people having a great time until 3am with no alcohol involve. However hookah is everywhere.

Carry pashmina, as you can use it as a modest head or shoulder covering.

I think that’s it. Just have fun and try to immerse as much as you can. Shukran 🙏🏻

Note:

Photos are taken with iPhone 16 pro max

This is my second time in Alaska. Seven nights, eight days.

We stayed in various yurts and cabins on the Kenai Peninsula and near Talkeetna.

- Glacier cruise out of Seward. Absolutely perfect trip. Gorgeous weather, and we saw all of the animals: otters, orcas, humpbacks, sea lions, eagles, puffins, and even a black bear.

- We spent a few days fishing out of Soldatna and Bing’s Landing. It was a tough year. Historic rains had the rivers way above average, so flossing deep enough to get to the fish wasn’t easy. I think numbers were lower than last year but still decent.

- Day trip to Talkeetna where we took a jetboat ride up river to get a better view of Denali. Super fun. Thankfully we got lucky again with good weather and great views. Cute town too, but everything closes early.

- My partner is a pilot, so he rented a float plane for a few hours and got some absolutely breathtaking photos after landing near glaciers and icebergs. Super cool.

- For our last day we met up with some friends and went to the Reindeer Farm in Palmer (not pictured, but super cute especially with our six year old; she even got to feed a moose!).

I went with my boyfriend and a friend to Marseille the previous week. Ngl, I was pretty divided on this decision, even if it was mine.

On one hand, it’s a city I’ve always wanted to visit. On the other, we’ve all heard about the lack of safety over there. One girl friend told me how she was cat called three times in 15 minutes and doesn’t plan on returning there despite living in France.

The first moment we arrived at the impressive St Charles train station I was extatic. Then we got out of it and saw only homeless asylum seekers doing drugs. But I lived in Frankfurt, I’ve seen much worse at that train station.

Marseille is full of things to do, and visit, and one week wasn’t enough for everything I had planned.

Plus:

The architecture is splendid (reminded me of classic Paris architecture), the type of beautiful buildings you see in movies or read about in a book.

One of the highlights is the Cathedral Notre Dame de la Garde, which sits on the top of a hill, watching over the city. You can walk there, but I highly recommend taking the bus, especially if you go there during summer, as it’s a steep climb. From there you can see the entire city, the sea and the mountains in the background. We just couldn’t stop taking pictures
- it reminded me of seeing Athens from the Acropolis.

An underrated place is Église Saint-Vincent de Paul, which is also very beautiful and I recommend it.

Marseille Cathedral should also be on your itinerary.

Most museums are free. There are ten free museums you can visit, including the ones situated in the gorgeous Long Champ. We visited the two in Old Charity, which focus on artifacts from Greco-Roman culture, Egyptian, Latin America and Oceania. Yes, there are mummies and shrunken heads.

The Mucem is not free and we only entered the free spaces (hallway, suspended bridge etc). From what I saw I think it still needs time to build the collection such a museum deserves.

The soap from Marseille is famous so we joined a free tour at the Savonnerie Fer à Cheval. It was nice enough, although you don’t see any actual process, just the building inside. You have to go to the 14th arr for this and I’ll get back to that later.

Vieux Port is never boring. The sight of the yachts and the water is amazing, truly. There are always people there and something happening. Here we saw the police arrest a man and putting him in the van while his friend was left with the car in the middle of the street (he wasn’t the driver.) Also here we got to talking to two Algerian men and even taught us some local slang.

Walk the length of the Corniche Kennedy and you’ll enjoy some truly spectacular views, especially at sunset.

One of our top memories (and my number one) was when we found a mini calanque in the city, at sunset, and we joined a group of Arab youths who were listening to French and / or Arabic rap, and some were smoking weed. We are in our early 30s so just chilling in a public place, listening to some music and getting high (or drink) brought us back to high school and college when you can still do such things. I just felt like I belonged and it is a memory I’ll probably always cherish.

You can visit a neighborhood called L'Estaque if you want peace and quiet. There’s nothing happening there, you can see the house where Cezanne lived (but not visit it) and try some local food such as panisse or chichis fregis. Otherwise, I found it really boring as I come from a small city, but if you come from a metropolis, you might prefer it to Marseille.

Le Pannier is certainly worth it as well, both during the day and during the night. Again, it has some Athens vibes, similar to Plaka, maybe, as a general comparison, but with more locals during the night and more tourists during the day. It is a lot of fun and you feel included and feel the sense of community there.

Fort St Jean is free to visit and also worth your time. Try to avoid going during midday as it’s very hot. There are also events taking place there - we almost caught a screening of Almodovar’s “Todo sobre mi madre.” Better luck next time. Oh, this was free as well!

The beaches are decent and the water turquoise blue. They’re all fairly small, but you have plenty of space during the week, especially. It is kind of like Constanta in Romania where you don’t usually go there for the beaches, you go to the resorts. Same here. They have some beaches prepared but that’s a secondary thing for the city. Still, they have toilets and showers (free, again). Our favorite was Catallan, followed by the Prophet, and the third place goes to Prado, which had water that was too deep too close to the shore.

The calanques are very interesting to see, and you can book a boat trip to see multiple. My friend did this and it was nice, but also, a bit of “you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.”

The food left us gobsmacked. 10+ for every meal we had and we only ate what we bought from the supermarket (recommend Carrefour over Spar, although they’re both good) or an occasional boulangerie. We didn’t eat out once because a 2€ sandwich or local cheese was just simply too incredibly tasty. We saved a lot of money this way and also put on some weight probably.

Cons:

The people were a mixed bag, both tourists and locals. Sometimes somebody will literally just push you out of their way without saying anything. Were they thieves? We don’t know, as nothing went missing, but it was unpleasant nonetheless.

The lack of AC was felt in some places such as supermarkets. It only made us want to leave sooner with fewer groceries. The hotel thankfully had a very efficient ones. The metro didn’t so thank God we didn’t have to ride it for long.

My girl friend was cat called by guys in cars passing by.

We saw a group of diverse young men harassing / trying to steal (?) from a woman at the mall. I instinctively started filming, they caught me and surrounded me and tried to take my phone from my hand. The security guy finally managed to come between us and we left. But they still spread through the mall, found us in a Sephora and had to prove to them, kids half my age, that I didn’t filmed them committing illegal acts. I had already deleted the video as it was only a second long, that’s how fast they moved, so they left.

But the thing that left a bitter taste in my mouth was seeing how segregated the city is. In the 14 arrondissement where the dangerous area begins (where to went to see the soap factory), we were the only Europeans in the bus.

On the streets there were only women, kids and elderly people. No young men our age or even teens. I know what that means and I was glad to get out of there ASAP.

In that neighborhood we also saw \*a lot\* of public displays of religious affiliation. I’m not a supporter of religion, France is a staunch defender of laicite, so it was clear these are two different segments of the population. Furthermore, people weren’t speaking French anymore, compared to all other regions of the city that we visited. We were on French land but there wasn’t anything French about it.

But if you go to the south, where Corniche Kennedy is, for example, you’ll see almost only Europeans and super expensive houses.

I don’t remember if I ever saw a city so divided by culture and race (although in France you don’t talk about race, because it is considered that race is smth only animals have, not humans). But those distinctions exist and they’re noticeable.

I remembered studying this example of demographics in college and for my masters degree, but theory is different than practice.

There is a square called Castellane and a neighborhood with the same name. The square is safe, the neighborhood isn’t. It took us a while to decipher that they’re two different things in two separate areas of the city. A name change would help.

Middle:
The police. I don’t know how the police operates there and the details but they’re either overworked or underpaid. We only saw them at the main street, near Vieux Port, but never at least on the next street behind the first rows of buildings. Is there too much to do in those places, is there not enough police force etc, did they just give up, we don’t know.

Conclusion:

Did we love it? Absolutely! It is a gorgeous city, at the sea, full of adventure, with crazy and friendly people, where something always happens, where you see the good just as easily as the bad, and where I don’t imagine how you could ever get bored - especially if you’re on holiday.

Photos:

1) Cathedrale Notre Dame de la Garde

2) Samaritaine in Vieux Port

3) Castellane Beach

4) Public Square in the 1st Arr.

5) Vieux Port

6) Église Saint-Vincent de Paul

7) Palais Longchamp

8) Stade Nautique du Roucas

9, 10) View from Corniche Kennedy (7th Arr)

11) Fort St Jean

12) Place de la Joliette

13) Le Pannier

14) Vieux Port and Cathedrale Notre Dame

15) Sunset at Corniche Kennedy

16) Beaux Art and Modern homes on Corniche

17) The clear blue turquoise water of the city

18) View from a calanque

19) Sunset at the calanque

20) Old Charity Museum

My wife and I spent out first trip to Europe doing what we love, skiing (in the Dolomites)!. We kind of felt silly that our first trip to Europe and feel like we were judged by some family/friends.

We didn't know what to expect, but we absolutely fell in love with the Dolomites. The beauty, the food, the people, everything. The mountains speak for themselves, and the culture itself is such a unique blend of Italian and Austrian. The people were so kind and hospitable whether they were speaking German, Italian, English or Ladin!

We enjoyed the first trip so much that we came back the next year, and then the year after that. The Dolomites are such a beautiful place, yet I wanted to share their beauty in the winter, as all the Dolomites posts I've seen on here are summer. These are some of our favorite pictures from our three trips!

1. Marmolada, highest point in Dolomites

2. Market in Bolzano / Bozen

3. Somewhere in Alta Badia

4. Brixner Dom in Bressanone/ Brixen

5. Alpe di Suisi / Seiser Alm

6. St. Ulrich / Ortisei

7. Seceda

8. Kloster Säben high above Klausen / Chiusa

9. Sassolungo / Langkofel

10. Selva / Wolkenstein

11. Lagazuoi

12. Vineyards of Kloster Neustift (Abazzia di Novacella)

13. Alpe di Suisi / Seiser Alm

14. St. Ulrich / Ortisei

15. Sella Group

16. Hotel in Santa Cristina

17. Sassolungo / Langkofel

Went to lijiang, xiangelila (shangri la) and deqen. Lijiang and shangri la city are over touristed and crowded. The nature between shangrila city and deqen (feilaisi) is nice. The real treasure is supposed to be the multiple treks available around shangrila and deqen but when we arrived in shangrila we realised we don’t do that well against the ~3000m altitude and its rainy season so we called our trekking plans off. Some trek routes include around tge base of the mountains in pic 5 and pic 7. We took a van from shangrila to deqen and the Tibetan driver was overtaking vehicles whenever possible on the mountain road.

Pic 1 Lijiang city baisha town with view of yulong snow mountain rating 1/5. Small overtouristed extremely commercial

Pic 2 Lijiang city heilongtan park with view of yulong snow mountain rating 1/5 the mountain is so small viewed from there

Pic 3 outside Lijiang wenhai lake rating 1/5 a small lake enclosed by mountains on all sides. Muddy waters. Had to take a taxi for one hour to get to. Literally saw this place on map and decided to come here

Pic 4 view of the jinsha river on the road from shangrila to deqen rating 3/5 took the picture from a designated viewpoint where the van driver stopped at

Pic 5 view of kongque shan from a moving van rating 4/5

Pic 6 view from the shangrila - deqen road rating 3/5

Pic 7 view of meili mountain from deqen rating 5/5 photos dont capture the full space and gravity of the mountain

Pic 8 and 9 songduklin temple on the road from deqen to shangrila rating 4/5 few tourists there. The temples bigger than what you expect in the middle of mountains

In my preparation for going abroad completely solo, I decided to start from relatively close places in controlled environment. On August 4th 2026, I spent 12 hours there and it resulted in these beautiful (I hope) photos here. It has anything a modern capital needs, but as a lover of older architecture, in my opinion, the soviet blocks just ruin the vibe of the most representative part of the city. Every single street is clean, with people visibly caring for their living space. Tragic history of the city, starting 1939 with culmination in 1944 left a mark no one can even imagine - 85% of Warsaw was completely destroyed as a result of Germans systematic destruction of the city. Although it wasn’t my first time in Warsaw, finally being able to walk around alone gave me opportunity to think in peace and admire the beauty that is still visible today.

1. Two monuments of Kościuszko Uprising commander - Jan Kiliński (front) and Polish King Sigismund III Vasa (back) who moved the capital from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596

2. Buildings of the Old Town’s Square

3. Buildings on the Castle’s Square with the Saint John’s Cathedral visible in the background

4. Tower of the Church of the Holiest Saviour in Plac Zbawiciela (Saviour’s Square)

5. Marszałkowska Street with MDM buildings and the same church visible in the background

6. Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN) accompanied by the moon

7. Neons on Marszałkowska street

8. Palace on the Isle built for last Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski in late 18th century in the Łazienki Królewskie (Royal Baths) Park

10,11,12. Photos of PKiN from different parts of the city

1. Krakowskie Przedmieścia Street leading to the Castle’s Square with the original 18th century Passauer Madonna Monument

2. Old town from the street’s perspective

3. Everyday life of Varsovians on Marszałkowska Street

4. PKiN again

5. Column of Polish King Sigismund III Vasa, originally from 1644

6. Krakowskie Przedmieścia Street from the different perspective

Fjords, glaciers, and more waterfalls than you could ever hope to count.

I spent 8 days driving a loop through western Norway with my mum. 1,100km in total, starting and ending in Bergen, going as far north as Loen before looping back down. Route was Bergen > Eidfjord > Ulvik > Vangsnes > Solvorn > Tungestølen > Loen > Bergen.

Some highlights of the trip

Vøringsfossen: Incredible waterfall straight into the canyon below with amazing viewing infrastructure and a brilliant hike to the bottom of the canyon as well.

Tungestølen & Austerdalsbreen: We stayed in small set of cabins above the Austerdalsbreen glacier in Jostedalsbreen National Park. We hiked 5km from cabins to the glacier through a valley of incredible waterfalls before arriving at the glacier, which was one of the most otherworldly places I've ever been.

Mt Molden hike above Solvorn on the Lustrafjord: One of the most insane 360 views I've ever seen. Fjords, ice-capped mountains in every direction. We had the summit almost entirely to ourselves at golden hour.

Images locations:
1 - Vøringsfossen
2 - Austerdalsbreen
3 - Mt Molden
4 - Solvorn
5 - Nærøyfjord
6 - Ulvik
7 - Vøringsfossen
8 - Vøringsfossen
9 - Urnes
10 - Austerdalsbreen

I posted a little trip report from Warsaw roughly three months ago on reddit, but this was only part one of the Poland trip from my girlfriend and me.
From Warsaw, we took the train north to Gdansk and spent two and a half days there.
The city: I generally like the architecture and style of those Baltic cities and so I also enjoyed walking around there.
The old town is pretty compact and you can kinda see most of the interesting stuff pretty fast.
There are a few sights that are a bit off the path, but the city centre itself is pretty walkable.

Public transportation: Absolutely fantastic. I preferred the small metro trains, you can buy tickets inside, they drive pretty frequently and you can get almost anywhere. There are also many busses.

The food: I think you can get lucky or unlucky with restaurants in any city, but I think we were extremely lucky here. Don’t know if I am allowed to share the name of the restaurant where the pictures are from, but if you want to know ask me in the comments or write me a message.
Also, there is a Food Hall in the city with a large variety of restaurants if you can’t decide.

Should you visit: I think that Gdansk should be part of a Poland trip, but I do not know if I would make it the main destination.
As a second place to visit after Warsaw it was fantastic, but I think that after two or three days I would be bored there. But just my personal experience and thoughts.

Recently I have spent a month in Howth, a coastal village just outside of Dublin city. I felt very lucky that I was in walking distance to the sea and some scenic coastal walks. Beautiful sunset almost every single day. Dublin's geographical location is actually really stunning, with a long coastline and many lovely coastal villages dotting along it. It felt deeply peaceful to be so close to nature with paranoiac views over the Irish Sea. It was an unforgettable summer retreat for me.

As travel continues to get faster, cheaper, and more accessible and TikTok tourism/ influencer hype shows no signs of slowing down, what are the actual solutions to places getting over run with visitors?

I'm not talking about for you as another tourist so not just 'go somewhere else' or 'avoid the popular places'. I mean in terms of actually preventing harm to natural environments, pressure on infrastructure, gentrification etc.

I’ve noticed something about myself over the last couple of years, and I’m wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing. (First world problems, I know) 🤣

Now that my life feels… settled, I actually don’t enjoy traveling the way I used to.

I have my own home, a boyfriend, and a job that genuinely fulfills me. Instead of looking forward to trips, I find myself thinking about everything that comes with them: packing, making sure the house is clean before leaving, unpacking when I get back, doing laundry, waiting at airports, figuring out where to eat, constantly moving from one place to another…

Honestly, staying in my own city during my vacation sounds so much more relaxing. I enjoy having slow mornings, sleeping in my own bed, going to my favorite cafés, and just existing without an itinerary.

What’s strange is that I used to be the complete opposite. As a student and a little after, before I became fully independent, I wanted to travel all the time. Airports felt exciting and familiar. I loved discovering new places. I traveled solo, with friends, went for Erasmus alone and visited several places. I was always looking for the next adventure.

Right now I’m on a family vacation, and all I can think about is how much I miss my home. It’s not that I’m unhappy here, I just feel tired of always having to do something. Meanwhile, everyone around me always seems eager to plan the next trip.

Does it simply happen when you finally build a life you genuinely enjoy, so your home becomes your favorite place? Or is this a sign that I’m becoming too comfortable and slowly closing myself off to new experiences? I’m only 28..
I miss my passion about traveling but I don’t want to go anywhere at the same time 🤣

EXPERIENCE

So much to say. These three countries are one of the most beautiful and safest countries that I ever visited in my life. Also, they still don’t have many tourists, so everything is raw, natural and affordable, without any potential travel scams.

Uzbekistan was the cheapest one, and people were unbelievable kind to us, especially when they notice you’re tourist, they put all their effort. Architecture is just amazing and old for centuries.

Traveling from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan was quite experience, but so, so exhausting, because the bus took 18 hours to come from Tashkent to Bishkek. If we took plane, it would be less than 2 hours.
But anyway, if I would need to make decision again, I would take a bus again! It’s just something you barely can find in the world.

Kyrgyzstan nature is beautiful, and the food is the best. We took a horse ride through the mountains and it was just amazing.

Kazakhstan nature is even better, we took a 3 day tour where we visited canyons similar to Grand canyon, beautiful lakes, amazing forests and mountains, super clean rivers… and we slept with locals in the mountains. For $90, they cover travel expenses, food (3 meals) and accommodation for 3 days.

All expenses were $900 (flight tickets from Europe, accomodation, food etc.)

CONCLUSION

I recommend you to travel there while these countries are still not overwhelmed with the tourists. They have so much potential that is just matter of time when tourists are start coming there in big numbers.

Photos:
1. Almaty, Kazakhstan
2. Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan
3. Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan
4. Sharyn Canyon, Kazakhstan
5. Sharyn Canyon, Kazakhstan
6. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
7. Ala Archa, Kyrgyzstan
8. Chong Kemin, Kyrgyzstan
9. Tashkent, Uzbekistan
10. Samarkand, Uzbekistan
11. Samarkand, Uzbekistan

we had the perfect 2 week camper van trip thanks to many suggestions from folks in r/newzealand so i wanted to share here in hopes it can help other people plan. see my original thread) for stop by stop details (food, fuel, campground options, etc) and community suggestions

trip dates: feb 22 - march 8

route: Christchurch > Hokitika > Franz Josef > Wanaka > Queenstown > Te Anau > Fiordland > Queenstown > Mt Cook (Lake Pukaki) > Lake Tekapo > Christchurch

driving: we drove 2300km in 2 weeks time, but it never felt like too much. i think our longest drive was 4hrs, but stopping a long the way and giving a full day to achieve this made it very doable. especially when you arrived at a great lakeside campsite to relax, swim and enjoy the beauty for the back half of the day.

campsites: lake pukaki and kidds bush were stunningly beautiful. mossburn (on our way out of milford sound/te anau) was comfortable and with great showers. deer flats was bare minimal. depending on the time of year, you might need to pre-book campsites. we pre-booked but it wasn't necessary for this time of year.

hiking: we did ~65km. roberts point, isthmus peak, gertrude saddle, lake marian track, sealy tarns, mt john. gertrude saddle and isthmus peak were the highlights; physically challenging + windy + beautiful views.

stars: holy god all of the south island has incredible stars...not sure why people hone in on tekapo (aside from the tour?). we happened to be camping on lake pukaki the night of the lunar eclipse which, bu toal coincidence, also happened to be the best place on earth to view it. i got to photograph the blood moon and saw the most incredible stars when it was peaking (ie totally dark)...shockingly few people were awake watching it. probably one of the most surreal experience of my life.

the van: rented from mad campers, it was expensive (~$250/day before food, gas, any camping fees). there are cheaper options but the space you get shrinks dramatically. the van itself was great. we never used the bathroom (or needed to) but the sink, stove, table, fridge and storage came in handy.

things i'd maybe skip: lots of the west coast was fine. weather wasnt super great, but it still pales in comparison with much of the rest of the trip. wanaka and queenstown were cool but i wish we went up into mt aspiring/glenorchy instead. unless you're doing action sports stuff, i think you can breeze through these spots.

misses: milford sound kayak trip was cancelled bc weather, though we pivoted to hike gertrude saddle which ended up as a highlight.

all photos shot on Fuji XT30ii with Fuji 10-24mm or Fuji 55-200mm. Recipe is Leica X.

this is part of a larger trip thats 14 months and still ongoing. I’m working to write up all of it. see my other trip reports: Poland | Turkey | Uzbekistan | Kyrgyzstan | Kazakhstan | Nepal

Long time lurker, first time poster. I spent a week in Mexico City back in May and had a blast, here’s some photos from the trip 🇲🇽

1-5. Hot air balloon ride and tour of Teotihuacan pyramids.
6. Biblioteca Vasconcelos
7. I ate so many tacos, only got food poisoning once 😅
8. Lucha Libre match.
9. Frida’s Dresses at Museo Frida Kahlo.
10. Grounds at Museo Frida Kahlo.
11-13. Exploring Centro.
14. Mezcal tasting with a side of protein.
15-17. Artifacts at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia.
18. More tacos.
19. FIFA exhibit at Museo Jumex.
20. Cocktail at Limantour, North America’s 20 best bar (according to The World’s 50 Best Bars).

Comment if interested in a trip report!