The New Travel Thread: Now with write ups in the OP

Nah Nashville

 

jorge

 

I did not have to expedite! I did have to call and change my address tho.

 

This. Call whatever office you’re closest to and explain your situation.

 

Or divorce her because she obviously can't be trusted

 

So go to Atlanta.

But really do this first.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the southern islands off South Korea?

A quick thread search tells me Vietnam is highly thought of on here. Trying to decide between the 2, but leaning towards Vietnam.

 

I loved Northern Vietnam, happy to help with any questions. Hanoi is one of my favorite big cities ever.

 

Thanks. Just now started looking, so will probably have more questions soon. If we have about 10 days, recommend just staying in Vietnam the entire time? Any must do's? Going with gf, so won't really be doing any partying...just want to experience as much of the culture as we can.

Doubtful that we can make it this year, but want to go ahead and get something booked for early spring of next year.

 

not a ton of cities but a really good deal

TO:

Paris (CDG)

FROM:

Boston (BOS) - $340 *
Denver (DEN) - $386 *
Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) - $380 *
Los Angeles (LAX) - $436 *
New York City (JFK) - $320 *

* - nonstop

WHEN: Varies by origin. Generally October 2018 through March 2019, including Thanksgiving on some routes but excluding Xmas/NYE for all routes

 

I haven't followed SCF for that long but are there many deals that he posts that include Xmas or NYE routes?

 

No

 

A deal on a flight between December 16th and January 5th or so is extremely rare.

 

Is there a way to sets scotts to just do business/first class fares?

 

In your email you can filter it so that you automatically delete all emails from Scott that don't include the word first or business

 

Alaskan Cruise is a couple weeks away. We’re looking at booking some excursions. Should we A-whale watching Humpbacks, or B-paddle and hike inside a glacier then whale-watch smaller ones?

 

Have any of your plans been impacted by the volcano eruption? We are going to the big island in July and my wife is freaking out.

 

I'd do B but let's ask the expert The Banks

 

Ours weren’t. It was a little cloudier than when we went during Thanksgiving but I couldn’t tell whether that was the volcano or summer trade winds. Evidently they’d been getting a ton of rain on the dry side too all winter.

Where on the island were you visiting? Most everything is still open except the affected areas in Puna.

Biggest damper on the trip was the three days indoors we spent checking out digs. Can’t complain though, under contract and closing in June.

 

Both are awesome but I enjoyed the Whales over the Glacier. Surely there will be other glacier excursions?

 

Easily B

 

We are staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the west side of the island.

 

Got a wedding to go to in Barcelona at the end of the month and am gonna fly into Madrid for a few days. Anyone got recs (food, drink, activity) for Madrid?

 

Mercado San Miguel and mercado de San ildefonso are great for food and drink and general hanging out. Casa de Campo and El retiro are cool parks. Campo is massive. Tons of good museums if you're into that. Easy to stroll around the heart of the city and have beers

 

Head to the La Latina area and just wander around for drinks/tapas. The Templo de Debod was a nice small park with a cool backstory to check out, especially for those who go to Spain because they love ancient Egypt. Reina Sofia was my favorite of the major museums.

 

We were a couple miles up the coast at the Fairmont. That area is completely fine. It’s as far from Kilauea as you can get on the island.

Biggest issue with the Hilton is just to remember to give yourself plenty of time to retrieve your car when you want to leave the resort (it’s a massive complex and you could end up parked a mile or more from your room). I’d consider using their valet service, and I almost never do that, if you plan on venturing out often.

 

Thanks. We will do that for sure. We stayed at the Hilton property on Oahu a couple of years ago, and it was big but not as big as this one, so we will definitely be valeting. Thanks again.

 

Thanks. We will do that for sure. We stayed at the Hilton property on Oahu a couple of years ago, and it was big but not as big as this one, so we will definitely be valeting. Thanks again.

 

Leaving Tuesday for Tulum. Wives father suddenly passed away a week ago so coming at a very good time to get away and take her mind off it. Any of you guys eat at Hartwood while there? I didn't make reservations but apparently if you get there early enough you can wait a bit for a table. Just not sure if it was worth all that effort with what looks like plenty of great food options. Also current plan is to rent a car in Cancun and driving down so that we can have a car to drive to other beaches and some ceenotes, bad idea or totally fine?

 

I was looking at renting a car in cologne and dropping it in Copenhagen the next day. Cheapest shit is like 600 bucks

 

Going to Miami in October with the wife. Any recommendations on hotels on South Beach?

 

had no idea Zika was still a big scare.

Sister in law is getting married next month in Jamaica. We had our 8 week appointment with the doc yesterday and she basically told my wife DO NOT go to the wedding. Sorry not sorry, but it's still bad in Caribbean

(I didn't want to go to the wedding so we just got the biggest get out of jail free card ever, but her sister is going to flip - she's a huge drama queen even though she's 35 years old, and has caused nothing but problems since getting engaged)

 

Any spots you definitely want to see? We’ve only scratched the surface, but...

All the snorkeling/scuba on the Western coast seems top notch—lots of tropical fish, turtles, dolphins, and mantas in the water.

Kohala mountain is very scenic and surreal (feels like an Ireland or Montana almost) from either the coastal road or the mountain road, which meet in a cool little town called Hawi on the northern tip of the island. Further inland is Waimea, which is bigger than Hawi but still feels very local.

The Hilton doesn’t have a beach with ocean access, but you can walk in either direction to the beaches at the other resorts, or you can drive north about 5 min to Hapuna and pay $5 to park.

The waterfront in Kona is pretty and cool, and fun to stop and grab breakfast before going on to some of the better swimming spots to the south.

If you’re planning on hitting up the Green Sand beach or Southpoint, rent a wrangler or prepare yourself for a hike. It’s a long walk but worth it. Locals shuttle people back and forth in pickups too but they’ll charge you for it.

We haven’t made it over to the wet side yet but Waipio valley is suppose to be absolutely breathtaking. There are a lot of short hikes to other waterfalls around the Hilo area as well.

Pretty much anything outside the Puna area should be accessible and safe, but it’s not a bad idea to keep an eye out on the situation and plan your excursions accordingly. At the Fairmont, they had a bulletin board with the daily volcano notices posted right next to the front exit.

 

1st, I hope you don't get murdered by the cartel while in Tulum.

With that said, I hated the idea of going to Mexico but Tulum is pretty fucking awesome. I loved it. Did eat at Hartwood and it was really good. Bring bug spray, it's on the jungle side.

Yes on a car. It makes it so much easier. They require insurance purchased in MX and it is about the same price as the car. We drove the the Tulum ruins (get there early), drove the the cenotes, drove to the Lagoon that is about 10min south of Tulum (Laguna de Kaan Luum) go there and bring some beer and chill. It's really pretty.

I'd recommend going to Posada Margherita as well. Super good Italian food on the beach. Here's my write up.

I'd def recommend driving up to Chamico's. Probably 15 min north, little fish camp on the beach and tables under the palm trees. Cheap and good

 

I have read that the insurance that is mandatory is included in the rental rate by law. You don't have to purchase anything over that, but they will obviously try and force you that way

 

Not sure if I got scammed or not. If they did, they hid that shit pretty well. I think I paid before hand on kayak and it was super cheap and all the rental docs that mandatory one them. It was an Enterprise, I think.

 

Yeah I was just adding an addendum. I don't know what you paid or anything, just that when you rent a car the only mandatory things to purchase are already included in the rate. From my experience they always try and tell you you "need" other coverage when you don't actually have to have it

 

Yeah, it was a few years ago so not totally sure. It was def higher than what I reserved the car as and I turned down the "additional" coverage.

Not sure if I got scammed or they changed it in the last few years. Or maybe I fucked up the currency conversion in my head. Not sure.

Good to know of Russellin4885

 

Going to Belize Wednesday. San Ignacio for 3 nights then caye caulker for 6. Any recs?

 

always wanted to go

Guns as been

 

From what I have read, the extra liability insurance is mandatory. I'm paying $125 for 5 days which seems fine to me. As of now plan on hitting up Akumal bay early one morning. Then on our way back stop at Dos Ojos ceenote, and then stop at Chamincos for some food and to chill. Another day will be getting to the ruins really early and then heading over to Gran ceenote.

That's all really have planned which is kind of weird for me as I'm the type of person who will plan my trips for months with all these different itineraries. Will be a nice change of pace.

 

Penetrating the insurance thicket

Mexican car rental companies offer various levels of insurance, and only one is mandatory. Here are the basics (costs listed are typical but variable):


Basic personal liability: Sometimes called third-party liability insurance, this is the one, incontrovertibly mandatory insurance. It covers claims for injury or damage you cause to another driver, car or other property damaged in an accident, but it does not cover injury to you or damage to the rented vehicle. Mexico does not accept liability coverage from U.S. auto policies or credit card insurance. You simply cannot rent a car without buying Mexican liability insurance. But here's what most renters don't know: By law, the mandatory liability insurance is already included in the rental price. Cost: Included in rental rate.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sf...r-in-Mexico-What-you-need-to-know-3787891.php

 

Pretty sure that is what I paid extra for and it was close to the same amount as the car

 

This is great. My wife is in charge of planning whatever we do, but we will have my parents with us so I’m sure here will be a day of shopping, etc. That’s a little disappointing about no beach access from the Hilton, but that is my fault for not looking into it more. It has two golf courses so that is a big reason we are staying there. Thanks for the tips. I’ll be hitting you up for more suggestions soon.

 

They have an inner lagoon beach where you can swim with dolphins. Most of the shores are pretty rocky, it’s a lot different than the other islands. The beaches they have are worth checking out though, some of the views are just unbeatable.

 

Staying at a hostel in San Ignacio. Those activities were on my list...good to know. Why flight over ferry to the islands? Ferry is the only option for us with flights sold out, we booked this last minute. Just taking shuttles back and forth across the country.