https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-air-lines-lounge-openings-2025/ 7 new or renovated Delta lounges in 2025 - New DeltaOne lounge and new SkyClub at SEA - Second SLC SkyClub (larger than current) - One new and two renovated SkyClubs at ATL (!!!) - Expanded SkyClub at PHL
Looking for some inspiration. My wife and I have been talking about taking a little sabbatical for a while now and are at the point where if we don't do it soon, we might not ever do it. We got married last October and would like to start a family in the nearish future, so feeling motivated to do this now before having kids. She works in finance at a large bank who she has had some preliminary conversations about taking a leave of absence that sounds like they will be fine with and I work in real estate and am pretty flexible in general. Right now our rough game plan is doing 3ish months from October to January. Our very preliminary plan is to hit New Zealand, Australia and then parts of Southeast Asia (Japan and Vietnam for sure. Not 100% sure where else). This isn't necessarily set in stone, but given the amount of time we have and the time of year I think it makes the most sense. Neither of us are super outdoorsy/adventure types, but do like to be active/explore. Our typical trips just involve exploring cities and eating/drinking our way through them while staying pretty active. We are just starting the planning of this and it's a bit daunting on where to start so wanted to post in here to see if ya'll had any thoughts on what you may do if you had a similar plan. Our budget is pretty open with us treating this as kind of a once in a lifetime sort of deal for us. We're going to be mindful to not to spend a shit ton of money for no reason, but won't let money hold us back from doing stuff we want to do. So, what would you do and where would you start if you were planning this trip? Would you go somewhere other than these places? How would you split up your time between these locations and where would you start?
Absolutely do it now. We were supposed to go to Thailand and Cambodia in May 2020 for three weeks for our honeymoon. Two kids later I have no idea when we will be able to consider doing something like that and it bothers me all the time.
You mentioned budget flexibility but related to that, I would try to go for 1-2 more months if possible. You could easily spend a month in each of the countries you listed.
Yeah we'd like to but I think 4 months is going to be the max before it possibly causes issues with our return to our work lives.
Plan for 5-6 but tell them 3-4 and then during month 2 mention you’ll be back on x date in week 5-6. Not legal advice
Hell yea man, that's awesome. I'd echo what Pasta88 said and maybe focus on 3-4 countries with a month-long stay in each. Can easily spend a month in Thailand and another in Vietnam, and they'd be super cheap which could make the more expensive countries easier to handle. I can't speak for NZ or Australia, but Bangkok is most people's jumping off point for SE Asia and flights are relatively cheap and easy. Can also fly anywhere in Oceana or SE Asia from Bangkok, which makes it convenient. I've been to BKK 4-5 times, it's one of my favorite places in the world. It's intense, tho
You only need a couple days in Auckland. Don’t miss queenstown. And I would do whatever I could to rent a van/camper and explore all of New Zealand. Definitely a country where the travel between stops can be the best parts. I unfortunately did zero planning and made a last minute hop from Sydney to Auckland. So I only flew to queenstown for a week. It seemed like just about everyone I met was in the midst of a longer road trip. The look on people’s faces when I said I was in queenstown for a week and headed right back out made me feel like I made a big mistake.
not a huge deal but Japan is further away from those than you probably think add in thailand and cambodia and you're probably good to go
90 days? Fly to New Zealand 10 days Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast 5 days each 15 Fly to Bali 15 days between Ubud, Uluwatu, Lombok, Gilis Fly to Sumatra to see orangutans 3 days Might as well go to Malaysia or Singapore 3 days ~45 Days. Half way Thailand - 15 Days. Start Southern Island/Pucket and work north through Gulf, Bangkok, Northern Thailand Fly to Manila for 15 days in Philippines Fly to Japan for 15 days Pro Tip. Get an OF account and film content, self fund trip, and never come back
Get away from Canggu and lots of different stuff to see/do. Could easily do 3 days in Ubud, 3 in Uluwatu, 3 in the Gili's, a day or two for ferries and get close to 15. I did ~10 just on Bali and didn't feel like I had time to get to the Gili's/Lombok
are the beaches in Bali that much different than beaches in Caribbean got to be addicted to beach resorts
Can't surf in Thailand or Cambodia. Also you aren't getting in the water in New Zealand. It's fucking cold
I'd say yes in certain areas. Around Canggu, probably not. It's basically mega hotels and beach clubs. There is a lot more to Bali than just a beach
The resorts in Ubud are better imo and have nothing to do with the beach. I could’ve done a week there easily. Temples. Yoga. Sound baths. Meditations. Rice terraces. Waterfalls. Hikes. $10 massages. Eating endless nasi goreng. Then head back down south to Uluwatu and rip scooters to every beach. Day trip to nusa penida for Kelingking beach and angel’s billabong. Snorkel/scuba. Then there’s Lombok island which I’ve yet to explore. That’s all without having to deal with the beach resorts canggu and seminyak. But there are some great events/parties in that area.
Yeah, I def didn't spend enough time in Ubud and wish I had more there. Rice Terraces and Temple tours were awesome. Volcanos too. Coffee Plantations were pretty sweet. Food in Ubud was great. We did a day trip to Nusa Penida. Didn't hike down to Kelingking, but did Diamond beach. Was pretty sick, the trail down was wild, single file carved into a vertical cliff
LeonardWashington San Francisco luxury spring break gift for birthdays, Christmas, Stanford prospective visit for high schooler not our Normal Florida chill at Amelia or Sarasota anyways, family of four, one middle schooler, one high schooler should we stay at club level Ritz, St Regis (indoor pool) or the Palace Hotel (points could get us a suite and it has an indoor pool) want to do lots of excursions redwoods Napa would be dope but not with kids Golden gate excursion And cruise is a kid requesr they loved the hop on hop off we did in DC and SF has one too they went to go to some museums (we spent a day at the Aerospace Museum in DC Kids think they want to go to Chinatown because they love Chinese food warriors, maybe giants game, don’t want to go to Sacramento to see As help me narrow this down and give me some pointers please and any feedback on those properties if you’ve stayed there. Were Marriott titanium with a ton of points to burn if it matters
FYI: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mar...-marriott-bonvoy-hotels-san-francisco-78.html Ritz definitely has the least "sketchy" location of the ones you've mentioned, fwiw. (But that all depends on your tolerance for street bs obviously) Chinatown can be a fun wander but you certainly don't need to go there for Chinese food specifically.
My idiot brother FaceTimed me while riding a motorcycle in Phuket with no helmet, no gear, with his fiancée on the back also with no helmet or gear to tell me that apparently in Thailand they drive on the left. So if any of y’all are in SE Asia, And I need a body identified, can I text you?
It's cool, but not a lot of people mention how much trash is in the water. Watching the tide roll in is a show. I saw a side door panel and a 2x4 with nails sticking out of it. You have to wear sandals on the beach because there's so much broken glass. In uluwatu anyways... maybe the other side of the island isn't as bad or resorts over there constantly clean up. Traffic is also pretty bad even if you have a scooter. Certain parts of the island you can't avoid the smell of burning trash. There are also a lot of Russians
I mean you can do 30 days in most of these places. It's all hypothetical but there are easily 2-4 different destinations/stays in Bali. It's not one small spot. Ive rea dof a lot of guys who get vans and just travel and surf the length of NZ for 2-4 months
It somewhat depends on what time of year you go. Can't remember which season has a massive amount of trash vs the others. A lot is wind dependent. Of the 4 beaches I went to in Ulu I didn't see any trash nor broken glass.
Not really sure what I expected when I hit Delta Platinum, but I think I've been upgraded to comfort+ on all 6 legs of recent trips All coming from Atlanta, no major routes yet (Nashville, CLT, Memphis), but it'e been a welcome addition. I'm sure I'll be waiting a while for any 1st class upgrades
Yeah, I can if it is available. Most of my work flights are booked w/in 7-10 days of travel so a lot of times they've been booked up. Assume I'm getting the Diamond type folk's Comfort+ seats that are getting the 1st class upgrades
I didn’t think trash in the water was an issue. It wasn’t great by any means. But it also wasn’t as bad what I experienced in Vietnam and around cat ba island. Dead on with the traffic. Really bad. You’re not going to be freely hopping between Uluwatu, the port, and ubud in a day because it looks relatively close on a map.
felt like once you got out of Denpasar it got a lot better. It's just essentially a funnel that becomes massively congested. Uluwatu didn't seem to have much once you got pas the tollway/chokepoint.
My wife has our card so we book everything under her account and she has been platinum for several years. Upgrades to comfort plus are hit and miss for us because it’s always 2 or 4 of us flying but when she’s flying solo she gets the upgrade pretty consistently.
Yeah, i'm not expecting much when I fly with my wife and son, but hope to book far enough out that we can just select Comfort+
NZ is the size of Cali and has a ton to see. We did ten days and it was pretty rushed. Realistically you’d need a month. I would just drop another part of the list and add more in NZ and for me I’d drop Bali but to each their own
I mean yeah, I get it. I had like 15 days in Australia which is massively larger and completely ignoring Perth (which seems dope) and the barrier reef and a lot of other shit. Bali is essentially "on the way" and has a ton of historical/Cultural aspects that a pretty cool. Could shorten it some. A trip like that with the travel would be tough. Do you fully embrace a country for a month or try to hit a ton of spots with some decent length? Wish there was infinite time to travel. I need to become a billionaire