<p>Ok my cc friends, I would appreciate hearing some vacation suggestions. This past August my husband and I and my 2 kids (age 16 and 19) took a wonderful 2 week vacation to Hawaii. We went to Maui, Hawaii and Oahu and had an amazing time. After years of being unable to get away due to my kids sports schedules and other commitments, we decided that we were finally going to take that family vacation and we are so glad that we did. While we enjoyed the beaches, we kept very busy. We did things like surfing, scuba diving, zip lining (yikes that was scary), snorkeling. We also shopped and went to the beach and caught some historic sites (Pearl Harbor) so the trip had a lot of variety to keep everyone happy. </p>
<p>We had such a great time that we want to take another trip next summer. But, I am struggling with ideas of where to go. My kids like action, adventure sports. My daughter (16, would be 17) has more patience for touring sites (museums, landmarks) than my son (19 would be 20 at time of trip). The beach is great but my daughter got quite a bad burn in Maui and was quite sore for a few days (note name is IRISHmary so we are fair skinned!)</p>
<p>I have traveled extensively thru the US and my husband travels around the world for his job so he has been almost everywhere. We live on the East coast and have lived in the Mid West and Calif. We have both been to Bermuda, the US VI, Puerto Rico. </p>
<p>I know we would love Australia but my husband has been there many times and honestly I don’t feel like traveling so far ($$$). I may consider going back to Hawaii and this time going to Kauai (ran out of time this past trip) and going back to Maui. Costa Rica is also on my radar. Any thoughts? I know people may suggest Aruba, Bahamas, T&C, Barbados but I am not sure that is what I have in mind, too much sun and beach.<br>
My husband’s favorite place in the world is Thailand. He has been numerous times but always for business. Has anyone vacationed there?</p>
<p>Unless they’ve moved the place, Thailand is the same long plane ride as Australia. Besides, I think Thailand works better for adults than teens. JMHO of course.</p>
<p>There are many beautiful places in the world. You might start by deciding whether you’d prefer France, Florida or Alaska as your next destination. Answer that, and you’ll have an excellent starting point for assembling a list of potential vacation spots!</p>
<p>Alaska may be a good option, as long as you are willing to give up sun/beach ideas. Plenty of adventure and things to see. No sun burns. Maybe the kids would enjoy white water rafting there and hiking.</p>
<p>European vacation? Greek Isles? Southern France? Monte Carlo?
We went to China last summer for two weeks for our own personal reasons, good, but I can think of other more fun places. We also did Hawaii for the second time in March, and I could do Hawaii again.</p>
<p>I was thinking along the same lines as Bunsenburner. We did a trip where we flew to Seattle rented a minivan and went to Orcas Island, Victoria, Vancouver and all the way to Banff and Lake Louise and back for a few days in Seattle at the end. It was a great trip.
Another fun trip a road trip through the Utah National Parks and add in Telluride or Durango and Mesa Verde NP. You get native american history and culture, Moab Utah has Arches NP but it is great for mountain biking and river rafting. Moab is a great town for young people.
We took an amazing trip this summer with family and our kids of the same age to Kenya. It was an amazing trip. Enjoyed by all ages.</p>
<p>I second Alaska, it was one of our best family vacations. There was stuff to do for everyone. My H and S went salmon fishing while my D and I panned for gold (they got fish that we had smoked and fed-exed home, we didn’t get any gold), we all went white water rafting, by far the scariest thing I have ever done.</p>
<p>Thailand is exceptional. Also quite cheap once you get there if you don’t stay at very high end hotels. Ko samui and Phuket are wonderful spots for water and jungle adventures. The Thai people are wonderful. I highly recommend.</p>
<p>Costa Rica has some nice spots. For my taste it’s become overly touristy, it was great 15 years ago. I now prefer other Central American countries more for beach vacation a. Bocas Del Toro in Panama is stunningly beautiful. On the Caribbean coast with turquoise water is a favorite. Honduras and Nicaragua also have fun beach areas with a little more cultural interest than Hawaii. Lots to see for the girls in these countries too. Check summer weather though.</p>
<p>If you’re willing to go as far as Thailand consider Brazil, my absolute favorite beach country. Many areas to choose from, we do 2 or 3 when we’re there. Our favorite is Buzios.</p>
<p>I third Alaska and/or Vancouver. My family did that a couple of years ago and it was fantastic, a great mix of natural beauty, adventure/outdoorsy stuff (we hiked a glacier! It was awesome), some cute cities with interesting traditions and shopping (there’s a lot of Russian influence, we noticed) plus some museums/tours of Native American sites and rituals. It was really a great mix of everything.
It does get quite cold, though. We were there in mid-August and it was low 50s at night, mid-high 60s during the day.</p>
<p>We did an Alaska cruise out of Vancouver 4 summers ago that was wonderful. We spent a little time in Vancouver before and after the cruise. 2 summers ago we went on a Mediterranean Cruise. We thought Alaska was our favorite until we went on the Mediterranean Cruise. What a trip. We left out of Rome and spent time in Rome before and after. It was an amazing trip.</p>
<p>When our kids were younger we did national park trips. This country is beautiful and we’ve seen some amazing places and lots of wildlife.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your replies! NewHope, I guess I should have been more specific regarding Austraila vs. Thailand in my post. While I know that from a distance standpoint they are similiar, the flight structure is what is not appealing to me. We try and use frequent flyer miles and the NY-Sydney route is very difficult to get 4 tickets together as there are fewer flight segments. This means that we would have to go out of pocket for a seat or two and that is just dumb with all of the miles that my husband has. Also, I hate flying longer than 8 hours. I start feeling confined so Thailand is a bit more appealing since he always flies through Europe. Bangkok does not seem as popular a destination as Sydney (ff miles-wise). I probably should have taken the getting there out of the equation in my original post. Sorry about that.<br>
I have thought about Alaska via Seattle trip. Would love to go to Washington state as I have never been.
As for Ireland, no, I have never been. I would love to go and have many friends and family members who have gone. It just isn’t what I am looking for right now.
I guess I am looking for something similiar to Hawaii. Lots of activities, warm climate, relaxing but not boring (I can’t take the beach all day, every day). That is why I threw Costa Rica out there and possibly Bangkok. (Honestly I would never have mentioned Bangkok except that my husband absolutely loves Thailand. So much so, he has talked about retiring there when the time comes).
I want to stay away from Europe as it is just too expensive for what you get with the dollar right now.<br>
I appreciate the input though and will do some looking into Seattle-Alaska and see how my kids feel about a vacation without a tan. </p>
<p>Redroses, you have made some great suggestions. I will look into some of the Central American countries that you mentioned. You seem to echo some of the sentiments of some friends of mine who have been several times to Costa Rica. They have all said that it has changed and they preferred it the way it was 5+ years ago. </p>
<p>I am sure that as I investigate that I will post some further questions. I always look forward to the opinions and comments from the cc forum. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Interesting article. Some good thoughts for adventurous, value vacations. I especiaaly agree Buenos Aires is a great vacation spot, especially for girls. The shopping is unbelievable! Great things, very cheap. Other areas of Argentina great for adventure. It’s a great foodie/wine destination too.</p>