Babych Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 I seem to recall we had this over on the old forum, so I figured I’d recreate it here. Where have you travelled lately? Any travel plans in the near future? Any tips from your experience(s) you want to relate? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babych Posted August 2 Author Share Posted August 2 I’ll start;) this year I travelled to Oman, Jordan, and Bali. I also travelled to Canada since I live in the UAE. all have been very enjoyable experiences but I was i a little shocked to realize how expensive Canada has gotten Bali was really good. Very favourable exchange rate and things are quite inexpensive if that’s what you’re looking for. However, I would highly recommend do NOTstay in Kuta for any length of time. It has a very different vibe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIAHN Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 (edited) Hey, what a great idea! I was in Thailand in October. Great Food, friendly people, cheap prices, and beautiful scenery. Bangkok is too big, but you can get out of there pretty fast. $80 for a 2 hour Taxi ride. I went to an Island named Koh Chang, the 20 minute ferry ride was $8 bucks. Like I said, cheap! My resort was about $75 a night, which included a huge breakfast, with everything you could imagine. I also went to Pattaya on the way back from Koh Chang......stayed 1 block off the beach, which was incredible. It's a big city. but the beach area is incredible, and there is lot of thins to do. Shops, restaurants, malls, cheap parachute rides from a boat (not sure what they are called). Aside from the flights (13 hours), its a great place. * Note.....Thai-Air makes Air Canada look real bad. Best flight I have ever taken! Lots of Russians, Finns, Chinese, Indians, Germans. Most of the Thai shops know English. A fresh raw chicken costs $3.00 and most meals are around $3 to $4 dollars....beers is about $3 to 4 bucks! Edited August 2 by JIAHN 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6of1_halfdozenofother Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 Before I got permabanned from the old (now dead) site, I posted on that travel thread there that I was going to (and subsequently did) a tour of the Island with my wife. This year, we're being a bit more ambitious and possibly going to tour another island (or more accurately, an archipelago). Still planning though. The fires in the interior and in the Rockies are definitely putting a dampener on the possibility of a road trip next spring to a conference in Alberta. I'll have to see what state Jasper is next year to decide if I'll do that - I was hoping to visit a buddy of mine in Vernon, but if Jasper is still recovering and rebuilding, it doesn't make much sense for me to be disturbing that - which then wrecks the key reason why I'd be doing a roadtrip to Alberta, and thus I might as well fly in for the conference. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 So far, I've been to San Francisco, Washington DC and New York. I think SF is somewhat overrated TBH, with how hilly and crime-ridden the area has become, though there are still fun spots if you've never been. In contrast, I think Washington DC is underrated, with 17(!) free and world-class museums and an elevated food scene, plus the area around White House and the European-styled buildings are quite beautiful (National Mall, Lincoln Memorial, other gov't buildings, etc.). Lastly, what more needs to be said for NY? Though since this was my second time going, it was great exploring some of Brooklyn and Queens (which has a diverse food scene due to immigration). If you're into Broadway, definitely recommend catching a show, and look online for deals! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ducklover Posted August 2 Popular Post Share Posted August 2 Last summer we converted our Sienna into a camper van and put on 21000 kms. Across Canada and around the maritimes, down the east coast to Miami, around the gulf to the bottom of Texas, then back through the Arizona, Utah route home again. Fantastic trip with nothing but friendly people ( and lots of birds ) 4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 (edited) 2 hours ago, JIAHN said: Hey, what a great idea! I was in Thailand in October. Great Food, friendly people, cheap prices, and beautiful scenery. Bangkok is too big, but you can get out of there pretty fast. $80 for a 2 hour Taxi ride. I went to an Island named Koh Chang, the 20 minute ferry ride was $8 bucks. Like I said, cheap! My resort was about $75 a night, which included a huge breakfast, with everything you could imagine. I also went to Pattaya on the way back from Koh Chang......stayed 1 block off the beach, which was incredible. It's a big city. but the beach area is incredible, and there is lot of thins to do. Shops, restaurants, malls, cheap parachute rides from a boat (not sure what they are called). Aside from the flights (13 hours), its a great place. * Note.....Thai-Air makes Air Canada look real bad. Best flight I have ever taken! Lots of Russians, Finns, Chinese, Indians, Germans. Most of the Thai shops know English. A fresh raw chicken costs $3.00 and most meals are around $3 to $4 dollars....beers is about $3 to 4 bucks! Here's a very interesting site that shows cost of living in cities around the world. You can even do comparisons between cities. Here's a little data showing the differences between Vancouver and Bangkok, Thailand. There are a lot more data points on the site .... Make your money in the West and spend it in the East. I'll post more about my travels later. Edit: Totally forgot to post the site ........... https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ Edited August 2 by nuckin_futz 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombieksa Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 I lived in Wales for a year recently. I really missed the Mexican restaurants we have in NA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIAHN Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 4 hours ago, nuckin_futz said: Here's a very interesting site that shows cost of living in cities around the world. You can even do comparisons between cities. Here's a little data showing the differences between Vancouver and Bangkok, Thailand. There are a lot more data points on the site .... Make your money in the West and spend it in the East. I'll post more about my travels later. Edit: Totally forgot to post the site ........... https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ Very useful tool! Thanks for posting this! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 4 hours ago, nuckin_futz said: Here's a very interesting site that shows cost of living in cities around the world. You can even do comparisons between cities. Here's a little data showing the differences between Vancouver and Bangkok, Thailand. There are a lot more data points on the site .... Make your money in the West and spend it in the East. I'll post more about my travels later. Edit: Totally forgot to post the site ........... https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ Love this tool thanks mate!! Gonna look at french polynesia now 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) 9 hours ago, Babych said: I seem to recall we had this over on the old forum, so I figured I’d recreate it here. Where have you travelled lately? Any travel plans in the near future? Any tips from your experience(s) you want to relate? Just got back two days ago from a month in Sayulita, Mexico. We worked out an agreement with our landlord that she comes and stays in our place every July on the Okanagan. We get the month off of paying rent and use the money to live somewhere else for a month Edited August 3 by stawns 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goalie29 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I just got home from a trip to London, Paris & Amsterdam. It was supposed to be two weeks, but WestJet screwed up and we lost the first two days of the trip. Despite that, we still had an awesome time. The funniest thing about the trip is, when we booked it months ago, the thought of the Olympics being in Paris didn't even cross our minds. Had we thought about it, we probably would have picked a different city, or maybe gone next year instead. Even though we were a week ahead of the Olympics, many parts of the city were locked down. London and Amsterdam were amazing though. Now I just have to start saving so we can go back. Next time I want to see more of the smaller towns and cities, in particular in the Netherlands (my Mom is from there). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumb Nuck Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I drove to Tuktoyaktuk to swim in the arctic ocean, what an amazing adventure. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 21 minutes ago, Goalie29 said: I just got home from a trip to London, Paris & Amsterdam. It was supposed to be two weeks, but WestJet screwed up and we lost the first two days of the trip. Despite that, we still had an awesome time. The funniest thing about the trip is, when we booked it months ago, the thought of the Olympics being in Paris didn't even cross our minds. Had we thought about it, we probably would have picked a different city, or maybe gone next year instead. Even though we were a week ahead of the Olympics, many parts of the city were locked down. London and Amsterdam were amazing though. Now I just have to start saving so we can go back. Next time I want to see more of the smaller towns and cities, in particular in the Netherlands (my Mom is from there). They literally settled the strike the day before we were set to leave. Stressful way to start a holiday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil_314 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 17 minutes ago, Dumb Nuck said: I drove to Tuktoyaktuk to swim in the arctic ocean, what an amazing adventure. What was the highlight? E.g. did you swim during the eternal summer sunshine, or during aurora, or something else? Didn't know how accessible NWT is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Little travel hack for you all when abroad and exchanging money. Currency trading markets close on Friday and re-open on Sunday afternoon. Because rates are static during these times dealers will widen spreads a little bit to give themselves a bit of cover as insurance to cover any 'event risk'. This could be any market roiling news, political events, outbreak of war etc. It won't be anything drastic. The rate you get won't go from 26:1 to 27:1 but it may go from 26.15 to 26.25. To avoid this go exchange whatever you'll need for the weekend before the close of business EST on Friday. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumb Nuck Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Phil_314 said: What was the highlight? E.g. did you swim during the eternal summer sunshine, or during aurora, or something else? Didn't know how accessible NWT is. Nope, mid day, the water was cold enough as it was. Its 900 km up a dirt road with 2 ferry crossings, the first 500 km in. When we got there the ferry was shut down as the dock washed away so we went back to Dawson City. Very cool place, tried 2 days later when the ferry reopened and made it. It is very remote and rugged territory with beautiful scenery, a once in a life time experience. Edit: we went in June and spent one night in Inuvik, our hotel had a view of the baseball field and kids were play baseball til 2 am. Edited August 3 by Dumb Nuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIAHN Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 1 hour ago, stawns said: Just got back two days ago from a month in Sayulita, Mexico. We worked out an agreement with our landlord that she comes and stays in our place every July on the Okanagan. We get the month off of paying rent and use the money to live somewhere else for a month hey, maybe you would like to come and stay a month in Prince Rupert? LOL Tradzees? LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) 10 hours ago, JIAHN said: Hey, what a great idea! I was in Thailand in October. Great Food, friendly people, cheap prices, and beautiful scenery. Bangkok is too big, but you can get out of there pretty fast. $80 for a 2 hour Taxi ride. I went to an Island named Koh Chang, the 20 minute ferry ride was $8 bucks. Like I said, cheap! My resort was about $75 a night, which included a huge breakfast, with everything you could imagine. I also went to Pattaya on the way back from Koh Chang......stayed 1 block off the beach, which was incredible. It's a big city. but the beach area is incredible, and there is lot of thins to do. Shops, restaurants, malls, cheap parachute rides from a boat (not sure what they are called). Aside from the flights (13 hours), its a great place. * Note.....Thai-Air makes Air Canada look real bad. Best flight I have ever taken! Lots of Russians, Finns, Chinese, Indians, Germans. Most of the Thai shops know English. A fresh raw chicken costs $3.00 and most meals are around $3 to $4 dollars....beers is about $3 to 4 bucks! I absolutely love Thailand. Been numerous times over the years, including earlier this year. Totally concur with you amazing food (among the best in the world), friendly people, natural beauty. Bangkok is massive and seems to go on forever. It's hard to fathom that one city has 45% of the total population of Canada. Pattaya is certainly an interesting city. A good friend of mine lives there so I "have to" visit when I am there. Did you make it to the Sanctuary of Truth? It's definitely worth it. Sanctuary of Truth Regarding the beach please tell me you did not swim in the water off Beach Road. It's absolutely filthy and may or may not contain sewage. The beach up around Wongamat and definitely Jomptien Beach are much more suitable for swimming. Those parachute rides are called parasailing or more appropriately 'taking your life in your own hands'. Not really sure if 'Somchai' driving the thing knows what he is doing nor if he cares if you live or die. It's too bad that YVR - BKK flight on Air Canada is seasonal and only operates 5 months of the year. Otherwise you have to connect and the quickest path with a decent connection is 19 hours. Usually you have to settle for a path that winds up taking 22-25 hours. Edited August 3 by nuckin_futz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuckin_futz Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Always some amazing deals here ..... https://yvrdeals.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophomore Jinx Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 1 hour ago, JIAHN said: hey, maybe you would like to come and stay a month in Prince Rupert? LOL Tradzees? LOL I would go just for the Gondola restaurant 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 1 hour ago, JIAHN said: hey, maybe you would like to come and stay a month in Prince Rupert? LOL Tradzees? LOL I feel like we'd be taking advantage of you, as we live in this dump https://www.outbacklakeside.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=outback_brand_search&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh7K1BhCZARIsAKOrVqHZH04DKjoBRrmLdus-ftYs0ocjZTA97trTBTMBeG_08twLVesAan4aAqfoEALw_wcB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIAHN Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 3 hours ago, stawns said: I feel like we'd be taking advantage of you, as we live in this dump https://www.outbacklakeside.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=outback_brand_search&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh7K1BhCZARIsAKOrVqHZH04DKjoBRrmLdus-ftYs0ocjZTA97trTBTMBeG_08twLVesAan4aAqfoEALw_wcB Yeah, I am not sure you could adjust to mine! It is waterfront! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) 23 minute vid about living in Bangkok. Guy has kept track of expenses- $1,381 US. per month.--- about $1,915 Canadian. Almost convinced me https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/webcontent/web-content/vi-L0ekWAWGD9%2Fotw?vid=30OdNY7ociM&provider=yt&ocid=hpmsn&cvid=dcb4c44356e64e0683b60d25d660e9e2&ei=59 Edited August 3 by Gurn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyone Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 most recently I travelled from the kitchen to my lazyboy recliner in the living room. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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