Well, for what it's worth, I was in Houston a couple of weeks ago (first time in 5 years or so, I think) and I was quite surprised how Downtown has changed. It's still not San Francisco or New York, but when I was in Houston 1995-1996, Downtown was pretty much dead, and actually dangerous after dark. It seems like they have been trying to recapture it, which I think is a good idea...
I have never actually lived in Houston, but i remember coming to houston in the mid 90's and the people I was with never wanted to get lost downtown in the early morning hours. By the way Mr. Chiles I talked to someone at American Airlines. I was wanting to know did you set up all your hotel arangements by your self or did you get a travel agency to help you?
Im suprised this thread has not garnered more attention. Are there some people here that just dont like to travel that much? My stepfather and my mother like to travel a lot, but only in the U.S. I asked him why and he never really gave me a reason he just said he has no desire to do so.
Hey it spurred me to waste? an hour or two pricing round the world tickets last night. Sometimes you just can't stand someone else having too good a time. Hey Jackie, a question. Do you feel you are seeing so many countries and cities so fast it is just a blur and it might be better to slow down? That happened to me when I tried to do most of Europe in 5 weeks.
I meant I did not see any mention of Europe in the thread. I have been living in Europe for about 6 years (Spain, France, Denmark and now currently Switz) If you have questions, I may be able to help.
glynch, yes, I do feel like that sometimes, especially when I meet interesting/nice people in a place and after a day or a few days, I have to leave again. The thing is that I think when I will go back to work, it will take a while until I will ever have the time to do an extended trip again, so I wanted to see as much as I can now, even if it is not for such a long time, and then later return for a longer time during regular vacations to the places I liked most. One more reason why I cannot stay too long in some places (other than the overall time constraint) is that this round-the-world ticket allows 28 flight segments, but only 15 stopovers. Stopovers are stays in a place for more than 24 hours (as opposed to transfers, which are <24 hours). This means, I could see 28 different places on my trip (excluding the sidetrips I do with other tickets), but in 13 of them, I would have to leave again within 24 hours or I would violate the rules of the ticket. Another thing that I have to admit is that obviously, it would be more fun not doing this trip alone. Sometimes, it is good, because I can do whatever I want without having to adjust to someone else's rhythm, but sometimes, it is also kind of lonely when you are in a place where you do not know anyone. Anyway, I am single right now, and my friends are working or do not have the time/money to do a trip like that, and I still wanted to go see the world . It is not so bad, though, because I visited some old friends on the trip (e.g., the day before yesterday, I visited a guy in San Francisco who studied with me in Houston, he has a law firm right next to the Transamerica building now) and I met quite a few interesting new people. Then again, especially some of the places I am going to would be perfect to go to as a couple (I am in Hawaii right now, on the Big Island, in a hotel called Waikoloa Village, where I almost only see couples (many of them a bit older)). Well, a friend of mine is going to come visit me here in a few days (from Germany, he coincidentally has business in LA right now), we thought it would be a good opportunity to explore the island together. We are also going to go to Honolulu for a couple of days, which should be fun as there is more nightlife over there (= more chicks our age ).
Jackie, another question. Am I right that you went to Egypt to buy the ticket and it made it a lot cheaper. Could I go say to Mexico and make it cheaper? My wife is a school nurse so she is off every summer. It is just a question how long I can. The 5 week vacation was 6 years ago and it took some doing. Two years from now my son is gone to college. I'm getting the travel bug just posting about it.
According to the price charts here, the tickets in Mexico are a few hundred dollars cheaper (e.g., 29k miles on Star Alliance in Economy for $ 3,200 instead of $ 3,530). But I think the cost of your trip to Mexico and back would eat that price advantage up, so it is not really worth it. I guess the rule of thumb is, the more expensive your ticket overall (first or business class), the more probable it is that it is worth starting from another place. The cheapest places I know of are Egypt, and I think Thailand. Canada is at about $ 3,150 (US) for the same kind of ticket, so it is actually a little bit cheaper than Mexico. If you were to buy a business or first class ticket and had a lot of frequent flyer miles or could find a cheap fare, going to Egypt might be worth it. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Of course, it was closer for me to go there from Europe.
sjc how did you set up your hotel's. did you do them seperatly or did you get a travel agency to set them up. to set out for a trip like this its a bit overwhelming to me. by the way kite surfing is fun, but im in need of a lot more practice.
I did it myself, took quite some time to research the best places on the Internet. My choices were partly motivated by having status in some hotel chains which guarantees nice upgrades etc. For most of the places, I had reservations in advance, but the place where I had no reservation and just walked in (well, was taken there in some buggy taxi) was actually the cheapest and the one I liked most, the Pousada das Flores in Fernando de Noronha. So your mileage might vary when it comes to planning not enough or too much .
Just made another reservation, for my next stay in Barcelona, at the end of October - a bit crazy, but it was one of the cheapest options I could find...and it looks like it could be fun: Staying on a yacht in the Port of Barcelona (in Spanish, with pictures)... Costs about $ 100 per night, a decent hotel in the center of Barcelona at that time (high season) would have been around $ 150 at least probably... Also reserved two single rooms for two buddies from the MBA program...hope I can convince them to also stay there .
Where do you live in Switzerland. I lived in Lugano for a summer. I loved it but it was too expensive for me at the time. Beautiful women though. I made out with the finest girl of my life there. And I love the weather, it is the most beautiful storms you will ever see. So fierce looking but so gentle. Paradise.
My German friend, please tell me (as a semi-Basler, CH), which tent would you recommend for the Wies'n. We currently have a table at the "Schottenhammel" (habe ich Ihren Gruss?) Woher in Deutschland kommst du? I first saw "My Round the world trip" and never thought that you were from outside the US (es ist groß, daß Sie den Rockets folgen). I have been living in der Schweiz for the last 5 years but my German is still Scheiße. mach's gut, Garrett
I agree with you on Lugano! I am living in Basel which is in the Northern German speaking area of Switzerland. We are right on the border of France and Germany. Actually from my place it would take me about 20 minutes to walk to France and 30 minutes to walk to Germany. It may sound strange, but my wife and I go shopping in both countries on the weekends (by car that is) b/c it is a lot cheaper and they have a much better selection. So while you were in Lugano, did you happen to go over to Cannobio in Italy (I think it is only a 45 min drive from Lugano). My wife's parents have a place in Brissago (on Lago Maggiore before the Italian border) and we go down there a lot. nice to hear that Americanos are going outside of the country!
Well, after a week in Hawaii (have not updated my site yet), I am in Tokyo now, in a hotel near the airport - the planes fly by this hotel REALLY close - I think if I looked hard, I could see the faces of the people behind the plane windows . Since I only have one day here, I will "waste" less time online than I did in Hawaii - will go and check out the city tonight. Hope they will not have an earthquake today!
Eh, just came across this thread, and, Jackie, you have no idea how jealous I am. I have done a good deal of travelling, but never like that! Your accomodations look amazing...did you stay at the Maldives Hilton? Keep us posted!
