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My DH gets an extra 8 weeks of vacation every 7 years at his job. He's actually eligible for his sabbatical this year, but we decided to delay it until next year because Juliana is so little. I get 4 weeks of vacation, so our plan is for me to take mine all in one shot and go on a really nice trip. Since we'd like a 3 year spacing between kids, we're thinking of using this trip to TTC! That would mean taking the trip in November. If we're going in November, I'd definitely like to go somewhere in the Southern hemisphere, since it will be their summer, or somewhere not far from the equator if we're in the Northern hemisphere.
So the big question is, where should we go? DH and I are big-time travelers, or at least we were pre-baby. We went to India when I was pregnant, and we've been to Australia, the Galapagos Islands, all over Europe, and the northern part of South America. The only continents we haven't been to are Africa and Antarctica, so I'm kind of inclined to go to Africa. However, we'll be bringing Juliana and I'm not sure if a safari is the best thing to bring a 2.5 y/o on. There are some "luxury safaris" where you stay in a lodge rather than tents and it's actually pretty nice, but very pricey. Still, I worry about water quality, etc.
Another option is a cruise around the southern tip of South America, followed by a land excursion at Ignacio Falls (which supposedly puts Niagra Falls to shame). We LOVE cruises, but this particular one isn't offered until December, which would put us behind a month. I really don't like that idea because I was hoping for a mid-August due date, so our next baby can be born before Sept. 1 and make the cut-off for kindergarten (although I know there is certainly no guarantee it will work in one cycle).
Finally, we could just do something tropical and relaxing like Bora Bora. We've already done Hawaii and been to the Caribbean countless times (and we're going again this November) so this might be similar. The issue with this option is I'd really like to do something exciting and exotic since it's so rare that we get to do this.
I've always wanted to go to Dubai. I know people who have been and they love it. A friend of mine lives there.
A colleague of mine took her honeymoon in the Maldives ..... absolutely beautiful place!
ETA: the same colleague actually combined her Maldives trip with a Dubai trip. They had a stopover in Dubai so they extended the end of their honeymoon to spend a week in Dubai.
I've always wanted to go to Dubai. I know people who have been and they love it. A friend of mine lives there.
A colleague of mine took her honeymoon in the Maldives ..... absolutely beautiful place!
ETA: the same colleague actually combined her Maldives trip with a Dubai trip. They had a stopover in Dubai so they extended the end of their honeymoon to spend a week in Dubai.
I've always wanted to go to Dubai, too, but I'm a little worried about the political stability. I thought it was a pretty safe place, especially for the Middle East, but I've heard a few horror stories about things happening to British tourists, like throwing them in jail for cursing and things like that.
I would totally take my kids to Africa (if someone else was paying - ha!). Julianna will be 2 and a half, that's such a good age she would have a blast. We are taking the kids to Bali this year and they will just have to survive on bottled water. We hired a camper in NZ last year with the kids, which was an awesome way to get around in relative comfort minus the hotel costs. Is that an option?
DH had a conference in Melbourne, so we stayed there for about 5 days, then took a week-long trip to Tasmania (my dream for a long time) then stayed overnight in Sydney on the way home. It was great! We did miss the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Center, so we definitely want to go again, but I'd prefer to hit continents we haven't seen yet before going back to ones we have.
I'm not sure if a camper would really work in Africa. From what I've heard, the roads can barely handle cars. We'd probably have to pick two or three main hubs and fly between them. But you're right, bottled water would be the way to go.
My girlfriend is on a trip right now that made me squeal with jealousy and long for my single life all over again!
She did a cross country train trip here in Canada and stayed in Vancouver overnight before catching a flight to Auckland NZ. She's staying in Auckland and Christchurch and doing the whole NZ tour for a week or two, and then headed to Fiji for a week. After that, she's headed to the Cook Islands for 2 weeks. Her whole trip start to finish is about a month and a half, but let me tell you - what I wouldn't give right now for a week in Fiji or the Cook Islands.
A number of places in Europe are on my list, but Fiji and Tahiti are definitely in the list on the other side of the world. Singapore was nice, but far too small and metropolitan with western stores for my taste. The Shangrila hotel though was to die for. Very little to see and do vacation wise. I've also done Porto Allegre in Brazil. It was a work trip, but I did a two week stint which left me with a great full weekend of site seeing. Loved it there! Ireland was one of my faves, but so not the tropical destination you're looking for. I'd love, love, love to do an expat stint in Ireland. I'd also like to visit Africa, but not yet.
Can't wait to hear what you guys decide!
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Becky, mommy to my Monkey Pie, Maggie (June 10, 2010)
She did a cross country train trip here in Canada and stayed in Vancouver overnight before catching a flight to Auckland NZ. She's staying in Auckland and Christchurch and doing the whole NZ tour for a week or two, and then headed to Fiji for a week. After that, she's headed to the Cook Islands for 2 weeks. Her whole trip start to finish is about a month and a half, but let me tell you - what I wouldn't give right now for a week in Fiji or the Cook Islands.
This sounds wonderful! I just found some cruises that go through Australia, New NZ, Thailand and end in Singapore. I wish I had the whole 8 weeks off like DH.
One thing to think about is vax requirements. I don't remember how you're handling Juliana's vaxs, but some places have requirements above & beyond the US standard. Would you be willing to have her vaxed against things like rabies, typhoid (that one sucks BTW) &/or yellow fever? Also, if you're going somwhere malaria is a risk, do you want her on doxy for 4 weeks? I'd ask my pedi about travel vaxes before I made plans. The Army gave me some unpleasant vaxes & I wouldn't want to give them to my 2.5 year-old. Typhoid & small pox made me pretty sick (as an adult) & doxy can be really hard on your stomach.
Can I ask why you wanted to come to tassie? I live there and just feel like no one would even know about little old Tasmania.
Africa would be great. I've been to Dubai and it was fine. My sister lives there with her too small children
Ah, a Tasmanian! It's a small world.
Tassie has so much to offer, I don't understand why more people don't go there. We stayed a few nights on a mountain where the wildlife was so unafraid of people that kangaroos and wombats would jump right out in front of us when we went for a walk. We also went to a wildlife sanctuary where we could walk around with Tassie devils, pet kangaroos and koalas, etc. We also saw the Tasman Arch and the beautiful scenery and did some hiking. Then we went over to the side (I think the east) with beautiful beaches, and finally ended in Hobart with its rich history. It's amazing what we got to see and do in a week. You guys should market the place to tourists more!
One thing to think about is vax requirements. I don't remember how you're handling Juliana's vaxs, but some places have requirements above & beyond the US standard. Would you be willing to have her vaxed against things like rabies, typhoid (that one sucks BTW) &/or yellow fever? Also, if you're going somwhere malaria is a risk, do you want her on doxy for 4 weeks? I'd ask my pedi about travel vaxes before I made plans. The Army gave me some unpleasant vaxes & I wouldn't want to give them to my 2.5 year-old. Typhoid & small pox made me pretty sick (as an adult) & doxy can be really hard on your stomach.
That is a really good point. We're doing a delayed schedule with Juliana, but we had planned to get them all in by around 2.5 since I hope to have her start Montessori school at 2.5. I don't want to give her any nasty ones, so bet Africa could be out for this reason.
I'm really liking the New Zealand cruise idea in combo with another place, like the Cook Islands.
Gosh you are well travelled! Where abouts in Europe have you been?
I think a New Zealand cruise sounds like the safest option (vax wise I mean) with a young child. Dubai would be amazing but as you said, I've heard lots of stories of people being arrested for not wearing enough clothes or kissing in public. I've also heard of people having amazing holidays there too. We are off to France this summer I think, which should be nice and easy as we can drive there so we can jam pack the car with everything needed for the kids. Hope you find someone good!
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Becca and Chris, proud young parents to
Seth (2005) Caspar (2007) Tobias (2010)
I say go to New Zealand! It is the right season and you have enough time. I've never been but my husband went a few times when he was younger and his dad had sabbatical.
I went on a 4 week trip to Zambia and Botswana a few years ago and it was amazing. I was visiting some friends in the Peace Corps and then did a safari. I think you would maybe have more fun if you could go when the kids were a little older. Or you could go to South Africa and do some urban stuff as well, which might be a little lower maintenance.
This probably isn't very helpful but I think you should just go wherever is most convenient with a toddler...I'm pretty sure you will see almost every single part of the world at some point, so its not like you won't ever go to Africa or whatever, kwim?
This probably isn't very helpful but I think you should just go wherever is most convenient with a toddler...I'm pretty sure you will see almost every single part of the world at some point, so its not like you won't ever go to Africa or whatever, kwim?
I also say New Zealand! There's just so much political instability right now in some of the other countries that scares me. One of my girlfriends, her husband, and their daughter are moving to OMAN in August! (Her husband got an international teaching contract) While it's beautiful I am going to worry about them
My in-laws just got back from South Africa and LOVED it! I don't know if they had to have any strange vaccinations, though. I'll have to ask. It's something I worry about with traveling internationally too. To be honest, I'm kind of scared of traveling internationally at all right now. We've been to Mexico several times, once with our oldest, but I wouldn't go there right now. It's really scary with all the kidnappings and stuff they have there. I've seen some HORRIBLE stories on tv about this and kids getting stolen for sex trafficing. Ick. Disgusting.
Gosh you are well travelled! Where abouts in Europe have you been?
I think a New Zealand cruise sounds like the safest option (vax wise I mean) with a young child. Dubai would be amazing but as you said, I've heard lots of stories of people being arrested for not wearing enough clothes or kissing in public. I've also heard of people having amazing holidays there too. We are off to France this summer I think, which should be nice and easy as we can drive there so we can jam pack the car with everything needed for the kids. Hope you find someone good!
For our honeymoon we went to Paris for a few days and then did a Mediterranean cruise which hit about 8 countries in 12 days, so it was a whirlwind tour but we got to see a lot. We also went to Munich for a conference and then took some side trips to Austria and Prague, CR. We've also done England and Ireland, and another conference in Como, Italy. On the way home from India we did a detour in Amsterdam, Germany, and Brussels for a couple of days. We still haven't done the Scandinavian countries, which we really should do because both DH and I are Scandinavian.
We've been lucky because DH and I both occasionally get to go to conferences in nice places and we'll tag along with the other one. 2007 was the best; I got to go to Puerto Rico for a week and DH went with me. My company paid for the trip all except for his ticket. We stayed in a really nice resort and all I had to do was give a 45 minute talk. Then he had a conference in Melbourne, Australia and it was pretty much the same thing but he gave the talk. Then I had another one that same year in Orlando, FL, and I have family there anyway. So, we had 3 awesome vacations in one year where all we had to pay for were the plane tickets.
Last Dec. there was an opportunity for me to go to a conference in Hong Kong, where I normally would kill to go, but and I had to beg NOT to be sent. Juliana didn't have her vax and there wouldn't have been time to get her passport, and there was no way I would have left her behind for a week. Life surely has changed.
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Mariah, AP Mommy to Juliana
Last edited by Jule'sMomInOR; April 18th, 2011 at 05:28 PM.
