Vacation Spots

[Chaos_Theory!]

Ok, well im contemplating taking a break from paintball for a while and doing something ive always wanted to do but never have had the chance. I was wondering if any of you guys had suggestions on really nice places to go on vacation. It has to be a warm place outside the U.S. As of now im pretty set on Australia seeing as how both me and my GF have always wanted to go there. However, im open to suggestions so please post up. I love to hear about your experiences and suggestions. Thanks

Note: I posted this on PBN as well but in all honesty im not sure thatll go over well. Since there are more mature people here as well as older individuals i figured the responses here would be better.

[Recon by Fire]

Antigua or really anywhere in the Southern Caribbean.

But if you want to go "down under" how about New Zealand instead?

[geekwarrior]

Not sure what kinda vacation you like, the relax on the beach and drink cocktails, or the sightseeing, but Europe is pretty cool to tour. Australia sounds cool to, I've always wanted to go there. Take lots of pics!

[kosmo]

Heres some places Ive been and would recommend going:

Berlin- Best city ever. Ever.
Krakow- Great fun, but youre liable to get in trouble with the police for walking around with an open container. Who knew? :confused:
Prague- I went swimming in the river that XXX swam in. So did a dead rat. Cheap.
Sydney- Dont bring the gf. Australians put hormones in their chicken that makes the women there have huge knockers. Youll only get in trouble.
Chejudo- Small volcanic island off the southern tip of Korea. Like a cheap Hawaii. 15ish hour flight sucks. While youre in the area, you can hit up Seoul, which rocks, and take a ferry to Beijing, which doesnt rock so much.
Japan- It was ok. Expensive as all getout. Okinawa is kinda ghettoish, but decent scuba diving. Too many jarheads though.
Turkey- Its warm there. An Al Jazeera reporter swore to me that they have the most beautiful women on the planet. I didnt get to see any. Stupid army.
Bulgaria- Varna is a great beach city. Everything there is new since they rebuilt everything after communism. Lots of old Roman and Greek architecture. Like a cheaper, cleaner Greece.
Afghanistan- Uh... its warm?

If I had to recommend one out of those, I would say Varna. Wonderful place, dirt cheap, and a cheap train ride away from everywhere else in Europe. Not many Americans make it to Eastern Europe, so they dont know how friggin cool it is. Everyone goes to the Caribbean, thats lame. Australia is alright, but the cities arent different enough from American cities to justify flying that far.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Well the thing is, my GF really wants to go to Australia as well. Long before i met her i had wanted to go and the fact she wants to go makes that #1 right now.

So far 2 people have told me that since im considering Australia that New Zeeland is something i should look into. I may have to do that.

[Pacifist_Farmer]

Go cruising! all you can eat and you don't have to worry about all the other stuff!!

[SCpoloRicker]

I heartily recommend Eastern Europe. Way less expensive, less pretentious, and less tourists than Western Europe.

Check out Croatia, I spent a month there, as well as Montenegro, a cool beach area I also spent a month in.

[Triangle]

Molvania is always an excellent choice, too.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Im not really looking to go on a cruise since i did that about a year ago. Although it was fun id like to try something else. Thanks fpr the suggestions guys, ill look into them.

[kosmo]

New Zealand has pretty scenery. Thats it. Oh, theres sheep. Lots of sheep.

[PumpPlayer]

Primary question is - what's your budget?

You and your girlfriend? I'm not sure how serious you are (and it's none of my business anyhow) but just as a tip, I wouldn't take someone on a nice trip unless I was really, really, really serious. If you are serious (or at least if she thinks you are) understand that she will be expecting a proposal if you take her on a nice trip.

Now that we have that little bit out of the way, let's look at what you wanted...


Australia - Excellent country, best beer of anywhere I've ever been to, great food (especially if you like steak or seafood), plenty to do in any city, plenty to do outside of any city. Think America but with a more relaxed culture and a little bit warmer weather in general. It's like if you took America, added Canadian citizens, took away the mountains and turned the temperature up 10 degrees F - basically, that's Australia. If you like cities, people and culture, go there.

New Zealand is all the outdoors activities Australia misses out on. Hiking, biking, ATV/offroading, horseback, etc. Their beer isn't nearly as good, IMHO.

For NZ, you'll want to have an idea of activities before you go.
For Australia, just buy your plane tickets. Hotel reservations for the first few days if you're a real planning freak. Other than that, Australia is very much a show up and make it up as you go type of country. Do not book a travel plan or package to Australia, it's a waste of your money. You'll know what you want to do when you get there. More important than any other bit of advice, make sure to get out of Sydney. It's a great city, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot to do elsewhere. Don't restrict yourself to one hotel either. Change it up every day or two. Pack light - I suggest having only what you can comfortably carry at one time without the use of wheels of carts. Think a large backpack and one smaller bag each. Comfortable shoes. Don't bother bringing too many clothes because you can buy plenty when you're there. At the least, you'll want to buy a hat.

If you go to a city other than Sydney, I suggest Brisbane a few hours to the north. It's basically Sydney Lite but with a few touches that set it apart. Great casino, good food and you'll love all the sidewalk cafes that are open 24/7 that you can get a pint of beer anytime for about $1.75USD. Make sure to get out into the Ocean for snorkeling or diving.


Skip Japan, IMHO. It's good, but expensive and it's a bit of a culture shock to most Americans. A lot of people hate the food and their beer is sub-par as far as world beers go. Ditch China, Korea, Taiwan, etc. as well. Hong Kong is OK, but don't bother staying there for more than 2 or 3 days. If you want to fit in Hong Kong as a stop on a larger trip, that's the way to do it. Thailand is good, but mostly only for the tourist destinations. There's also several islands in the region that are tourist spots like Fiji or Bora-bora. I've not been to them but I would imagine that they're nice yet expensive.

Good luck.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Im pretty serious about the relationship as is the girl. However, since imho thats irrelevant to the situation i say we move on. lol

My budget is pretty good so i dont see that being an issue.

Thank you for the info, that has got to be one of the most informative posts ive gotten thus far.

Question - Since you seem to have been there what did your vacation consist of and about how much did it run you?

Thanks