For me it was going to Marrakech when I was 14, I always recommend Morocco as the best vacation spot

For me a sailing trip to Turkey in 2010. seven days of sailing with four friends, beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, laid back. The city I felt most as peace was Cádiz, Spain. I went there on a train trip and I came from Morocco at the time. Haven't visited Marrakech though, only Tanger and Casablanca.

Scotland in 2002. Went on a hiking trip in the Highlands with Mountain Travel Sobek. Saw beautiful scenery and met my future wife. We've been married for 15+ years.

johns624 wrote:

Scotland in 2002. Went on a hiking trip in the Highlands with Mountain Travel Sobek. Saw beautiful scenery and met my future wife. We've been married for 15+ years.

That will certainly qualify

Every trip I have ever taken as an adult is the best. Hawaii, Dog River, Puerto Vallarta, Kansas City, Fargo, Sedona..... pick one and it was great. Even the weekend trips to Reno from the Bay Area were fun. I am one of those "It is the journey and not the destination" types.

One of my best vacations was last year November to Hanoi. Never been to Vietnam and was not sure what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness and politeness of the people, the great food and coffee scene of Hanoi, and the incredible sights of the country.

Old - Staying with my old man on his various biz trips summer of '95 - NRT, HKG, CAN (when it was still a smallish city), BKK, HKT, CNX, and SIN. An exciting two months full of new foods, experiences, and lots of classic 747 and Tristar flights.

New - going with the missus to UAE and ZAR this last spring. Had the beaches to ourselves in DXB, and spent time getting to know her early years in CPT and the Eastern Cape. Look forward to next time.

Japan, Hawaii and Palau in no particular order.

Even though I was doing school work at the time, I'd have to say that my 2016 Thanksgiving cruise was one of the best vacations I've ever had. It was the first time I took a trip all on my own, with no expectations whatsoever. It was my first time traveling with NCL and visiting Mexico, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. The best thing was booking excursions for all the stops.

Once I'm done with my degree (1 more week as of the time of writing) I expect to notch up a few more destinations around the world.

New Zealand in late May/Early June 1994, or early Winter there. At that time, not too many from the Eastern USA traveled there. A long ride from EWR via ORD to LAX then 12 hours to AUK and a short flight to CHC. I drove a 'backpacker' rental car, a 10 year old Toyota with a bad 3rd gear syncro, on the south island, saw spectacular scenery, did a 140 Ft. Bungee Jump (with video to prove it). Then a ferry to the North Island, driving a Mazda 323 to the beauty of it including volcanoes, hot springs, forested areas, bits of the coastline and a day in Auckland. All the trip had friendly people, reasonable costs and well worth it. The closest to NZ for me and also one of my favorite areas of the USA, Washington and Oregon.

Back in 2008, when I was in my early 20s, my company was relocating and I took voluntary redundancy. My wife was between jobs and we decided to travel the world for 3 months as we weren't sure when the opportunity would arise again so we just decided to hang the cost.

We researched and booked everything ourselves (including oneworld Explorer First Class tickets) and went balls out on the hotels, eating out, the lot. Our first stop was San Francisco (where her brother lived) and from there went to England, Dubai, Vienna, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo (and surrounding area), Singapore, South Island of New Zealand, Sydney, NYC, Chicago and Alaska. Other than England, San Francisco and NYC none of them were places we had both been before.

It was a lot of planning but a lot of fun and everything went surprisingly smoothly! Except the marriage which went by the wayside some 5yrs later! I wrote up trip reports for almost all of the 23 flights at the time.

Other than that one off my favourite single trip would be a SE Asia trip my wife and I did this summer. Hong Kong, Bali and Macau over the space of a couple of weeks. My wife is amazingly good on the restaurants side of things so despite it being her first trip to Hong Kong and my fourth she found all these crazy good places from hole in the wall noodle shops and clay pot rice joints to 3 Michelin star places, and brunch with bottomless Dom Perignon. Plus I never tire of staying at The Peninsula in Hong Kong. In Bali we had an ocean villa with private pool at this amazing small resort. Cathay Pacific First HKG-JFK is never a bad way to round off a trip either...

this thread makes me want to go on vacation NOW!

so many wonderful trips, i can't pick one. great for different reasons. going backpacking with horses into the wilderness areas in Wyoming with my extended family, for three weeks was so special and something i will always remember. The younger kids rode horses, which also carried our tents. Another great trip was Greece, Japan, China and Belize totally different trips but totally amazing.

I went to a ski resort in Formigal, Spain, located in the Pyrenees mountains. Extremely beautiful, and very nice people.

I also had the opportunity to go to Alaska, which is the most majestic, and beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

Youth hostelling on the Rhine valley when i was sixteen. Beautiful Rhine Castles in the sunshine, plus could drink beer as a sixteen year old!

Hard to say. We usually try to go off the beaten path on our trips. We honeymooned in Hawaii, went off the beaten path and accidentally stumbled upon an elderly couple skinnydipping in the ocean. But it was worth it, a little bit further along and we found the petroglyphs we were looking for. We always try to eat at restaurants away from the main tourist areas. Worked great in Hawaii, and worked even better in Mexico. Don't get me wrong, resort food can be good. But it doesn't come close to what you can get at local places. Especially with the right recommendations from local guides and what not.

My kids are still young but we rented a beach house with friends in the gulf. That was fun. And we didn't kill each other. Only reason I mention it is because my son actually asked me when we would be doing that again. So it clearly left an imprint on his 4 year old brain.

Plane spotting at PAE & a trip to the Air & Space Museum in D.C. - what's memorable about the trip was the fact that I scored a sweet deal with QR, paying around $650 for KUL-IAD-LAX-KUL, which is basically the average KUL-EU prices. They never made such crazy deals again, at least in the last two years that I've looked.

Another trip that's memorable, although I wouldn't call it a vacation, is a one-night hop to TPE to catch Coldplay in action. A friend & I had spontaneously decided to catch them in Taiwan since their concerts in Singapore, Manila & Bangkok were sold out and we really had a time of our lives that night. Front row tickets helped!

Four days in London, all by my lonesome when I flew Concorde. Just nice to take a trip and not have to talk but listen and take everything and everyone in.

2 weeks in Calgary, Alberta and in Banff and Lake Louise in the dead of Winter and driving the Trans Canada Highway in a deadly Alberta Clipper storm.

Traveling by MotorHome in Australia from Sydney to Carins and return back in 1982. Motor Home trip winter time in New Zealand both islands in 1989. Both were great, being treated by locals were outstanding and being invited by other campers for dinner, Best cruise was on the Star Flyer from Cannes,in 2004 which featured the French Riviera, down to Ibiz, and Barcelona, and some other stops,like St. Tropez and Monaco. Great trip with 150 other travelers.

Having travelled since I was very young and visited most areas of the globe I want to I have been fortunate to see many countries and interesting places. The two that come to mind as really up there in my top 5 are a two week trip to Iran and a week in the Maldives. Obviously very different in terms of experiences but equally enjoyable.

When I worked in the airline industry for a few years.. was crazy about this "holy s/// where are we now? Can this be real??" feeling. Where you realize the world is real. You can just appear, without a huge amount of planning and anticipation. It becomes normal to live at a very high speed. There is nothing like non revving.

My favorite trips were with family in Hawaii or Italy many years ago... 1980s. Kids remember everything, sights and smells.

My wife and I flew to Alaska in 2016 and then took a road trip around a good part of the state...Anchorage, Fairbanks, Arctic Circle, Valdez and other places. Great scenery at every turn and what a beautiful state! Ready to go there again for sure.

Alaska in 2016, Denali, Anchorage, Soldotna, Seward, Homer. It was all amazing! Fishing, kayaking, hiking, all of it. It was the most amazing trip, especially with the family coming along

New Zealand. And here's why - I go to New Zealand a lot for work...several times each year. But I had never taken a holiday to New Zealand. I was finally able to go, with my wife, and explore the country that I had been to so many times but had never truly seen aside from conference rooms. It was nice waking up each morning and not having to go to work.

It's Hawaii for me so at the moment. Best one week trip with off-road adventures/camping. It was forecasted to rain whole week so we installed additional fog lights for visibility and bakflip tonneau cover on the truck. Only had 2 days of rain and all sunny the next days, we enjoyed the scenery very much.

Seychelles, La Digue specifically. Most gorgeous place ever! You can spend all day diving, surfing, horse riding, mountainbiking or laze at the beach if that's your thing
For vacation I prefer being "off the grid" as much as possible and spend as much time as possible in nature and just relaxing. I'm cool with sleeping in a tent while hiking and mountainbiking across Alaska for three weeks, my wife not so much though, she prefers a certain level of comfort. To combine both places like the Seychelles are ideal. Close second is Vanuatu, Mauritius takes third.
The Maldives are amazing too and I enjoyed many stays there in the mid to late 2000s, but in the past decade radical islam has taken a foothold there so it's no longer a viable option unfortunately.

The last time I was in Japan is my favorite. I made new friends while travelling with old friends.

But every other trip I've been on has been amazing in some way or another. Hell I loved my trips to Fargo, Spokane/Coeur d'Alene, Kileen, Tucson, etc... just as much as I loved my trips to Sydney, Paris, Belize, etc...

99% of my trips are done by air. I'm like a little kid that gets a big toy for Christmas only to play with the box.

In the days before digital cameras I took a month off work in September and flew to America for the first time, on a big old D10 with Continental airlines. Decided to drive all along the coast of California, was amazing. Big Sur, Monterey, Pebble Beach, San Diego, San Fran, Napa. Then after a few nights in San Francisco I drove in land to Yosemite Park and had four nights in a log cabin. Hands down the best four days and nights of my life, took reels and reels of photos, describing the scenery does not do it justice, you really have to see and smell it, God what a place.

Rio de Janeiro 1989. I traveled from EZE aboard a DC-10 Eastern airlines. I spent a month among beautiful beaches, splendid clubs, beautiful girls, good food and caipirinha. I was 27 years old and I had a lot of success. I think that until now this was my best vacations and Rio has a very special place in my heart.

2017 when my dad came to Australia for 3 weeks. Took him down to Melbourne and then over to New Zealand. Highlights were Phillip Island in AU and Queenstown/Milford Sound in NZ.

johns624 wrote:

Scotland in 2002. Went on a hiking trip in the Highlands with Mountain Travel Sobek. Saw beautiful scenery and met my future wife. We've been married for 15+ years.

I'm close. My best trip would have been on the USS Long Beach to Perth where I did meet my future wife who was born in Dundee. (I also preferred that trip to the previous deployment where we went to Sydney and I was initiated into the mysteries of the deep. I still have my certificate proving for all to see that I am a Shellback!)

Perth was grand and I only drove on the wrong side of the road once - right into St. George's Terrace.

Second best trip was the first time the wife and I went to the UK. A week in London (with great shows like Buddy) then a train to Leister where we rented a car, drove to the Lake District (everyone should see that) then up to Scotland. We crossed Scotland, on the east side we went to Dundee then headed west. The weather was beyond belief in May. We slept with the windows open at our hotel and wore short sleeves throughout.

Best sight of the day is Hadrian's Wall. As you drive east to the visitor's shop you will notice that a LOT of homes and other buildings that are made of stone - the same size stone that was used to build the wall, and now appears missing from the wall!

1. A 2 week skiing holiday visiting 2 resorts in Austria and Switzerland (Nauders and Ischgl/Samnaun) and with my daughter
2. A 1 week sailing vacation from Bodrum, visiting Simi, Rhodes and Kos. A 100ft gulet with 4 crew members and 4 guests - basically all you had to do yourself was wipe your bottom
3. A music festival in Denmark with a group of friends. 1 week of heavy drinking, smoking herbs and great music. My liver is yet to recover ...

4 day trip to Vegas in March 2016. Even thought I went to Vegas several times that year, that specific trip I took my parents down since they've never been there which was cool in itself, but it was the fact that was the last vacation I was able to take with my mom before she passed away made it the best vacation ever.

I've been on some great vacations; hard to pick just one. Certainly the first time I went to Japan was a life-changing experience - I was alone (it was technically for work, though my job was doing stuff I'd have done on vacation), and it was the first time I'd been anywhere outside of the western hemisphere, and really the first time ever in a non-English speaking country. You'd think that'd make it kind of a fish out of water experience, but instead it did the opposite - it really opened my mind to a lot of new things, and made me realize just how culturally biased I'd been up to that point (and how culturally biased most other people are). Japan is very westernized for an Asian country, obviously, but since it was my first time in Asia, that was probably good to ease me into it. I probably would have had more culture shock than anything positive if I'd gone to a more "pure" Asian country first.

If I can pick another one because that was technically a business trip, then I'll say my first trip to Sint Maarten around 4 years ago with my wife. I'm from New York, I'd never been to the Caribbean and SXM and Maho Beach were always a bucket list item for me anyway. We went in February when it was super-cold here, and everything about the place was exactly as advertised, and it more than lived up to the hype. Beyond getting to see some of the last 747's flying in to the island from the beach, we also just explored everything we could on the island on our own - Grand Case, Marigot, Philipsburg, Orient Bay, Simpson Bay, etc. Had some of the best food we've ever had both at French restaurants and some of the LOLO's, went to a different beach every day, and stayed at a perfect hotel (the Princess Heights) in a really relaxing area with a great view. I was really depressed when it came time to leave and come home.

We've been back three times since then; it's honestly getting a little too built-up for us now (even since just a few years ago) and of course last year things were a little depressing after the hurricane, but I'm sure the island will come back.

Hard to chose just one holiday as the best - but my top five would be [probably] Japan Vietnam Sicily Peru and my most recent trip to India.

Difficult to say since I've been on so many great vacations, however I think my most recent one has to be the best. 5 days in Los Angeles, got to see Hollywood and the Santa Monica pier / Venice Beach. Took a dip in the ocean at Santa Monica beach. Also I went all the way up to the Hollywood letters on the mountain, walking (hiking) the Aileen Getty Ridge Trail. This was less than 2 months ago.

By the way, I'm from the Netherlands so it was quite a long flight for just 5 days there. Those 5 days included 3 travel days, so actually it was down to 3 full days in Los Angeles. Far too little to see everything, but enough to get an impression.

Last year I went to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Phuket and also saw some of the Thai country side. I shared the trip with my beloved ex flew a bunch of awesome planes (359, 77W, 346, 744). Hong Kong is a fantastic city with fantastic people and fantastic food, so vibrant and full of life. Far more beautiful than I had imagined from pictures. Bangkok is amazing, just as good as st louis or chicago for seeing live blues, the temples, the food, the street culture, the beauty everywhere, the people, just top notch. The thai country side is also very beautiful, and so is Phuket, although Patong is a little wild trashy and touristy for my taste it was an experience to see. Next time I will go to Krabi over Phuket but I really wanted to see the planes land on the beach and watch the superbowl, which i knew i could do in Patong.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Difficult to say since I've been on so many great vacations, however I think my most recent one has to be the best. 5 days in Los Angeles, got to see Hollywood and the Santa Monica pier / Venice Beach. Took a dip in the ocean at Santa Monica beach. Also I went all the way up to the Hollywood letters on the mountain, walking (hiking) the Aileen Getty Ridge Trail. This was less than 2 months ago.

By the way, I'm from the Netherlands so it was quite a long flight for just 5 days there. Those 5 days included 3 travel days, so actually it was down to 3 full days in Los Angeles. Far too little to see everything, but enough to get an impression.

Wow! You thought those tourist filled over-rated sites were beautiful! Come back to Los Angles, and hit the less popular spots like the back side of Catalina -- https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=8vzsbjdI&id=1F14F45332833E09244F6AAC0DE09FAC9C65E9AA&thid=OIP.8vzsbjdIuwxUXvq2ngQuYgHaFk&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.mountainphotography.com%2fimages%2flarge%2f201304_catalina-little-harbor.jpg&exph=602&expw=800&q=little+harbor+catalina&simid=608008771641737807&selectedIndex=1&ajaxhist=0--
Or other places like crystal cove or the Angles national forest and you will be blow out of your mind. The same thing happened to me. I hit the hotspots my first trip and loved it, did the less popular spots the 2nd time and started to think LA was one of the best cities in the world (save for the smog and traffic).

readytotaxi wrote:

In the days before digital cameras I took a month off work in September and flew to America for the first time, on a big old D10 with Continental airlines. Decided to drive all along the coast of California, was amazing. Big Sur, Monterey, Pebble Beach, San Diego, San Fran, Napa. Then after a few nights in San Francisco I drove in land to Yosemite Park and had four nights in a log cabin. Hands down the best four days and nights of my life, took reels and reels of photos, describing the scenery does not do it justice, you really have to see and smell it, God what a place.

Being British you must be familiar with the celebrity chef RICK STEIN, a year or so ago he did a short series traveling down the Californian coast by car and was retracing a holiday that he took when he was in his late teens when he hired a car and was reminiscing and obviously took in the food along the way.

He did the exact same trip as yourself visiting all those places and he said on the show that after all his travels around the world that particular trip stands out as his all time favourite.

I'm sure that it must be online to view maybe on YouTube as it might be of interest to you.

My personal favourite has to be my first ever Safari in Kenya when I was 20yo followed by Thailand also when I was 20yo.

In more recent times my third best holiday was traveling throughout the former Yugoslavia taking in Bosnia Herzogovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia, marvellous scenery, different cultures, amazing food, beautiful old towns but I've yet to revisit the area as I need to do so as I want add Serbia to that list then the the former Yugoslavia is done.

Once I've done Serbia that just leaves Albania, Belarus, Cyprus, Lithuania and Moldova as my five missing countries within Europe although to be honest Cyprus doesn't hold any appeal to me whatsoever although I know that I will have to visit the country at some point.

Everytime I visit a new country I add it to my online world map and once those five remaining European countries are added then Europe is fully covered.

In the Far East and South East Asia I'm missing Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Papua New Guniea.

Australia for me.

I've had an interest and emotional connection to Australia since I was about 6, my school teacher had been thereon holiday, which was quite something in those days and I was inspired by what she told us. A few years later I remember seeing a B742 of Qantas sat over in the BA maintenance area at LHR, must have been around 78/79. So I always had a strong attachment to Qantas since. Fast forward to 2010 and one of my friends said she was getting married (in MEL). Well I'd better buy a ticket i said. Feb 11 I'm standing in the departure gate looking at VH-OJQ. A trip to Australia, it would only be on one airline. I actually felt quite emotional to finally do a trip of a life time. 10 times I've been back since and 80 flights later on Qantas / Qantaslink I've travelled to the deserts of WA, the rainforests of QLD, mountains of Tasmania. Been to the Qantas museum, looked at stars in the dark and remoteness of Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and beautiful Magnetic Island, the list goes on and I won't bore you all with that. I love the people and the country, its history and natural world. I've been to a number of sporting events, including Aussie Rules which I didn't understand but I also try to catch a rugby union game when I can. The British and Irish Lions (rugby union team made up of players from 4 international teams) toured in 2013 and played a 3 test series. I managed to see 3 of the games including 2 test matches. Fantastic experience singing with fans from other countries, and enjoying ourselves. Unforgettable. I flew on the first nonstop flight from the UK this year, something I was determined to do once it was first mentioned, another notable experience. Already planning the next trip for 2019.

stl07 wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Difficult to say since I've been on so many great vacations, however I think my most recent one has to be the best. 5 days in Los Angeles, got to see Hollywood and the Santa Monica pier / Venice Beach. Took a dip in the ocean at Santa Monica beach. Also I went all the way up to the Hollywood letters on the mountain, walking (hiking) the Aileen Getty Ridge Trail. This was less than 2 months ago.

By the way, I'm from the Netherlands so it was quite a long flight for just 5 days there. Those 5 days included 3 travel days, so actually it was down to 3 full days in Los Angeles. Far too little to see everything, but enough to get an impression.

Wow! You thought those tourist filled over-rated sites were beautiful! Come back to Los Angles, and hit the less popular spots like the back side of Catalina -- https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=8vzsbjdI&id=1F14F45332833E09244F6AAC0DE09FAC9C65E9AA&thid=OIP.8vzsbjdIuwxUXvq2ngQuYgHaFk&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.mountainphotography.com%2fimages%2flarge%2f201304_catalina-little-harbor.jpg&exph=602&expw=800&q=little+harbor+catalina&simid=608008771641737807&selectedIndex=1&ajaxhist=0--
Or other places like crystal cove or the Angles national forest and you will be blow out of your mind. The same thing happened to me. I hit the hotspots my first trip and loved it, did the less popular spots the 2nd time and started to think LA was one of the best cities in the world (save for the smog and traffic).

As a LA resident, I have to agree with you . No, but seriously, some tourists say that LA is overrated, and they base this on a week long trip doing only the main tourist spots everyone else does. This city and the surrounding areas have so much more to offer, from the desert to the sea with all the beautiful scenery in between. Oh, and don’t forget our perfect year round weather with comfortable temperatures and guaranteed sunshine year round. Take this week for instance, we are looking at clear skies and temperatures ranging from 70-83F/21-28C over the coming days. Gosh, I love this city!

I could break this down into 3:
Most formative: My first trip to Brazil in 2003. This was the first time I ever flew long haul by myself. Going alone, plus reading about crime in Rio de Janeiro, I recall being very nervous boarding the flight. I don't think I slept at all that night. Got there, was taken to the apartment I rented in Ipanema, and ended up having an amazing time in a beautiful country. Traveled around SE Brazil by bus, then back to Rio. Was definitely a confidence boosting exercise.
Most relaxing: Lisbon. Beautiful city, and wonderful, friendly people. Spent a week there taking a few day trips and had a spectacular time. Great fun, a place I want to return to.
Most mind blowing: Tokyo. Anthony Bourdain said Tokyo changed the way he thought about cities. He was right. Tokyo felt very foreign to me, and was like a giant puzzle trying to figure it all out. Makes you realize what it is like to be illiterate, since I couldn't read the kanji, and very few signs are in English. My first time there was a 2 day stopover on the way back from somewhere else in Asia. I was so fascinated, I returned for a week long stay about 6 months later.Eating sushi in Japan will spoil you forever. Even lunch counter sushi in Tokyo is better than 90% of what we get in the US.

Key West. Just an amazing place to visit. No need for a car, everything is reachable on foot or bicycle. The people are just something else. They're unique, they're kind, welcoming. It's truly a relaxing atmosphere from the moment you step off the plane. Then there's the fun landing at EYW that's just the icing on the cake, especially on a 737.

5 days on Italy's Cinque Terre. Hands down. AMORE!!!!!

Panama City, Panama. April 2018. My very first solo vacation in a foreign country, though I chose Panama because of childhood memories. It was the very first foreign country I ever visited back in September 1987.

This is always a difficult question. I've been lucky to travel to some amazing places but one of my all time favorites had been to Burma in 2013. It was special mostly because at the time there were not a lot of tourists and the experiences with the locals were quite genuine. You were greeted very warmly as you walked down the street. People would stop and want to take a photo with you. If you looked lost people would try to help you out, regardless of the language barrier.

It was also pretty special because there was very little use of machinery and most things in the field were still being done with ox and wooden plows.

It was also the first time I circumnavigated the globe, unintentionally and unplanned. I was due to fly out of MSP to NRT, however, the day before was the LAX shooting and so Delta was backed up with getting people out and were looking for volunteers to be bumped. I was due to have a few days in Bangkok before flying to Burma but since I'd been to Bangkok previously i volunteered. They were offering $1000 vouchers and hotel, however, i asked if there was any possibility of them putting me on a flight to AMS and then on the next day with KLM to Bangkok. They agreed but were unable to get me on the flight to Bangkok the next day. It was fine by me because i have family in the Netherlands and was able to see them for a day before flying in to Bangkok. After my month long adventure in Burma I was put on my original flights home to MSP via NRT. So in the end I flew : MSP - AMS - BKK - NRT - MSP

Too many to name! First off, I’ve lived in NYC and surrounding area for 60+ years, so all the sights are simply home to me.

Bahamas (in the 1970s); everything smelled like Aramis to me. Loved it!
Portugal, fascinating.
Niagara Falls; don’t laugh, it’s quite spectacular.
London; where to begin?
Paris; ditto.
Israel; forget politics and it’s one of the most thrilling places on earth.
Maine; my children and I wound up on the front page of the local newspaper after a gunfight; don’t ask!
Bermuda; honeymoon.
Cooperstown; baseball, beer, art, and opera, seriously!
Alaska; awesome, of course and flew on a DH Beaver!
Maui; my daughter’s ridiculous suggestion, until I got there and....,
Kauai, following year
Oahu, following year
Big Island, following year!
San Francisco, I left my heart....
I’m sure there are others, but these really stand out in my memory.

Will try to narrow this down, but honestly almost every trip I have like in some way

3- France/Belgium/Netherlands in 1998. 2nd time to Europe and after having been very sick for months. To be back on the road and seeing all the amazing things there was amazing.
2-India - in 2017, Mostly in Rajasthan, but was magnificent and if you embrace some of the chaos you will enjoy.
1- Africa in 2007 - Spent two week in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The safari in the Okavango was the most magnificent thing I have ever done. Leopard 3 feet from you - check, Penguins on the beach - check, Walking with Lions in Zimbabwe - check. The warmth of the people - check. Truly nothing else has been close.

Kanaapali, west shore of Maui. Hadn't had a vacation in 5 years (work!). Spent 10 days in a simple VRBO (Eldorado) with a three-minute walk to the coral sand beach.

DID NOTHING FOR 10 DAYS. Get up, have breakfast, head to beach, relax, lunch (experienced first Mai Tai), back to the beach. Repeat.

Didn't want to leave. Flew Hawaiian 767.

I grew up in an airline family, and was an airline brat who married an airline employee. I flew non-rev for the first 45 years of my life. I have been to 66 countries, and the trips keep getting better and better. My personal life goal is that the number of countries I have visited have to always exceed my age. I have maintained that goal since I was a teenager, and am now retired, with even more time to travel. My trips used to be focused on bigger cities, and now I tend to travel to smaller, more out of the way places.

Some of the best trips for me include:

Tahiti earlier this month. We took a one week cruise on Wind Star 4 masted sailing ship from Papeete to Bora Bora, and other Tahitian islands. The most beautiful ocean water I have ever seen. The underwater visibility was the best I have ever seen in the world. Nothing else I have seen compares to it. Hawaii and the Caribbean will never be the same.

Cinque Terre, Italy in April of 2018. Spectacular scenery as we hiked the five villages nestled on the coast.

Vietnam and Cambodia in 2014. Hanoi and Ha Long Bay on an overnight cruise was amazing, along with the spectacular caves. Seeing Angkor Wat (the largest religious monument in the world) in Cambodia was also a highlight. Took cooking classes in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

Kenya in 1977. Stayed at the famous Treetops Hotel. Over 50 elephants arrived during the evening hours below the hotel structure to gather around the salt lick. The hotel is known as the location where Princess Elizabeth acceded to the throne of the United Kingdom upon the death of her father, King George VI, while she was staying there in 1952

New Zealand in 2015. Spent one week on the North Island and one week on the South Island. Spectacular scenery and wonderful people.

N174UA wrote:

5 days on Italy's Cinque Terre. Hands down. AMORE!!!!!

I was there in April of 2018 for 3 days, and I totally agree with you. We hiked between the five villages.

Dieuwer wrote:

One of my best vacations was last year November to Hanoi. Never been to Vietnam and was not sure what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness and politeness of the people, the great food and coffee scene of Hanoi, and the incredible sights of the country.

I went to Hanoi in 2014. I completely agree with your observations. We spent a night on a "junk" boat in Halong Bay. Quite an experience.