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32 and Never Been Abroad or done anything Interesting

2»

Comments

  • #52
    jimgoose
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,180 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    Aglomerado wrote: »
    +1. And stay in hostels - not necessarily dormitories - if you want your own space you can get a single room, but the communal kitchen/ living areas mean you can interact with other guests if you like. This is what I do when I travel by myself.

    I would rather lock my self in the coal-shed and shave my head with a cheesegrater than go within a thousand yards of a hostel. Bored, sophisticated local ladies will assume that you are poor and carrying some hideous disease, and will instead wish to bounce up-and-down on the man who is staying here:

    http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-0711-ibis-antibes-sophia-antipolis/index.shtml

    ...which he can nowadays do for a rather reasonable €60 per night. I've used this one a few times, and I recommend it - quite nice.


  • #53
    enda1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,166 ✭✭✭enda1


    Go skiing for a week.


  • #54
    esforum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,420 ✭✭✭esforum


    few city breaks to start with, usual places. London, Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam.

    Then railing across europe. Fly into spmewhere cheap and easy to start from and go. If moneys no object at all then dont book, if you want to be sensible then do some prepaying and planning. Open tickets can work out well

    If it turns out the travel bug has well and truly bitten, open air tickets.

    From a meet people point of view group events like the charity walks, etc can work well if you are shy.


  • #55
    esforum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,420 ✭✭✭esforum


    few city breaks to start with, usual places. London, Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam.

    Then railing across europe. Fly into spmewhere cheap and easy to start from and go. If moneys no object at all then dont book, if you want to be sensible then do some prepaying and planning. Open tickets can work out well

    If it turns out the travel bug has well and truly bitten, open air tickets.

    From a meet people point of view group events like the charity walks, etc can work well if you are shy.


  • #56
    Aglomerado
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,780 ✭✭✭Aglomerado


    jimgoose wrote: »
    I would rather lock my self in the coal-shed and shave my head with a cheesegrater than go within a thousand yards of a hostel. Bored, sophisticated local ladies will assume that you are poor and carrying some hideous disease, and will instead wish to bounce up-and-down on the man who is staying here:

    http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-0711-ibis-antibes-sophia-antipolis/index.shtml

    ...which he can nowadays do for a rather reasonable €60 per night. I've used this one a few times, and I recommend it - quite nice.

    Good price.

    Just as an aside: The types of hostels I stay in are rather good with lots of extras - here's one I stayed in (lovely quiet private room) recently: https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g189158-d1201652-Reviews-Lisboa_Central_Hostel-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html

    Much more to them than stinky gap year backpackers! :D (I just find hotels a little bit impersonal if I'm away for more than a couple of days)


  • #57
    jimgoose
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,180 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    Aglomerado wrote: »
    Good price.

    Just as an aside: The types of hostels I stay in are rather good with lots of extras - here's one I stayed in (lovely quiet private room) recently: https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g189158-d1201652-Reviews-Lisboa_Central_Hostel-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html

    Much more to them than stinky gap year backpackers! :D (I just find hotels a little bit impersonal if I'm away for more than a couple of days)

    Mmm, not bad and I certainly see your point. However, to me there's nothing wrong with "impersonal" while on a trip, and the word "hostel" still makes me break into a cold sweat at the thought of sharing bunk-beds with a bisexual Rastafarian named Juergen. :pac:


  • #58
    Aglomerado
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,780 ✭✭✭Aglomerado


    jimgoose wrote: »
    Mmm, not bad and I certainly see your point. However, to me there's nothing wrong with "impersonal" while on a trip, and the word "hostel" still makes me break into a cold sweat at the thought of sharing bunk-beds with a bisexual Rastafarian named Juergen. :pac:

    :D

    I did see a naked Danish guy in one of the primitive hostels along the Camino de Santiago. He'd pulled his jocks up by the time I found my glasses. :(


  • #59
    jimgoose
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,180 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    Aglomerado wrote: »
    :D

    I did see a naked Danish guy in one of the primitive hostels along the Camino de Santiago. He'd pulled his jocks up by the time I found my glasses. :(

    This is the very thing - it's always Naked Danish Guy with his underpants issues, and never some hot young Bo Derek lookalike. :pac:


  • #60
    the_syco
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 37,305 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    Goto Amsterdam. Don't drink. Get high. Or stay sober, visit all the museums, Anne Franks house, Auschwitz, etc.


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  • #61
    RobertKK
    Registered Users Posts: 33,753 ✭✭✭✭RobertKK


    the_syco wrote: »
    Goto Amsterdam. Don't drink. Get high. Or stay sober, visit all the museums, Anne Franks house, Auschwitz, etc.

    That would be slightly out of the way...


  • #62
    ScumLord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    jimgoose wrote: »
    Mmm, not bad and I certainly see your point. However, to me there's nothing wrong with "impersonal" while on a trip, and the word "hostel" still makes me break into a cold sweat at the thought of sharing bunk-beds with a bisexual Rastafarian named Juergen. :pac:
    I would always at least check out the hostels. Some of them are fancy enough. The Bulldog in Amsterdam would be an example of an upmarket hostel. You can do the dorms, which were some of the nicest I'd ever seen. Private room, or a funky apartment. I wouldn't stay in a dorm anymore and sometimes the price of the single room is about the same as any other hotel, but the atmosphere is much better and they're much quirkier than hotels. People in hotels just want a place to sleep, in hostels they're out to meet people.


  • #63
    jimgoose
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,180 ✭✭✭✭jimgoose


    ScumLord wrote: »
    I would always at least check out the hostels. Some of them are fancy enough. The Bulldog in Amsterdam would be an example of an upmarket hostel. You can do the dorms, which were some of the nicest I'd ever seen. Private room, or a funky apartment. I wouldn't stay in a dorm anymore and sometimes the price of the single room is about the same as any other hotel, but the atmosphere is much better and they're much quirkier than hotels. People in hotels just want a place to sleep, in hostels they're out to meet people.

    Yes, sounds alright. The availability of private rooms and apartments increases the probability of running into normal people, I should say. :pac:


  • #64
    Pat Mustard
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    I'd start with a google of '1001 places to see...' etc and pick out five or ten places that I'd like to see or things I'd like to do.

    Examples; Great Barrier Reef, Inca Trail, Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Angkor, Fiji.

    And make a plan to go to those countries to see those places.

    Then it comes down to organising money and time off.


  • #65
    ScumLord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    jimgoose wrote: »
    Yes, sounds alright. The availability of private rooms and apartments increases the probability of running into normal people, I should say. :pac:
    Not so much normal people but interesting people. While the majority will be backpacking young ones, you get older people that have just been using hostels all their lives and tend to take longer tours that put hotels out of the equation because of price. You'll meet bands on tour, bikers doing tours, there are plenty of people in the same situation as the OP, they've been working their whole life and decided to pack it all in to spend some time traveling.

    You'll have people that did a load of research so know some good places to go, others that have been there before and know where to go, so you end up seeing some of the cooler parts of the city that you wouldn't even know exist without going to a hostel. There are also all kinds of offers running for the hostels, so you'll get much more bang for your buck.


  • #66
    valoren
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,515 ✭✭✭valoren


    London Science Museum.


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  • #67
    TheLastMohican
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,837 ✭✭✭TheLastMohican


    the_syco wrote: »
    Goto Amsterdam. Don't drink. Get high. Or stay sober, visit all the museums, Anne Franks house, Auschwitz, etc.

    And what about a visit to a you know what. I find a lot of these replies unbelievable. FFS, the guy is trying to vamp up his social life. Surely that means sex as well. Or am I doting?


  • #68
    recylingbin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,001 ✭✭✭recylingbin


    I was abroad once. Full of foreigners.
    Don't bother.


  • #69
    gandalf
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    Reactor wrote: »
    What would you do/where would you go to start if you were in your thirties and had never been anywhere or done anything exciting? I dont like partying/nightclubs so that kind of holiday can be ruled out, I suppose nice views and interesting museums/walks would be the kind Im looking for, moneys not really an issue, any suggestions welcome...

    Firstly OP you are a lucky bastard you'll get to see some great places for the first time.

    I agree with others short breaks around Europe is the best place to start.

    London is a great city with really good public transport in the form of the underground with loads to see. Plenty of world class museums, attractions, shopping and good restaurants. If you're into football catch a match.

    Paris is another great city to visit. The locals are not the friendliest but the attractions more than make up for it. You could easily spend a whole day in Louvre.

    Amsterdam is a really cool place that is easy to walk around. The red light zone aside there is loads of stuff to do and see here. Just watch out for the cyclists there are extremely militant :)

    I'd add Prague, Krakow, Rome, Bordeaux & Barcelona to the cities in Europe and New York is a must visit.


  • #70
    nacho libre
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,990 ✭✭✭✭nacho libre


    RobertKK wrote: »
    Iceland - scenery, volcanoes, geysers, waterfalls - lots of waterfalls, icebergs, glaciers, northern lights in non summer months.

    US - the national parks, something I am doing next year when I will be over to see the solar eclipse. Hope to visit several national parks.

    .

    If you make it to Yosemite park, could i recommend that you also go see Lake Tahoe on the border between Nevada and California. It really is a spectacular place.


  • #71
    justagirl
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 565 ✭✭✭justagirl


    Reactor wrote: »
    Maybe a week in Rome might be nice, although Simon Reeves Greece documentary last night was the reason I made this thread.

    Do you be bored on City Breaks? Like a city the size of London or Paris will be mostly just housing and offices wont it? It cant all be shops and museums, do you join tours or just make a shopping list before you go and tick the places off as you visit?

    You will never get bored in Rome. There is so much to see and experience - the history/architecture/the people/the food - it's just great. And if you wish - if you get yourself a good base you can pretty much walk all over Rome if you wish.

    Depends on what you want to do for your holiday - do you want to join up with a tour and group of people or experience it by yourself ? - the choices are endless. You'll never regret it :)


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