baldone

A cruise from Puerto Montt, Chile to Puerto Natales. Explore the fjords. Then a luxury stay at Explora Salto Chico at Torres Del Paine. Sigh. A guy can dream, can't he?
https://www.navimag.com/es/explora-la-patagonia-en-ferry-navimag
https://www.explora.com/es/lodge/torres-del-paine/

Fra_Diavolo

I set a goal of visiting every modern country the territory of which was once part of the Roman Empire. However the political situation in North Africa and parts of the Middle East make that rather difficult. Algeria, Libya, West Bank, Syria, Iraq etc. I suppose I should concentrate on Eastern Europe, adding stamps to my passport and picking up the odd ruin.

Sassafrass

Would love to see Petra. Was almost close enough in Israel, but plans changed.

goddesstogo

We've been thinking about going to Israel for years but never got around to it. Last December was our 50th anniversary and that was going to be our anniversary trip. Now I don't know if we'll ever get there.
If covid has taught me one thing, it's don't put anything off till later.

HappyTrvlr

Several years back our next trip idea was to visit Burma/ Myanmar. Due to human rights violations and military take over it is permanently off of our wish list!
We are so glad that we went to Egypt and Jordan in January 2020 before everything was closed down.

eliztravels2

Madagascar. We were booked to go in September 2020. It is not a destination for the faint of heart and by the time it feels safe, we may feel too old . (Hubby is already 81). Besides, we spent the money on a kitchen reno.

thursdaysd

Central Asia and Iran. I've wanted to visit ever since I realized the Silk Road was a possibility again. I did travel the eastern end from Xi'an into Pakistan (2001), and some of the western in the Caucasus and Middle East (2009), but it was the middle section that I really wanted to see. I finally made it to Uzbekistan in 2016, but I suspect health issues are going to keep Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan out of reach.

I've also planned to visit Tunisia three times and backed off each time.

Tibet is a problem. I'd love to get there, by train, but can't work up any enthusiasm for revisiting China under the current regime.

(BTW, I did travel on Navimag's Evangelista, and a luxury hotel afterwards is not a bad idea. I would recommend following up with the bus-boat trip from Puerto Varas to Bariloche.)

girlonthego

We are supposed to be on a tour in October to Israel and Jordan. We were supposed to go there last October 2020 but covid happened. Now I am getting pretty doubtful about our upcoming tour this October. I haven't changed plans yet because I scored first class seats on points and the point redemption was ridiculously in my favor at the time. Our same seats going over to Israel now require 4 x more points than I would have. I have looked at future dates and the point redemptions are all 4x. So if I change I will be in cattle class in the back. Of course the Delta variant, closed borders, covid testing, and the possibility of recent unrest also have a big part to play in my doubt.
I guess I will give it one more shot next year if this year doesn't pan out but some of these places in the world just seem farther and farther away these days.

goddesstogo

girlonthego, do you mind sharing the name of your tour company? And is it US?
I have a friend who loved, loved, loved her tour and the people on it but it was quite expensive to start with and that's not even counting the Canadian/US exchange rate. Plus, of course you have to add on airfare.

girlonthego

Tauck , and they are expensive but I heard fabulous. We have never been on a tour before. Schmerl here went on this exact tour a few years ago and loved it. I believe they are US based? It will be the most expensive trip we have ever taken and I am really looking forward to it but it may not happen this year. The airfares we opted to get on our own because we had points. Airfare is extra on the tour. Most meals are included and from what I have read, if you have lunch with the tour group, and you are on your own for dinner, you probably won't be hungry that night. They feed you well.
I chose Tauck because I wanted a good tour with good guides. People that really know the area well. Tour not too big and know how to get people in and out quickly if there is political trouble happening. I never factored in a pandemic when planning. I wanted to go Oct. 2019 but it was fully booked 8 months in advance. So we went to Ireland in October, which was great fun, and I booked Israel for 2020, then for 2021, and now we will see. When I changed the trip, my point exchange became much better and we landed in first class. I told my kids that I feel like just taking the flight in first lay flat beds and if the trip doesn't work, I fly back lol. We have flown first class, but never overseas or in lay flat beds.

goddesstogo

Thanks so much, gontheg. I expect it will be the most expensive trip of our lifetime too. I have to remember to factor in all the money we haven't spent on travel since 2019, though. That might make me feel better about it.

sundowner

Walruses. When the males haul out onto the islands and beaches around Alaska.

schmerl

girlonthego, I hope you get to take the trip and if so, they are able to visit all the places they normally visit.
They divided the group in half for most of the tours and we were assigned local guides. It was a fantastic trip and very educational and moving. I cried several times.

girlonthego

schmerl, I am not sure if it will be a go this year and I am getting resigned to that. With the new delta variant, it may just be the icing on the cake. But if it does not, than we will book for next year, again.

pearlatkings

Hi girlonthego, if you were able to go, please update us. We'd love to know how it went for you and hopefully, we'll be able to go too.

schmerl

I'm not girlonthego, but I know her trip was cancelled and she'll try again next year.

zebec

Baldone, this was a great idea for a post! Every one of us could relate to the various responses.
Patagonia has been a destination that we have kept putting off and off and off, and now I'm not so sure that its still 'in the cards'. I once read a story in one of those LP anthology books a few years ago, a true tale written by a widow whose stubborn 60-something husband had a few years earlier insisted on hiking Patagonia, even though his fitness level was not what it used to be. He unfortunately died there after a cardiac incident. That story has served as a cautionary tale for me--I am now the exact same age as he apparently was then.

Just a philosophical aside here. We've found that as time passes, our Tao of Travel seems more about 'the degree of enjoyment that we experience wherever' with far, far less fretting about countries/experiences that we've somehow missed ("Oh Nepal, I never got to see you!").

I am done. the no-regrets attitude

baldone

"Just a philosophical aside here. We've found that as time passes, our Tao of Travel seems more about 'the degree of enjoyment that we experience wherever' with far, far less fretting about countries/experiences that we've somehow missed ("Oh Nepal, I never got to see you!")."
Can't disagree with that. At one time, our" bucket list" was to visit every Spanish speaking country in the world after our proficiency with the language was such that that we felt confident enough to go anywhere. We had a Spain trip planned about 11 years ago then Mexico beckoned. Now we're satisfied with exploring the nooks and crannies of our adopted home. Road trip along the Gulf coast states and on into the Yucatan is on the horizon, covid permitting. We did sneak in a Colombia trip for our 35th. Ecuador remains an option. Does Texas count?

girlonthego

pearlatkings: No the tour was cancelled by Tauck. Israel was just not sure what would be open for tourism and so they cancelled our tour. We would be leaving tomorrow! We are booked for next October so hopefully, third times a charm! They did give us some money towards rebooking our trip. (The trips go up every year. So, this about covered that). They also gave us 500 towards what British Air penalized us for cancelling. BA wanted to keep their ridiculous taxes, 1200 for two tickets. They gave us the points back for the "free tickets"with the very expensive taxes and that was only one way. They charged us 220 to return our tax money and would not return our extra payment for designated seats, which was about 300. I felt very nickel and dimed by them. But all in all, we were out only about 40$. Delta gave us our points back and returned some tax money, very small amount paid.
Hoping by October 2022, the world is in a better place.

Thanks schmerl for replying!

zebec

Si Ecuador, under-rated country, at least for mountains. Of course, you could also visit the Galapagos then as well. I admire your having pursued those nooks and crannies in your adopted home Baldone! Our neighbours did the same with their own adopted home Nicaragua these past 2 decades, while renting their house out here. They just finally sold that home here a few months ago.

I am done. the Canadian sicario