2000 bucks, done school, where should I go?

[Clarkey]

I just finished my degree and I need to go on a trip to regain my sanity before I start working.

I have just over $2000 bucks to spend but I have no idea where to go. There are many places I would like to see but I want to get the best bang for my buck. I haven't done a lot of travelling so I don't have a good idea how far $2000 will go. Everybody I know is tied up with work so I'll be going solo.

Any suggestions? I'm not too picky and don't need to be pampered. I'm looking for an experience here.

[transplant99]

Single guy?

Key West Florida is a sweet place.

Vegas is anything you want to make it.

Europe is always a good choice as well if looking for a bit more culture.

Or follow the Flames around North America should they move on to the 2nd round and beyond.

[flamefan74]

For $2000 I can offer a week long experience at my house in Okotoks. While there, you can live like the locals and build decks, landscape yards, and finish basements. But act quickly, this is a limited time offer!

Actually, I like Tranny's idea of Dead Heading it around N.A. with the Flames. That would be a blast. Or maybe Costa Rica.

[Lanny_MacDonald]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Key West Florida is a sweet place.

If you're gay.

Vegas is anything you want to make it.

And really expensive. Not the way Vegas used to be.

Europe is always a good choice as well if looking for a bit more culture.

Great suggestion. My nephew did that and had the experience of a life time.

Or follow the Flames around North America should they move on to the 2nd round and beyond.

Awesome idea, but the last minute flights alone will cost more that Clarkey has to spend.

My suggestion is to do an all inclusive in Mexico (Cancun) or the Carribean. Cost effective, and still gives you plenty of opportunity to experience the culture and history if you like.

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Single guy?

Key West Florida is a sweet place.

Wouldn't South Beach in Miami be a better suggestion?

[Sample00]

I have a tour company that will do a 22 day/10 country escorted tour of Europe for about 2300.00. .
if you want to give me a buzz on monday, I can dig into it for you more.
the tour is designed exclusively for people aged 18-35.

[Knut]

I would definetly suggest Europe.... Axel's organized tour or just book hostels and backpack.... if you get to London/Frankfurt.. then you can take trains and coaches around Europe....

but for 2300 the organized tour sounds great.... money goes quick in Europe.. especially the UK and Scandanavia...

[Buzzard]

2k wont get you too far these days. Perhaps an all inclusive for a week in Mexico, Dominican, maybe Cuba. Good value, and it'll leave you a bit of spending money also. At $2000, hotels and transportation are pretty much out of reach anywhere else for more than a few days if you want to have spending money also.

Stormwatching on the west coast of Van Island is a cool thing to do to gather yourself back up. I think the storms are kind of petered out for the year, but Long Beach is awesome in any weather. When the suns out, it's as awesome as Hawaii, minus a few palm trees. If you have a car, drive from here to Jasper, across to Prince Rupert. Take the (I'm assuming there's a new boat?!) ferry down to the island. Great trip if you havnt experienced the west coast.

The weather''s starting to warm up in the BC interior. Another week or two and they pretty much have our summer temps. Lotsa lakes...do some fishing, camping, drinking...whatever. No big crowds to deal with yet either. I like travelling BC as much as anywhere. Such diverse scenery, and usually good weather.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

Wouldn't South Beach in Miami be a better suggestion?

Actually i MEANT the keys...not necessarily key west.

But South Beach...yup.

[Sample00]

Originally Posted by Hesla

I would definetly suggest Europe.... Axel's organized tour or just book hostels and backpack.... if you get to London/Frankfurt.. then you can take trains and coaches around Europe....

but for 2300 the organized tour sounds great.... money goes quick in Europe.. especially the UK and Scandanavia...

funny you should mention the backpacking/hostel thing.
A comparison was done and it was cheaper to do the tour than to do the same thing backbacking/hostel thing. In the tour most meals and accommodations are included. I think it worked out to about 25.00/day cheaper.

the same tour company also does tours of the USA and Canada. And again, this tour company only deals with adults aged 18-35. great way to meet some new people!

[Sample00]

here are some details of the tour.

Highlights

All these highlights along with city sightseeing are included in your tour price!

• Amsterdam: See the city by night; Visit a fishing & cheese village; Bicycle tour of the Dutch countryside; Visit a cheese farm and clog maker's house
• Berlin: See the remains of the Berlin Wall, the Tier Garden, the Russian War Memorial, the Brandenberg Gate & the Reichstag Parliament
• Prague: See Hradcany Castle, the Cathedral of St. Vitus, Charles Bridge & King Wenceslas Square
• Munich: See the Glockenspiel & Marienplatz; Visit a Beerhall
• Venice: Private motorboat to the historic islands; See Piazza San Marco, Bridge of Sighs, the Doges' palace & St. Mark's Square; Murano glass-blowing & Burano lace-making demonstrations
• Rome: See Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Colosseum & Roman Forum
• Vatican City: See St. Peter's Basilica
• San Gimignano: See the Towers & Town Square
• Florence: Walking tour with a local guide; See the Duomo, Basilica Santa Croce, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry & Piazza della Signoria; Florentine leather craft demonstration
• Pisa: See the Leaning Tower
• Lucerne: See the Wooden Chapel Bridge; Scenic Alpine drive
• Burgundy: See the Chablis & Burgundy vineyards
• Paris: Evening Tour of Illuminations; See the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Champs Elysées & Nôtre Dame Cathedral; Visit a French Perfumery

Accommodation & Meals

• 19 nights in superior tourist class hotels
• Accommodation based on your choice of twin or triple-share with private facilities
• Continental breakfasts (B) and three course dinners (D) as per itinerary
• Hotel tips, local taxes and service charges

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Sample00

here are some details of the tour.

Highlights

All these highlights along with city sightseeing are included in your tour price!

• Amsterdam: See the city by night; Visit a fishing & cheese village; Bicycle tour of the Dutch countryside; Visit a cheese farm and clog maker's house
• Berlin: See the remains of the Berlin Wall, the Tier Garden, the Russian War Memorial, the Brandenberg Gate & the Reichstag Parliament
• Prague: See Hradcany Castle, the Cathedral of St. Vitus, Charles Bridge & King Wenceslas Square
• Munich: See the Glockenspiel & Marienplatz; Visit a Beerhall
• Venice: Private motorboat to the historic islands; See Piazza San Marco, Bridge of Sighs, the Doges' palace & St. Mark's Square; Murano glass-blowing & Burano lace-making demonstrations
• Rome: See Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Colosseum & Roman Forum
• Vatican City: See St. Peter's Basilica
• San Gimignano: See the Towers & Town Square
• Florence: Walking tour with a local guide; See the Duomo, Basilica Santa Croce, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistry & Piazza della Signoria; Florentine leather craft demonstration
• Pisa: See the Leaning Tower
• Lucerne: See the Wooden Chapel Bridge; Scenic Alpine drive
• Burgundy: See the Chablis & Burgundy vineyards
• Paris: Evening Tour of Illuminations; See the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Champs Elysées & Nôtre Dame Cathedral; Visit a French Perfumery

Accommodation & Meals

• 19 nights in superior tourist class hotels
• Accommodation based on your choice of twin or triple-share with private facilities
• Continental breakfasts (B) and three course dinners (D) as per itinerary
• Hotel tips, local taxes and service charges

That looks like a good deal... i would take it up if i hadnt allready had a Euro vacation....

Basically, Clarkey you have to decide how organized or unorganized you want the trip.... ORganization can be cheaper, but flying by the seat of your pants has its benefits too. However, you may find yourself in trouble... like when i got stranded in a small village in N. IReland and had to flag down a coachline to take me to a train station.

With only 2000... organized travel i probably the bet... save you from extra costs... you just have to live by someone elses schedule.

[Buzzard]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

2k wont get you too far these days.

Originally Posted by Sample00

I have a tour company that will do a 22 day/10 country escorted tour of Europe for about 2300.00. .
if you want to give me a buzz on monday, I can dig into it for you more.
the tour is designed exclusively for people aged 18-35.

Bahhh...what do I know anyway. That sounds like a helluva deal for a young feller. I went to Europe on a similar tour in school 25 years ago for roughly the same price. Good deal.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

My 0.02..

You could do an amazing GAP adventures tour of Cuba and go local or just pick an all inclusive (Holguin is a choice area)

Sea Kayaking in tofino is amazing and if you organize it through the U of C's outdoor program it is a educational expense and a tax write off (at least it was for my wife and I for our honeymoon)

You could even do a basic tour of China or Thailand if you can score cheap airfare. Once you are there you can travel on practically nothing...

If it were my choice I would go travelling into Cuba (I.e. not all inclusive) as the country (people) are amazing and once Castro dies the Cuba of today will be gone forever.

[NuclearFart]

I found GAP adventures actually rather expensive, compared to similar tour companies going to the same places. Maybe the quality of hotels/food is better or something, but I wasnt convinced.

Thailand is a super cheap place to travel, as you can live like a king for ~30$ a day. Don't feel like doing laundry and want to pack light? You can buy a new wardrobe each day in the market for under a dollar. Food? like 2$ a meal. Stay in a hostel and you will meet this budget very easily. The most expensive thing is obviously going to be your airfare, but after that its smooth sailing. Not to mention that its pretty easy to get around on your own down there as the locals speak good enough english.

I was just in China for a month, and its actually not that cheap (especially Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong). Not as bad as europe though.

Yeah and about Key West, my thoughts exactly lol
________
New mexico dispensaries

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Sample00

funny you should mention the backpacking/hostel thing.
A comparison was done and it was cheaper to do the tour than to do the same thing backbacking/hostel thing. In the tour most meals and accommodations are included. I think it worked out to about 25.00/day cheaper.

the same tour company also does tours of the USA and Canada. And again, this tour company only deals with adults aged 18-35. great way to meet some new people!

Ive done both the tour and the hostel thing in Europe. Personally I liked the Hostel thing better because you're not forced onto a schedule. I mean don't get me wrong the tour was fun, but Europe has strict labour laws limiting people to 17 hour days maximum and the bus guy usually gets up at 4 and starts collecting right there so the tour is at the hotel and shut down by 8 at night leaving you a lot of time to come up with your own entertainment that will come out of your pocket. So as a result they give you like 2 hours to see the Louvre in Paris when you need like 3 days to even remotely see it. But that said $2000 won't get you anywhere in Europe. On top of my tour expenses I ended up spending an extra $1300 in like 10 days on top of the tour costs. Unless you want to starve to death and do nothing but walk you need like $75 a day in Europe. It would go far in South America, but you won't get there for that type of money. But you might be able to do a road trip of a lot of North America for that price and stay in Hostels, you'll meet all kinds from all over and could have a great time in your own back yard.

[Shazam]

Great suggestions. Also look at Thailand. You'll have difficulty spending even $5 a day.

[Sample00]

all good ideas!!!

some of the questions you may want to ask yourself is...

budget..you said about $2000.00..so that covers that

travelling alone or with a partner?

whats important to you?..do you want to see as much as you can or are you quite comfortable in spending time in one place?

are you looking to party?

are you looking to hookup with someone?

are you a luxury kinda person or will average do?

are you into sun, surf and sand? or..would history, cuisine and culture be more your speed?

what it basically comes down to is...what do you want out of your end of school trip?

[Calgary Flames]

A week in Honolulu. Book it now!

[Zarathustra]

I also agree with Cuba.