a while back, i bought one of those cheap tickets from Los Angeles to London on Norwegian, with the intention of using it as a jumping-off point to go somewhere else. at first i thought it was going to be Skye (one of my goals), but for several reasons, it’s moved off my short list, to be replaced with Iceland, Croatia, and Tunisia.
i’ve listed pros and cons for each but i’m suffering from analysis paralysis — any suggestions would be very welcome! note that this will be a workation, so i’ll be doing my usual exploring until mid-afternoon, then working from the airbnb (or hotel, though not preferable) until bedtime.
timing-wise, i would do stuff that requires full-day commitments early on in the trip since it’d be July 4th weekend, but i’d likely stay put and base out of a major city for the rest of the following week. for analysis purposes, let’s assume flights all cost around the same amount of money (which they do) and are not mile-earning (which they are likely not).
Iceland
this is also on my bucket list (where Skye is still remaining, by the way), but cost-wise, it seems like it might just be worth it to just wait until Icelandair has a sale? i would be saving money for sure, but the next two destinations i think are more expensive in general so it might be more worth it to go to them instead? i do not know this to be a fact, though.
Tunisia
Tunisia has recently come on my radar (not sure how it got there) and i really want to go. the only thing that’s holding me back is the questionable internet that’s there. i suppose i could ask potential airbnb hosts about their connection speeds, but i don’t know how reliable their answers are. i’d likely stay in Tunis for most of my trip, if that makes a difference.
Croatia
i’ve always wanted to visit Croatia*, and Dubrovnik and environs (including the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, thanks to a suggestion by The Flight Deal) have come highly recommended. my main problem is that i’m not sure i can spend a whole week in Dubrovnik and my requirements for starting work in the afternoon (and requiring speedy internet) seem to preclude much moving around, no? it’s pretty much a bus-based system to get in and out of Dubrovnik (or ships, but that’s hella slow) so i am not sure how well that’d work since other sights/sites are not that close.
(*i’ve only ever passed through on a train from Budapest to Ljubljana…goodness, nearly 8 years ago. i remember the Zagreb train station, but that’s about it.)
so? any reasons to choose one over the others? halp please!
Croatia! (never been, but it’s on my list!)
Cool! Croatia and Tunisia are definitely in the lead over all the replies I’ve gotten!
skip iceland wait for a fair deal idk weather might be extreme in tunis in july go to croatia and balkans!
thanks cas! croatia might just be moving past tunisia now in responses!
@ Wanderlusty
umm.. iceland is probably ideal in july brah.
def not tunisia..hot as balls.
but the reason i stumbled onto this post.. im considering croatia in late july/early aug.
where you goin? when?
-im trying to figure out what are some cheap seaside places to visit on the adriatic (slovenia, croatia, montenegro).. any suggestions please? i realize its high season so the bigger croat towns (dubrovnik, split) are probably not gonna be cheap.
thanks!
Lol I actually decided to go to none of the above. Thanks to airfare deals I’ll be in Ibiza and Barcelona early in the month and Malta late in the month (hot as balls!) on two different trips.
But I definitely would love to visit the Adriatic someday. Unfortunately I don’t know of much besides Dubrovnik and Split, although I am sure there are tons of unspoiled coast to explore!! Let me know what you decide to do and how you find it!
hey sometimes you gotta go where the deals take you! haha. thats cool though.
cash deal? do you use miles typically or cash?
i recently did a round-the-world tour on miles and a couple cash tix for short flights.
i actually looked into an adriatic seaside town hopper boat cruise for like 5 days. reasonably priced, but prolly gonna wait till after high season.
so if youre going for a whole month.. staying a hotels, hostels, apartment rentals?
Ah these are paid fares (I’m a big fan of theflightdeal.com). Two separate trips. I will be at airbnbs except in ibiza where I’m at a hotel.
I typically earn and burn so my trips are a mix of paid via points and paid via cash.
That town hopper cruise sounds great!!
oh, cool.
i must admit i dont anything about cash airfare deals.. double fuel dumps on expedia?? ive been using points for a few years.
never tried airbnb either.. good way to meet locals? i feel like its for the up-to-mid-20s crowd?
heres the cruise http://www.busabout.com/adventures/croatia-sail-tour lemme know if you wanna go lol
Thanks for the cruise info! I am too lazy to do manufactured spend and all that so I don’t really rely on points too much other than when it makes economic sense to use them (eg when routing would otherwise be $$$)
Re airbnb–I use it to book full apartments; I’ve only ever once just used it to book a room in an apartment. I like having all the space (and a washing machine) for myself, especially if I have to work, plus it’s usually a lot cheaper than hotels, especially for what you get. And, it’s a lot more of an authentic experience IMHO. I’m sure if you did a room instead of an apartment it’d be a great way to meet people though! At last count I’ve done 23 airbnbs over the last three years.
@Wanderlusty
hmm i guess you must make hella scrilla doing all this blogging if you dont use miles for all these trips lol.
deeeeamn.. thas a lot of airbnbs. i gotta try this out. but i guess it only makes sense for stays longer than 1 week since the location is likely not going to be in city center.
LOL! i certainly don’t blog for money (in fact, i don’t get much) — i just do the deals and work remotely (i’m a programmer, so as long as i have internet it’s good) and so far it’s all worked out! but yeah, i do use a lot of miles — i’m a 1K on united (my main program) but i only have less than 4000 miles in my account. EARN AND BURN!
actually most of my airbnbs have been in the city center, great locations, but in popular places i have to weigh price vs. convenience
e.g., my last 5:
Santiago: blocks from Plaza de Armas
Vilnius: right in Uzupis, easy walk to old town
Reykjavik: two blocks from one of the main squares
Dublin: relatively far at Grand Canal Dock, but easily walkable in 15 min to city center
Rome: a good 20-30 min via subway from main stuff
but for what you get, it’s def worthwhile, at least in my book!
thats koo. though some sexy destinations have really weak internet in my experience lol.
1k..damn. mustve purchased a lot of cash tix with them. i have a few 100k miles but no statuses.. only fly awards, almost never revenue tix.. maybe that means i dont travel enough!
i see.. thats pretty awesome. ever use airbnb in asia?
whats on your “short list”? i have myanmar, vietnam, a cheap thai/indo/malay island?, central america (belize? nicaragua?), lisbon/porto, adriatic
yeah, i pretty much can only go where there’s good internet (and have time zones that work out w/ east coast business hours). my short list: http://www.pinterest.com/jonk/travel-goals/ (but not very realistic for many, given my requirements).
yeah, i made 1K with definitely less than $5,000 of spend last year, and given the requirements for this year, i’ll only make Platinum (thanks to credit card spend waiver for PQD, otherwise i’d only make silver or gold thanks to spend).
and with the new changes/devaluations coming next year, i think i will have to be content with no status in 2016, but we’ll see. maybe if i do an AA match/challenge, we’ll see if they don’t get similar requirements. eh.
i have used airbnb in Hong Kong, Saigon, and Singapore — i will probably use it in Seoul for a trip this fall (a trip i’ve been meaning to take for a LOONG time but always have to cancel for some reason or another).
i like your list!
damn.. you got some far-flung spots on short-list map.. i like it! inner-turkey, georgia.. def off the path. i got to russia every year but havent been to volgograd yet.. should be dope.
yeah..chasing status seems like way more work than MSing. im just happy to fly economy & stay in standard rooms.. both for free.
thats cool. i gotta look more into this airbnb.. is airbnb.com the only site you use?
ROK sounds cool.. heard that have good bbq pork. is that your homeland?