september adventure? - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**pinknic38** · 03-18-2008, 12:46 PM

as it is working out, I will be taking a 7-10 day trip SOMEWHERE in the beginning/mid September before I start school on the 24th of September. My sister and I were planning on going together but she just made starter on the high school soccer team (she will be the only starting freshman) so can't miss school. So I am still traveling.

I've checked prices/dates for airfare in about 30 cities to get a general idea of what I'm looking at.

Here are my trip requirements:

1. I am trying to avoid a repeat of my trip to England-Germany-Poland in June. It's too tempting to stay in the Europe bubble. Plus I want to wait and do Paris with my sister.

2. I am possibly leaning towards a Spanish speaking country (to include Spain).

3. I want something with decent weather (not rainy, not ass cold, etc)

4. I'm all about seeing architecture so something with some great sights.
-4a. an alternate to this is some great outdoors stuff... hiking, etc... a country with both would be sweet.

5. I want to stay in 1 country and see 3 or so cities or take some day trips to other places

6. someplace I can get a lot for my money (which doesn't leave me with a lot of options these days)

Here's a few of my thoughts...
-Chile (Santiago and some day trips)
-Ecuador (and of course the Galapagos)
-Spain (thinking Madric-Barcelona-Valencia)
-Switzerland (I know I said no Euro bubble but I would do Geneva-Bern-Zurich in 7-10 days)
-Russia (was planning on this during Christmas time but I could go anytime!)
-Israel
-Egypt
-India

Flying into Frankfurt again and building a trip from there is so tempting cos tix are like $200 cheaper than anywhere else but you know, I'm trying to do something a little different.

Anyway, what do you guys think? I might kind of have my heart set on Chile but I am not completely sure.

**maracle** · 03-18-2008, 03:19 PM

I'd add Peru and Bolivia to your South American list. Peru has a lot of cool cities, plenty to do outdoors (dune surfing, mountain climbing, machu picchu treks, jungle treks, beachy/surfing places, etc), and is cheap. Not sure about the weather in September but if you've got Ecuador on your list it's not going to be much different than that. As for Bolivia, it is hella cheap there and when I was in Peru everyone I met raved about how cool it was...especially the salt flats. Although the salt flats might be thawed in September I dunno. Bolivia has very cheap jungle tours too, like 20% of the cost of the jungle tours in Peru.

If you're looking at Egypt and Israel, you might also take a peek at Jordan, Syria, or Morocco as well.

And what about Argentina? Nicole and Florencia (Where's florencia been anyway?!) meetup! Plus Argentina is pretty awesome for the outdoors too. Chile and Argentina are probably the most expensive countries in south america though (excluding French Guyana).

**freespiritz** · 03-18-2008, 03:25 PM

My vote goes to Central (why is that not on the list??) or South America. I got by on US20 a day in Central America, it's hard to beat that these days if you don't want to pay for a long-ass flight halfway around the world!

**pinknic38** · 03-18-2008, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maracle

And what about Argentina? Nicole and Florencia (Where's florencia been anyway?!) meetup! Plus Argentina is pretty awesome for the outdoors too. Chile and Argentina are probably the most expensive countries in south america though (excluding French Guyana).

I know!!! where has she been?!! I will have to facebook stalk her. I think I've almost exclusively decided on South America... something not to break the bank. I've added Peru and Argentina to the list, I just don't know exactly how the weather will be in September, as that's early spring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freespiritz

My vote goes to Central (why is that not on the list??) or South America.

I actually dunno anything about Central America which is why it isn't on the list! I only know some stuff about Costa Rica and that's about it. Any Central America suggestions?

I like the thought of CA/SA cos it can be done very inexpensively, cos even Chile is less than the US or Europe.

**freespiritz** · 03-18-2008, 04:07 PM

My fave CA countries were Guatemala and Nicaragua. Lots of fun outdoorsy stuff like boarding down volcanoes and hiking in the jungle, cute little colonial towns, wild surfy beaches and cheap beer...

I have to crash for now but I do have old threads up on Central America if you do a little search.

**AKguacamole** · 03-18-2008, 04:13 PM

Aaah I'm exactly where you are on this trip planning thing, for the same time of year. South America sounds great to me...for us both. Argentina is amazing, especially if you get down south in Patagonia. I personally want to see Brazil like none other. Let us know what you decide on!! Maybe I'll be close...

**pinknic38** · 03-18-2008, 04:51 PM

ahhh so many choices, but I think brett's peru suggestion may have snagged me. we'll see. I want to buy tix in the next few weeks.

dudeman · 03-18-2008, 05:11 PM

I say Ecuador and the galapagos, that would be something to experience.

**pinknic38** · 03-18-2008, 05:38 PM

^the only thing that sucks about the Galapagos is if you're a single traveler. most places tack like 2K onto the overall price of the tour if you're a single traveler, so I would definitely want to split the cost with another person.

**pinknic38** · 03-18-2008, 05:49 PM

sooo I found airfare to Peru from O'Hare for $515.... that's exciting since out of C-bus it's $989... I'm going to do some research and sleep on it... that's what we freaking paid to go to Las Vegas last summer!

I still need to decide a bit though.

**maracle** · 03-18-2008, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinknic38

ahhh so many choices, but I think brett's peru suggestion may have snagged me. we'll see. I want to buy tix in the next few weeks.

You could be the latest tpunk to get to Machu Picchu before Mike

That O'Hare fare sounds like a good deal, it was also almost a thousand bucks from Austin (I used frequent flyer miles which was actually a really good deal, only 30k miles for a $950 ticket). I assume that's to Lima. From there it's really cheap to bus to Pisco, Nasca, Arequipa, Puno, and maybe over to Copacabana in Bolivia. Just depends how far you want to go.

The bus from Lima to Cusco or from Arequipa to Cusco take a long ass time because of the mountains (30-40 hours for cusco-lima and 10 hours for cusco-Arequipa). But you can probably find flights for around $60, they take only an hour.

Then there's the north part of the country, which I don't know much about. But sounds really cool, I had planned to spend my whole trip in the north and never made it

**pinknic38** · 03-19-2008, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maracle

You could be the latest tpunk to get to Machu Picchu before Mike

HAHAHHHAHA that would be classic! then again I'm sure he'll get to go to the Galapagos before me so we'll be even.

yeah a 30-40 hour bus ride doesn't sound too exciting. I'm sure a train ride might be worse.

the flight is with Spirit Air... never heard of them before but they fly strictly USA/Mexico/Central/South America from what I gather.

**Elizabeth** · 03-19-2008, 05:22 AM

i vote for somewhere south of the equator...loved russia but brrr it was sooo cold

**pinknic38** · 03-19-2008, 08:07 AM

after sleeping on it, I think I may go with Peru... I really REALLY want to go to Chile but airfare is literately double to fly to Santiago and unless anyone knows any discount carriers, I will do Peru. I can't pass up a $508 ticket to go to Peru for 9 days, seriously.

I really wanted to see the wine country of Chile though. boo.

I don't know, I haven't decided. It's currently between Chile and Peru.

**pinknic38** · 03-19-2008, 10:32 AM

AHHHH I don't know. Chile vs. Peru, what do I do guys?

I want to go to both, but Chile more, but Peru is much less expensive. I did find a ticket from Miami, FL to Santiago for $844 but that is as cheap as it gets... I could somehow get to Miami maybe... hahahaha.

The ticket from Detroit to Lima, Peru is $508... ridiculous.

sigh.

Okay really, the jury is out. I don't mind eating the extra cost to go to Chile. I bought a LP guidebook for both and I see lots of stuff I'd like to do.

For Peru, I want to do the Inca Trail (but am not sure if I am in THAT great of shape... I mean I'm in the Army and all and am used to altitudes of like 5-8K ft but I'm not some damn mountain climber, you know? I think it'd be something I would be so proud of myself for doing though, and then of course Machu Picchu (gotta live the dream for you Mike, maybe I'll call you on your new cell phone and let you know how it looks... hehe). I dunno, there's so much I want to do in Peru that I might want to make it a longer trip (like 15 days). Peru is cheaper and the airfare is kind of too ridiculous to pass up. My only concern is that Peru isn't as trafficable as Chile is, you know? Maybe those who have spent more time in Peru can shed some light on this.

Chile, I want to see the Atacama Desert, the wine country (and my mom wants a bottle or 10 sent home, and I must agree, as a big lover of red wine), Santiago, Valpo, Easter Island, Pucon, yada yada yada.

The point of this trip though was to go somewhere and NOT spend a lot of money and see some cool stuff and the requirement was kind of nature & architecture, and I am hyped about the Inca Trail, despite my doubting my abilities....

sigh again.

**pinknic38** · 03-19-2008, 11:56 AM

LOL! No turning back now! I just booked my ticket to Peru... I am doing 16 days there!!

September 2nd-September 18th, flying from Detroit to Lima! With travel insurance it was $520... holler, bitches! :D

**freespiritz** · 03-19-2008, 12:07 PM

That sounds amazing...booking flights is always thrilling. :D you'll have an amazing time, gotta love Latin America!! I be slightly jealous, I must say.

**jengt** · 03-19-2008, 01:47 PM

I'm glad you went with Peru because that's what I was going to tell you to do.

You might even be there when Mike is...his current plan is to go to Machu Picchu in September (I forget what week) - we'll see though.

**maracle** · 03-19-2008, 01:58 PM

Whats this about being traffickable? I think there is some narcoterrorism up in the rainforest around Iquitos if you're into that.

If you just mean hard to get around, that isn't true at all...the bus system there is fantastic and most of the cities you go by direct routes. The exceptions are Cusco which you should either grab a cheap flight to or budget a long time on the bus, and Iquitos which is the largest city in the world that has no roads to it (only planes or a boat down the amazon will get you there).

**pinknic38** · 03-19-2008, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jengt

You might even be there when Mike is...his current plan is to go to Machu Picchu in September (I forget what week) - we'll see though.

ohhh snap, he's finally going to get to go! yeah this is kind of spur of the moment thing for me but now here I am with like 17 days in Peru haha

Quote:

Originally Posted by maracle

If you just mean hard to get around, that isn't true at all...the bus system there is fantastic and most of the cities you go by direct routes.

are there like websites or something about the bus system? this might be in my LP guide which I haven't had time to crack open yet and then left it in my office in a haste to leave early without being seen hahaha