Figuring out vacations
As those who know me well are very familiar with, I tend to plan vacations quite far in advance. For instance, in a few weeks my wife, kids, and I will be travelling to Israel and Jordan. Our plans there are already taken care of and I have been spending a good deal of time trying to figure out where to go next. Next year will be my pick but it is proving to be the most challenging pick yet. The following are my limitations.
- I'd prefer to not go to a country that I have already been to. This rules out the US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, and Oman. Actually Malaysia or Austria would be OK because I only visited small parts and Italy would be OK because there are parts I still very much want to see there.
- The country must have decent medical facilities and no threat of malaria. When the kids are older I will give them anti-malarial drugs but right now they are too small for drugs that powerful.
- The trip has to have something for us and something the kids will like (then 5 and 4)
- The time of travel will most likely be the summer, since my older child will start school next year.
- It must be possible to do the country/area justice in 2 weeks. This rules out countries such as Australia. I do not do vacations American style (10 countries in two weeks)
Currently, the following are my thoughts.
Hungary/Austria - I've always been curious to see Budapest. The kids will like the dancing horses in Vienna. My main question though is how much the kids will like this trip.
Spain - The Prado and Uffizi are the only two of the 'Great Six' art museums of the world I haven't seen (the others are the Hermitage, Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Vatican). The rest of the time would likely be spent in Andalucia. This is a possibility, but in truth there is nothing specifically for the kids. Also, with a lot of driving the kids will drive us nuts and my wife may kill me.
England/Scotland - The British Museum interests me the most and the kids will like it. They will probably also like the Eye and Stonehenge. Since London is a direct flight from Seattle it makes it easy to get to - though I have been planning it as a quick 'week' trip in the future.
Croatia/Balkan - Not sure what this would entail. This definitely would include Croatia and one or more other countries in the area such as Slovenia, Macedonia, or Montenegro. Lots of landscapes and old cities - a bit more remote which is more to my liking but I'm not sure how the kids will fare.
Napoli/Firenze/Amalfi Coast/Capri - Italy is one of the few countries I would make another trip to and I'm sure the kids would love the friendliness of the Italians and the food. I'm not sure how they would handle the ruins and the museums though.
Georgia/Azerbaijan/Armenia - This would likely include Georgia and either Armenia or Azerbaijan. Here of course the landscape is the main attraction. The security situation is a bit touchy - but shouldn't be a problem if we make sure to stay out of trouble areas.
Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan - Originally I was hoping to make this a longer trip with either Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan and a brief trip to Khojand in Tajikistan (where my wife is from), but it may be possible to just do Uzbekistan with a brief foray into Turkmenistan. The kids may get a kick out of seeing where their mother is from. My wife is familiar with the area and we know people there so security should not be an issue.
Somewhere in subsaharan Africa - This is rather vague but every interesting place animal-wise has malaria issues so currently it is out. However if I can locate an area where malaria is not an issue it would be near the top of the list.