Overseas/long distance travel

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

We're (my wife and I) going to Ireland for three weeks later this summer and are very excited. (We live in the HELL A area) My ancestry is mostly Irish, and I will be very interested to see all of it... From what I've seen, Ireland is hard to beat for natural beauty and history.

BUTT, it is really taking up a lot of time to plan it--researching and reserving flights, hotels/BBs in six different cities/towns, rental cars ($$$$ in Ireland), reservations to see certain historic sites and museums, buying new luggage (we're overdue for this in any case), travel accessories etc, etc. When you figure a few days packing/getting ready, three weeks there, then probably a week to overcome jetlag (always waaaaay worse on the way back)--it takes up a huge chunk of our summer. I'm off from teaching university and am left with research and writing on a when-and-if-I-feel-like-it schedule, so it's not a huge deal. And, this is to say nothing of the money. Ireland is pretty reasonable cost-wise,  but still, hotels, flights, meals, taxis, incidental expenses, entertainment, etc add up--to a lot!  (Needless to say, the dollar has been on a descent into oblivion vs the Euro since we decided to go!!),

I love travel of pretty much any kind, despite the current state of air travel in this country. I even enjoyed a couple of fairly recent business trips to Phoenix Arizona--a place I basically dislike a lot, in no small part because of the weather! We watch either Tony Bourdain or Rick Steves nearly every week, and much of my "fun" (i.e., not peer-reviewed literature) reading is travel writing.

With the state of my job, we are going to try to go overseas most years. We're pretty frugal with most things, and I have summers to do a whole lot of whatever (although I do spend time on research and writing)

On the list after Ireland is: another trip to see what we missed the first time in Ireland, Austria, Japan, Tibet, New Zealand, Italy a second time (north of Rome) etc, etc. We want to see it all before we become too old!

How often do you travel overseas/long distance? Is it a priority for you? Is the time and expense a huge obstacle? Any tips for saving money, time? 

[Turner]

I travel in my own region Europe a lot every year, am currently on a long cycling trip in Sweden, now om the Siljan Lake, and will visit the Hugo Alfven museum in Leksand in a couple of days. But as for overseas, I've only been to Japan twice, not going elsewhere yet, the main reason being the cost involved. I really like the travel planning and doing research. Had thought of something overseas this summer, but buying a new bike and computer took away some of the budget. New York, China and more of Japan are on top of the list as regards the overseas to-go places.

[DaveF]

@DaveF I had no idea you lived in Wales. I suppose I could've just done a Google search on the location you provided here on GMG. Anyway, that is awesome. There is some Welsh blood in my family lineage --- on my dad's side there is the surname Powell, which I did some research on and found out has deep Welsh connections.

It would be great to visit Wales one day --- in particular, Cardiff and the Snowdonia region, which from the various videos and pictures I've seen, looks especially gorgeous.

We're only just in Wales - if you pee with a strong westerly blowing, you can hit England.  But yes, Powell (ap Hywel) is as close to Welsh royalty as you can get, and puts you in direct descent from Hywel Dda, the 10th-century monarch and lawmaker.

So, John (or should I call you Ioan ap Hywel?), I would be delighted to give you the guided tour of the country, which is (looks it up) only about 1/3 the size of Georgia (although probably not with such good communications).  Cardiff is OK - nice opera house - but the real glory of the country is not in the cities, such as they are, but the small towns, the romantic ruins and of course the countryside - coast and mountains.  Snowdonia is unmissable, but we've got some good hills in the south as well.

[Der lächelnde Schatten]

We're only just in Wales - if you pee with a strong westerly blowing, you can hit England.  But yes, Powell (ap Hywel) is as close to Welsh royalty as you can get, and puts you in direct descent from Hywel Dda, the 10th-century monarch and lawmaker.

So, John (or should I call you Ioan ap Hywel?), I would be delighted to give you the guided tour of the country, which is (looks it up) only about 1/3 the size of Georgia (although probably not with such good communications).  Cardiff is OK - nice opera house - but the real glory of the country is not in the cities, such as they are, but the small towns, the romantic ruins and of course the countryside - coast and mountains.  Snowdonia is unmissable, but we've got some good hills in the south as well.

Thank you, @DaveF. I may just have to take you up on that offer one day. You bring up an excellent point about the small towns, countryside etc. The same could be said about the state I live in (and the US in general). The real heart of a country, IMHO, is found in the rural areas where we see the land more or less for what it is ---  completely unfettered.

[DaveF]

Thank you, @DaveF. I may just have to take you up on that offer one day.

I'm sure a UK GMG Welcome Committee could be organised!