Have you been Overseas?

[Squid]

Pretty much as the title says.

Have you been overseas? If so, which countries have you visited and which were your favourites? Do you plan on going back to any of the countries you've already seen?
Are there any other countries you haven't been to yet that you'd love to visit? Why?

I'll reply later

 

[The Witch]

No. I'm very poor and I could never afford flying anywhere, let alone overseas.

Are there any other countries you haven't been to yet that you'd love to visit?
Yes. I'd love to visit Africa or Egypt and Jordan... or maybe another Middle-Eastern country.

Why?
I've just always loved middle-eastern culture and their history. I know it's dangerous over there, but eh, who cares. I've wanted to visit Northern Africa because I just think the culture, the people, animals, sights, music, and landscapes are just beautiful. To me, it reminds me of simpler times. Plus, I'd mainly just like to help out the people there, the ones that don't have any options... :/ I've always wanted to visit Jordan because as a Christian I think it'd be an amazing experience to see Petra.

 

[Toshiya]

I have, but only ever within Europe. Then again, I've never really had any interests in going to many other places. I'd like to go to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Egypt to see the Valley of the Kings and the pyramids (though I've heard that's really disappointing when you actually go...) and to China, because of the history. Other than that I'm happy in Europe.

I've been to...

- Fuerteventura and Lanzarote (Spanish Canary islands). They're nice but very quiet I've been to them 7 times in total and I don't think I'd go back for a few years now, though my parents go out every year. Nice and warm with lovely beaches though
- Mainland Spain - Barcelona, Nerja and Torrevieja. Nerja and Torrevieja were proper holiday places, pretty much the same as the canary islands. Quiet, not a lot there, nice food, hot and nice beaches though. Barcelona is completely different, I love it. So much to do and so many nice buildings to see... the Sagrada Familia is crazy
- Portugal - the Algarve (Albufiera and Villamoura). It's a holiday place but way more lively. I prefer Portugal to Spain actually, the food's nicer and my holidays there have been ace.
- Belgium - Ypres/Bruges. I went with my old school when I was about 14 I think, to visit all the war graves and some more stuff. Really interesting since I love history, and we got a day in Bruges which is the weirdest thing... all cobbled streets, chocolate shops and canals. It's like taking a step back in time.
- France - Paris and Nice - Wasn't keen on Paris actually. The monuments we saw were awesome but the city itself was a bit run-down and Parisiens are SO rude. Nice was better and when we went it was the height of summer so nice and hot. There's not that much to see but enough.
- Germany - Berlin and Munich. Two massively different but equally awesome places in one country. Berlin has so much history it was so hard to see everything in the 3 days we were there but it was so awesome. Munich's amazing as well, there's all these old-fashioned souvenir shops and people who work in the cafes and things wear lederhosen as part of the effect. And I went to see the football stadium which was ace.
- Italy - Florence and Ventimiglia. Florence is... pretty much as it is in Assassin's Creed II still So much stuff to see and I had to cram it all into 3 days. So much history as well. I also went to San Gimingnano when I was in Florence, which is a small, walled town also in ACII... again it's the same. It snowed when I was there and we could climb one of the forts - the view over Tuscany was amazing. It really is a town full of towers though Ventimiglia is a smallish seaside city I only spent half a day in but it was pretty and we had a nice pizza there.
- Monaco - I'd heard all the stereotypes about it being amazing but posh but I wasn't sure what to expect... it was amazing but posh. Everything was INSANELY expensive and we saw about 10 ferraris in the day I spent there. But it was amazing and since I'm an F1 fan I walked the full track
- Austria - Vienna. Amazing architecture. Didn't have too much time to explore but it was a lovely little place.
- Slovakia - Bratislava. So different to what I expected! Half of it is really posh and new and half is the old communist end which is really run down. We stayed at the posh end though. It's got some interesting history I never really knew about

I've been to a lot of places but most of them were actually last summer when I went interrailling around Europe. I don't know what my favourite places are I'd have to say either Florence or one of the German cities. Of the places I've been to I definitely definitely want to go back to Italy, Germany and Monaco. And I want to do the rest of Europe too, always wanted to see Scandinavia. I'm booked and paid for to go to Amsterdam for a weekend at the end of January too, cannot wait for that

That's a beast of a post you can tell I'm avoiding my uni work like the plague

 

[Linnaete]

I have visited/invaded/terrorised the following:

+ Hong Kong - I have an uncle who has lived there since before the British handed it back to China, and occasionally we pop over to his place near the Mong Kok district of Kowloon. The urban areas get particularly claustrophobic and I have issues with quite a bit of a dust and all the motor fumes, but otherwise it's a really dynamic place and I could always go to the less dense places like the few open areas and countryside they have, like Sai Kung village. Then there's the giant Buddha you get to by cable cars going up the mountains, which is a must-do for everyone visiting there. I'm not sure if shelling out more for the cable cars with the glass floor is what you would want to do though. I'm really paranoid that it would break.

+ France - I haven't been to the south of France, just Paris, Nice, somewhere in Brittany and somewhere near Lille and the Belgian borders where we were looking at this smouldering crater left from WWI as part of a history trip. I really liked Brittany. It has that quaint sort of character to it that feels rather different from the rest of France (especially Paris), particularly when someone starts speaking Breton rather than French. As for Paris, that was for Disneyland Paris and the second time was part of a choir/CCF band trip there. While the rest of my year group were in army camps for a few days, the members in the band spent a week in Paris. I think it was a fair thing to do.

+ Belgium - Part of a history trip. I was part of the band and along with some members of our CCF, we joined a march under the Menin Gate for the 89th (or was it 90th) anniversary of the liberation of Ypres from German occupation towards the end of WWI. It's a really nice town with those stores that exclusively sell chocolate that we basically BEGGED our teachers for permission to go in. Unfortunately, since I visited Belgium round about in an October, it was absolutely freezing, as well as depressingly grey and gloomy. It's like the Flemish Mother Nature didn't get the memo that the war was long over or something.

+ Germany - ohhh, blessed Deutschland. Sadly, I've not been to Berlin, nor have I been to Munich (Oktoberfest - one day, I will attend an Oktoberfest ). I've typically only been the western part of Germany, particularly in Dusseldorf where another one of my uncles is living, as well as Cologne not too far away...well, relatively, the old West German capital Bonn, and Frankfurt. I've briefly been to Hamburg, but that must have been a while ago, because I can't seem to recall visiting the place. Yeah, I really love Germany. It's practically my second country because I really do enjoy going back to visit it every now and then. The last occasion was this summer. I stayed round about a month there on a short summer German language course.

+ Austria - I've only been to Vienna and it's mainly for the cakes. And for the architecture. You have St. Stephen's Cathedral (been up the tower once and the view from up there was worth going up for) and the Staatsoper (the opera house) as two brilliant places to visit when in the city. I know I did.

+ Spain - First time was when I went to Barcelona and Tarragona. Barcelona, despite the subways that nearly crushed me with the lack of air conditioner and the maps I was struggling to make heads or tails of at first - oh, and the price of things lately, I quite liked for the dynamism and the sights. This summer I went to Valencia with the boyfriend and a couple of others - we could have gone to Malaga, but we've learnt to avoid that place like the plague.

+ Malta - A bit underrated, this place, but I love how generally quieter it is compared to other places like Spain. I adored the charm and architecture of Valletta. It has that distinctive medieval, fortress-like look and flavour to it complete with a few cannons on display that they sometimes actually even let off. Gozo island is simply stunning for the sights and for the astonishing deep-cyan waters. I pretty much went around the whole place, including Popeye Village.

+ Hungary - this was a group trip to Budapest. Highlights? The nights out were surprisingly not too bad and then there were the spas. We absolutely adored the spas. We probably spent more time getting our skins all wrinkly after excessive spa treatments than anything in Budapest. xD

-------------------

I would like to visit Mainland China, but I fear that I would step out of line with what I say and then I get arrested or something. Otherwise, Shanghai would be up there on my list. Followed by Guangzhou and Nanjing.

I suppose I wouldn't mind visiting Italy either. It's top very high on my agenda, but given the chance and the opportunity, I'd definitely take it. Similarly, Japan isn't a must, but I would like to be there at least once in my lifetime, even if the picture I have of excessively cramped hotel rooms, unconventional food for my liking, subways that are crowded to the point of murder and communication problems put me off a bit.

And I HAVE to step onto the American continent sometime. I can't believe I haven't yet done so. I feel a bit ashamed. Maybe one day when I've somehow acquired the means of doing so, I can finally have that drive across the country I've always dreamt of having. So long as I don't get shot somewhere or acquire an injury so bad that I have to be rushed to hospital and get pelted with the eye-watering medical bills upon leaving.

 

[Dionysos]

I'd like to go to ... Egypt to see the Valley of the Kings and the pyramids (though I've heard that's really disappointing when you actually go...) ...

I've been lucky to have gone to Egypt. Egypt is not disappointing at all, in my opinion. Some people complain that the pyramids don't look as big as they do on postcards, movies, photographs, etc, but they are very impressive. There isn't much to see inside the pyramids themselves though, but you get a very good sense of atmosphere walking in them. A very strange, cold, musty breeze. As for the Valley of the Kings... No complaints at all. A lot of the tombs still have the wall paintings in situ and preserved fantastically. Even the Tomb of Tutankhamun (which many a tourist will grunt about because 'everyone goes on about it') is very good. I went when everyone else was elsewhere, so I got a very good personal look at it without getting squeezed in by lots of tourists. It was just me and a native Egyptian guy trying to sneak me over the barrier to get a close look at the sarcophagus. Egypt in general is very good for its historical sites being in fantastic condition, because of its climate. Though I continue to be concerned with Egypt's political climate and also with the looting and such.

As for myself, I've been lucky in travelling. Some of it has been with uni though, so it's been very good to see a lot of places.
I've toured mainland Greece and some of the islands. I've been to the western coast of Turkey. I've seen Rome and Venice. I've also been to Tunisia. And I went to Germany and France and Ireland.

Yet this is not because I was donated millions by a Nigerian Prince. A lot of those trips have been cheap deals for a night or two (I got a flight to Dublin for £2 return, for example), and then either with family in the past or with uni reimbursed, and obviously not all in one go. The UK is also very suitably placed. Add to that that I've been very lucky in that aspect of things, but not so in others, so that makes it ok in terms of the cosmic forces of order in the universe.


Would I like to go back to any of those places?
Yes. All of them. But mainly the Greek ones.

Where would I like to go?
Mexico, China and India are three big ones. But I could find interest anywhere. Within Greece though I'd like to go to Santorini (ancient Thera), but many other places too. It's unfortunate that we're mortal and we can't just become disembodied souls and float about from place to place whenever we want. Even so, and if I never get to go, I've been lucky with what I've done anyway. Maybe in the future with some money behind me.

 

[Squid]

I have only ever been overseas once and that was to Scotland so naturally Scotland is my favourite place i have visted haha though it was such a charming little country I think it will always be one of my favourites no matter what. I plan on going back to Scotland in Feburary with the intention of meeting up with Lew again and to experience the winter before I start to plan for my Working Holiday Visa over there. I want to make sure I can handle that kind of cold. Being from Australia I've really never felt any kind of temperatures below 0 degres and even getting something lower than 10 degrees C here is rare anyway.

Countries I would love to visit are Germany because I am part german, America because I think you Americans are a funny lot and I reckon it would be a hilarious country to visit. I'd like to visit Ireland and Tokyo as well but am not desperate really. I guess any country would be exciting to see but those would be my main ones.

 

[Toshiya]

Well one day I'll go I've got a friend who says he'd quite like to go as well. Once all the political stuff is sorted we might look at it. He's also interested in Angkor Wat so maybe I have a travel partner

I may be off to Venice next Easter which I'm also excited about. It looks amazing. Oh and I've always wanted to go to Ireland too... there's a guy on my course who's from Belfast and his voice makes me melt a bit inside whenever he speaks. It's lovely

 

[Sepalcure]

I have to answer this quickly because I have to finish forum posts for one of my classes; it's frustratingly tedious work really, but that's what the reality of being an English major is. Anyway ...

I've been to Jamaica, which was mostly on vacations so it was strictly on a leisurely basis to visit family. It was pretty linear actually, most of the time. I say that, because within that island, I didn't touch most of the parishes. I've frequented Kingston, the capital. I've been to Montego Bay which is on the western coastal tip. Montego Bay was beautiful but I have like vague recollections of it. If you asked me what I know of it I would say ... fern gully which is pretty much what most tourists I think would associate with it and of course that iconic beautiful blue Caribbean sea. That's what I remember outside of my hotel window, I was attending a semi-traditional Jamaican wedding with family, that's why I was there.

Elsewhere ... I've been to Mexico, just Cozumel and let me say that Cozumel was gorgeous and the water was warm and the weather was temperate.
I've been to Belize which was comparatively not as beautiful but it had its old-world sort of charm. There was this very cool Mayan-esque pyramid that I got to see all up-close and stuff. I was too much of a pussy to climb like thousands and thousands of steps to the top though. Heights are not my forte.
Still, it was cool to see. I've also been to a small island off the tip of Honduras called Roatan and that was by far the coolest place I've ever been to. I pretty much was amazed by it all. At one point we were all led across this swaying wooden bridge to see these old world Capuchin monkeys and these beautiful red parrots. Prettiest and coolest thing ever. Mind you, all of this was part of my cruise package.

Hm ... where else ... I've been to Florida which was unbearably hot and humid and it rained a lot. But it was nice. Disney World was my highlight besides going these to see family so that was psuedo-leisurely. That's pretty much it.
So as for places I'd like to go ... well every where that my stepfather has hit up due to the nature of his job as a senior engineer for Sirius Satellite so ... in no particular order: Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (all of it though; he's only been to England), Barbados, NOT the Amazon because his tales about that place terrify me (huge bugs he said), Russia is a yes, Germany because it's awesome, France, Italy because I'd love to go to Naples and experience a bit of my bf's family's culture, and I can't think of any other places. He's been to too many.

 

[Bambi]

Have you been overseas? If so, which countries have you visited and which were your favourites? Do you plan on going back to any of the countries you've already seen?

Went to france with school, which was shit. il probably end up going back though, to give it a second chance ha
Lanzarote - wont be going back, the weather was shit which im sure ruined the experience, but there wasnt really anything there worth a second visit anyway
Spain/Majorca went twice as a kid, dont really remember much apart from almost drowing and i got lost once, had the spanish police out looking for me and everything. Would consider going back, but its not high on my list
Marmaris in Turkey. It was amazing and Im totally going back one day!



Are there any other countries you haven't been to yet that you'd love to visit?

I want to do a weekend in new york, and for our honey moon were hoping to do a tour across either america or the southern part. cant make my mind up. we'd love to do both eventually, but there will be many years between the two trips lol
he wants to go disney world in florida, im not as fussed about that myself, but i wouldnt say no haha
Erm, i did fancy egypt at one time, but ive not heard many good things about it
Milan and barcalona are another couple of weekend trips i want to plan. oh and amsterdam too
China and Japan have always been very high on my places to visit as well.

I need to win the lottery

One day, my numbers will come up!

 

[Big Casino]

Yush a few times. The great thing about being in Europe is there is so much to see and not much flight time. Ive to spain 3 times, uhhh Majorca Alcudia and Sa coma or something like that. Im not really one for Spain. They dont like us much cuz we all move over there to live like the poles indians move here. Wer big hypocrites really.
Ive been to Marmarus in Turkey which like Bambi said an amazing place. I went with my friends and didnt get to do everything i wanted to id like to go back and see theyre old cities and the turtle reefs etc.

Ive been to Berlin in Germany which is a really amazing place. Its not the best place to go if your interested in ww2 but if you wanna hear about the wall then youl love it. Besides the beer is the best in the world.

I have been to Corfu which is a small island off Greece. Very lovely place.

And i have been to Malta where i nearly died from food poisoning. This holiday doesnt count for me as i was only like 6 and dont remember much but im not exagerating when i say nearly died. So yeah...Dunno if wanna go back.

I wanna see The cities of Prague and Amsterdam and id loooooooove to see the Pyramids of Giza. my aunt and uncle went about 4 years ago and loved it. To anyone who thinks the pyramids arent that great id say FU. You really have to think about how old and the manpower it took to build these. If they arent impressive then i dunno what is. I quite fancy London though im not sure id be able to stand it for more than a few days as its such a large city but there are many things i would like to see. Id have a few questions when i meet the queen aswell. Honestly id see the entire world if i could. My dad did when he was younger even to places like Afghanistan and Baghdad. He said the main street in Baghdad was brilliant, you could get anything you wanted. It wasnt til i was older i understood what he meant.

China, Japan would be fascinating places to visit. I think id rather spend more time in Rural Japan than i would in the city of Tokyo for example. Theyre history is very interesting. Id love to see Australia and NZ. Id like to see the whole Auzzy lifestyle day to day which is i imagine very different to ours. No snow and rain. And id even like to go to America. Where im not sure. Probably Disneyland Florida or New york. Somewhere well known with boring old usual tourist sites to see. Something about New York i dunno it makes me wanna go there. Its probably the Tv but i bet its great.

And of course i would recommend my homeland Scotland and our pals of the UK as places to visit aswell. You can do Scotland in a few days really as its such a small country. Edinburgh is an amazing city as is Glasgow but theyre different. Glasgow has a lot more going on music wise but it doesnt compare with Edinburgh during the festival. The Scottish Highlands is a stunning place to be aswell. Just make sure your well dressed.

 

[Tyler Breeze]

Nope, never.

I do want to see alot of other places though. The biggest one I want to see is Japan. That would be totally sick. Another is the United Kingdom. I refuse to go my whole life without getting to meet Lord Regal at least once. So in order to do that, I must visit him at his home in UK. One more is France. It seems peaceful. I also really want to see that tower thing that they have.

 

[SaShman]

EDIT: Fucking long post
I recently got back from a 2 month trip.

I've been to:
- Japan twice once in 2010 and, more recently, last November. Great place, great people. The first night I was there, I arrived at my hotel after it had closed. Some guy let me stay at his place for the night. That's how nice the people are.

-China. Only for transit. Though Beijing airport was one of the most impressive things ever. I spent several hours trying to get wi-fi so I could go on facebook only to remember I was in the PRC and it was blocked.

-Russia. I arrived at Vladivostok train station 10 hours before my train was scheduled to leave, there was a guy with an AK-47 at the entrance as I walked in. As I was waiting, I noticed the police were randomly picking out people who looked foreign and taking them away for interrogation. So I literally spent 10 hours sitting, looking at the clock, in fear, trying to look as Russian as possible. Which meant I couldn't read, talk or do anything other look at the clock.

Went on the trans-siberian railway. Seven nights sharing an open train carriage with about 40 Russian soldiers; only one of whom spoke English. Spent a few days in Moscow it was minus 18 degrees celsius and windy. After 20 minutes without a beanie outside, I almost lost my ears to frostbite. I ended up catching a cold on my second to last day. By the end of it, walking 200 metres down the street felt like that scene at the end of Metal gear solid 4. I still loved my time in Russia though and after Russia, nowhere else felt cold.

-Turkey. I only went to Istanbul for a few days. I decided to go there to recover from my cold (from Russia). It's a fucking beautiful city though.

-Austria. Spent a few days in Vienna. Nice museums and such but I got bored of it after a few days.

-Germany. Went to Munich. I loved the beer halls and the people I stayed with were pretty cool. Spent about a week in Berlin. I didn't enjoy Berlin as much as I thought I would tbh.

-The Netherlands. Spent some time in Amsterdam. Awesome city. So much more than prostitutes and weed.

-Belgium. Had to choose between Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges. I ended up going to Bruges which was one of my favourite cities. Really peaceful and it gave me a chance to recover from another cold I caught in Amsterdam.

-Luxembourg. It struck me as a mysterious country due to its size so I booked a flight from Luxembourg city, traveled there from Bruges in the mourning and spent the day looking around. The old city walls are epic. I tried walking to the airport though which was a dumb move.

-The UK. Flew into London and stayed with some friends from back home. I also went to Bristol for a few days. I really enjoyed my time in the UK, it reminded me a lot of home with a few cultural differences.

-Switzerland. Just two nights in Zurich. Very expensive place. When I first arrived I noticed a lot of women were checking me out. From this I assumed that I must be incredibly attractive. I later found out that I was actually staying in the red light district and they were all prostitutes.

-France. I only went to Paris. Before I went, I assumed everyone would be rude and stuck up, but it was actually one of my favourite places and the people were actually quite friendly and patient. Maybe it was because I tried speaking French as much as possible?

-Malaysia. Only for transit.

-I've also been to Tasmania if you count that as 'overseas'.

Favourites:
-Japan. Biased as I've spent the past 3 years studying the language. I also have a few friends there. But that aside, the people there are ridiculously polite. Plus the low crime rate is a plus. I felt safe walking almost anywhere by myself at night.

-Istanbul. I stayed in the old part of town near most of the tourist attractions. The architecture is just amazing.

-Bruges. Just a beautiful, peaceful city.

-Paris. It seemed like a really cool, lively city. Like I said, the people were generally quite friendly to me. The fact that even random people on the street address you as 'monsieur' is nice. It'd be like calling everyone sir or madam.

Places I wish to go to:
-Actually planning to move to Japan at the end of the year to work for a bit.
-The US: In addition to the big destinations (LA, NYC etc) I wouldn't mind visiting a few smaller cities/towns just to see what they are like.
-New Zealand: specifically Queenstown for all the awesome adventure stuff.
-The Ukraine: I was planning to visit Chernobyl after Russia but changed my mind at the last minute. I'd also like to go to Odessa and see the catacombs.
-Italy and Spain: Because I missed them when I was over there. I particularly want to see Barcelona.
-Ireland and Scotland: Because I've heard good things about these places.
-China is another place I'd love to see.

 

[Kandy-Sugar]

Never been overseas.

Our first destination is Hawaii though. Can't wait!

I'm not all that fussed on the whole touring Europe thing either like most people. To be honest hearing about people's trips to Europe is boring and I could never fathom going there.

I prefer warm lively places such as the Caribbean, Hawaii, Vanuatu etc etc etc.

 

[Lirael]

I have been to a few places, but pretty much always with parents. Looking forward to going somewhere with a partner, just us! =)

Okay, so I've been to France several times and have seen different regions of the country! The Loire Valley is absolutely gorgeous, and Normandy was pretty spectacular too. I really enjoy the scenery, the quaint little villages and looking around some of the castles. Some of the buildings there are so much cleaner and so much grander than the ones you have over here. I suppose the weather has also been better. I have also been to Paris, which was alright, but I'm not a huge city fan. I have been skiing three times in France; once, when I was six, and twice in a lovely village called Chatel when I was roughly 8 and 10.

I visited Portugal when I was 5 or 6, but I barely remember it. I remember it being VERY warm and VERY windy and enjoying the swimming pool an awful lot - and going on a safari of some description - but nothing else.

I have also been to Italy to ski. The pizzas there were absolutely spectacular and very tomatoey, but I can't remember anything else. I do remember thinking the place was a bit...dark and dirty though. :/ I was only 9ish.

Crete was interesting... I was 16 then. My parents would not leave the hotel, so I saw a grand hotel with lots of restaurants, and one dingy town nearby. I'd like to go back there one day so that I can actually see the place!

More recently, I have been to Austria - twice! Both times in Sol, both times to go skiing. Sol is an absolutely fabulous place in which to go skiing! Miles and miles of slopes which connect several small, quaint little villages, with one particularly spectacular restaurant on top of a mountain, surrounded by more mountains, just above Ellmau.

I have also been to Scotland several times to visit the Edinburgh Festival! Edinburgh has to be one of my favourite cities. There is, again, something very quaint and beautiful about it - not to mention the fact there are mountains in view! And two very lovely vegetarian restaurants (Hendersons and David Bahn). I've been to Wales too...but we were isolated so it seemed very uneventful. :/

I like immersing myself in the culture when I go somewhere and finding out about that country's traditions and history. Even in the hotel at Crete, there was culture - buffets of traditional food, Greek dancing some nights, Greek music...