Hi there. I have never really flown before and need help deciding on the best flight option. I am going from LAX to MEX and am not familiar with the quality of the airlines options. The first choice is a flight with United. Pros: The company is well known and hopefully the most reliable, also this is the cheapest flight for only $270 on the United Website. One carry-on bag included. Cons: both trips require a 2 hour layover making it a 6 hour total flight both ways with plane swaps. Also, this flight time is not ideal with an early departure at 0500. The next option is Volaris. The Pros: it is a direct flight at a convenient time for me. Cons: I've heard rumors that the quality of the airline is subpar, and that the trips are sometimes cancelled at the last minute. The pricing for this flight is $307 on a website called "Kiwi" that I haven't heard of. If anyone could share their experience with this airline or the booking website? Also, there is no carry-on option. The third option is AeroMexico. Pros: Its a direct flight at a very convenient time for me. Also, one carry-on bag is included. Cons: This is the most expensive option at $410, although there is an option for $382 on a website called "eDreams" but once again I question the legitimacy. I'm not sure what aspects to prioritize with these flights as I have limited flight experience. I would appreciate any advice or experiences shared. Thank you 🤗

I'm currently on a trip in central america and finding it depressing how hard it's been to meet people/socialize.

I've traveled since I was about 19, now I'm 31(m) and I've never found it this difficult to integrate into a hostels social scene. I've approached people and started conversations, asked what people are up to or where they're from etc (the usual) but the conversations more often than not just go dead with little to no reciprocal effort.

The last hostel I was at I saw these guys that were on the same shuttle as me when we arrived so I went and chatted for a bit only for them to walk off as soon as these girls showed up that they seemed to know.

I'm by myself for a couple weeks until my girlfriend arrives and it's been exhausting making these attempts and people just seeming to want to stay in their cliques. I have tried mentioning my girlfriend earlier so that guys don't see me as "competition" when there are girls around (kinda pathetic but a lot of guys seem to give the cold shoulder if there are girls around until I do this) and so the women don't think I'm just trying to hook up or something like that.

Maybe it's just luck of the draw, maybe it's younger generations not being as social, maybe I'm just more awkward than I used to be but I feel tired and a bit self conscious. If I simply don't try to talk to anyone nobody has approached me so far.

I swear I don't have 2 heads or a MAGA hat lol.

Any advice/ similar experiences?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I couldn't find anything online. I'm going to be in Hong Kong at the end of the month during a layover, and I wanted to take the airport express and use the same-day return ticket, I can't figure out if I'm able to go to Hong Kong station on the way there, then take the airport express back from Kowloon station using the same day fare.

Hi! My Grandmother and I are planning a trip to Staletti to visit her mother’s birthplace. We want to make a trip of it so are considering flying into Naples and roadtripping it to Staletti. Any suggestions as to where to stop & stay along the way? Or any recommendations just in general? Open to any and everything!

I will be going to Portugal and Spain for 1 month. Except the days where I will go to excursions, I will be working in the morning and traveling in the afternoon.

Could you please check whether my itinerary makes sense, and if there are any locations you think deserve more time?

I come from Asia, so my strategy is to see the most things possible, since it's not often I can go to Europe. Working is relaxing enough for me.

I enjoy architecture, history, landscapes and food. I am interested in the Muslim history of Spain.

I have been to Madrid and Barcelona before, and they are out of the route, so I won't go to those places.

---

Stay in Porto (already booked the stay, cannot change the time)

Porto - 2 days

Porto - 1 day excursion to Braga and Guimaraes

Porto - 1.5 days

Porto to Lisbon in the afternoon

Stay in Lisbon

Lisbon - 2 days

Lisbon - 1 day excursion to Sintra

Lisbon - 1 day excursion to Praia das Azenhas do Mar and Cabo da Roca

Lisbon - 1 day excursion to Evora

Lisbon - 1.5 days

Lisbon to Lagos in the afternoon

Stay in Lagos

Lagos - 1 day

Lagos - 1 day excursion to Farol do Cabo de São Vicente and Sagres

Lagos - 1 day excursion to Carvoeiro

Lagos - 1 day

Lagos to Seville in the morning

Stay in Seville

Seville - 1.5 days

Seville - 1 day excursion to Cadiz

Seville - 1 day excursion to Arcos de la Frontera

Seville - 1.5 days

Seville to Cordoba in the afternoon

Stay in Cordoba

Cordoba - 3 days

Cordoba - 1 day excursion to Ronda

Cordoba - 1.5 days

Cordoba to Granada in the afternoon

Stay in Granada

Granada - 3 days

Granada to Malaga

Stay in Malaga

Malaga - 3 days

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Questions:

1. Is Coimbra worth 1 day or even a stay? I checked the images on Google, and it seems it's not very unique compared to the other Portuguese cities in my itinerary

2. Is Malaga worth 3 days? Its main appeal seems to be Muslim castles and the beaches. There are Muslim relics and beaches in the other cities

3. Would you recommend a day trip from Tarifa to Tangier? Neither Tarifa and Tangier seem to have many attractions, so the main reason to go there would be to experience crossing the Gibraltar Strait. However, I also saw that Tangier is full of scammers. I've been to Egypt and I ignored the scammers, but would you say Morocco's scammers are worse than Egypt's?

Hi,

I am traveling in Chile because of a business trip, I have taken 1 week of vacation before my conference (Santiago) and one week after. Right now I’m still in my first week and I’m having second thoughts about my itinerary. I landed and went straight to Valparaiso, I was there for 1,5 days and was enjoying it. Now have arrived in Santa Cruze and plan to do some wine distilleries.

Afterwards I planned to go to Rancagua, but this seems like a bad idea. Because I don’t think there is anything to do. I really want to visit some nature and hike a bit. I had one night planned there. Do you have any recommendations to go anywhere else before I go back to Santiago?

This happened several years ago. My husband and I decided to spend our last day in Paris exploring the city on foot, wherever the sidewalk led us. After a day of people watching and window shopping, we were at our metro entrance, heading back to our hotel. A van pulled up and several people climbed out of the van and were setting up camera equipment-lights, reflectors, lots of stuff and bustling about. We stood aside and watched as a very beautiful, very tall young lady stepped out. She was dressed head to tow in a white outfit, very elegant. They were doing a fashion shoot! I started snapping pictures like crazy as they worked, posing her in front of the metro steps. Finally they started loading up their equipment and one of the people gestured to us. In broken English, we were asked if we wanted a picture with the model! We now have a picture of us standing with that lovely woman who looks just a wee bit embarrassed but smiling anyway, and I've always considered that one of the most perfect days we've ever spent while traveling. And no, the Parisians were never even a bit rude to us.

Hey I am getting married this June and would like my friend to attend my wedding. Now she is a chinese national but she lives in Germany. Recently, she went to Munich consulate and they said that she will have to apply for tourist visa to attend the wedding but she cannot do that because the Indian tourist visa is suspended for Chinese nationals.

As far as I read from this site https://www.cgiguangzhou.gov.in/page/e-visa/ it says, "E-visas stands temporarily suspended", but it doesn't say anything about regular visas.

Can someone please guide me what can be done in this situation? Is there a way to help her get the Visa?

Summary:

I solo travelled for 8 days (from the UK):

• 5 days in Orlando, within Disney World accommodation
• 3 days in Miami in South Beach (originally going to be 4 but left a day early)

I caught a cold the day before my flight to Florida, so I shoved down medicine/cough suppressants every day but I ended up leaving Miami a day early, partly because of that and partly because I felt I was still jet lagged.

Itinerary:

Day 0 - Arrived in evening in Orlando

Day 1: Kennedy Space Centre Day

This was pretty amazing - they have great tours within the key attractions. I found 1 day was sufficient to tick off the big name attractions, the Saturn V exhibit and the Atlantis Exhibit. Like others have said these were both awesome and worth seeing.

Day 2: Disney World Magic Kingdom
Day 3: Disney World Hollywood Studios
Day 4: Disney World Animal Kingdom
Day 5: Disney World Epcot

Day 6: Took Brightline Train to Miami and stayed in South Beach area

Day 7: General exploring, hanging out on beach, going to Little Havana

Day 8: Ended up taking an early flight home this evening

General comments about Orlando:

My Orlando leg was centred around Disney World, and so I picked accommodation in Disney World to avoid having to travel into Disney World repeatedly. This turned out to be a pretty good decision.

I'd definitely recommend this as you can fairly easily get in and out of Disney World with Ubers or with a rented car.

General comments about Disney World Accomodation:

I stayed at All Star Movies Resort which along with the other All Stars is fairly budget compared to other hotels.

Overall impression:

• The food is not great but if you're only there to have breakfast and are eating out otherwise then it's fine. I couldn't imagine having more than 1 meal a day here.
• Transportation is great - they have quite frequent (every 15 to 30 mins) shuttle buses to each of the major parks
• Have basic amenities, such as shops with medicine, quick food supplies, hats etc...
• My one criticism off this place is the level of sound you can hear from neighbours can be a lot, particularly when you have a young family next door which you probably will! Partly because of this, I struggled to get a decent sleep which really didn't help... I probably wouldn't stay here again because of this.

General comments about Disney World Parks:

I'm in my 30s so I wasn't sure how I'd find Disney World, but I had a really positive experience. I'm not a massive rollercoaster person so the rides at Disney were for the most part a good balance between being scary/exciting and being approachable and more fun for someone who isn't into crazy rides.

Favourite rides: The seven dwarfs, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion (all in magic kingdom).

In addition to the rides, the parks do musical events, parades, and other events which are really nostalgic.

Favourite attraction/event: Fantasmic in Hollywood Studios. This and the Magic Kingdom fireworks evening show do such a great job of making all these invented world and characters come alive and making you part of it.

IMO this was the highlight of my Orlando leg.

General comments about Miami:

Quite expensive in comparison to similar places in London. I found it easy to be spending almost 100 dollars on a meal.

South Beach is quite walkable, but in comparison the rest of Miami is not really walkable.

General comments about Florida

Transportation

I always forget when I come to the USA how much more car oriented the cities are. Even in Miami which had some walkable areas (e.g. South Beach), the streets feel much less friendly to pedestrians versus a European city.

When I stayed in All Star Movies in Disney World, I saw there was a streak restaurant about 15 mins walk away in principle, but there was literally no way you could walk there because of the way the surrounding area is built (e.g. due to having to cross dual carriageways with no pedestrian crossings or no sidewalks).

I did research transportation options and decided Uber would be my primary mode of getting around (e.g. from Disney World accomodation to Kennedy Space Centre, and getting around Miami, and to and from airports). Overall this was fairly cost effective and much less hassle than trying to rent a car when I don't drive at all in London. I'd definitely recommend this for others.

On getting from Orlando to Miami, there is a train called the Brightline which is in general much better than what most US states. This is a very cost effective way of getting from North to South Florida so again would recommend this (paid about 70 dollars for a ticket, 3.5 hours travel time).

Weather

I travelled from late march to early april (after postponing my original trip planned in October 2024) and the weather was great (high 20s Celcius) and not too humid.

I'd definitely recommend planning your Florida trip to avoid the more humid months or hurricane risky months which you can research online.

Other Comments:

As I said I caught a cold the day before my flight and it wasn't so bad that I felt the need to cancel completely. I powered through but it did still make it tough to enjoy the trip as much, particularly in Miami.

The flights in particular are brutal with a cold - not only do you feel the normal dehydrating and potential nausea but you can get the painful pressure effect on your ears and forehead due to being congested during ascent and descent.

I recommend having at least 1/3 litre of water to drink before ascent and before descent to ease the congestion as well as the usual decongestants - the water basically gets rid of any potential pain.

Overall:

Travelling in the USA is always interesting and different. I've used to London urban planning and have been to Italy/Spain/Greece/France/Thailand/Japan and overall I find it much more comfortable and easy to navigate in the pedestrianised and public transport heavy cities like Rome or Tokyo.

Walking around parts of Miami in particular it just feels sort of soul less some times with the lack of people on the streets as everyone is in cars. Again, just my personal experience.

Would definitely go again to Miami to have a more exciting trip, doing more water activities, hopefully without being congested and jetlagged next time!

Going on a three week getaway starting w St Lucia (followed by Costa Blanca and albania) Anyway, my plan was mostly hiking and beaches. Natural beauty and relax. I am staying in the south of the island. Anyone who's been what was your experience? Insanely beautiful island I kinda just want to wander about but would like to know anyones personal experience on the trip ?

Thanks :)

In a recent post u/robustregistration talked about walking barefoot on the Great Wall of China and really feeling the thousands of years of history.

I walked through a castle in the UK and saw stairs with dips in the middle, solid stone worn down by so many feet over the centuries. That caught my eye and really made people who lived in the castle real. The thrones and the beautiful clothing and amazing architecture are all wonderful but being able to really picture the people from that time - working, resting, laughing, struggling, tired, excited, chatting with friends, worried about their kids - I felt all that.

At the Roman Colosseum, I saw an exhibition of little things found under the seats like buttons, money, etc. It really resonated with me; all those things are found in our stadiums today.

What are the things that you have seen during your travels that made you feel truly connected to people from the past?

Like the title, I am traveling to Portugal and Spain from mid-May to mid-June. Looking for some tips especially for the Spain portion. This trip opportunity came spur of the moment and my brain is feeling fried trying to decide what to see! Any thoughts/tips are greatly appreciated. Below is not so much an itinerary as much as it is a list of ideas.

I’m interested in soaking up as much culture as I can. Art, architecture, food, beaches and hiking. I enjoy live music, nightlife & dancing but I don’t drink anymore so the party scene isn’t a focus necessarily.

I fly into Porto and have 10 days to get to Lisbon. I thought about doing a 2-3 day portion of the Camino de Santiago but in the opposite direction (towards Lisbon) and wonder if it will be “worth it”? Coimbra comes highly suggested and once in Lisbon I’d like to do a day trip to Sintra. This keeps me pretty inland so if there are other towns/villages you suggest to see or something along the coast that is a must please let me know!

Once in Lisbon I fly to the Azores for 1 week for a retreat so this portion is already planned out.

When back in Lisbon in late May I then have 2+ weeks to do Spain. I don’t have a return flight yet so one thought is I could boogie from Lisbon up to San Sebastián > Barcelona > Andalucía > back to Lisbon for return flight OR Lisbon > Andalucía > Barcelona > San Sebastián > Madrid or Porto for return flight

I’d like to see Andalucía - Seville, Córdoba, Granada, and Malaga all get recommended - how do I decide?? Is Gribaltar worth getting to? San Sebastián & Barcelona are both on my list. Madrid I’ve heard mixed reviews about. Many say it is a must but some say they preferred Barcelona so maybe it can be skipped? It’s a nice halfway point from Andalucía though so it could be easily done, I’m sure. Are there any towns less traveled that I’m missing out on?

Thank you in advanced for your input!

Hello, I'm going to Montenegro this summer. I'm mainly going to hike and explore nature. Here's my itinerary. Can you tell me what you think? Thank you for your advices :)

Day 1: Arrival in Podgorica, city tour, and walk along the Cijevna River

Day 2: Head to Durmitor National Park and Black Lake

Day 3: Tara River Canyon, Lake Zminje

Day 4: Head to Njeguši then Lovćen National Park

Day 5: Kotor, Perast

Day 6: Lake Skadar and return to Podgorica

I've been to Mexico a few times and have visited: Mexico City, puerto Vallarta, sayulita, san pancho, playa del carmen, Cabo and just recently Zihuatenejo.

Loved Mexico city, san pancho, and Zihuatenejo. Didn't like puerto Vallarta or playa del carmen. Was lukewarm about sayulita and Cabo.

Any suggestions for what my next destination in Mexico should be?

Was thinking of puerto Escondido or san Miguel de Allende? The key is having a really nice and unique hotel with access to a nice town for shopping and meals. For reference, stayed at la casa que canta in Zihuatenejo and absolutely loved it. Looking for something similar.

I need to know if this is feasible:

Medan to Denpasar in two weeks on a motorcycle? Or is that a too ambitious timeframe?

Thanks for any input!

Hey all, looking for some help putting together a trip this summer.

Flying into Barcelona June 28th

Barcelona June 28-July 2nd

Nice/Southern France July 2nd - 5th

Cinque Terre July 5th-8th

Florence July 8th-11th

Rome July 11-13th

My wife and I would prefer to do all this via trains. The train from Barcelona to Nice is 8.5 hours so we’re not against doing half the leg and staying one night in a different city before making it to Nice. Any suggestions on this?

We know 2 nights is not a lot in Rome but we’ve been here before and it’s more of a convenient place to end with an international airport to get us back into the U.S.

These dates can also change depending on feedback. We’re interested in mainly hitting the highlights of each city along the way , having food food and maybe having a slow day or 2 on a beach.

Update.

Hi Everyone.

Thank you all for the responses I have read all of them. I"m sorry for not responding to all of them sooner. I picked up extra hours at work and have been exhausted when I get home. I really just want to do something different for a vacation. Something out of the ordinary. A friend of mine from work recently cross country from New York to California on Amtrack. Stayed in San Franscisco for a couple of days. Flew down to LA stayed a couple of days and then went LA back to New York on a different train. He said it was amazing and he had an absolute blast. I love this idea and was also thinking about taking it a step further and going from Main to either California or Seattle.

I've been kicking around ideas about maybe even going to Bora Bora. Joining a travel group and going to Egypt. The more I read all your responses I don't think driving the Route 66 would be a good idea. But it was fun to think about for now.

Again. Truly. Thank you for all your responses.

***

It's supposed to be a tourist travel with different attractions and little towns also filled with history. I have vacation time that I would like to use up. I thought it would be fun to drive it and fly back. It looks like it could be a interesting drive.

hi, im (22m) looking at solo travelling for my first time for 3 weeks in june 2025.

at first, i wanted to do thailand, vietnam and taiwan together in 3 weeks but after a bit of research realised how crazy that was.

so, ive decided that its best for me to visit one country out of thailand and vietnam for 3 weeks.

i want nice beaches, some streetfood, maybe island hopping, maybe a muay thai class (i know this is big in thailand, are there spots in vietnam too?) , i wanna meet other young solo travellers, i wanna see some cool waterfalls and nature stuff , and a bit of clubbing (i wanted to do the full moon party but not too fussed about this, would just like to go out like 2 or 3 nights) etc. just normal fun stuff.

orr, anywhere else not thailand or vietnam? oh yeah i want it to b warmmmmmmm too

any suggestions?

if i get norway visa but i m travelling through switzerland is it an issue for next time while i apply for schengen visa ?

We are just taking a via flight to Switzerland and will be there for just 8-10hours.

Will it be an issue later on as my passport would have a Swiss stamp as a point of entry and not Norway?

I am an Indian, incase any specific rules for Indians ?

Hi!

I am flying out of ABE to Japan and the route requires we take a bus from ABE to Newark prior to flying out. For whatever reason, the ticket was $400 cheaper per person if we took the bus, rather than just the same route going out of Newark. Apparently, they really want people to ride their bus.

The question is, should I still get to ABE ~3 hours early for an international flight? Or would this not be needed because Newark is the international portion, and it would be okay to get there ~2 hours in advance? ABE is a smaller airport and it's normally quick relative to the larger airports. It is a 6 AM bus time so being able to get a little more sleep would be great if we can.

I tried to look through the internet/old reddit posts but was having trouble with finding an answer, so I appreciate the help!

My wife and I are traveling throughout Europe for the next 4 monthsish and I am wondering how we would go about getting refunded for our qualifying purchases? We won't be in a non shengen country until June. Since we wouldn't be leaving the EU but leaving the country, would we do it after we leave the schengen the first time or the second time? Do we need to do it for each country?

Hey, M 23 here planning to do a cruise in Croatia I am looking for the best option which has party vibes, people of my own age or younger, 50:50 gender ratios And with really nice yachts with ensuite bathrooms and air conditioning

I have researched a bit and found some companies but dont know which one to choose so need your suggestions guys I dont have a budget as I’m planning to do this for my birthday solo

So which is the best option?

Med sailors

Sail week

Yacht week

Sail croatia

Intrepid crusie

Contiki cruise

Please share your experience as well if you’ve been on any of these cruises.

Thank you 😊

Hello, I’m a full-time employee on blue card in Germany and wanted to invite my younger sister (19) for a month in her summer break. She is a bachelors student. For her visit friends and family schengen, I’m unable to provide a Verplfichtungserklärung since I’m on probation. Our parents also can’t be her sponsors since they don’t have passports. It is also not possible for our extended relatives to sponsor her.

I wanted to know if it would be okay for her to self-sponsor her trip; I am okay to send her the required funds for the number of days (80eur a day). Will this work? Would it make sense to provide an additional “gift letter” stating that the transfer is to support her for her trip, since issuing a Verpflichtungserklärung is not possible in my case? I will also mention this in my invitation letter.

As a part of her additional documents I will be providing my bank statements. She is also going to submit her college id, letter of good conduct from her dean, and fee receipt for the next semester. Are there any other supporting document examples that would help her case?

Thank you, any help is greatly appreciated!

We are staying two nights on safari at the Mara Under Canvas mobile camp to see the wildebeest crossing the Mara River in August. I believe the Mara River is the border between Kenya and Tanzania. I was wondering how realistic it would be to cross over into Kenya during a game drive. Is it an open border and you can hardly tell if you’ve crossed from one country into the other, or are you only able to cross through a formal border check point?