Who's Ready For Vacation?

Describe your best vacation. It can be a vacation you've already had or a vacation you've always wanted. What made it or would make it so great?

Do you have an upcoming vacation? Where are you heading, and are you excited for it?

My best vacation was when my two bestest friends in the whole wide world came up to visit me for the first time in my new home. They flew up and we spent a week together. It was the happiest time of my life, far better than Disneyland! (Though Disneyland with my friends sounds awesome) It meant the world to me that my parents and their parents all agreed to it, and though it was taxing to be a good host, we girls had a splendid time.

I do have an upcoming vacation. I'm heading on a road trip south to stay in a hotel and play the slots at the casino in a beautiful waterfront area. I've never played at the casino there and really want to, so I'm happy to have some quality me time winning the big bucks as a reward for so much dedication to school and work.

I enjoy vacation, but more on the side who’s I’m spending my time with. My dream vacation would be beaches and relaxing at spa lol.

I do have planned vacation, two actually. One is with my high school friends, we are planning on a budget travel to thailand, mostly just normal travel nothing crazy.

One more is with my college bestie. He’s trans so we’ll enjoy it as girls vacation, and since he’s a foodie, I can imagine us spending a lot on food and shopping. We are going to Taiwan I’m so excited.

I used to go on cruises, but found being among large numbers of people increasingly difficult to cope with. Instead, I go away with my daughter to country retreats, or visiting my later mother's vineyard in France which was left to me. Touring France is very pleasant, especially now when the weather hasn't got too hot and spring flowers are looking so pretty in the fields.

Though chartering jets is useful since I have a part-share in an aircraft, I've never liked flying and frquently sick up. When I was younger, cruising was much more fun. One particularly great memory was sailing up the Grand Canal in Venice, at around 1 or 2 knots. The views were breathtaking! Now and much to the Venetians' pleasure, all cruise ships above a certain size are forbidden to cruise the Grand Canal, making the vaporetto the only option, and these water craft can get very packed with squawking tourists. Ever heard multilingual conversations all at once? It's enough to cause panic, and one would no way want to exit the vaporetto into the canal. < thanks, but no thanks! The water around Venice stinks!

So..my best vacation? It is now, somewhere in France among poppies in the verdant distance and a vineyard surrounding my late mother's farm and chateau. A sleepy-eyed boyfriend smiled lazily at me this morning, a linen wrapped bowl of warmed croissants at the breakfast table, a cafetière of coffee and the smell of lavender just about to start flowering, its scent soft and welcoming on the warm breeze. Growing nearby next to the verandah are a clump of lillies of the valley, the like of which are given to our loved ones on the 1st of May.

I cannot think of a better more idyllic place to be than here, right now. Off sick on a doctor's certificate, I hope these next few days will be healing to me, and my family will begin returning to happier normality, our children playing among themselves and Peggy strumming her acoustic and singing a French song of love long ago returning to dwell among us. When she runs, her blonde hair flies out behind her like a flock of yellow canaries....ahh, sweet memories are made of these times.

I am so ready for my vacations. I’m going to Memphis to see Graceland and do some other tourist stuff in a few months. Then in September I’m going to the lake for Labor Day weekend. In summer 2020 I’m going to Arizona and I’ll be on a plane for the first time. I’ll be going to a family reunion and I’ll be seeing the Grand Canyon.

My favorite vacation was the one I took this past summer. My mom and I took a road trip. We went to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Museum in Cleavland, took a tour of Amish country Pennsylvania, drove to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls and then spent 2 days in a tourist town in Michigan.

Savannah Georgia , I love it there, my husband hasnt gone , going to be fun showing him around.

I can’t wait for April to get here.

This is so beautiful, I'm tearing up. A tiny bit jealous, but also in awe at the picture you've painted. I wish I could be someplace like that!

I haven't been on vacation for 2 years .. Easter is coming soon and weekends, we'll go to the mountains for a couple of days. Small but vacation!

Well....it used to be going to my childhood home each year. Now, I am very happy to simply stay home. If I were to go somewhere, it would be the beach. Doesn't have to be anywhere fancy or expensive, just as long as it is near the shore.

I travel a lot. I do four or five vacations a year although now that I’m back in school that will be seriously curtailed going forward. I am going to Mexico next month just for three days. Otherwise I have nothing planned for the rest of the year.

Sorry to have made you cry, and yearning, but as we journey through life, sometimes we encounter unexpected places that are so beautiful. One morning I was walking our spaniel when he disappeared and I heard a splash. Typical of spaniels, they like water. Jack had only leapt into the Canal du Midi.

Well, I was never wonderful at directions, preferring to ramble, and forgot the Midi was so closeby. This picture is typical of the canal, which people of all ages and interests visit. Lined with Plane trees, the canal is serene and brings peace and stillness to a troubled heart.

Perhaps this is another place that you could visit one day? Book a week's cruise on a barge. It's not expensive and a week on the water feels like a fortnight. The Canal du Midi is 240 km long, so you would be in for a wonderful holiday.

May you find such a beautiful place, and happiness, guilloche.

Best vacation(s)? European riverboat cruising. I've been on three and these won't be the last. I have fallen in love with this mode of holidaying and developed a bit of an addiction. Just last December I took my boyfriend on his first - a Christmas themed cruise down the Danube River with a stop in Vienna from Nuremburg to Budapest. We opted for three days in Prague beforehand.

I also love to camp. We have a lengthy road trip to the West Coast and Central Vancouver Island planned for the last half of May. As I type we have the SUV in the shop having a hitch for the little tent trailer being installed.

Have good holidays everyone and make some great memories!

Best vacation: a childhood trip to Canada. Usual vacation now: going to Disneyland (hey, it's what I can afford, and who doesn't love Disney?!)

Prague is absolutely awesome, don’t you think. It’s so beautiful. One of my favorite cities.

Is it you and your boyftiemd on a picture? You both look like you are enjoying yourself. You are gorgeous by the way!!!!

Ton of places that I love. I love traveling.

I find something awesome on every vacation and trip I take. Paris. London. Prague. Sankt-Petersburg, Moscow, Tbilisi (capital of Georgia, country not a state), NYC. Chicago. Toronto. Napa Valley. Redwoods NP, pacific Coastal Highway, Great Smokies NP. For silly reasons I love Vegas and I am not even a gambler. I really liked Stratford, Canada-wonderful theater productions and cute small town!

This summer I am going to Toronto again (with my girlfriends) and to Texas with my husband (husbands family lives there).

Thanks, Velvet Lounge... and what a lovely picture! *dreams*

I don't really travel much because of mental health/anxiety issues. I'd like to fix that... but it's been rough.

My favorite trip, when I did travel... I once was able to go to England (and France) for work! I needed to do training that was hard to get. The only US location was in California, and even though I watched the website like a hawk for weeks, the minute they opened up the class, it was filled.

When I saw that they offered the same courses just outside of London, I asked my manager... and was able to make the case that I should go. For a week and half!

I had a day or two before class started, all the evenings, and one weekend in the middle to explore - it was wonderful! And, I extended the trip into the next weekend, so that I could take the train to Paris.

In England, I stayed at a lovely B&B (well, my room was right above the kitchen and got really hot - and everyone else had taken all the fans, so that was a little stressful!). But it was close to part of the Thames, and an old church, and in a very walkable area... so I got out, walked around, explored. Had several delicious meals at a local pub (yum). Tried sitting outside to sketch, even though I have no skills/talent lol, so didn't end up with anything useful. I got to see the Tower of London, and the library, and a museum in the evenings.

And, a cute boy stopped a taxi for me, which confused and delighted me, lol! The buses had stopped, I think because of a threat (?). I had taken a taxi from the train station to the museum, and figured I'd catch a bus back to the train station to get to the hotel... but I couldn't figure out when (or if) the bus was coming, so I tried to call a cab, but even after multiple calls, the line was busy (because apparently EVERYONE was calling for cabs).

I'm not really a "city girl", and have never stopped a taxi that is flying down the street, ever. A very sweet guy asked me if I needed help (as I was pondering the bus schedule that was posted) - after I explained my dilemma, he walked to the curb - and like MAGIC! Made at taxi show up!

I think I just stared in awe and confusion for a second, because he looked a little concerned, like, "Err... you wanted a cab, right?" LOL.

Paris was fun too. I ended up doing a lot of English-speaking tours, even though I studied French in school, because I didn't trust my ability to understand rapidly spoken French. I saw Versailles - loved the miniature Austrian town that was built for Marie-Antoinette! - and... Cluny (medieval history museum) which wasn't far from where I stayed. I kind of wandered the streets a bit too, just taking it all in.

Hmmm and I got to the train station to leave way too early, so they wouldn't let me in the special section where the train back to England is. I sat on the ground, reading my book, waiting... and some guy tried to steal my chocolate. I know, it sounds bizarre... and it was utterly confusing in the moment too. He basically came up, and kind of pointed (I was eating it!) and said something like "Give it!" - I said, "uh, no!" (I was really confused!)... I think we might have repeated and then my adrenaline kicked in... I jumped to my feet and started to yell a little, and he left. Then I went back to the ticket window, explained, and begged them to please let me in to wait for my train which, thankfully, they did.

Paris train stations, as it turns out, were not my favorite part of the trip!

Oh gosh, that was soooooo long ago. I feel old!

A SIMPLE YES!!!!! I am soooooo ready for a vacation. YES PLEASE NOW. LOL.

I never liked all the 7 Parisienne railways stations except some that have magnificent Belle Epoque architecture. Example, some Gare du Nord platforms are illuminated with romantic lamps, and these you notice when the station is quiter, long after rush hour.

At Gare de Lyon there is the magnificent Le Train Bleu restaurant as shown below:

.....Where it is expected you dress up, or at least I used to when I was educated at the Sorbonne, in the Latin Quarter of Paris. These historic places do not charge the earth, and the daily menu gives 2-pate, 3-plate or 4 options and a fine à la carte if you want to push the culinary boat out.

Have you ever taken a train journey? Lovely, scenic and absolutely blissful. Book a table and dine during a trip across France, stay overnight in the train's cosy cabin, enjoying real French hot chocolate such as Ladurée's for a nightcap. (I have the recipe and will post it in the healthy food forum).

Or, take a lazy bus journey. Let someone else do the driving. Restful vacations such as these are what dreams are made of, coming true.

Oooh, that picture is gorgeous! I was actually at Gare du Nord, but taking the train back to England.

Oh gosh, now I'm wishing I lived in England or France. The thought of being able to hop on the train and have so many amazing places within reach *sigh*. All I remember of the train ride into Paris was being so excited, since I had studied French in school and this was my first trip. Like, looking out the windows thinking: "THIS IS FRANCE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ACTUALLY LOOKING AT FRANCE! RIGHT THERE OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!"

Me, I am! Best vacation..cycling through France on a winter morning.

Wonderful memories - of the fancy and the rough. It is all what you make of it.

In between those posher holidays I have been just as content to live in the forest for a week or two.