where should i go?

douchebagatron

<div class="IPBDescription">in the world, that is.</div>so there's a good chance that I will be getting to go pretty much anywhere in the world for spring break. at least anywhere that continental airlines flies. my roommate has connections. but we are trying to decide on where we should go. any suggestions? my first thoughts were of japan or ireland perhaps, but i am really open to anything.

Thansal

Where have you been?

What languages do you speak? What about people going with you?

Do you have international friends you can hook up with and see local stuff with?

I personally hate being a tourist, and the key one for me is not speaking the language. I would love to go to Japan or China, but I just flat out don't speak the languages and thus feel uncomfortable going. Which leaves me with the top of my list being: England/Ireland/Scotland/Aussieland. All have cultures different then ours, speak the same language as us, and have cool things to see/do.

TychoCelchuuu

<!--quoteo(post=1700992:date=Feb 20 2009, 12:08 PM:name=Thansal)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Thansal @ Feb 20 2009, 12:08 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1700992"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I personally hate being a tourist, and the key one for me is not speaking the language. I would love to go to Japan or China, but I just flat out don't speak the languages and thus feel uncomfortable going. Which leaves me with the top of my list being: England/Ireland/Scotland/Aussieland. All have cultures different then ours, speak the same language as us, and have cool things to see/do.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
+1. Not everyone has this same hangup, though. I'm not really much of a traveller though so I can't really suggest anything <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />

locallyunscene

Free plane tickets are great, but you also might want to consider the cost of where you're going. The Japan, Switzerland, UK, and all of Europe that is on the Euro is pretty pricey for an American tourist. Not impossible by any means, but not as cheap as going to China, Thailand, Costa Rica, South America.

That said I recommend Italy. It's on the Euro, but Florence and Rome are amazing. My friends and I did a trip where we decided we weren't going to wait in line. We just walked around the cities because there was so much to see outside. I wish we had waited in line for the Uffizi where they have a lot of Michaelangelo's work, but we had no trouble seeing the Vatican(short line, but don't pay for the tour, it's better to just wander), the Duomo's(large beautiful Cathedrals), the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, etc.

juice

See some BRICs! They're relevant in geopolitics but not so similar to us! At least that's where I would go if I could...

Align

If you had infinite money, I'd recommend Switzerland, but...

DiscoZombie

not to hijack the thread, but is there anywhere on the english-speaking world that has a good job market these days? =p my job is a contract job, my wife just got laid off from her real job due to our lovely economy, and neither of us are particularly attached to Philadelphia...

BadMouth

I would recommend Italy too. Most of the people there speak english, or some variant of it. They're friendly, the food's great, and there are loads of sights to see. Especially Florence and Rome. And the great thing is, all the major tourist attractions are centralised, so they're basically walking distance from each other.

Kouji_San

Groningen, we got "droge worst" and "de olle grieze", we also had the "fief piep'n" but they got demolished [<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGRh-WwXS3Q" target="_blank">youtube</a>], now instead we have "de euroborg" at that location. Oh and just 15km from Groningen is the almighty Kouji_San, where we launch our ships in the most spectacular way... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMyoNMEZKc" target="_blank">SIDEWAYS</a> <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />

Kassinger

Go to Iceland, it's bankrupt and it's Icelandic krone is worth nothing these day. You'll get a lot for your money, and if Iceland is like the scandinavian countries, everyone can speak English.

They've got fantastic hot springs and beautiful glaciers.

I would've suggested Norway, where I live now, but it's very expensive for foreigners.

remi

I visited the UK... London was alright, but really the nicest people ever were in Scotland. I definitely reccomend going there. (and it was super pretty)