Biggest Travel Highlight/s?

[jetlagger]

Wonderful entertainment reading the 'Biggest Travel Regrets" posts.. It appears there are some optimists amongst us who want to share the positive experiences as well.. So I'll be confident enough to get the 'ball rolling" at the other end of the spectrum.. Over to you for your best travel highlight/s/experience...

 

[flyingfan]

Three top ones are:

Riding the Shanghai maglev - the friend I was visiting there first scoffed at me for the expensive ticket but I'd never travelled so fast while still (kind of) attached to the ground - it was awesome!

Heading to Machu Picchu on a very misty, foggy morning when ponchos were out and we couldn't see very far ahead. Then the clouds parted and gave way to a glorious view of this amazing site.

Flying first class for the first time LHR-HKG-MEL (on a FASA ) - the trip to Europe in economy seemed endless, but coming home being able to spread out, comfortably watch movies on my notebook and dining with white linen service made the time go by very quickly!

 

[jetlagger]

I'll add a few of my favourites..

Experiencing life & work in Israel.. as a volunteer.. added a different perspective to my life & well being

Living in London & being able to fly to ZRH every other week to visit my GF on Swissair flights.

Having the opportunity to live & experience life in Switzerland, & the extensive travels & fantastic adventures within.

My first flight experience in J from AMS/SIN with Heineken beer on tap in lounge..& a most welcomed delayed flight.. That was/is heaven.

Too many pleasant experiences over the years..

These days, anytime flying in F/J on a decent carrier.. & a lovely hotel to complement.. Flogged the budget travel experience, over it!

Finding the ways & means to experience & tick off my extensive 'bucket list"

 

[Alanslegal]

One of my highlights to date was being in Spain in July 2010. A whole bunch of my close friends met up in Barcelona, then headed to the infamous San Fermin (aka Bull Run) Festival in Pamplona [where for those wondering I chickened out from running with the bulls last minute]. The town was electric and filled with so much energy, and the mandatory red and white attire people had to wore made it really cool. The parties in the Old Town went all day and night, the next morning the first bull run of several over that week started, I chickened out however headed to the stadium where the people and bulls run into, we drunk more sangria and partied all day until that evening when Spain vs Germany in the World Cup 2012 semi-finals. Watched the game in the town square and when Spain defeated Germany 1-0 the celebrations were one of a kind! We then returned to Barcelona, and it was World Cup Finals ..... watching the game at a bar on the beach drinking coughtails and 300EUR champagne (yes 3x the price purely because of finals night). Spain won and Barcelona went wild. A few days later, we drove to Girona and had the dinner of our lives at El Cella de Can Roca (2nd best restaurant in the world). A great week or so celebrating with friends, great atmosphere and perfect conditions where everything just fell into place, and one of a kind personal holiday.

In terms of sights, seeing the Great Pyramids for the first time, walking the SkyWalk at the Grand Canyon, seeing Niagara Falls, spending time on Santorini Island where magical views of the sunsets and caldera, riding a private water taxi from VCE to our Hotel Danieli in Venice and then exploring, smoking weed in Amsterdam, eating a traditional kebab in Istanbul, pride week in New Orleans, taking Jetstar jump photos with Mt Fuji in the background, professional ladyboy show in Bangkok, rooftop bars in Bangkok, oh gosh there are sooooo many. As they say, the more you travel, the more you want to travel! Its such an addiction!

 

[jetlagger]

One of my highlights to date was being in Spain in July 2010. A whole bunch of my close friends met up in Barcelona, then headed to the infamous San Fermin (aka Bull Run) Festival in Pamplona [where for those wondering I chickened out from running with the bulls last minute]. The town was electric and filled with so much energy, and the mandatory red and white attire people had to wore made it really cool. The parties in the Old Town went all day and night, the next morning the first bull run of several over that week started, I chickened out however headed to the stadium where the people and bulls run into, we drunk more sangria and partied all day until that evening when Spain vs Germany in the World Cup 2012 semi-finals. Watched the game in the town square and when Spain defeated Germany 1-0 the celebrations were one of a kind! We then returned to Barcelona, and it was World Cup Finals ..... watching the game at a bar on the beach drinking coughtails and 300EUR champagne (yes 3x the price purely because of finals night). Spain won and Barcelona went wild. A few days later, we drove to Girona and had the dinner of our lives at El Cella de Can Roca (2nd best restaurant in the world). A great week or so celebrating with friends, great atmosphere and perfect conditions where everything just fell into place, and one of a kind personal holiday.

In terms of sights, seeing the Great Pyramids for the first time, walking the SkyWalk at the Grand Canyon, seeing Niagara Falls, spending time on Santorini Island where magical views of the sunsets and caldera, riding a private water taxi from VCE to our Hotel Danieli in Venice and then exploring, smoking weed in Amsterdam, eating a traditional kebab in Istanbul, pride week in New Orleans, taking Jetstar jump photos with Mt Fuji in the background, professional ladyboy show in Bangkok, rooftop bars in Bangkok, oh gosh there are sooooo many. As they say, the more you travel, the more you want to travel! Its such an addiction!

Alanslegal.. Wow! that's great.. & an experience/s & more.. Just wondering if the 'professional ladyboy show in BKK" was different to the standard one I viewed in Pat Pong Rd.. you must have had the upgrade.. I was very young & innocent.. It was like Hangover -2 at the time, I have attempted to delete the scenario from my travelogue.. It was not a pretty outcome & involved some arguing & bribery with the tourist police... & of course BCN, well you also bring back a wonderful memory with my travelling companion about the availability of every conceivable mind boggling resource of the time..
I must admit, it was times ago, & we have grown much wiser to those 'treacheries"..:mrgreen:

 

[harvyk]

I'm with eastflyer, riding the Shanghai Maglev is certainly a highlight. I'm a little disappointed that I went on one of the slow time (so only 300km/h) rather than the really fast times (433km/h), in any case it certainly fits the profile of coolest train I've ever been on.

My first J flight, followed soon after by my first international J flight.

Lunch in Hong Kong.

and seeing the Golden Gate bridge for the first time.

 

[AVC]

Flying first class - the trip to Europe in economy seemed endless, but coming home being able to spread out, comfortably watch movies on my notebook and dining with white linen service made the time go by very quickly!

You really want that the other way around, the Y going as quick as possible, with the comfortable trip seeming endless!

Domestic highlight-
A "free" holiday, courtesy of the fed govt. Way back when I was in the Army, on an excercise in outback NT, we got a day off and were flown into Darwin for a day trip by C130, Normally, flying in one of those makes commercial economy look like luxury plus. But this time, there was only a handful of us on board. We spent half the flight flying low level over the NT wetlands sitting on the open tailgate ramp. Magic. (oh, we were harnessed).

International highlight-
Diving on the President Coolidge in Vanuatu. A large commercial liner converted to a troop carrier in WW2, and lying in between 25 and 70 metres of water. Full penetration dives (as in, we went right inside the ship). It was like some scenes from the movie Titanic. Spooky and fascinating at the same time.

 

[Travel Guru]

For me off the top of my head would have to be:

- Visiting the town my Dad and Grandfather came from in Italy (and unbeknown to me at the time), randomly meeting a guy in the street who turned out to be my grandfathers best friend who he hadn't seen since emigrating 44 yrs earlier.

- Seeing Mt Everest with my own 2 eyes as I trekked towards Base Camp back in 2004

- Anzac Day at Gallipoli in 2007

- Dinner at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi

- Flying Business Class for the first time long haul

- coughtail parties in the Presidential Suites at Bellagio (love luxury travel conventions!)

- Staying in the same $2500 a night Royal Villa at Phulay Bay that Bradley Cooper stayed in while they filmed Hangover 2 there


TG

 

[Travel Guru]

International highlight-
Diving on the President Coolidge in Vanuatu. A large commercial liner converted to a troop carrier in WW2, and lying in between 25 and 70 metres of water. Full penetration dives (as in, we went right inside the ship). It was like some scenes from the movie Titanic. Spooky and fascinating at the same time.

Nice...that ones on my bucket list.

TG

 

[amaroo]

Honeymoon on Bedarra Is in the early 90's

Dog sledding in the wilderness outside of Quebec City

Driving from Halifax to Gaspe Bay.....along the way seeing the Bay of Fundy the worlds biggest tidal movement - around 50 feet

Two very enjoyable stays at Huka Lodge

 

[smit0847]

Hiring motorbikes with the boys in Hoi Ann and spending the day getting hopelessly, hopelessly lost in Central Vietnam. We were a bit tired of the tourist areas so headed away from Hoi Ann and just explored. Perfect blue sunny skies, the picture perfect images of people waving at us from rice-paddies and little kids running after us. Got some stunning photos. Somehow wound up on a highway somewhere many hours inland, met a local at a petrol station who spoke a tiny bit of english, found a very rustic cafe and enjoyed a beer with him while he practised his english. Somehow managed to find out way back to Hoi Ann as it was getting dark.

One of those days where everything was just perfect and I enjoyed it far more than any tourist trap I went to.

Did not see a single Westerner the entire day.

 

[simongr]

International highlight-
Diving on the President Coolidge in Vanuatu. A large commercial liner converted to a troop carrier in WW2, and lying in between 25 and 70 metres of water. Full penetration dives (as in, we went right inside the ship). It was like some scenes from the movie Titanic. Spooky and fascinating at the same time.

Sounds great - I haven't done that one but have done the Thistlegorm (WW2 transport ship in the Red Sea) five times Although that was almost topped off by the first time I saw a Turtle underwater. Then there was the time a pod of Dolphins followed our dive boat for about 20 mins And the time when I had my firstdive back in warm water in jeddah and just dropped through hundreds and hundreds of fish - after 10 years without any decent diving. yep Diving - big highlight.

back to pure travelling I think my personal highlight was every time I walked out of my hotel in NYC the six of seven times I got to go there in two years - I just love simply being in Manhattan.

 

[Alanslegal]

Just wondering if the 'professional ladyboy show in BKK" was different to the standard one I viewed in Pat Pong Rd.. you must have had the upgrade.. I was very young & innocent.. It was like Hangover -2 at the time, I have attempted to delete the scenario from my travelogue.. It was not a pretty outcome & involved some arguing & bribery with the tourist police... & of course BCN, well you also bring back a wonderful memory with my travelling companion about the availability of every conceivable mind boggling resource of the time..
I must admit, it was times ago, & we have grown much wiser to those 'treacheries"..:mrgreen:

The ladyboy shows are professional shows, held on proper stages and you buy tickets prior or at the door. The ones on Patpong shows are just really sleazy strip joints where they want to lure you in and bleed you dry of your THB notes. Mind you, my best mate had his bucks week in Asia a few years ago .... gosh that was crazy too! Not as bad as yours or the Hangover 2's story but pretty messy all round

We've got Brazil 2014 with all our mates penciled in, so World Cup bound we are. The atmosphere is going to be be out of this world, that's for sure!

 

[drron]

There really are too many to mention.Guess I am easily pleased.So I will gradually do it by decades.
1960s-Walking out from a visit to the Coolong Caves.Rounded a bend and came face to face with a male grey kangaroo.We both froze and eyed each other off for~ 3 minutes before he lazily hopped off.
-Camping in the Myall Lakes.Woke at dawn and came out to emus and wallabies at the water's edge.Surprisingly they just accepted our presence.
- hitch hiking around New Zealand.Riding in a milk tanker out of Greymouth.We were given some fresh cream.Then when we got out finding ripe blackberries.Fantastic.
-Later on us 2 male med students finding ourselves sharing a Youth Hostel in Picton with a class of final year students from a private female only school.

-1969 and spending 6 weeks in the Solomons and PNG after finishing Uni.Spending 2 of those weeks on a medical boat going around many of the more remote places in the Solomons.A real eye opener.

Will come back with highlights of later decades.

 

[serfty]

First to mind:

Sitting in 1A on an AAircraft coming to the approach at the end of an HNL-LAX red-eye - we cruised slow and low flying West between LAX and Los Angeles. It was pre-sunrise and there was a blanket of fog around. The taller buildings were sticking up light and colourful out out of the fog which itself was glowing in multiple colours from the lights of the streets and buildings illuminating it

It was surreal.

 

[Blackadder]

Flying F from SYD-LAX on an A380 (with seat 1A)

 

[Ewing]

My most recent highlight was spending a day cruising through Fiordland in New Zealand (Milford, Doubtful and Dusky Sounds) last December. It was absolutely spectacular - and there wasn't a cloud in the sky which is quite lucky given the area receives a lot of rain.

I was on Radiance of the Seas. That particular ship has pod thrusters that can be rotated in any direction - and as a result the Captain was able to manoeuvre the ship so that the bow was at the base of a massive waterfall (the people standing at the front were getting wet).

My favourite highlight was in 2010 when I took my Mum on her first overseas flight (I took her on her first overseas trip in 2009 which was a cruise). We were boarding the aircraft (747-400) and I think she was expecting cramped economy with some of the screaming children we walked past on our way to the priority boarding lane. That was not to be and I'll never forget the look on her face when she sat down in 1K and was handed a glass of champagne.

That of course was immediately after her first ever business class flight - she flew from BNE-SYD to meet me at which point we had a leisurely lunch in the First lounge

 

[mannej]

The price of a Corona at the Marriott in Hyderabad!

 

[jetlagger]

The price of a Corona at the Marriott in Hyderabad!

Is that priced in Indian rupees or USD.. ? Sometimes that is a good measure/benchmark of a destination/&/or travel experience! Hopefully a contrasting favorable rate to the SIN Marriott beer prices.. :evil:

 

[Rox]

Being a guest of 3 French Canadians ( that I hardly knew)for 3 days on a yacht - spending the night in a lagoon in Culebra, in the Caribbean where any movement in the water made it glow with phosphorescence. We took the dinghy to a secluded restaurant in the rainforest. I have no idea how everyone else got there. Magic!!
Lots of special experiences in that trip. Visiting a hideaway in the rainforest on the edge of a mountain in Puerto Rico. At night all the glow worms lit up!