Where to temporarily co-locate the Squid family?
September 21, 2007 7:24 AM Subscribe
My wife and I are talking about getting out of the country (US of A) for about a month. Where shall we go?
Two friends of ours just let us in on the fact that they're going to be living (with their two small children) in Barcelona for about two months.
The lady squid and I thought it a splendid idea, and we have been seriously evaluating taking a whole month (two is pushing it) for vacation someplace in the world. I speak English (of course), acceptable Spanish, and enough German.
In a pinch, I could probably do Portuguese, and with a little practice, maybe French. The Mrs. speaks some French, and is currently working on her Spanish.
So, here's the deal:
Past vacations out of the country (Mexico and Spain) have been stressful, week-long whirlwinds that usually leave us overwhelmed, tired, and frustrated. (As in, hurrying to see and do everything that can be seen or done within a very short period of time). We'd like to maybe rent a furnished apartment someplace for about a month, and take things at a more leisurely pace. We can live frugally (shop at local markets, eat 'in' most days).
We'd rather not get slaughtered on exchange rates. I do love continental Europe, but, it'd be like throwing money away to go there. Because of that, South America, and in particular, Valparaiso, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina are both attractive options.
Neither of us are really: "hang out on a beach" people, we're also not much into dance clubs and discos. We'd rather have a decent mix of local shopping, decent cuisine, athletic activities (I'm a cyclist, she's a swimmer and runner, but anything outdoorsy will typically suffice), and cultural landmarks/can't miss activities.
So, where can we go that's:
1) Relatively amenable to Americans who have decent language skills.
2) Not going to kill us, pocketbook-wise
3) Going to have enough activities so that we don't exhaust our options within 3-5 days
4) If not #3, within an hour or two to those activities
In some regards, the Amsterdams, Brussels, and Viennas of the world seem as if they would be pocketbook killers. At the other end of the spectrum, small towns in Colonial Mexico, such as Guanajuato and Zacatecas are stellar places, and relatively cheap, but we ran out of things to do early on.
In some regards, Cusco, Peru was a great town for all of that (I lived there for a little over a month several years ago).
Where else should we consider looking?
Two friends of ours just let us in on the fact that they're going to be living (with their two small children) in Barcelona for about two months.
The lady squid and I thought it a splendid idea, and we have been seriously evaluating taking a whole month (two is pushing it) for vacation someplace in the world. I speak English (of course), acceptable Spanish, and enough German.
In a pinch, I could probably do Portuguese, and with a little practice, maybe French. The Mrs. speaks some French, and is currently working on her Spanish.
So, here's the deal:
Past vacations out of the country (Mexico and Spain) have been stressful, week-long whirlwinds that usually leave us overwhelmed, tired, and frustrated. (As in, hurrying to see and do everything that can be seen or done within a very short period of time). We'd like to maybe rent a furnished apartment someplace for about a month, and take things at a more leisurely pace. We can live frugally (shop at local markets, eat 'in' most days).
We'd rather not get slaughtered on exchange rates. I do love continental Europe, but, it'd be like throwing money away to go there. Because of that, South America, and in particular, Valparaiso, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina are both attractive options.
Neither of us are really: "hang out on a beach" people, we're also not much into dance clubs and discos. We'd rather have a decent mix of local shopping, decent cuisine, athletic activities (I'm a cyclist, she's a swimmer and runner, but anything outdoorsy will typically suffice), and cultural landmarks/can't miss activities.
So, where can we go that's:
1) Relatively amenable to Americans who have decent language skills.
2) Not going to kill us, pocketbook-wise
3) Going to have enough activities so that we don't exhaust our options within 3-5 days
4) If not #3, within an hour or two to those activities
In some regards, the Amsterdams, Brussels, and Viennas of the world seem as if they would be pocketbook killers. At the other end of the spectrum, small towns in Colonial Mexico, such as Guanajuato and Zacatecas are stellar places, and relatively cheap, but we ran out of things to do early on.
In some regards, Cusco, Peru was a great town for all of that (I lived there for a little over a month several years ago).
Where else should we consider looking?
I like the pace of life in Montevideo. It's easy on the pocketbook, even for exchange rate-challenged americans, has a pretty decent cultural life, nice beaches in and close to the city, and great beef-based cuisine...
posted by pj_rivera at 7:34 AM on September 21, 2007
posted by pj_rivera at 7:34 AM on September 21, 2007
A suggestion from left field: Bali and/or Southeast Asia more generally. Here's what I had to say about it in response to a different question (some other suggestions in the answers that might also be pertinent).
- Relatively amenable to Americans who have decent language skills? Check.
- Not going to kill us, pocketbook-wise? Check (getting there is expensive, living there is amazingly cheap).
- Going to have enough activities so that we don't exhaust our options within 3-5 days? Check.
- Possibility for myriad outdoorsy-athletic activities? Check
I am definitely NOT a hang-out-on-the-beach type person, so I was a bit dubious before I went, but I loved it while I was there.
posted by googly at 7:36 AM on September 21, 2007
- Relatively amenable to Americans who have decent language skills? Check.
- Not going to kill us, pocketbook-wise? Check (getting there is expensive, living there is amazingly cheap).
- Going to have enough activities so that we don't exhaust our options within 3-5 days? Check.
- Possibility for myriad outdoorsy-athletic activities? Check
I am definitely NOT a hang-out-on-the-beach type person, so I was a bit dubious before I went, but I loved it while I was there.
posted by googly at 7:36 AM on September 21, 2007
Yeah, if I had a month, I'd be inclined to go to Asia, where the days you give up traveling will have less of an impact. Go to Thailand or Vietnam. Spend some time exploring village life, some among the major cities.
posted by mkultra at 7:54 AM on September 21, 2007
posted by mkultra at 7:54 AM on September 21, 2007
I would go to Mendoza, Argentina. I spent four days there. I am planning to return for much longer at some point. They have great wineries, amazing steak and chicken, dirt-cheap prices (well, at least, in 2000). There is a gorgeous river with rapids for rafting and kayaking. There is a huge mountain to do a trek up. Well, there are many mountains, but I am thinking about Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas. There are good roads in and out, you can take a short plane trip to B.A, you can cruz down to Patagonia. The small city is very nice to walk around. It has some beautiful little restaurants. There is a constant influx of tourists, coming to climb the mounting and raft the river, but not an annoyingly large amount. Just enough so that the whole place can pretty much function in English.
posted by Eringatang at 8:38 AM on September 21, 2007
posted by Eringatang at 8:38 AM on September 21, 2007
Seconding Vietnam, or anywhere nice in SE Asia. Once you get there, everything is really cheap. There's tons to do and explore, and you'll get along fine with just English. You'll probably want to avoid monsoon season, tho.
posted by gnutron at 9:50 AM on September 21, 2007
posted by gnutron at 9:50 AM on September 21, 2007
Quebec or Montreal: #1 yup, #2 yup, #3 yup, #4 yup.
posted by cocoagirl at 10:19 AM on September 21, 2007
posted by cocoagirl at 10:19 AM on September 21, 2007
FWIW, my fair lady and I are going to Montreal next week to do pretty much this, but for a week. For a month, personally, I'd want more options.
posted by mkultra at 10:58 AM on September 21, 2007
posted by mkultra at 10:58 AM on September 21, 2007
Eh. Canada wouldn't really float my boat. I mean, it's just next door and doesn't feel very... exotic.
What about an urban apartment rental in BA or something? The nice thing about doing it that way is that you're not a tourist; you really get to know the neighbourhood, the local markets and restaurants, and your local store owners, etc. Google "slow travel" because it may be what you're looking for in terms of travel style.
Plus, with a base of operations, you can always take day trip and weekend trips further afield when you want to do something new or see a some of the more historic/touristy sites. It's a really relaxing way to spend a month or two if you don't make the mistake of building some exhausting ambitious itinerary before you go.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:01 PM on September 21, 2007
What about an urban apartment rental in BA or something? The nice thing about doing it that way is that you're not a tourist; you really get to know the neighbourhood, the local markets and restaurants, and your local store owners, etc. Google "slow travel" because it may be what you're looking for in terms of travel style.
Plus, with a base of operations, you can always take day trip and weekend trips further afield when you want to do something new or see a some of the more historic/touristy sites. It's a really relaxing way to spend a month or two if you don't make the mistake of building some exhausting ambitious itinerary before you go.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:01 PM on September 21, 2007
Buenos Aires. It's a gem, incredibly cheap now thanks to the reconfigured peso, and you can easily kill a month there- we did, and would love to return.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 1:33 PM on September 21, 2007
posted by ethnomethodologist at 1:33 PM on September 21, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by aramaic at 7:32 AM on September 21, 2007