We just like taking car trips, seeing other areas of the country, talking to the people, discovering interesting out-of-the way places to shop, eat, relax. One thing we used to really enjoy was going to grocery stores in other areas of the country to discover 'new' foods (local favorites). However, with more and more big chain stores and fewer small grocery stores, there seems to be less and less unique regional food to discover.

We do enjoy cruising, or did, but nowadays the ships are too big, and I just don't see it as the value and experience it once was. I've travelled the world but not the U.S. and Canada to the extent that I would like so we are buying a camper to rectify that!

Like you, Dotmom, we want to see the parks in Montana and Wyoming. And I want to visit Casey's part of the world, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

To places I call nature like the rain forest or Africa. I was totally bored on my last cruise. Never again unless it is an Alaskan or Panama Canal Cruise.

We really enjoyed our trip to Alaska via the Wildland Adventures group... land based -- took care of all transportaton & food [which was beyond wonderful].. And can be very taylored to anyone physical abilities.

We enjoy a cruise. I wish we could still travel in a car but it's just too hard. My fibro acts up after just a couple of hours.........Getting to the ship is some times painful for me but we like the leisure of a cruise. MY husband likes to gamble and we like to eat and there is always something going on ......The ports are sometimes fun and some times a drag but the trip is about the cruise and not the shore stops as far as we are concerned. On the last ship, the comedy club was a new experience and one we had great fun with..

All inclusive in a nice hotel with warm weather in the winter.
I love short road trips too. Nice long weekend with no particular place to be.....

I've been on 2 cruises and love them. I don't know how you can be bored, there is so much to do. And I sleep so well with the motion of the ocean. I am planning a 12 day cruise in 2012 with some girlfriends to Tahiti and Hawaii. We went on a family cruise last Christmas with 19 people. We had all the kid cousins together and everyone had a great time--kids and adults alike.

I LOVE cruises...and I can't swim. Figure I'll never need to.

Dotmom, the tour of the western states is gorgeous, even from a car. Glacier National Park going-to-the-sun road...hard to beat that beauty! Drive through the Little Big Horn battlefied in MT, Devil's Tower in WY, Badlands of ND and SD...so much beautiful country to see!

Joanmn, Hubs & I went through all of those western states with another couple some years back, by car and pulled a tent trailer. It was fun and I saw so many wonderful things, but that's all we did was look....I would have liked to 'do' some things, like I mentioned in my OP. A funny side story about when we were in the Little Big Horn, we were on a guided tour and someone asked the Ranger if they could dig up a small plant. He said everything there was protected and they couldn't do that. My friend Carol and I saw a lot of Yucca plants with seed pods. I told her I was going to grab a seed pod as I went by and try growing them at home. I grabbed the seed pod, twisted and pulled.....and the whole Yucca plant came up by the roots and there I was standing with this contraband in my hot little hand. I figured God was punishing me for breaking the rules. LOL

We've done the cruises and they were fun... but now that the ships are so massive, it doesn't appeal to us at all. With my hubby turning 82 on Sunday, local day trips are what we enjoy... We have done lots of road trips.. some with destinations in mind, and some not. If we want to go further than a day away and back, I have a lifelong friend in New England that has a country home that is available to us whenever we wish to use it... so we are considering a road trip up through the Skyline Drive and then stay in New England for perhaps a month...I can get a sitter for the kitties and the house.. that's not a problem.. and this way, we can take our dogs with us... I like to be out in the open spaces where there are lots of hiking trails and such... and cruises don't offer that... If we want to be near the ocean or Gulf, we can rent a condo in Destin or Gulf beaches... or rent a home with a pool in the Clearwater/Tampa Bay area... I like to do most of my own cooking. Commercially prepared food although great for a day... after that I want to eat healthy and know what is in my food and thus going into my body...

Carolyn

Carolyn

I enjoy cruises but my favorite kind of vacation is to fly to a destination such as San Francisco and just stay in that general area for a week or more. I fly to SF once a year.

Linda, I like that type of vacations also. Our bus met us there for touring but we had a lot of free time, loved it.

My family and I went to Panama Beach and stayed there for a month. We used the motel for a base and explored from it.

My favorite type of vacation is backpacking, preferrably, someplace in the mountains. I find a deep satisfaction in leaving the end of the road with a 30 to 35 pound pack and being totally self-sufficient for a week. Usually I travel with 3 or 4 other people. If we see more than 6 or 8 others during the week it's "crowded".

Ron

Cruises are fun, generally safe and pretty much all inclusive. No looking for lodging or places to eat. They take you to places to see. Can't get much simpler than that. But I'm always up for a good land adventure too. :-)

Jodi-

We take our "cruises" in our Motorhome. (Best of all, the bed and bath.) As winter rain and cold starts making its' way north, we start cleaning up the yard work and thinking about heading south with the birds. And, as Azzalea said....much of our country is too much of the same. Last year when we traveled in the interior of the Yukon and Alaska, so isolated and un-populated, beautiful and barren...... then BAM.. what do we see.....Walmart and Safeway and McDonalds. Unreal. The natural wonders of the world are still marvels to see. What an amazing planet we live on! Nanny

We've cruised the Caribbean, Mediterranean/Europe/England, Baltic, Panama, Mexican coast. I'd be completely happy to be 'at sea' on a nice ship -- no ports -- just feed me and keep my cabin clean. No fancy dress. No casino. No 'entertainment'. I love being 'Baby' on a not-too-big ship. (But DH would be bored.)

As a girl I've spent weeks at friends' ranch in Jackson Hole and at the seashore in RI and FL. Been to visit friends in AZ and near San Francisco. Went to the fairs in Montreal and Vancouver. Stayed on some Caribbean islands -- twice with my father on business trips to Puerto. 'Done' NYC and upstate NY, Tidewater states, WI, MN, ND, SD. Not Alaska.

Haven't seen the African plains. Not Asia. Not Australia/New Zealand. Still might happen! LOL

We spend a month or so on Maui; have done the same on Oahu, Kauai and Big Island of Hawaii for 30 years.

We still might try rail, Denver to the West Coast some day. I should look up GG-father in Denver -- oh, and family in Stonington, CN. Maybe Cincinnati, too? Is there a 'theme' starting up here? Why not the French/Swiss border? Scotland again, now that I know where to look?

Who's up for a Genealogical World Tour? LOL I'd need an infusion of *energy*!

I agree with you Chisue about the casino and dressing up. I don't mind dressing a little, but the evening gown business--no thanks. I'm a casual gal.

I like a little adventure and seeing something I've not seen before, learning something. Years ago we rode mules in and out of the Grand Canyon which was really great. Went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone this summer; it's so pretty there. I'm not too much for laying around on the beach.

Have spent some time in HI too as my father lived and eventually passed away there, in Honolulu. (Chisue, did you ever go to "Toilet Bowl" at Hanauma Bay?) Also Europe, Australia, Alaska. DH has been to China, but I stayed home for that one. He was there during the SARS outbreak--remember? Now that's adventure, isn't it? He came home with a mask on. OMG!

I've been on two cruises- 2004 Alaska-all four of us and 2007 Hawaii just me and DH. Loved cruising, I'd do it again except I can't right now due to my dialysis schedule. Once I get that transplant (fingers crossed) I'll be able to go.

Socks that is what I worried about the first time I cruised. I found out you don't have to wear formal wear. One man in our group went to dinner in a Tshirt, I don't know what he was thinking. If I were a man I would wear what we used to call a sports jacket. I just wore black slacks and a nice blouse and some women didn't dress that well. I only went to the dinner because it was our group dinner and I wanted to be with them. I prefer the buffet.

Dotmom, go for the scenery...stay for the ogling! :>)

Jannie, when I had my public travel agency I had a division that handled special needs, one of them was dialysis. There is a company that does nothing but together cruises for those in need of dialysis so you might want to check into them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dialysis at sea

vala is right, It's only as formal as you want it to be. It certainly isn't necessarily an evening gown. Some ships are more formal than others but you can always wear what you want to wear. Last time I wore a pair of black slacks and a satin jacket that I have. The jacket actually belongs to a dress. I wear black slacks and any kind of dressier top..The slacks are like $25 bucks from JC Penney and ..Twice I have worn stuff from Wal-Mart....once a jacket and the second time was an overblouse. I would never go in a t shirt or shorts or flip flops that kind of attire because that is insulting to not only the ships crew but also the guests around you.

What I really love about cruising is you do only what you want to do, and when you want to do it. You rest when you want to, you eat when you want to do so. I don't think a cruise is so much about the ports of call, though they are fun, but more about what's going on while on the ship. After you have traveled with a particular company enough, you are invited to private entertainments and some of them are more dressy than just your usual attire. My DH and I don't even bother going because it is usually made up of "cruisers". Go to any of the cruise ship web sites and you will understand exactly who I am talking about........they are those that look down at the "common traveler just out for a vacation" They are so funny to read and you can just imagine what they are like on the ship......Heaven forbid that the ship would sink because they would sink immediately because of the position of their noses....Oh and they are also the ones that make up some of those that are in Tuxedo's and the expensive gowns.....