2025 Travel & Trips

[-:Undertaker:-]

What're your plans for 2025 in terms of travel and trips?

I'm on PGCE this year so I'm sort of limited with money so have to be a lot more frugal, but still hoping to get away. I just went to Valletta, Malta https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Flag_of_Malta.svg/23px-Flag_of_Malta.svg.png with my Uncle and one brother for a few days which was very nice. Cheeseboards, wine, oysters and history. Chill.

I'm looking for something in the Easter holidays, possibly Rota and Fuengirola https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9a/Flag_of_Spain.svg/23px-Flag_of_Spain.svg.png - two places in Spain where I have lived as it'll be nice to go back and see friends and that. But still not booked or confirmed for sure yet.

I'll likely do a trip to London https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom_%281-2%29.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom_%281-2%29.svg.png at some point over the next few months too.

Later in the year I will likely be going abroad to work again but I have literally no idea where yet so could be anywhere.


How about you? Anything concrete or any ideas or ambitions?

[felly78]

I'm heading back to Egypt, such an amazing place! I’ve been a few times, and there’s always something new to see, like the Pyramids and the Temple of Karnak. I’m also thinking about the internet situation while traveling, roaming charges can get pretty expensive, and local SIM cards are risky (trust me, I’ve been scammed before). That’s why I’m sticking with this Egypt eSIM (https://www.buddysim.com/country/egypt). It’s affordable and reliable, I used it during my last trip, and it worked perfectly. Highly recommend it.

[jamiexo]

Nothing out of the country this year. But I'll be going to Chicago to meet up with Kate & then right after I'll be going to San Diego, CA for a work conference.

[Shockwave.2CC]

My holidays this year:

Torremolinos, Spain in May
Palmanova, Spain in June
Great Yarmouth, UK in August
Orlando, United States of America in October

That's mine so far

[FlyingJesus]

Going to Butlins this weekend, wild plans

[Triz]

Going to Butlins this weekend, wild plans

Oh nice which one you going to, is it the adults weekend? Or did you steal a child?
I've only been to the Skeggy Adults weekend, think I went to Skeggy and Minehead when I was a kid though, met Stephen Mulhern at one of them, mum tells me I was besotted with him

[FlyingJesus]

Yeah 3 nights of it in Bognor, don't know that I'll survive at my age tbh. Going to see Oxide&Neutrino though who I've loved for ages... Daniel Bedingfield will also be there.

[Triz]

Yeah tbh anytime I've gone adults weekends at Butlins, we always said Friday night we'd go light, not too crazy, then Sat night is the main night so go hard, then Sun night go light cause gotta be up early.. This never works.. Always go hard all 3 nights.. and it's criminal they make checkout at 10am knowing full well you were plastered at 3am still.

[Samantha]

Just off to Skegness to caravan this year as per.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I just booked my Easter trip... a week in both Banjul, The Gambia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Flag_of_The_Gambia.svg/23px-Flag_of_The_Gambia.svg.png and the Petite Cote/Dakar, Senegal https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Flag_of_Senegal.svg/23px-Flag_of_Senegal.svg.png

Should be fun. Surfing, beers at the beach bars, dirty city markets, fish barbecues on the beach and slavery monuments! I paid about £450 for the flights (direct, return) and the hotels are quite cheap which I'll sort out this week. Friends and family might be joining me depending, but either way I will have fun. I'm going to get the ferry across the border and back is the plan at the moment. Will take me to a total of 33 countries.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Yeah tbh anytime I've gone adults weekends at Butlins, we always said Friday night we'd go light, not too crazy, then Sat night is the main night so go hard, then Sun night go light cause gotta be up early.. This never works.. Always go hard all 3 nights.. and it's criminal they make checkout at 10am knowing full well you were plastered at 3am still.

I have paid for an extra day in hotels before just because I was so hungover and couldn't face early checkout. :'(

[-:Undertaker:-]

I just booked my Easter trip... a week in both Banjul, The Gambia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Flag_of_The_Gambia.svg/23px-Flag_of_The_Gambia.svg.png and the Petite Cote/Dakar, Senegal https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Flag_of_Senegal.svg/23px-Flag_of_Senegal.svg.png

Should be fun. Surfing, beers at the beach bars, dirty city markets, fish barbecues on the beach and slavery monuments! I paid about £450 for the flights (direct, return) and the hotels are quite cheap which I'll sort out this week. Friends and family might be joining me depending, but either way I will have fun. I'm going to get the ferry across the border and back is the plan at the moment. Will take me to a total of 33 countries.

Just booked a two-full day trip (13th-16th March) to Bratislava, Slovakia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Flag_of_Slovakia.svg/23px-Flag_of_Slovakia.svg.png in two weeks time.

Mainly just to go cycling, some really good bike paths with scenic routes along the River Danube. That'll be 34 countries done after Easter!

[Evanora]

you go to some random places undertaker lol xxx

dubai for me in may xx

[jamiexo]

SO a new development this morning...
I was invited to my old student worker's wedding in December this year.... in INDIA.

I'm not sure if I will be able to make it work regarding work, and the timing of things, but oh my gosh I hope I can. Never been to Asia, so that would cross one thing off of my bucket list.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Just booked a two-full day trip (13th-16th March) to Bratislava, Slovakia in two weeks time.


Mainly just to go cycling, some really good bike paths with scenic routes along the River Danube. That'll be 34 countries done after Easter!

I only realised planning my cycling route out that I'll be crossing into Austria https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Flag_of_Austria.svg/23px-Flag_of_Austria.svg.png - that'll take me to 35!


you go to some random places undertaker lol xxx

dubai for me in may xx

What's Dubai like for a pissup I always imagine you'd have to be super on guard.

https://media.tenor.com/Z-12d2F7IE4AAAAe/jamie-private-school-girl-i-am-so-random.png


SO a new development this morning...
I was invited to my old student worker's wedding in December this year.... in INDIA.

I'm not sure if I will be able to make it work regarding work, and the timing of things, but oh my gosh I hope I can. Never been to Asia, so that would cross one thing off of my bucket list.

DO IT. 100%

India is my all-time favourite place. I've done Bombay and nearby Matheran.

Where is the wedding?

[Evanora]

I only realised planning my cycling route out that I'll be crossing into Austria https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Flag_of_Austria.svg/23px-Flag_of_Austria.svg.png - that'll take me to 35!


What's Dubai like for a pissup I always imagine you'd have to be super on guard.

https://media.tenor.com/Z-12d2F7IE4AAAAe/jamie-private-school-girl-i-am-so-random.png




its fab hun its all made up in the media regards prison arrests xx

great beach clubs great vibes great shopping

just avoid other parts of the gulf unless you are arab yourself xx

[jamiexo]

I only realised planning my cycling route out that I'll be crossing into Austria https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Flag_of_Austria.svg/23px-Flag_of_Austria.svg.png - that'll take me to 35!



What's Dubai like for a pissup I always imagine you'd have to be super on guard.

https://media.tenor.com/Z-12d2F7IE4AAAAe/jamie-private-school-girl-i-am-so-random.png



DO IT. 100%

India is my all-time favourite place. I've done Bombay and nearby Matheran.

Where is the wedding?

It's in Kolkata!

[-:Undertaker:-]

My trip to The Gambia and Senegal despite being on my own was one of the best holidays I have been on. I had such a great time - did surfing for the first time and loved it, also did jetskiing too. Very interesting countries and landscapes etc - I feel my boredom as late has been lifted.


It's in Kolkata!

Would be such a good city to visit. The old capital of the British Raj before New Delhi - you've got the Victoria Memorial etc.

[Zak]

I saw the pictures on Instagram, really cool dude. What were they like? and how did you end up wanting to visit those places?

I've just returned from a med cruise. :E another one...

[-:Undertaker:-]

I recently booked Amman, the Kingdom of Jordan https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/Flag_of_Jordan.svg/40px-Flag_of_Jordan.svg.png for the 23rd June to 28th June.

Planning to go to the Dead Sea and Petra. My Uncle has decided to come along too.


https://nohomejustroam.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Treasury-Al-Khazneh-in-Petra.jpg
We're stopping off for half a day on the way back in Katowice, Poland https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Flag_of_Poland_%281919%E2%80%931928%29.svg/40px-Flag_of_Poland_%281919%E2%80%931928%29.svg.png which will be my first time in the country too.


https://www.aviontourism.com/images/1260-2600-fix/0332e23c-53f4-45b9-9863-a28f0bdb7dbb

These two countries will take me up to #36 countries been. Not bad considering this time last year I was still in the mid 20s.


I saw the pictures on Instagram, really cool dude. What were they like? and how did you end up wanting to visit those places?

I've just returned from a med cruise. :E another one...

The Gambia was really chill and I'd actually go back there with family as a tourist type resort, great hotels/restaurants/beaches along the Senegambia coast just west of the capital Bathhurst. Senegal... very stressful 12 hour trip there and 12 hours back, quite difficult to get around with the French language barrier but ultimately still enjoyed it and glad I did it. Why did I go? Was cheap, I'll pretty much go anywhere if it's cheap + I haven't been before. Plus I'm drawn to extreme places more than touristy type places; there's very few places I won't go.

[-:Undertaker:-]

My Jordan trip is cancelled because of the Middle East Israeli-Iranian war. :-! I'm actually gutted.

There's some connecting flights left to Cyprus etc but I'm prepared to lose them. Going to see what I can do alternatively.

[-:Undertaker:-]

My Jordan trip is cancelled because of the Middle East Israeli-Iranian war. :-! I'm actually gutted.

There's some connecting flights left to Cyprus etc but I'm prepared to lose them. Going to see what I can do alternatively.

Salvaged it with a trip to Cyprus.

We'll get about £210 of the £250 flights back so not too bad. I can use that to go towards a flight somewhere in early August.

[scottish]

Salvaged it with a trip to Cyprus.

We'll get about £210 of the £250 flights back so not too bad. I can use that to go towards a flight somewhere in early August.

Did you go anywhere in Aug?



Went to Mallorca twice (once with friends for a run before summer, then in summer with partner for a holiday), always a good beach/relaxing holiday as we go every year so know where everything is etc so you just chill right away, not trying to find your way around

Went to Santorini earlier in the year too - it was good but glad we went before summer as even then it was absolutely packed with people at sunset, certain spots you were waiting for 20 mins in a queue to get a picture

Think that's only hols abroad we're doing this year - went to skeggy with niece and nephew, going to Lake District next month as a half holiday/half wedding venue shopping, then Aberdeen later in the year for a wedding

I really want to go to Norway again during the winter, but that might be early 2026

[-:Undertaker:-]

Did you go anywhere in Aug?

Didn't go in the end - Uncle pulled out and I've been and done Cyprus so I couldn't be bothered in the end. We're still waiting for the refunds on the cancelled Jordanan flights. My friend who is a British Airways pilot has raised possibility of getting cheap flights with him and another pilot and possibly doing Boston, USA in the first week of January 2026 - but we'll see.


Went to Mallorca twice (once with friends for a run before summer, then in summer with partner for a holiday), always a good beach/relaxing holiday as we go every year so know where everything is etc so you just chill right away, not trying to find your way around

Went to Santorini earlier in the year too - it was good but glad we went before summer as even then it was absolutely packed with people at sunset, certain spots you were waiting for 20 mins in a queue to get a picture

Think that's only hols abroad we're doing this year - went to skeggy with niece and nephew, going to Lake District next month as a half holiday/half wedding venue shopping, then Aberdeen later in the year for a wedding

I really want to go to Norway again during the winter, but that might be early 2026

Very jealous of this.

[scottish]

I hope you're not flying with BA :P

I don't think I've ever had a good encounter with BA, used them a few times going down to London for races and used them for Santorini - every time there's been issues, we ended up with about £2k compensation back from the London flights due to multiple cancelled flights in under 12 hours (first one was cancelled, they got us onto the next one which got cancelled hours later, etc).

Santorini they reduced our connection time at London from I think 2.5 hrs to 1 hour, which was their minimum cut off time for a connection in T5 - then we had multiple aborted landings in Santorini and had to divert to Athens to fix the issue.. we ended up being about 4 hours late which meant we got compensation again.. once we got there we found out they had left my partners bag in London :') got it the next day, but meant we had to go buy stuff there then claim back

I've probably made more money out of BA than I've spent with them at this rate, but not worth the hassle

[-:Undertaker:-]

I hope you're not flying with BA :P

I don't think I've ever had a good encounter with BA, used them a few times going down to London for races and used them for Santorini - every time there's been issues, we ended up with about £2k compensation back from the London flights due to multiple cancelled flights in under 12 hours (first one was cancelled, they got us onto the next one which got cancelled hours later, etc).

Santorini they reduced our connection time at London from I think 2.5 hrs to 1 hour, which was their minimum cut off time for a connection in T5 - then we had multiple aborted landings in Santorini and had to divert to Athens to fix the issue.. we ended up being about 4 hours late which meant we got compensation again.. once we got there we found out they had left my partners bag in London :') got it the next day, but meant we had to go buy stuff there then claim back

I've probably made more money out of BA than I've spent with them at this rate, but not worth the hassle

I'm surprised, see I had the opposite experience - although it helps when your friend is a pilot. We had the free pass to the Lounge at Heathrow, then on the flight itself we ended up standing at the back of the plane at the drinks servery as if it were a bar, just knocking the scotch and colas back like no tomorrow. But he dropped in that he was a BA pilot... so... ;)

Have you ever flown Qatar, Emirates etc? They're by far the best.

[scottish]

Lol yeah that probably helps - maybe I've just got unlucky and it's mostly Edi <-> London they have issues with, but the one time we flew internationally with them and we end up delayed with further delayed luggage :')

Nah not flown with either of them yet - we just mostly go with the most convenient airline from Edi to save the trip down South, so ends up being Air Canada, Norwegian, Icelandair, etc. or the likes of Jet2 for Spain

Will likely do South African Safari at some point in the near future which we'll likely use Emirates for

Do you have anything else booked this year?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Lol yeah that probably helps - maybe I've just got unlucky and it's mostly Edi <-> London they have issues with, but the one time we flew internationally with them and we end up delayed with further delayed luggage :')

Nah not flown with either of them yet - we just mostly go with the most convenient airline from Edi to save the trip down South, so ends up being Air Canada, Norwegian, Icelandair, etc. or the likes of Jet2 for Spain

Will likely do South African Safari at some point in the near future which we'll likely use Emirates for

The only airline that annoys me is Iberia - I usually only travel with a backpack, and Iberia will force you to put it under your seat even though the overhead cabin is for those sorts of bags. I said to the cabin crew once, so you want me to bring a huge suitcase like everyone else in future then and take up loads of space? Suitcases are meant for UNDER the plane, not overhead. It irritated me so much.

And nice, South Africa. My family lived in Pretoria for years - if you're into it, you should look at hunting on the Boer farms. My Uncle went last year and hunted a Springbok with them, they had the pelt treated and he has it at home now. And you can take the meat home too (frozen).


Do you have anything else booked this year?

Nothing, I'm sort of confined now by job situation so other than going over to Spain and into Morocco (if I go to Melilla, still waiting to see with accom situation as to whether it happens) not much. That said, I might look for something over New Year if it is further afield than Europe.

[scottish]

The only airline that annoys me is Iberia - I usually only travel with a backpack, and Iberia will force you to put it under your seat even though the overhead cabin is for those sorts of bags. I said to the cabin crew once, so you want me to bring a huge suitcase like everyone else in future then and take up loads of space? Suitcases are meant for UNDER the plane, not overhead. It irritated me so much.

And nice, South Africa. My family lived in Pretoria for years - if you're into it, you should look at hunting on the Boer farms. My Uncle went last year and hunted a Springbok with them, they had the pelt treated and he has it at home now. And you can take the meat home too (frozen).



Nothing, I'm sort of confined now by job situation so other than going over to Spain and into Morocco (if I go to Melilla, still waiting to see with accom situation as to whether it happens) not much. That said, I might look for something over New Year if it is further afield than Europe.

Ah never flown with them either but I tend to always take a checked case when I'm going abroad.


Are you in a permanent job now or do you just do 1 year contracts then find somewhere else the following school year?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Ah never flown with them either but I tend to always take a checked case when I'm going abroad.


Are you in a permanent job now or do you just do 1 year contracts then find somewhere else the following school year?

Usually find one year contracts but then most teaching jobs internationally are one year. I only like doing one year to two maximum anyway, it's like two of my old jobs asked me back this year for this academic term but I said no - had a great time in both but whats done is done, time to move on.

[scottish]

Usually find one year contracts but then most teaching jobs internationally are one year. I only like doing one year to two maximum anyway, it's like two of my old jobs asked me back this year for this academic term but I said no - had a great time in both but whats done is done, time to move on.

do you not hate having to start over again every time you move?

[-:Undertaker:-]

do you not hate having to start over again every time you move?

Noooo I love it, more than two years in one place I get bored. Nothing better than moving to a town/city you've never been before, putting suitcase down and going out in the new neighbourhood to explore. Been craving that feeling all year.

Plus whenever I go somewhere literally all I take is a medium size suitcase, my bike and my normal size backpack.

[Zak]

That's a shame. I'm due to go to Jordan in November. I'll be flying to Amman!

[-:Undertaker:-]

So I moved to Jerez in Spain, and obviously been exploring the centre - but today I took a short train to Cadiz where I have been quite a few times when I used to live in this part of Spain.