DEV Community

Ben Halpern
Ben Halpern Subscriber

Posted on

What’s the best vacation you’ve ever had?

Top comments (44)

Collapse
 
deciduously profile image
Ben Lovy

Due to a last-minute flight snafu, my girlfriend and I ended up with a week off work but stuck at home. We learned so much about the hiking and parks near us, found a bunch of new cafes and restaurants, just really took the opportunity to explore our surroundings in a relatively new city for us and relax with no itinerary or agenda.

I recommend it. Cheap as heck, too.

Collapse
 
adnanrahic profile image
Adnan Rahić

Road tripping across Iceland for two weeks in a small SUV with my best buddies. Can't beat that nature. Volcanoes, glaciers, hot springs, mountains, rivers, waterfalls... They have it all, yo.

Collapse
 
mccurcio profile image
Matt Curcio

My folks went several years ago and several other ppl I know too. Everyone raves about it.

Collapse
 
gypsydave5 profile image
David Wickes

I went with my wife for a week when we were first dating... and again when it was hosting GopherCon EU. Man that was a weird few days. It never got dark. But it was pretty damn awesome.

Collapse
 
michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington • Edited

Really really loved hiking Samariá Gorge on Crete, off the mainland of Greece. It's beautiful!

That whole trip we backpacked around, starting in Crete , then flying to Athens, bussing through Delphi, and finally arriving on the western coast of Greece where we took a ferry to an island called Kefalonia.

We just traveled by public transport & asked for directions and it was seriously amazing! I felt like everywhere we went there were generous people offering us incredible food and helping us find places to stay. The architecture, art, history... Greece has so much to offer. Not to mention, the different mediterranean beaches we went to and mountains around Delphi are beautiful and so unique from each other.

It was one of those trips where we definitely left a bit to chance, traveling by bus and relatively low tech. But everything worked out better than I could ever imagine!

Collapse
 
mccurcio profile image
Matt Curcio

Never been to Samariá Gorge, but I LOVED Kriti. Couple yrs ago, We rented a car and drove the length of the island. We flew into Herculeam(sp?) and then immediately drove to Chania and started there. We drove east all drove over two weeks to the east side of the island. We ended up in a little village in the hill above Io Nicholas(sp?) called Kritsa. The town had the proverbial little old lady with the donkey and everything, very cool.

Collapse
 
michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington

Awesome! 😀

That sounds really similar to the way we did things, but I would've loved to have had a car!

We flew into Herculeam too (I think that's the one at least - Heraklion - though pretty sure it's got multiple spellings!) and eventually made it to Chania for our flight out to the mainland. But you went to different places for sure!

If I make it back there - and I definitely intend too - I'll have to check out Kritsa. That definitely sounds like a place we'd like to see. 👍

Thread Thread
 
mccurcio profile image
Matt Curcio

Didn't you love the little harbor with cafes and restaurants. We walked all over that town, loved it.

Collapse
 
thecodingalpaca profile image
Carlos Trapet

My trip to the North Pole, for sure.
I went hiking/camping in an archipelago called Svalbard, which had been my dream since I was 12 years old. I had the chance to do the Arctic Challenge (3 highest peaks there) and visit insane places like kilometres-wide glaciers and a soviet ghost town.

Although I'm writing this from the centre of a volcano crater in Bali and this is a strong contender :)

Collapse
 
madza profile image
Madza

Did you go with 50 Years of Victory?

Collapse
 
wolfhoundjesse profile image
Jesse M. Holmes

I saved $8,000 and went to Ireland for R&R, and being able to tourist around without worrying about the cost is the most freeing experience I've ever had. So I think any vacation that happens clear of financial stress, even if it were Branson, MO, could be the best vacation ever. 😉

Collapse
 
mccurcio profile image
Matt Curcio

One of the BEST vacations I had was a trip down to the City of Oaxaca (pronounced: wa-Ha-ka) in the State of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. 15 years ago it was not overly touristy. You could go fairly native if you wanted a hammock or crash-pad for US$10 a night. If you wanted middle-end you could get it for $40. Even in the winter you can go light on the clothing, shorts on the beach and just jeans in the city and polo shirts, real-cas.

We met a real Anthropologist/Ethanographer studying the indigenous people there called the Zapotec and befriended a few. We learned learned how to make rugs and cook mole', very cool time. We took the proverbial chicken-bus and even one pig-bus, where we were the only anglos. They have pyramids too.

The State of Oaxaca is on the Pacific and has some great beaches. Goto Zipolte or Port Angel. Mexico is so much cheaper than Europe too. I have been to both (many times) and find Europe pretty but just over-priced, over-populated and kinda over-rated in comparison.
That's my 2 cents,

Collapse
 
jeremyabbott profile image
Jeremy Abbott

I used to go to Camp Grounded on Memorial Day weekend. It’s a “digital detox”. No technology for 3 days. You don’t use your real name, and you don’t talk about work or what you do at all.

As a chronic workaholic it was a great opportunity to separate the “what” from the “who.” E.g. I do software development, but that’s not all I am. It’s helped me better separate work from play and find hobbies outside of programming. I met a lot of really wonderful people that I still talk to all the time.

Sadly Camp Grounded is on an indefinite hiatus. The founder passed away (rest in peace Fidget).

Collapse
 
kzwisler1 profile image
Kzwisler1

Definitely my honeymoon that my wife and I took earlier this year. We went to Mo'orea for a week, an island off of Tahiti. Flew first class both ways where the seats fold flat into beds and unlimited alcohol. Got a hut on the water with the glass window in the floor and our own dock that we could go into the water to go snorkeling. Did an ATV tour of the island going through creeks, seeing the pineapple plantations, and going up a few mountains for some breathtaking views. Did a boat tour that included having lunch in the water with stingrays swimming at your feet and begging for food like little puppies, then swimming with them and black-tip sharks after. The grand finale for me was being able to get a legitimate Polynesian tattoo where the tattoo is designed on the spot after a short discussion and tapped into the skin with a stick with homemade needles made of bone. Got to even keep the tool. It will be hard to ever top that trip.

Collapse
 
mehmood168 profile image
Mehmood

I had a trip to Northern Areas of Pakistan with a group of 12 friends in our final year of bachelor's degree in 2014. I can never forget those 10 days. I wish I could go back to that time.

Collapse
 
kaleigh profile image
kaleigh

4 years ago my husband and I went to 5 countries in Europe/UK for 12 days (it was his 1st time overseas),and that was fun, but stressful.
This might be a tie with our most recent trip, we rented an Escape Campervan in Las Vegas and drove to and camped at the Grand Canyon for a few nights and then went to Sedona for one night. It was so chill yet we did so much.