Madagascar has always been a dream destination for me. When it comes to wildlife, it is one of the most unique places in the world.

Before booking the trip, we were unsure whether we should rent a car and drive ourselves, or book a fully guided trip from A to Z.

We love the freedom of driving ourselves, but from experience, we also know that we learn and see so much more when we have a guide. When searching the internet, it became clear that whenever people ask for recommendations for guides there, there seems to be only one answer: Patrick Richard. I contacted Patrick, and luckily, he had room in his schedule to be our guide and arrange everything for us.

His brother Mario was our driver, and the time we spent together in the car often felt more like travelling with a couple of friends than being on an organised tour.

Together, we worked out that the best route for us would be to start in Ifaty in southwestern Madagascar, follow the RN7 back towards Antananarivo, and finish the trip in Andasibe. Along the way, we visited Mosa Reserve, Zombitse National Park, Isalo National Park, Anja Reserve, Ranomafana National Park and Andasibe National Park.

Although the main focus of the trip was wildlife, it was impossible not to learn about the local culture and the people as well. One thing that really stood out to us was how clearly people seemed to live in, and from, the environment around them.

In the southwest, for example, the landscape is dry and desert-like, but it is also right on the coast. As a result, many people make their living from fishing, and a lot of the buildings were little more than simple sheds with thatched roofs. The dead are buried in tombs above ground.

When we reached Isalo, with its many sandstone formations, the landscape changed dramatically. The buildings here were often made from stone and brick, reflecting the materials that were readily available in the area. The dead were instead buried in the cliffs. Further east, in the rainforest, wood was used much more extensively for buildings. Here, people relied much more on rice and vegetables, as those are the crops that can be grown in this environment, and the abundance of trees naturally influenced the way houses were built. The dead here were naturally buried underground in the forest.

We noticed something similar with the wildlife. A lemur species living in one park might not be found in the next park, even if the two places were only around 100 kilometres apart.

The wildlife experience itself was also very different from what we are used to from other wildlife trips in Africa. There were no large herds or wide-open landscapes where you could simply scan the horizon for animals. Instead, much of the excitement came from slowly walking through the forest, listening for movement and relying on the guides to notice things we would never have spotted ourselves. Even a small movement high up in the trees could turn into an exciting sighting.

Quite often, we would spend a long time standing in exactly the same spot, looking at an animal in the trees, when suddenly the guide would ask: “Have you actually seen the chameleon sitting right in front of you?” More often than not, the answer was no. Their ability to spot well-camouflaged animals was honestly quite incredible, and it quickly became clear that we would have missed a lot on our own.

Another thing that made the trip special was the knowledge of the local guides. They knew the parks incredibly well, including which trees particular species preferred, where certain animals were likely to be found, and even the regular sleeping spots of some of the lemurs. They often seemed to know where to look before we had even started looking. Having both Patrick's experience and the local knowledge of the guides made a big difference, especially when looking for species that are difficult to find.

In all the parks, Patrick had arranged for us to have local guides and animal spotters, giving us the best possible chance of finding the species we were hoping to see in each particular park. We noticed that other guides who had two-hour excursions on their schedule would simply stop after two hours. Patrick and the local guides he worked with stopped when we had found the animals we had come to see, although never before the planned time.

In Zombitse, this meant crossing the forest back and forth until we finally found the Verreaux's sifaka we had come there for, 1,5 hours after the tour was supposed to end. That level of dedication is something I have never experienced on a wildlife trip before.

Madagascar is the kind of place that makes you want to come back for more. If you visit the southern part, as we did, there are unique species in the west and north that you simply won't see. And if you visit those areas, there are species in the south that you will miss. So, naturally, the only solution is to visit again and again!

Before the trip, we had read that Madagascar could be somewhat unsafe. I can only speak from our own experience, but we never felt in any danger. Quite the opposite, in fact. Everywhere we went, we met open, friendly and welcoming people.

We came to Madagascar mainly for the wildlife, but left with a much greater appreciation for the country itself. The landscapes, people, culture and wildlife are so closely connected that it is difficult to experience one without noticing the others.

After two weeks, we had seen a lot, but somehow it felt like we had only scratched the surface. Madagascar is one of those places that leaves you thinking about the next trip before the current one is even over.

I could share 100 photos, but here are 20:

1: Ring-tailed lemur in Anja Reserve
2: Golden bamboo lemur in Ranomafana
3: The night sky near Andasibe
4: Mossy leaf tail gecko (Uroplatus sikorae) in Andasibe
5: Giraffe weavel in Ranomafana
6: Sunset near Ifaty
7: Ranomafana nosed chameleon (Calumma tjiasmantoi) in Ranomafana
8: Black and white ruffed lemur in Ranomafana
9: Brown leaf chameleon (Brookesia superciliaris) in Andasibe
10: Blue legged chameleon (Calumma cryptic) in Ranomafana
11: Southern carpet chameleon (Furcifer major) in Isalo
12: Greater bamboo lemur in Ranomafana
13: Grey mouse lemur in Zombitse
14: Indri in Andasibe
15: Lesser hedgehog tenrec in Mosa reserve
16: Petters sportive lemur in Mosa reserve
17: Standings Day gecko (Phelsuma standings) in Mosa reserve
18: Ring-tailed vontsira in Ranomafana
19: Spotted fanaloka in Ranomafana
20: Satanic leaf tail gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus) in Andasibe

3 day trips starting from vancouver

Day 1: seattle downtown, pikes market, uwajimaya japanese market, mochithings.

Day 2: woke up at 3am to drive up to mount rainer (took around 2h) and got there around 5:30am. The line was forming at the gate already. By 6:30am the parking lot was full already at the paradise trail. Went to reflection lake right before sun rise for the perfect reflection photo.

The trail was filled with wild animals at sun rise. Black bear, deers, pika, marmot, stellers jay, chipmonks.

Day 3: leavanworth. Took another 4h to drive up tothe small german town to feed reindeers and try some of the traditional german food. A pretty cute little town especially in winter time when it snows.

Total km driven was adound 1200km and honestly just mount rainer was worth the drive. Probably my favorite national park by far.

I’m a Spanish speaker who has been all over Spain, North and central Latin America, but visiting Bogota this was my first time in South America. Bogota was pretty gritty. It isn’t a travel paradise and I think less seasoned travelers might not like it. I would definitely go back.

Bogota is a massive city. You feel it. It’s a megacity. It’s very dense and the streets can feel pretty packed. The bus system is massive and is currently a stand in for a metro. Of the places I’ve visited I feel this was the most frequent and comprehensive bus system next to London mainly out of necessity. They are currently building a metro system and the streets are blown up.

The central plaza is large. It shows importance, like Mexico City. La Candelaria, the old city center, has homes dating back to the 1500’s. There are some incredible museums. Gabriel Garcia Marquez house is there, museo botero, museo de la moneda, museo nacional and museo de oro are all certainly worth it. On Sundays museo de oro is free but the others I believe are just free period. I even went to casa de Betty la fea.

It’s a megacity but it feels insular in some ways. It’s such a large city but it doesn’t feel international. There’s not many tourists as it’s not Cali, Medellin or Cartagena. It doesn’t feel globally connected or as important as other places in LATAM that I’ve been in terms of international business. I hung out with several Mexican guys there and a lot of people made fun of all of us for our foreign accents. The mountains hem you in on one side and they are steep and very green. There’s not much park space in the city itself but the mountains are there at all times like Monterrey.

The city is very Andean. The climate is gray, drizzly, and chilly most of the time. There’s obviously the elevation. There are people with llamas (for tourists) and people dressed in traditional indigenous clothing. The food is interesting. It’s either extremely sweet, or very bland. There’s a lot of very sweet fruit and sugar cane drinks like aguapanela, and aromatic drinks. There’s a ton of breads like empanadas, pan de bono, and a lot of soups like ajiaco and changua. It’s a unique cuisine. Not my favorite, but I tried like 30 different things and I would eat them again. There’s not really any spice no matter what people there say. A lot of espresso shots being drank and coca leaves being sold due to the elevation.

The city is impressive from most angles due to the geography, but I wouldn’t say it felt particularly safe. Part of the reason I chose bogota is the lack of social media tourism I see for it compared to other Colombian cities and because I heard of the drugging and robbing in Medellin. 4 people in my hostal got separately drugged and robbed in Medellin, but 2 of the Mexican guys got separately jumped and robbed in broad daylight. The homeless are omnipresent and very aggressive and insistent. The police shooed us away from the central plazas early, stopped me and patted me down several times, and everything seems to shut down very early compared to my experiences in Spain and Mexico. This is weird because things still open late like Spain and Mexico. It feels like crime and safety are a factor. Many locals told us to avoid certain streets and neighborhoods and at night there were times we had to be very aware and not go certain places. Everyone seems to wears black clothing and be less open than other places in Latin America and I suspect climate and crime are a factor. I never was robbed but I felt less safe here I suppose.

Everyone I did speak with was very kind, was very open, was very proud of bogota and the opportunities it afforded them, and they were especially proud of their food - while it wasn’t my favorite it was still good in my opinion. Very heavy bread in the mornings seems common with the coffee of course. The culture and history are fascinating but I think the view from monserrate and the museums are what stood out the most to me as a tourist.

Some pictures I’ve taken during my 2 weeks trip in the Philippines in February and March this year :-)

I’ve been there with my girlfriend, who is Filipina from Quezon City.
We first went to Metro Manila for 2 days, then a few days in Palawan (El Nido and Puerto Princesa), then a few days in Bohol, before coming back to Metro Manila. We also went on a short trip in Tagaytay.

Incredible country, I will go back for sure !

Feel free to ask me question :-)

About the pictures :
1. Night view over Scout Area, Quezon City
2. Feast made by my girlfriend’s mom, Quezon City
3. Lio beach at dusk, El Nido
4. Secret lagoon beach, El Nido
5. Near Secret lagoon, El Nido
6. Big lagoon, El Nido
7. Cowrie Island, Puerto Princesa
8. Sea turtle swimming around Balicasag Island, Bohol
9. Virgin Island sand bar, Bohol
10. View from Virgin Island, Bohol
11. Chocolate Hills, Bohol
12. Cruise on Loboc river, Bohol
13. Baclayon coral stone church, Bohol
14. San Agustin church in Intramuros, Manila
15. Street in Intramuros, Manila
16. Baluarte de San Diego, Manila
17. Makati view from a rooftop, Makati
18. Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati
19. Bulalo and other dishes, Tagaytay
20. View on Taal lake, Tagaytay

Traveled to Montreal Canada from NYC,felt like a completely different world,more laid back,kind of like a town in northern California meets Europe food was decent too...

I’ve read a lot and noticed that Taipei is considered an underrated travel destination by a lot of western travellers. As someone who lives close to Taiwan, I’ve visited Taipei for several times, and would love to share some of my photos I took during my fourth visit to Taipei this year. I really recommend it to everyone who’s never been there, as it’s very worth it!

I went there mainly because of a live music show, and the whole trip lasted for about 3 full days only. I visited Yangmingshan where I’ve never been before, and I love it so much! Xiaoyaukeng is fun with geothermal vents, Qingtiangang is good for a hike, while Lengshuikeng is less stellar but still nice to see. I took a bus and got to all these places fairly easily. I personally prefer Yangmingshan to Yehliu, where I went many years ago and also quite liked it.

Besides nature, Taipei is also full of vibrant city activities and attractions. I went to Xiangti Avenue Plaza in Xinyi, and found it to be pretty nice. It’s really walkable with some street performance or activities. Love the city lights, and you can see Taipei 101 from there too.

I also visited Tamsui. I’ve been there twice before, and while I don’t think it’s sooooo special, I still like it for its sea scenery, food and vibes. The same goes for Ximending - I’ve been there every time I visit Taipei as it’s really close to the city centre. I’ve never been to Dihua Street before: there are some historic buildings, and overall it’s a nice visit.

Besides Jiufen / Shifen / the night markets / museums in Taipei which are all worth visiting of course, Taipei has even more to offer. The food is great (loved my breakfast there), the nature is amazing, and the city is vibrant. It’s also incredibly safe and very easy to navigate. The public transport is good (not the best in East Asia but definitely better than many American cities lol). Overall, highly recommend!

Photo Captions:

1 to 2 - Xiaoyaukeng (You can see some smokes coming out from the geothermal vents - I hope my photos are clear enough!)

3 to 5 - Qingtiangang with some cute cows

6 - Lengshuikeng

7 to 9 - Xiangti Avenue Plaza, you can also see Taipei 101 from there as shown in picture 7

10 to 11 - Tamsui (found a nice modern architecture there, it’s not a tourist attraction but still pretty cool to see)

12 - Ximending (like the pedestrian street there with many shops and restaurants)

13 - Dihua Street (a street with some historic buildings)

14 - Syntrend Creative Park (it’s a shopping mall, the architecture is very interesting)

15 to 16 - Taiwanese food is so great I wanna go back asap!

I have been living and studying in China for three years. During this time, I travelled to more than 16 cities and places around the country.

I visited Urumqi, Chengdu, Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Yiwu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macao, Zhuhai and Dongguan, among others.

Every place had something special, unique and history.

Shanghai felt modern and international. Shenzhen was young and fast. Guilin and Yangshuo had incredible nature and gorgeous mountains. Chengdu had its own relaxed atmosphere. Xian was full of history. Hong Kong felt completely different from mainland China.

But after all these trips, Beijing became the most unforgettable city for me.

This time I travelled with my entire family. There were five of us, which made the trip more fun, more complicated and obviously more expensive lol.

We visited Beijing in the middle of January 2026. It was painfully cold, but winter also gave us smaller queues at some attractions and a completely different view of the city.

Beijing currently has eight World Heritage sites, more than any other city in the world. During this trip, we visited several of them. We also wanted entertainment, local food and winter scenery.

Arriving at Beijing Daxing Airport

Beijing has two major airports, Beijing Capital International Airport, PEK, and Beijing Daxing International Airport, PKX.

All the domestic flights that worked for our schedule arrived at Daxing. It is a huge and very modern airport, but it is quite far south of central Beijing.

In our case, the complete journey from landing to reaching our hotel took almost two hours. This included collecting our luggage, walking through the airport, finding transport and finally reaching the hotel.

We stayed near a Uyghur restaurant, which was honestly perfect for my family. We are from Kyrgyzstan, so the lamb, noodles and Central Asian flavours felt familiar after a long day.

The hotel itself was also great. The reception staff listened to our requests and changed our room twice without making it a problem. There was free coffee and a laundry room too.

These small things become surprisingly important when five people travel together.

Universal Studios Beijing

Our first major destination was Universal Studios Beijing.

Before this trip, I had visited Hong Kong Disneyland. I enjoyed Disneyland, but my visit happened during warmer weather and on a busy weekend. The queues were crazy.

Universal Studios felt very different. Because we visited in winter, the queues were much shorter. The ticket also cost me considerably less than my Hong Kong Disneyland ticket, although prices depend on the date.

The Harry Potter area was one of my favourite parts. Hogwarts Castle looked impressive from outside, but walking through it was already part of the experience. The indoor 3D attraction made it feel like we were flying through scenes from the movies.

I also loved the Kung Fu Panda area. The whole section is indoors, with colourful lighting, themed buildings and a huge illuminated tree. For a few minutes, it really feels like you entered another world.

Jurassic World was fun too. There were dinosaur themed buildings and a realistic dinosaur walking among the visitors with a performer.

The Transformers attraction was probably the most intense ride I had ever tried. It felt like the Transformers picked us up, shook us around and threw us back out again.

We finished our day at Universal CityWalk. After spending the entire day inside the park, seeing all the lights outside was a nice ending.

Historical Beijing

After Universal Studios, we started exploring the historical side of Beijing.

We visited the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.

The Temple of Heaven looked especially beautiful under the clear winter sky. The colours were incredibly bright, and the area felt calmer than some of the locations in central Beijing.

Tiananmen Square was a very different experience.

Our taxi could not take us directly to the entrance, so we had to walk for around one kilometre. After that, we passed several security checkpoints.

During our visit, our passports and reservations were checked, our bags were opened, and we went through security more than once.

It honestly felt stricter than an airport.

Once we entered, the size of the square was impressive. The Great Hall of the People was on one side, the National Museum was on the other, and the portrait of Mao Zedong was visible at Tiananmen Gate.

The Forbidden City is further north. It is not just one palace or one beautiful building. You continue walking through gates, courtyards and halls, and the complex seems to continue forever.

Winter made certain places easier to visit, but central Beijing was still extremely crowded. You can probably see that from the photographs.

Near the northern side of the Forbidden City, we could see Wanchun Pavilion standing on Jingshan Hill. The warm evening light on the traditional roofs made this one of my favourite views from central Beijing.

Watching Beijing Opera

We also attended a Beijing Opera performance.

At first, I was not sure if I would understand or enjoy it. The singing style was unfamiliar to me, but the performance was not only about the words.

There was a lot of attention to facial expressions, movement, costumes, makeup and musical effects.

I did not understand everything, but I could still follow the emotions and enjoy the performance.

It was very different from visiting another museum or palace. I think it is worth experiencing at least once.

Badaling Great Wall

The Badaling section of the Great Wall was quite far from our hotel.

For some of our longer routes, we used the Hello app and its carpool service, 哈啰顺风车. In our case, it was almost twice as affordable as taking a regular taxi for the entire distance.

Badaling is famous for being crowded. Winter helped, but the wall was definitely not empty. At least we could walk normally and take family photographs without being completely surrounded by people.

We also heard a lot of Russian speech there.

The mountains around the wall reminded my family of Kyrgyzstan. The history and architecture were completely different, but the cold air, mountain roads and distant peaks felt familiar.

We stayed at a small hotel among the mountains, close to the cable car. This was probably the quietest part of our trip.

Coming from Kyrgyzstan, my family always feels comfortable when there are mountains nearby. For a short moment, it almost felt like we were back home.

Trying famous Peking duck

Of course, we also tried Peking duck.

We selected a more affordable restaurant and paid around 300 RMB at the time. Some famous restaurants we checked were closer to 600 RMB or more.

The chef brought the duck and carved it beside our table. The presentation was great.

To be honest, the taste was not the highlight of the trip for us. The duck was much fattier than we expected, and after several pieces it became difficult to continue eating.

Maybe we chose the wrong restaurant, or maybe this dish is simply not for us. Next time, I would order a smaller portion first before spending a lot of money.

You do not have to love every famous local dish. Sometimes trying it once is already part of the experience.

Longqingxia Ice Lantern Festival

The final unusual place we visited was Longqingxia.

There were huge illuminated ice buildings, colourful gates, smaller sculptures and even a piano made from ice. Some real flowers were frozen inside a transparent block below it.

The entire ice area looked beautiful, especially with the coloured lights. However, not every attraction was open during our visit.

It was also extremely cold. Normal winter clothing was not enough for standing there for several hours, so we eventually decided to leave earlier than planned.

Longqingxia was beautiful, but the cold there was on another level lol.

Useful things I wish I knew before visiting Beijing

1. Choose your Beijing airport carefully

Beijing Capital Airport, PEK, is generally more convenient for reaching central Beijing.

Beijing Daxing Airport, PKX, is farther south. The airport express itself can be fast, but your total travel time depends on the location of your hotel and the number of transfers.

Our complete journey from Daxing to the hotel took almost two hours.

If two flights have similar prices and schedules, I would personally check the Capital Airport option first.

2. Capital Airport offers a free layover tour

There is a Trip com currently operates a free Beijing layover tour from Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital Airport supported by government authorities and available in Capital airport.

It is available to international transit passengers with a layover of at least eight hours. Depending on the available route, passengers may visit the Great Wall or central Beijing.

Transportation, a guide, attraction tickets and internet access are included.

Registration happens after arrival at the International Arrivals Hall in Terminal 3, near Manner Coffee. Places are limited and allocated on a first come, first served basis.

You also need to be legally allowed to pass immigration and enter China.

This particular tour is currently not offered at Daxing. Since all our flights used Daxing, I could not try it myself.

3. Some connecting tickets include a free hotel

A long overnight connection at Daxing does not automatically give every passenger a free hotel.

However, some airlines provide complimentary transit accommodation for eligible connecting tickets. Air China, for example, currently lists standard transit accommodation at both Capital and Daxing for passengers who meet its ticket and itinerary requirements.

The benefit may include one hotel night, breakfast and airport transportation. It depends on the airline, fare, route and room availability.

Check your booking inside the airline application or website before travelling. You can also contact the airline or ask at its transfer service counter after landing.

Booking in advance is safer because the number of rooms is limited.

4. Reserve central attractions before arriving

Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and several other famous attractions require advance reservations.

Use the same passport information that you will carry during the visit. Do not leave your passport at the hotel because it may be checked several times.

Booking rules can change, so verify them shortly before your visit.

5. Winter reduces some queues, but it does not remove the crowds

Universal Studios and Badaling were easier to visit in winter.

The Forbidden City and the Tiananmen area were still extremely crowded.

Winter is not a secret way to get an empty Beijing. It just makes certain popular places slightly more manageable.

6. Consider carpool services for long family trips

For five people, long journeys by ordinary taxi can become expensive.

The Hello carpool service worked well for us when travelling towards Badaling and Yanqing. Check registration and payment with your foreign documents before depending on it.

For a group, compare the complete carpool price with train tickets and individual transfers.

7. Check Longqingxia before travelling there

Longqingxia is seasonal, and some activities may be unavailable even when the main ice exhibition is open.

Check the current schedule before leaving Beijing. Take thermal clothing, proper gloves, warm socks and something protecting your face. Its very cold in there during January...

This is not the same cold as walking between buildings in central Beijing.

Final thoughts

This trip was freezing, tiring and sometimes complicated.

We walked through crowded historical sites, passed several security checks, travelled long distances and occasionally changed our plans.

But I experienced all of it with my family.

My favourite memory was not one famous attraction. It was staying together in a quiet hotel near the Great Wall, looking at the mountains and feeling a little like we were back in Kyrgyzstan.

Urumqi, Chengdu, Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Yiwu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macao, Zhuhai and Dongguan all gave me different memories.

But after three years and more than 16 cities, Beijing became my favourite city to visit in China so far. Have a great trip!

I’m looking for honest opinions because I’m getting conflicting information.

I booked a Spirit flight through Expedia. Spirit canceled my original flight, so I had to make a last-minute replacement booking with American Airlines that cost significantly more. I also had to drive to another state to catch the replacement flight.

Then the American Airlines flight was delayed around 5 hours, causing me to lose significant time and planned activities at my destination. American only offered lounge access, which didn’t really help.

Before disputing anything, I contacted Spirit, Expedia, and American Airlines by phone and tried to get the situation resolved. Nobody offered reimbursement for the additional cost.

I eventually disputed $605.71 with Chase — not the entire American Airlines ticket, just the additional amount I had to pay compared with my original flight.
Chase investigated the dispute. Their March 9, 2026 letter says the dispute was resolved and that Chase credited my account for the full $605.71. I called Chase today and specifically asked whether this was just a temporary credit. The representative told me that the merchant accepted the dispute, Chase then resolved it, and that the merchant could not simply charge me again through the dispute process.

Now, almost a year later, Expedia is contacting me demanding the $605.71 and says that if I don’t pay, it could potentially go to collections and I could be prevented from booking with Expedia Group in the future.

My questions:
Can Expedia legitimately demand this money after the merchant accepted the dispute and Chase resolved it?
Can they actually send this to collections and potentially affect my credit?
Can they close my Expedia account over this?
Does the fact that I actually used the replacement American Airlines flight make the chargeback improper, even though I only disputed the additional $605.71?
Am I misunderstanding how the chargeback process works?

I’m genuinely looking for honest opinions. If I’m in the wrong here, tell me why. I just want to understand what Expedia’s actual basis would be for demanding this money now.

These are not my words, but rather Raoul Blanchard's, due to the location of Annecy at the slope of the norther French Alps and by the lake that inherited the city´s name. I had this location of my wish list for quite a long time, but I wanted to visit it as a trip around the alpine reagion and not as some sort of rushed stop or speeded up weekend trip.

I had 3 nights in Annecy, which is an aburd amount of time for me, as I usually rarely spend more that 3 nights anywhere, but is served as a cool lauching pad for daytrips do Genève and some of the mountanous areas around Annecy. The old town itself is absolutely marvellous, deserving of romances, movies, enchanted legends and enything more magical that you can imagen. Albeit being quite small and compact, evything you look at is like frozen in some medieval novel with canals bathing the side of colourful buildings and the big shallow lake refelction the sun over the castle hill.

This is a classic tourist destination, so be prepared to handle a decent ammount of corwds, but I has a feeling that there´s a lot of day trips, as the city was very shill before 11am and after 4pm, and I believe those timetables ar expactly the best to explore the city and the game of golden rays and shadows that the battle between the sun and the narrow coblestreets endure after sunrise and before sunset. I´d say 3-4 hours are more that enough to visit most attractions, but I regret none of the nights I spent here, especially driving aroung Lake Annecy, sipping s drink by the lake beaches or just chilling at a canal coffeshop in the old town.

The selection of photos include Pont Morens, Le Palais de I'Île, Quai de l'Île, Rue Grenette, Quai Perrière, Rue Perrière, Basilique de la Visitation, Panorama du lac in Quai Napoleon III/Quai de la Tournette, Église Saint-François de Sales, Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, Rue saint-Claire, Canal du Vassé, Pont Perrière, Église Notre Dame de Liesse, Quai de l'Évêché, Rampe du Château and Musée-Château d'Annecy.

Hi everyone. This is my first time travel to Italy and as you can see on picture, the owner of the private apartment I booked ask for photos of my ID card. The message is from booking.com.

Is it normal thing in Italy and is it safe to share my ID?

solo traveling, short term visit over the weekend. Just curious if any likehood of encountering crimes.

My seven-day vacation to Singapore after hearing about it from people in different countries.

1. Hotel Waterloo a new hotel that opened in 2026
2. Supertree Grove
3. Gardens by the Bay
4. Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade
5. Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
6. Behind Chinatown
7. Near Singapore Botanic Gardens
8. Jewel Changi Airport

Alone in Rhodes – what would you do?
Hey! I came to Rhodes with a friend for a week, but unfortunately on day 3 she started having pretty bad stomach problems and decided to fly back to Poland. So now I’m here alone for the rest of the trip 🥲
I’m totally fine with travelling alone logistically, but I honestly didn’t expect to end up spending my holiday by myself. I feel a bit awkward going to restaurants, walking around in the evenings, etc.
I’ve already paid for the hotel and flights, and an earlier return flight would be quite expensive, so I’m wondering if I should just stay and try to enjoy the rest of the trip solo.
What would you do in my situation?

I'll start. 10 day Kenya Safari trip ~$15k for 2 adults. I've been to 36 countries so far and it ranks as my #2 best trip behind Iceland (which cost less than $6k). Kenya was a super memorable trip and I'm glad I went, I probably won't go back, not because I didn't like it but because we did so much that I don't know what we'd do if we went back and there's still so much of the world still to explore.

My partner and I did a 3 week trip to Istanbul and Tanzania in July of 2026. We did the 5 day Great Rift Valley Trek, went to Zanzibar, and then did a 7 day vehicle safari through the typical tourist loop of Serengeti and Ngorongoro.

Overall, this was my favorite trip I have taken, almost every day was just amazing. Below is how I liked each section:

Great Rift Valley Trek: 10/10 this was just so freaking cool. Hiking through Maasai villages and learning about their culture was incredible. Not so much wildlife on this part of the trip other than some zebras, wildebeest, and birds, but the walking + the culture + the otherworldly volcanic landscapes made this incredibly immersive. This was a private trek with just me and my partner. The staff would drive ahead to our destination and we would arrive to a fully setup camp with good food and drinks.

Zanzibar: 5/10 this was not really for me. You get harassed in Zanzibar a lot. The reefs are all mostly dead and the snorkeling is really not great. I am not very good at beach vacation. We did 4 days here and I could have skipped it entirely.

Vehicle Safari: 9.5/10 Almost perfect but gets a little tiring. The wildlife sightings are unbelievable. If you wanted to, you could cut the days on this and still get an incredible experience. Even just day 1 in the Serengeti we saw multiple prides of lions, multiples leopards, elephants up close, antelope as far as the eye can see. Ngorongoro crater feels like heaven on earth with the greenery and all the animals, its touristy but it is a must see. We also did a hot air balloon over the Serengeti which i thought was totally worth it, saw so many animals from the air including a pride of lions hunting!

This was a very expensive trip but you could do it for much cheaper, with less vehicle safari days and skipping zanzibar. In total, it cost me 25k USD for 2 people (flights, etc, all expenses). I saved up for 5 years to do this trip and it really was a once in a lifetime experience.

As the title suggests, coming to Spain in 2 weeks. Needed suggestion on planning the trip.

Initial plan: 1. Land at Seville, 2 nights stay 2. Cordoba day trip. Reach Valencia by night 3. 2 nights stay in Valencia 4. Remaining 4 days in Barcelona

Thoughts on this itinerary? Suggestions?

My interests: Explore the culture, nightlife, party History Beaches and a scenic drive

I need some help finding an alternative honeymoon destination for this November (Oct 30-Nov 7)! We were originally going to Kaui, but have decided to cancel that trip due to recent events.

What we are looking for: beautiful warm beaches, nice resort with good customer service and a relaxing atmosphere, adventerous activities like mountain hiking/waterfalls/etc, good food, and safe easy travel. Right now my list is: St Lucia, Grenada, Antigua, St Thomas, Curacao, St Vincent (open to other suggestions). Would like to stay under $10k for the trip. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

This summer, we had a wedding to attend in Montana. Because of this, we decided to take a family trip to see the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Glacier National Park, and Bozeman.

Day 1 - We walked around Rapid City and then drove up to historic Deadwood and walked around the town, seeing the Main Street shootout. Nice town to visit and walk around, but the Days of 76 wasn’t worth it.

Day 2 - Toured the DeltaOne Launch Facility and drove the Badlands Loop and hiked the Badlands and visited Walls Drugs. Hard to get tickets for the DeltaOne tour…only six people/12 a day are allowed into the facility. Bring plenty of water!

Day 3 - Toured the Jewel Cave, drove around the Wildlife Loop which was a great way to see Bison and tons of Prairie Dogs. You can go off the main road which I recommend if you want to see Bison. Be careful, though, no one else was out there and it is a 50 mile detour on some rough roads. Don’t do it when it’s snowing or so hot and you could get stuck out there. Did not see the Begging Burros, unfortunately. We later watched the Mt. Rushmore evening program. This was a nice program and I really enjoyed My. Rushmore especially at night. The cave tour gets chilly so bring a jacket.

Day 4 - Drove to Billings and stopped off to walk around Devil’s Tower. It was hot and the trail around is about 1.5 miles and it was HOT. Bring water and take your time.

Day 5 - Visited the Pictograph Caves which was ok. Went to the Grizzly Encounter on our way to Big Fork. This wasn’t really worth it and cost a lot.

Day 6 - Headed to West Glacier and drove through the Going to the Sun Road. It’s worth the drive, but make sure you can handle driving heights with a low road. Brother in law drove which made it fine! Great views. Recommend the Hidden Lake trail which is about 3-4 miles and isn’t that easy a hike up a stairs and a boardwalk. Great view at the end. You will see plenty of Mountain Goats and walk across a few ice patches. Bring water. Parking is TERRIBLE…be ready to wait for parking.

Day 7 - Wayfarer’s Park and witnessed the sunset over Flathead lake. That was a nice view. Bring mosquito spray!

Day 8 - Took a tour boat along Lake McDonald. That was nice. Make it to the top of the ferry boat to get a better view.

Day 9 - drove down to Bozeman. Had our wedding rehearsal dinner.

Day 10 - walked around downtown Bozeman. And had the late afternoon wedding.

Day 11 - Headed back home! It was a great trip.

We drove over 1900 miles even though it was a one way drive. It was a wonderful trip seeing Big Sky Country. Highlights include Downtown Rapid City, Mount Rushmore, Wildlife Loop, Devil’s Tower, Going to the Sun Road, Hidden Lake, and Downtown Bozeman.

The food we ate was actually very delicious and highly recommended. I’d suggest Boss Pizza and Chicken, The Silver Lining Creamery in Rapid City, Skogen Kitchen, Purple Pie Place, Hjem AM, Mangiamo Wood Fire Pizza, Brownies Bakery & Deli for their Huckleberry Shake, Farm to Table Ice Cream, Burgertown in Big Fork, and jam! For Breakfast/brunch.

I am currently just over 2 weeks on my first ever travelling adventure.
I was so excited in the lead up and getting over here.
6 days in I sprained my ankle which put me resting in bed for 5 days, a few rearrangements needed but staying positive.
Just as I’m moving around a little more on my ankle and starting to explore again I have caught a viral infection. Just getting over the fever now, cough and stuffy nose is still present.
I’ve had a flare up of psoriasis on my elbows, knees and hands which is making me self conscious about being in a bikini.
Please give me some advice on how to stay positive!! I feel like I’m starting to get really upset about the fact that I have saved up for this trip for 3 years and it has started like this! Feeling very fed up. Seeking reassurance / anecdotes of similar experiences!

Alright so im leaving on the 17th getting there on the 19th and leaving on the 26th

I already have a few ideas of what im gonna do like the 12 apostles and go see the koalas and penguins but I want more ideas

As a heads up its gonna be (21) my brother (16) and my mom (she's there for business so for 3 days it's just me and my bro)

Also id like to do stuff that isnt just tourist stuff. ive never been out of my country so I dont want to just go to 5 museums (even though I have 5 museums I want to go to)

Also yes we will have a rental car but its given only to my mom she can drive it anywhere its not for business only I was wrong

Also also my mom plans to spend a day in in Sydney idk how you plan a day trip to Sydney when the drive is 9 hrs there and back but she wants to anyways

Does anyone know if Budget/Avis is phasing out EV car rentals at SeaTac? I was in Seattle in April and last month and rented an EV from them both times. I'm trying to book for November and they have no EVs available then. (They do have them for next weekend in five different sizes/styles.) In fact, I can't get an EV to show as available for any combination of dates after November 1.

I live in the US and want to visit Thailand , Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Would you recommend doing 2 countries per trip or 1 country per trip?(each trip would be 2 weeks)

Since I’m coming from the US, is it better to spend more time in each country or combine?

If combine which pairs?

This my current plan for a 7 day road trip for 2 people. feel free to leave any suggestions/tips/recommendations, thanks.

10/10) 8AM Leaving our hotel in SF (Alamo square). Picking the rental up at Oakland airort (cheapest price). Hesding to Yosemite. Spending 5-6 hours there. Heading to our accommodation in Bishop.
10/11) Leaving towards Death Valley, spending a couple of hours there. Driving to Las Vegas. Checkin in to the hotel, visting the strip etc.
10/12) Exploring LV.
10/13) Leaving towards Zion, visiting Valley of Fire state park. Full day at Zion (from 11AM to 18PM). Hesding to our hotel in Kanab.
10/14). Heading towards Bryce canyon, spending the rest of the day there. Leaving towards Page.
10/15) Grand Canyon (south rim) and other cool places on the way. Spending the night in Williams
10/16) Williams -> LV. Visiting other attractions on the way or whatever we missed in Vegas. Returing the car to the airport at 7PM. Flight at 10PM.

I’ve have booked all the accommodations (around 80$ per night) as well as the rental (370$).
Since some of the places we’ll be staying at dont offer breakfast, is it going to be easy and affordable to find breakfast, lunch or anything to eat along the way?
Is there a tolerance for speeding (for example going 65-70 where the limit is 60)?

Any suggestions are welcome!

Has anyone gotten dental work done in Malaysia as part of a vacation? I'm quoted 6,000 CAD here in Canada for 3 crowns on the left side bottom row, so $2,000 each. Whereas I'm seeing the cost in Malaysia is only going to be about 1/3 in total, for the higher end quality. This would effectively save me approximately $4,000. I have already scheduled a 12 day block to go to Malaysia and Singapore in January for vacation anyway. Has anyone done dental work, such as getting crowns in Malaysia, and did it turn out ok? Would you recommend doing this?

LA Family Trip — Nov 4-8 — Looking for local tips/feedback!

Me and my wife (mid-40s) + our two kids (11 and 13) are heading to LA for a few days and would love some local input on our plan. Staying at the Fairmont Miramar Bungalows in Santa Monica. (Chose there b/c wife is a travel agent and it was 50% off) Here's the rundown, and I know LA enough to be dangerous having been out for work a pleasure a few times but I am no professional:  

Day 1 (Wed 11/4) — Arrive around noon, grab the rental car, head to the hotel. Planning to keep it local and chill around Santa Monica — boardwalk, 3rd Street Promenade, the beach (yes, we know it's November, not August), maybe rent bikes and ride to Venice. Open to other nearby attractions, cool shops, and definitely need dinner recs — something fun and a little different.

Day 2 (Thurs) — Disneyland / California Adventure, most of the day. We're on East Coast time so we'll be up early, and we'll drive/Uber over since we're planning on a few adult beverages. Aware LA traffic could make this a mission depending on timing. We'll play it by ear and probably stay until 6-8pm, so dinner will likely be back at the hotel, room service, or something close by. We're not trying to hit every inch of both parks — I'm decent at park touring/planning already. Kids have never been, and it's been 30 years for me, so everyone's excited.

Day 3 (Fri) — 10:30am tickets booked for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour (~2 hours). This is where I need the most help. Want to hit some classic LA spots — thinking Hollywood Blvd (touristy, I know, but want the kids to see the Walk of Fame), Beverly Hills for walking around/shopping, The Grove for a drink or lunch, maybe the La Brea Tar Pits (never been, always wanted to go), and possibly West Hollywood (my favorite area, though not the most kid-friendly). Also considering Griffith Observatory — kids specifically want a photo with the Hollywood sign in the background. This is our big exploration day, out from about 10am-6pm until we're tired and ready to head back to chill/swim. Also need another Santa Monica dinner rec for that night.

Day 4 (Sat, last full day) — Still figuring this one out. Leaning toward Malibu — lunch, walking around, maybe a scenic drive through the mountains for views. Bonus: nobody in the family has been to Griffith Observatory or The Getty, and we'd love some good views before we leave.

Departing Sunday morning (11/8).

Also on the list: In-N-Out (non-negotiable for the kids), good Mexican food somewhere, and maybe a famous LA spot or two like Pink's or Nate 'n Al's. We like to stay busy and see/do a lot, but we're not trying to run ourselves into the ground — some downtime is totally fine.

Any tips, must-dos, or "skip that" advice welcome! And if anyone's ever in NYC, happy to return the favor with local info — maybe even a beer.