$5000 saved up for travel, Where should I go?

Santorini

The kicker is I only have 12 days to do something

Some family just went for a 10 day trip out west to Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada and were able to do a ton of cool stuff. Zion national park, monument park, Grand Canyon, horseshoe bend and a ton of other cool hikes and site seeing. Definitely made me jealous. Cool trip without a lot of opportunity to stay active through hiking, kayaking, etc.

Cycle through Northern Italy.

Hike the Highlands of Scotland.

Relax on a few Greek Islands.

Las Vegas and put $5,000 down on the roulette wheel. Let us know how it turns out.

With only 12 days I'd avoid a long flight and multiple time zone changes and enjoy the beauty of our national parks as a previous poster suggested.

Put everything in Bitcoins, and enjoy the trip.

Are you a T & F fan??..........Worlds!

What till January and book a trip to Patagonia

Invest that money it’s a bear market make some money. I Invested 8k into AMC back in December of 2020, cashed out June 2021, 66k.

$5000 will buy you a pretty awesome visit to Disney World.

Moldova, before it’s too late.

Well, what do you like? Adventure? Relaxation?

Beach, mountains, desert?

12 days isn't a TON of time but if you haven't done the out west trip that someone else mentioned, that's a good choice.

Yosemite NP and other California points are good choices (though Yosemite is better in spring or early summer so you see the waterfalls going). Sequoia NP, Redwood NP, Kings Canyon NP, Death Valley NP, Lassen Volcanic NP, Joshua Tree NP. There's also the ocean in LA area or down to San Diego.

If you head to AZ, there's a ton of stuff to do there with the Grand Canyon being the pinnacle. South rim is best in my opinion. Note that it can be 70 degrees up top and then 100+ if you take the trail all the way to the river.

If you don't like really hot weather, there's always Acadia National Park in Maine and then spend some time heading south down the coast maybe all the way to the Outer Banks in NC, eating some good seafood along the way.

If Island time is your deal, head to Hawaii or The Cook Islands or some other island in the South Pacific. Or maybe Antiqua or Aruba?

Buffalo NY

Depends what you enjoy. I’d go up to Sitka in late July. I know a place to rent a boat and the best places to fish, hike, etc. Montana is lovely. You could save the 5 grand (maybe for a trip to Belize or Costa Rica in the spring) and go camping and fishing in the Beartooth Mountains. You could go to Hawaii. I like the big island. You could hike and camp from Waipio to Waimanu valley on the NE coast. You probably don’t have enough money to go to New Zealand or Australia and would probably want more than 12 days if you were to go that far (plus it’s approaching winter down there). Lake Powell is fun, but you’d need others to afford it unless you have your own boat. Canada is nice if you have your shots. The boundary waters are a lot of fun, but I would wait for the fall when the bugs and crowds are less.

I’m surprised by the comments that regard 12 days as not very long. Neither I nor any of my friends have ever been on that long of a vacation. Are 2+ week vacations common?

Call a travel agent, nobody here has ever gone anywhere.

As someone who has done both, I agree with the suggestions to either A) go to California, or B) do the "Grand Circle" which means starting and ending in Vegas and going in a big loop visiting the 6 or 7 national parks that are a few hundred miles east of Vegas.

Fly to San Jose $500

3 days near Santa Cruz/Monterey

3 days Los Osos

4 days Pt Mugu and Malibu

2 days Orange County.

rent a car for 12 days and gas $1600 - total $2100

Drive to Aptos and hotel 3 nights $500 ($2600) run in Forrest of Nissene Marks and on Beach one day and from Monterey on bike trail along the coast on day you leave.

Drive down to Los Osos get hotel and run in Montana’s De Oros State Park and other parks in area. 3 days - $500 ($3100)

Drive to Malibu. 4 days in the Bu. Get a campsite or stay somewhere not to far a cheap hotel like Goodnite in in Camarillo 2 days and run in Pt Mugu State Park for two days. tons of trails to explore but make sure to do Ray Miller and realky mugu Peak Trail one of the days. $250 ($3350).

Either camp another 2 nights or go to cheap hotel in Calabasas like Goodnite inn and drive to Westward Beach and run through Pt Dume State Park and back down to Zuma along the beach or through the long about three miles parking lot and either on beach at Broad Beach or on PCH for an out and back For out and back along nice popular beach. Another day do the big loop from Malibu High School through Zuma and Trancas Canyon. Hilly nice loop. for extra credit go to top of Zuma Ridge. $250 ($3600)

drive to Newporrt Beach and stay in cheap hotel in Costa Mesa $400 ($4000) Run in Crystal Cove State Park one day and along ocean from Newport up through Huntington Beach on bike trail along the ocean.

fly home from sna Orange County Airport (guess $500 total $4600.

roughly $400 for food if airfare is $1000 and need to rent a car.