if you had 2 months and could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would head to eastern europe. Five grand won't get you a hell of a lot in many of the upscale places for two whole months, but you could live like a king in Poland and the Czech Republic. That's what I'll be doing w/ my fiance this summer after both of our graduations.

If you know a foreign language fairly well, this would be a fantastic time to use it. I think if I knew Portuguese very well I'd try and trek through the Amazon with a local guide, then try to find a Shaman that specializes in Ayahuasca type ceremonies.

Are you going to be doing whatever you're doing alone?

start in london. head north through edinburgh and maybe see some ireland on the way.

go east. stop in amsterdam. enjoy the finest hash and some good purple and greens.

head south. to spain, and then france. find some good hookers. head for switzerland in route to italy.

get lost.

wind up in casablanca at a place called Rick's. have a drink, walk outside and think about how much the desert sucks, then fly home.

oh yeah. and live out of your backpack and travel by train.

If you visit Eastern Europe, make sure you won't forget Hungary, THE best East European country. Its cheap, you won't get robbed on every street corner by the mass of gypsies they have in al the surrounding countries and there's lots of nature. Magyarország,király!

I'm all for choices brother, so go spend that money if you want. I like variety, so if it were me I'd look to spend it by traveling to several different places if possible.

I'd start with (in order until the money runs out):

Galapagos Islands

Hawaiian Islands (don't discount the US brother)

Fiji

Antigua and Barbuda

Obviously I like the beach life.

Have fun brother.

hmm..all good suggestions. Flagpole, I've been to Hawaii, Fiji and Australia numerous times, so while those are great suggestions, I'll probably skip those, especially since my budget is pretty small for a 2 month trip.

I was thinking more along the lines of eastern europe, cheaper asian countries, india, tibet, etc....somewhere to really put me out of my comfort zone and blow my mind. (before you ask, no, i'm not considering iraq, somalia, or anywhere along those lines - that's a bit too far out of my comfort zone ;) )

Yes, I will be travelling alone, so I'd like somewhere where i can meet people fairly easily - get a bit of foreign city culture, yet still do some type of outdoorsy/adrenaline pumping stuff. I think I'm liking the eastern europe idea, although i only speak english and basic spanish...wondering if i could still get around?

keep the suggestions coming guys..

Damn brother! I wasn't going to chide you for taking what you made out to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to travel, but then now you tell me you've been to Hawaii, Fiji, and Australia NUMEROUS TIMES and you're only 26!? What the hell is that? Dude, I hope you have invested some money. I mean, I'm all for travel, but damn that's some serious coin you've dropped already at age 26. No need to tell my how much you make or anything, but I DO hope you know how to use a calculator to see how much money you could have had by age 40 or so if you hadn't spent SO MUCH on that travel -- maybe you know someone -- maybe you went on someone else's dime -- maybe you live like a hermit other than this one thing.

I wasn't even planning to make this a financial thing until you told me you've been to those places NUMEROUS TIMES already! I bet it was cool, and I'll admit to being jealous (though I could have spent my money on those kinds of trips if I had wanted to). I just hope for your sake you understand the beauty of compound interest.

I have no other suggestions as I'd personally like to visit all those places (Australia too) that I mentioned before heading to Europe.

Anyway, as I enjoy travel, I will probably kep my eye on this thread. Have fun brother.

Costa Rica. Jungle, beaches, mountains, volcanoes. Good budget travel location. They like Americans. You can get by with basic spanish. You won't get mobbed by locals trying to sell you crap.

5 grand won't get you very farround trip ticket to even western europe will usually run you somewhere around $1400, depending on where you are going onfood, accomdations, etc. you aren't looking at the extravagant of a trip

sorry for all the typos, programming and checking in at letsrun every now and then

i would probably go to south america but that is because i've done europe enough... it all depends where you have and haven't been

Haha Flagpole, I actually lived in aus, and we'd frequently travel back and forth to the us via hawaii and fiji when i was a kid. I've only paid my own way for one of the 8 times i've ventured across the pacific and back. Costa rica does sound cool, although i think i'd like to go to an area where i can see numerous cultures, countries and landscapes within a relatively small distance and see a lot of stuff that's out of the norm for me.

I don't know if 5K will cover Everest base camp or hiking Kilimanjaro, but those would be my two destinations of choice.

You probably could go to South Africa and Botswana on that budget, if you lived simply while you were there.

This will probably be the best $5K you will ever spend, wherever you end up going.

yeah, i realise 5 grand won't get me too far, but i've found reasonably priced rtw tickets and i living in hostels and out of a backpack doesn't bother me in the least.

Slippery Rock

I can't believe no one has mentioned Thailand yet. It is a fantastic place to lose yourself for two months. Excellent beaches, cheap accomodations and food, a party every full moon like you wouldn't believe, plus jungle and lots of adventure sports. It would be amazing. You would be able to meet tons of people and have a blast.

A different way to do the Costa Rica trip - drive there and back. I don't have a map in front of me but I don't think there's any place very dangerous between here and there. You'd definetly learn a lot about Mexico.

good luck to you and the yankees.

Given your profile as a 26 year-old experienced traveler I'll give you my three top suggestions:

1) India

2) India

3) India

why?