In the spirit of Jess, has anyone else gone on any excursion trips?

[Katie from IL]

I wonder where else people have gone, not just for archeological stuff but in general to do any kind of exploring or sight seeing?
The only one I have is when I went to Israel exactly 5 years ago this month. I took tons of pics, got to see famous sights like the Western Wall and the Dead Sea, hiked, even went through an archeological cave at Tel Maresha!

I have some pottery chips(we were allowed to take them from a huge pile) and some rocks from the top of the Masada and a bottle I filled with sand from the shore of the Dead Sea. This Jess book reminded me a lot of this trip, except I was in my mid 20s when I took this trip.

[jessicasturm]

Last July I was in Africa! My fiance actually proposed to me there! We loved it. I would love to go back soon.

Now we are planning our honeymoon, we're thinking Italy or Thailand!

[ColonialGirl]

Hi Jess! I want to go to Italy with you!!!

I haven't really been anywhere terribly exciting, but I did love Victoria, Canada last summer. It's very English. I bet Elizabeth would have like it!

[MollyGirl]

Many Many years ago my Husband and I went to Cancun for a few weeks. Many years ago my Husband and I went to Africa for 3 weeks. In 1999 my Husband, Daughter and I celebrated Christmas on the Nile. 2004 we were in China for 3 weeks. December of 2004 we went to New Zealand for New Years and then on to Australia.

[img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img]

[Skittl1321]

I spent 3 weeks backpacking in Germany when I was in high school. it wasn't really an exercusion though- but it sure was cool.

And free, because it was a Girl Scout "Wider Opportunity" and my council paid for it.

[AG DRESS DESIGNER]

I lived in Egypt and the Sinai for 2 years in the 80's. During those years I was able to travel all over the Middle East. We had to have 2 passports. One for the Arab countries and one for Israel. My husband was in charge of communications for the MFO at the time. The MFO was headquartered in Rome so traveled to Italy frequently. We took a couple of month long vacations in Europe.

In the 90's we were able to visit the excavation site near Salalah, Oman, where they believe they found the lost city of UR.

I'm planning on a Middle East album for Jess.

[Katie from IL]

Skittl-

My trip to Israel was also free. I went on one of the first Birthright Israel trips which are for 18-26 year old Jewish people. You have to choose which trip you want and then get into a lottery and get chosen for it. That program is still going and bigger than ever today.

There are different kinds of trips-some you have to live and work on a Kibbutz, others involve more physical activities like long hikes, rock climbing/rappeling, etc. I didn't go on any of those, I wanted to mostly sightsee since I had never been there before. And when the program started in 2000, I was already 24 so I wanted to get picked and go before I surpassed the cut-off age.

If I had paid for this trip it would have cost me over $10,000 easily. I had to pay for the domestic flight to and from New York and of course most of my souveniers, although we did get some freebies like t-shirts, hats, maps, etc.

Oh, and just like Jess, when I sent away for and then received my first passport in the mail I was really excited about that! I may never use that passport again before it expires in 2010, but I have those stamps which are just so cool to look at.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ January 02, 2006 05:35 PM: Message edited by: Katie from IL ]</font>

[Skittl1321]

I too was thrilled about my passport. I was 16 and if was my first time to get one. (I've since lost it, but it's expired anyway.)

When I took the picture, I was in warmups for dance- a hard rock cafe shirt. My picture actually said "Save the Plane" because the T was cut off the last word! LOL! Thankfully that part was cropped in the actual passport.

As for stamps, when we got to Germany, the guys who stamped passports weren't working that day. We wandered the customs area for about 45 minutes trying to find someone with the authority to stamp the passport, but there was no one there. That resulted in 10 very disappointed girls.

[dianasmama]

In my late 20's I made a trip to Mexico City by myself and then 2 years later to Seoul, Korea and Taipei, Taiwan. Definitely not your typical touristy-type spots, but I knew local people that lived in all 3 countries. So they all showed me around and I got to see it through their eyes, which is different than when you are with a travel group.

Then the ultimate of course, was Russia! There is nothing quite like standing in the middle of Red Square if you're old enough to have lived through air raid drills, hiding under your desks, and the whole "commie" threat. We were in Moscow for part of the time which is very European in some styles, then Diana's region of Kalmykia which is extremely Asian in style and culture. Both in the same country! Definitely a trip we'd like to make again in about 10-11 years with her!

Laurie

[dornroeschen]

Not to any 'exotic' places - mostly city jungles like London, Paris, Budapest, Istanbul or Rome for sightseeing - although I did live in London for 2 years and Paris for one year. Otherwise I travelled mostly through European countries: England (countless times), a bit of France, Italy, Greece, Mallorca and Lancarote (although I didn't see much of Lancarote except the hospital as I tore my ligaments on our 2nd day there and spend the rest of our holiday with my leg in plaster sitting on the balcony of our accommodation), Cyprus and fairly recently discovered the US. [img]wink.gif[/img]

As for excarvation sites we don't have to go very far as right in the center of Vienna you have some Roman ruins to visit - of the old Roman city of Vindobona - and driving about 45 minutes towards the east the old Roman city of Carnuntum. While in Italy, Greece and Cyprus I also visited many archeological sites.