Here's what I look for when I travel - Suggestions please!

[loveliberate]

Hiya!

I am alway looking for ideas of place to travel to, or at least to daydream about traveling to. It is my hope that by sharing the following list you will be inspired to offer me some suggestions of places that I might enjoy visiting. Of course I do not expect any one place to have all these qualities and be sure to let me know about place that you think I'd really enjoy even if they do not match up with my list.

Please be sure to ask my any clarifying or other questions that you may have. Thanks in advance for your assistance!

- All other things being equal, I prefer smaller towns and villages to cities.
- Extensive & inexpensive local & regional public transit systems particularly interconnected long distance ones that allow me to access natural areas and small towns.
- Mountain railways, gondolas, trams, aerial trams and ferries.
- Being in the midst of mountains and hills, both natural and populated areas.
- Options for Vegan, natural foods & ecological living being common.
- Strong protections for individual rights and personal privacy, ie. not being harassed, stopped, searched, etc for being a low-budget traveler.
- TREES! On the streets, in peoples yards, in parks and of course in forested/wooded natural areas - the more & wilder, the better
- Places that are inexpensive to visit and travel (sometimes touristy areas can actually be great in this way...)
- Public space: parks, plazas, libraries, universities & colleges
- Community gathering spaces: Info-shops, bookstores, cafes, food not bombs & punk picnics, alternative community centers
- Street/free culture: art, music, festivals, farmers & flea markets
- Friendly people. esp. like-minded ones who want to hang out & show me around
- Places with indigenous local culture AND international cultural diversity
- Places that Walkable & Bikeable
- Places that have unique &/or historical architecture, esp. brick, stone, wood &/or other natural building materials

[thenomadicvegan]

Hello,

Where are you from and where have you already been?

Cities like Seattle, Portland and Philadelphia can feel like small towns if you spend time in the neighborhoods.

Otherwise, I recommend visiting the Kooteny region in eastern British Columbia. There are several small towns, but lots of nature escapes like natural hot springs, mountain biking/climbing, skiing, kayaking. I really liked the town of Nelson, it has several veg-friendly restaurants, hostels and a good culture. No major public transport, but the Greyhound at least passes through the region, so you might be able to arrange something.

All of the South Pacific like New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Thailand are loaded with great laid-back culture and an interesting architecture. You can very easily get out of the cities, but like Seattle and Portland - they can feel like small towns if you really explore the different neighborhoods. There are good public transport options between cities in Australia and New Zealand, while it's so easy to catch a cab in Singapore. Not sure about Thailand, but I think there is a strong network of buses.

Hope that helps.

[loveliberate]

Hi there TNV,

Thanks for the great reply! Have you traveled to all of the places that you suggest? Where do you reside and/or call home?

I currently live in Portland, Oregon and it is a great place overall. So far, my travels have taken me had me passing through much of the U$A plus a tad bit of SW Canada & NW Mexico. Though I have not yet made it to Philly or the Kootenai's, esp. Nelson - both are on my list of places that I'd like to visit to be sure.

New Zealand & Thailand are both very high on my list of countries to visit. I've heard a lot of good things about Melbourne & Tasmania seems really nice but the rest of Aus. hasnt overly caught my interest. Not that I wouldnt love to visit - it's just that a fair number of places are higher on my list.

[Superflor]

Snowdonia in North Wales. There is the Snowdon Mountain railway (among others), Pete's Eats I've heard does Vegan and many of the things you list.

[mabli]

Snowdonia in North Wales. There is the Snowdon Mountain railway (among others), Pete's Eats I've heard does Vegan and many of the things you list.

Noooo dont go to Pete's Eats go to The Alpine Gallery in Betws it has vegan cakes, and a vegan section in the menu... Yes highly recomend snowdonia its very lovely here, lots of quite cheap toursty things to do (Roman spa costs £2 for a tour and a glass of special iron enriched mountain water for example), there's a cafe where you sit on the shores of a lake and can eat huge chip butties, old mines to explore, roman roads, old megalithic standing circles just litter the countryside, lots and lots of castles, lakes, forests, some very lovely small but pretty mountains, snowdon railway is megga bucks but its easy enough to climb there anyway, I think the poeple are friendly too


Think you'd love Sweden too, the transport is cheaper and more reliable than wales, its great for vegans, its a wonderful country and Id happily live there.

[loveliberate]

Superflor,
Thanks for the reply! Snowdonia and North Wales generally certainly does sound promising. Have you spent much time in that area? Also, do you have any suggestions for Espana and that region of Europe?

mabli,
Thanks for jumping in! I'd love to visit your area (and Sweden is even higher on my list!) - Any suggestions on budgeting for such a journey?

[Superflor]

Not really, I've only been to Snowdonia a few times but have friends living there. For Spain, Barcelona and has some alternative living awareness but not got the combo you're looking for. I went on a road trip to Asturias and Galicia last October. Nice- and also opportunities for mountain stuff round there. I'm in full touristy area but am living a little bit out of it so it's not too annoying.

[mabli]

Any suggestions on budgeting for such a journey?

I just dont know... I suppose it depends on what sort of place you want to stay in, there are bunk houses for £4 a night or super dooper hotels for megga bucks... trains can be pretty costly unless you book in advance and we dont see so many folk hitching these days.

I suppose also the rate of exchange makes a big difference

I would happily show you round the area butcant ask you to stay cos I'll get grief from my kids about how I shouldnt meet up with strangers off the internet...

[Hiking Fox]

Pete's Eats I've heard does Vegan and many of the things you list.

A weird place, unless it has changed during the last couple of years. They had a couple of vegan options but no soya milk for tea. They kept going on about how socialist they were, but also bragged about having "genuine Nescafe coffee." Even my university wouldn't dream of stocking Nestle products!

[Hiking Fox]

where I live is cheap and has the following:

- All other things being equal, I prefer smaller towns and villages to cities.
- Extensive & inexpensive local & regional public transit systems particularly interconnected long distance ones that allow me to access natural areas and small towns.
- Being in the midst of mountains and hills, both natural and populated areas.
- Options for Vegan, natural foods & ecological living being common.
- Strong protections for individual rights and personal privacy, ie. not being harassed, stopped, searched, etc for being a low-budget traveler.
- TREES! On the streets, in peoples yards, in parks and of course in forested/wooded natural areas - the more & wilder, the better
- Places that are inexpensive to visit and travel (sometimes touristy areas can actually be great in this way...)
- Public space: parks, plazas, libraries, universities & colleges
- Street/free culture: art, music, festivals, farmers & flea markets
- Friendly people. esp. like-minded ones who want to hang out & show me around
- Places with indigenous local culture AND international cultural diversity
- Places that Walkable & Bikeable
- Places that have unique &/or historical architecture, esp. brick, stone, wood &/or other natural building materials

It certainly doesn't have:
- Community gathering spaces: Info-shops, bookstores, cafes, food not bombs & punk picnics, alternative community centers

...although the nearest city is half an hour by train and has such things.

[XkillerX]

I think you want to go HERE then.

[xrodolfox]

I'm in western Mass. Half the little towns here fit that profile. Especially Northampton and Amherst, Mass. Lots of little towns in NY and VT also fit the bill.

Also, Nice sig, killer.

[XkillerX]

Also, Nice sig, killer.

hai, thx

When are you coming over for a group visit????? Wont make it to the US until I get my hungarian passport, and that's still a couple of years from now :S

[Sid Delicious]

NewZealand/Aotearoa meets most of your criteria. The 'cities' are pretty small by international standards (there's only one above 350,000 people, and that's Auckland, which has 25% of NZs population). Plenty of accessible wild places (30% of land area is protected conservation land). Check out www.doc.govt.nz for info on that. The railway from the east to west coast of the South Island goes through the Southern Alps and is meant to be one of the better mountain rail journies in the world.
It can be reasonably cheap traveling around as many intercity bus companies such as Naked Bus do cheap deals (No! It is NOT some nudist bus company!).

[loveliberate]

Thanks for all the replies & apologies for my delayed reply.

Superflor,
I very much hope to visit Espana some day and Barcelona is the most likely locale.

mabli,
I tend to travel/live on a comparatively minimal budget. The exchange rate certainly isn'y in my favor...

Hiking Fox,
Your area sounds quite promising!

XkillerX,
That definitely seems like a neat area - have you spent much time there?

xrodolfox,
I was out in Western Mass in early June this year. I'd like to explore the area more but overall was far more into Vermont. Actually while it is far from perfect, in many ways Vermont embodies what I envision when thinking of the (closest to my) ideal place/s.

ilovecake,
You know I'm single right? Portland is definitely wonderful and is the best city I've found for myself. Of course it is not perfect and I love traveling regardless. Anyway - come visit!

Sid Delicious,
While I have not yet visited, Aotearoa certainly seems like a great match for me and my interests. It is one of the top few places that I would most like to go to.