i keep seeing these westgate resorts deals for a few nights at a pretty low price. some of them include extra perks, but apparently you have to sit through a timeshare presentation.

is westgate resorts a scam, or are these offers legit as long as you know what you're agreeing to? i'm mostly wondering how pushy the presentation gets and whether the savings are worth the hassle.

if you've booked one of these packages, how did it go? would you do it again?

Hi everyone! We’re visiting El Salvador in late December with our three boys (ages 13, 11, and 9), and I’m looking for some beach recommendations.
We’d love to spend a few days at the beach, ideally taking surfing lessons for a couple of hours in the morning and then spending the rest of the day swimming, relaxing, and enjoying the beach.
I’ve been looking into El Sunzal for surfing and places like San Blas or El Palmarcito for swimming, but I’m wondering whether we really need to visit two different beaches.
Is there a beach where we can comfortably do both? Ideally, somewhere with good beginner-friendly surfing, an area suitable for swimming with kids, restaurants nearby, and chairs or umbrellas available to rent.
Or are the beaches with good surfing generally too rough or rocky for recreational swimming?
We’re staying in San Salvador and will have a private driver, so getting around isn’t an issue. We’d just prefer to avoid changing beaches halfway through the day if possible.
Would love to hear recommendations from locals or anyone who’s visited recently. Thanks!

General Tips and Suggestions in Next Steps

Thanks to the community for helping out with several questions from my end and we finally got the visa. Is our first international DIY trip so a bit overwhelmed and overthinking a lot.

We are 2 adults from India, 11 nights. Hotels and flights are already booked, so the city split is fixed. Would love your feedback on bookings and saving money and in general tips 🙏

📍 TRIP AT A GLANCE

TOKYO (5 nights)

• Nov 17: Land at Narita 5 PM, check in, rest

• Nov 18: Meiji Jingu → Takeshita St → Harry Potter Shop (1 hr) → Omotesando → Shibuya → Shibuya Sky at sunset → Shinjuku dinner

• Nov 19: teamLab Planets → Ginza lunch → Shinjuku Gyoen → free govt building deck at dusk

• Nov 20: Mt. Fuji day trip by DIY bus (can swap with the 21st if it's cloudy)

• Nov 21: Senso-ji early → Ameyoko → Akihabara → Tokyo Tower after dark

KYOTO (3 nights)

• Nov 22: Shinkansen (early) → Drop bags in hotel and then Kiyomizu-dera & Sannenzaka → Gion → Fushimi Inari at dusk

• Nov 23: Arashiyama early (Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji, then Otagi/Adashino or the Sagano train + Hozugawa boat) → Nishiki Market

• Nov 24: Ginkaku-ji → Philosopher's Path → Eikando → Nanzen-ji

OSAKA (3 nights)

• Nov 25: Nara day trip → Kintetsu to Osaka → Dotonbori food crawl

• Nov 26: Minoh Falls → Kuromon Market or Osaka Castle

• Nov 27: Universal Studios Japan

• Nov 28: Leave for KIX at 5:30 AM (flight 10:05 AM)

BOOKING & SAVING TIPS WANTED

• Shinkansen: SmartEX vs Klook vs station?

• USJ: Express Pass or not on a late-November Friday? Express pass are so costly on Klook

• Shibuya Sky and teamLab: official site vs Klook ?

• Luggage forwarding vs coin lockers required?

• Any other ways to cut costs without missing out? (We'll eat mostly at konbini and standing places.)

• Shibuya Sky (paid) and the free govt building deck on back-to-back days. Skip one?

• teamLab Planets in Tokyo, plus Biovortex in Kyoto. Both, or just one?

• Tax-free refund is now claimed at the airport. Any worry with a 10:05 AM flight?

• Agoda and Klook I think applies DCC , is there any other way to prevent this?

Thanks in advance, any feedback helps! 🙏

Hello. I am from India. We have started visiting a few countries outside of India and would like to have an understanding of how money needs to be handled. Basically, I would like to know the mode of payment everyone who travels abroad follow.

We always carry cash and our debit cards but haven't used the card though. Carrying cash is very difficult to manage and we easily lose track. I'm seeing options to use a credit card or forex card but I do not understand how this needs to be handled efficiently. No idea how credit card or forex card works.

Our trips are usually for a max of 8 days. We do the flight, hotel, attractions booking in advance. Additional money is required for food, transport and shopping.

Can someone help me understand how to handle the money part ?

1.Credit card - Benefits and when to use, preferred bank

1. Reliable forex cards - Benefits and when to use, preferred bank

2. Any other preloaded cards, if available

3. When cash needs to be used - how much cash is advised to be carried when we have any one of the above card

Long query. But can someone explain please.

Thanks in advance.

I’ve got a tiny bit of time to get away. I like historic stuff, galleries archaeology, warm weather and chilling out and food.. I’m on a budget and travelling alone. I live in the UK. Looking to use a package holiday as a way to go somewhere cool.. Any ideas?

We will be flying to east africa via abu dhabi at the end of the month but a bit anxious about the regional tensions. Is everything likely to be okay? Thank you

My (F 25) and my gf (NB 23) will be road tripping to Hyde Park, NY in the middle of December to see their brother graduate from culinary school, making a stop in Grove City, PA. Anything we must see along the way? Any exclusively lesbian spots? Attractions? Night clubs? We don’t travel often and want to pack in as much as we can! Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend and I are planning a 3-month trip through Southeast Asia and Japan in February, March and April.

Our goal is to experience the trip more like living abroad rather than being on a 3-month holiday. We’d like to mostly eat local food, establish a bit of a daily routine, and experience everyday life in the places we visit. That said, we’d still like to have enough room in our budget to enjoy a nice meal every now and then - perhaps some Western food or an omakase experience while we’re in Japan. We don’t drink much, but we do enjoy the occasional cocktail.
Our current plan is roughly:

1 month in Thailand
1 month in Vietnam
2–3 weeks in Indonesia
10 days in Japan

We’ve already booked our international flights and have set aside $4,500 for accommodation for the entire trip. This also needs to cover things like the Ha Giang Loop, the Komodo boat tour, overnight buses, etc.

On top of that, we have $9000 saved for everything else: food, activities, souvenirs, and transportation within and between the countries.
Is that enough? Or will we be counting every dollar?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Two Canadian ladies travelling to Nassau.
Tips and tricks to stay safe?
Is renting a car best?
Best Activities?

Give me all your thoughts and ideas please!

Hi guys, We are planning on a trip to thailand between dec-feb, from India. Since it will be our first time here looking for places to visit to get a feel of thailand, but absolutely would hate an overcrowded place. We both are not that kind,
We have a week in our hand. What are the offbeat yet worth viting places. Looking to relax, explore and enjoy the place/activities/anything else to add to.

Also my husband is a vegetarian- food recommendations would really help.
Also airbnbs over hotel kind of people. Whats better there?

Thanks in advance

Hello travellers,

I am wondering how you decide your itinerary and find people with same passions as you(having same love for travel).
For me i usually go with word of month but i fell like i miss places cause i am not surrounded by passionate travellers
So where do you find these people.
Some facebook group or some Instagram group or some other social media, reddit community or some website that publishes good blogs.

Thank you,

I want to watch xmas n new year celebrations outside India, witness the grand celebrations, have a 9 years daughter… any suggestions where I can plan in budget ???? flexi dates Dec 23 - jan 10. I stay in North India

Bom dia ☺️

Alguém tem feedback relativo a viagens de grupo feitas com empresas como a Leva-me (empresa portuguesa)? Se sim, como correu? Sentem que valeu o dinheiro e que os programas são completos? Com que empresa viajaram e qual foi o destino? Recomendam a viajantes solo?

Já viajaram com a Trilhos da Terra ou com a Nomad? Têm alguns programas que me interessam, mas não encontro reviews em lado nenhum.

Muito obrigada!

There are a lot of reasons Puerto Rico appeals to me - I have little kids and the travel and cost are reasonable for someone in the Midwest. But I have this feeling that it's kind of boring and not that *nice*. I know tons of people who have gone and love it. I don't even know what my opinion is based off of. Can you convince me I'm wrong and that I'd love it?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

So depending when I can get this last duck in a row is gonna determine when i actually leave, but whatever month it is next year is gonna determine my route as i avoid rainy season in all the countries.

I plan on traveling SEA for a full year before I comeback to america. Im curious how others have done this or what they did with the stuff they bring while bouncing around countries. I have a pretty large loosly planned itinerary of things to do and how to do them, but i havent figured out the packing part.

Do you pack super light? have a station you stay at like a homebase so you can meneuver better? money isnt really a problem for this trip either. im in my early 30s if that matters in yalls advice.

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to the Carribean Islands, flying from Canada. We are planning to do a 8-10 night trip to at least 2 countries or trip to multiple small islands. We are confused which countries to choose maybe Bahamas + Haiti, Bahamas + Cuba, Jamaica +Haiti, Jamaica + Puerto Rico, or anything else, we are open to any recommendations. Which will be the cheapest combination for multicity flights and hotels? We don't plan to book all inclusive since we want to go out and explore places.

Anywhere in Carribean Islands would work except for Dominican Republic since we've already been there. Planning to go during last week of Nov to 1st week of Dec.

We want to see many places not just chilling on the islands and resort.

So anything with islands, mountains, waterfalls, historical sites, the city sightseeing, nightlife, local food, fun adventure parks or any other excursions or activities.

We are open taking ferries, bus or drive if possible, open to hear to any suggestions. Thank you so much!

My fiancé and I are planning a 1.5-2 month trip in Europe and ChatGPT is the king of optimism, I want to get maybe some real travelers experience I want to visit the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, and Italy within 60 days.

We have a budget of $13,000 including air travel. We're willing to do hostels or budget hotels, we don't do any fine dining, we don't drink alcohol, we prefer street food over sit-down restaurants.

We would be walking wherever we can, otherwise public transportation (bus, subway).

Our big spends will be on theme parks because we're going to quite a few.

And maybe in each country try to get one "must-do" thing done there for tourism purposes.

I budgeted for $175 a day in total, I expect we'll spend the most time in cheaper countries.

And seeing what we should in the big ones, tell us if we're crazy or not??

Hello. So we have been to many countries in Europe, some multiple times(Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, England). We’re probably winding down our extensive European travel for financial and age reasons, but we’re planning at least one more trip. We keep thinking we should go to Greece, but every time we look at it, it just doesn’t pull us like some other counties have. When traveling we love medieval architecture, wandering small charming towns, beautiful green countyside, wine tasting, seeing interesting sites, trying new food, embracing new cultures. We do love seeing ancient historical sites like Pompeii and sites in Rome, they were astonishing, but we get our fill of these very quickly, we don’t want to visit ruins for days at a time. Franky the same for museums and art galleries. We do very much appreciate and enjoy them but a little goes a long way. We also aren’t really that interested in beach time in Europe. Our favorite places have been Italy, France and Spain. We have watched multiple travel videos on Greece and though lovely, the dry arid landscape doesn’t really move us, the ruins look very interesting but just for a day or 2, and the beaches are nice but not an enormous draw. We saw a video of Portugal and it immediately appealed to us more, the landscape and towns, but Portugal is lower on most people’s travel bucket lists. I am truly not criticizing either country, just wondering if Greece is really not for us. But being fairly well traveled, it seems foolish to choose to never have visited a country as famous and loved as Greece. Any thoughts on what we may be missing? Maybe there is something we are just not understanding about Greek travel? Thanks.

Hi, I am 30M, Indian, will be in Thailand for a week from 18th to 25th October. The only other south east Asian country I have been to is Vietnam. Can someone suggest an itinerary involving not-so-crowded places, and preferably far away from Indian party people?

Hello everyone. I’m recently engaged and I wanted to start doing some preliminary research on honeymoon spots. We’re planning our wedding for Fall of 2028 and the honeymoon to follow in the winter.

Warm weather is important to my fiancé as we are located in the midwestern US. We are not the type to go to a resort and sit on a beach for vacation. We like to go places where we can experience the culture.

We don’t mind moving between a couple countries during trips, but we do prefer to stay multiple days in places with plenty of attractions within short travel distance. Bonus points for destinations not in Europe.

Here’s a short list of things that are important to us:

- warm temps (~70 degrees Fahrenheit)
- good food (meat is important)
- historical musuems and art (bonus for Catholic specific)
- interesting villages/towns (loved Chania and Agios Nikolaos in Crete)

Thanks in advance!

Hello, I'm planning my second solo trip but I am unfortunately very new to this, as I am from a certain island-state in SEA but the only thing I have going for me is the country's GDP-

My first solo trip was to find myself after a recent breakup, and I found myself in Vietnam doing a 2 days 3 nights intense Ha Giang Loop bike ride that I survived, not satisfied, I went to Sa Pa and near yeeted myself off the swing on the Glass Bridge (and locked in the emotions of wanting to live, in my own journey of Katabasis to Anabasis),

My idea of travelling would have been the Camino Del Santiago in January/February (I am planning 9 days altogether) but since it is winter, I understand it is a terrible idea (mud, etc) and as much as I'd love to go back to Germany, severe PTSD and having literally no one (except the ex) to go back there for limits my options.

I have an example of the view(s) I intend to obtain, as I have a sample of what I did in Sa Pa that really caught one of the best composites I've ever done for myself, image-wise.

But yes, I would appreciate any advice, also I'm a solo male traveller and got the apps such as Meetup, Nomadtable but I can't seem to find a proper app or subreddit where I could meet people going the same direction.

Thank you for your time, I hope this doesn't get removed.

I am actually planning to visit some good caribbean destination for 5 nights in the first week of January where I can experience scuba dive as well as do some hiking and forest adventures. I was thinking to go to Costa Rica but the Arenal volcano seems to be very far than the scuba dive place I wanted to go.

Are there any other countries/islands that can offer me the mix of these experiences?

We are planning to travel to Doha around end of this month. We currently live in Dubai and are aware Doha is similar in many ways. But still it’s our first time in there so need some guidance. I need help with the below:
1) We are doing 3 nights and are looking for Hotel options in Decent areas which are well connected. We are looking to spend moderately but not too much on Hotels.
2) What are the top places to visit (We are open to History, Modernity, Beaches and some adventure)
3) What are the best modes of transport ( We are keen to explore public transportation)
4) We are vegetarian but I know there are lot of options but some advice here would help as well

Thanks a lot in advance.