[trialsboy50]

Hey fellow monkeys, I'm not a big poster here, but I do read much of the threads.

I'm a senior in high school, going to college this fall. I'm currently thinking of spending around 2 weeks or so in a foriegn country, just exploring and hopefully doing a fair amount of photography. I'm really trying to decide on a country which would be the easiest and most interesting for a 17 year old asian american.

I'm semi fluent in Spanish, and have a strong interest in Spanish culture. I have kinda ruled out any place in Africa till I'm a bit older, and am sorta of focusing on Europe. I've thought about Spain and Ireland, either one seems to have a really vibrant culture, but was hoping if any other monkeys had an suggestions.

I plan on backpacking around, some but not major organization. Most liekly hostels and cheap hotels, and kinda "roughing it". Ive traveled a lot to Brazil, Argentina, France, Thailand, Japan and Mexico, but was always with my family, and I was hoping this trip would be a good experience for me and hopefully photography(I'm not a pro or anything, just enjoy doing it, especially around other cultures)

I wont be renting a car, so being able to get around on buses and by foot is important, which I hear is fairly easy in Spain and Ireland. The main thing is I hope to be able to be doing something constantly, and hopefully not getting bored of it.

I may have missed some vital information, so let me know. Please suggest any other possible countries and why.

Also, if anyone has any general information on hostels and just general traveling that would be cool. I've done a fair amount of traveling, but with my parents to watchout, so some tips would be helpful.

Budget - somewhat limited, so hopefully the current exchange rate with the USD is pretty favorable, I'm not poor and I guess I would call my family upper middle class, but I still would prefer to keep it cheaper.

Also, if anyone knows good sites for travel helps/info, thatd be awesome. I do plan on gettign a solid book though.

Thanks,

Byron

 

[SkaredShtles]

The USD vs. the Euro is horrid right now (from a USD perspective). I dunno about the busses in Spain, but the train system was decent. I'd still suggest Italy, though....

-S.S.-

 

[-dustin]

i'd go back to British Columbia.

or France.

 

[me89]

dude this is an easy one. just go to canada. no spanish, you get the french culture, and dude its whistler come on. lol.

but since canada wasnt an option then i say go ireland. thats my vote or scotland. im not a fan of france (not a big wine person). and ireland and scotland and germany and all those places have good beer. mmmmm beer...

 

[ito]

New Zealand gets my vote if you can afford a flight there. Great culture, easy to meet great people, legal hitchhiking, awesome hostel system, beautiful country for photography.

However if you are set on Europe, I loved Ireland and Scotland. It was a few years ago though and I got around on a tour bus(which sucked). For literature, you can't beat Lonely Planet's series. Best books about the world in the world.

The Ito

 

[hooples3]

It sounds like I have just the place. Costa Rica. You can go to any of the north-west beach towns. Like Manuel antonio. They have a bus syatem that takes you to a wide range of places for about $0.25. You can rent a furnished one bedroom apartment for about $300-$400. eat for about $10 a day, obviosly more the nicer the place you go .The ppl there are just to nice. they have a saying there "Pura Vida" -- pure life.. or good living. You cant go wrong there, plus your spanish will come in handy

 

[trialsboy50]

Sh**, didnt even think of Costa Rica. Will check that out actually, def need to do some research, but sounds like a beautiful country.

I'm also hoping to go to a country where Americans/Asians(I'm 100%, but you can tell I'm Americanized) are appreciated, my dad suggested Baghdad thinking that would be funny.

Thanks for the responses,
Byron

 

[Smelly]

I had a blast in Spain (Salamanca) when I went a few years back, but like SS said, it's gonna be expensive because of how poorly the dollar is doing now.
As ito said, New Zealand is another great place. I've yet to hear anyone have complaints about it, and I know half a dozen people who've spent six months there.