"Where Next?" boltonian's Profile

MOST RECENT

LAST TRIP: Poland (Aug), France/Andorra (August), Ireland (August), Serba and Bosnia (April)

NEXT TRIPS: May (Morocco), August (Scotland, France)

(can't you tell I am a teacher :)

Up until I went to the USA in 1999, I had never really valued the experience of travel. After this trip, I got the bug. Getting away from the UK, and UK tourists is essential to a good trip. To see the massive variation in people, culture and environment is something that never ceases to amaze. I would love to see every country, and aim to get to at least 1 new location each year.

THE PAST

Now that I have hit 30, the memory loss will start to set in, so here are all my trips overseas.

1988 - FRANCE (Canais Plage) - By coach, rained a lot, not great

1989 - FRANCE (San Malo) - By Coach, poor

1997 - SPAIN (Ibiza) - Britannia Air, first flight. Few good nights out, but not my cup of tea

1998 - FRANCE (Paris, Lyon, Cannes, Tolouse, Bordeuax) - 3 of us in a transit van watching the World Cup.

1999 - SPAIN (Northern and Central) - Ferry, University Fieldtrip

1999 - CANADA/USA (Toronto, Niagra, New York, Washington, Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Little Rock, LA, Vegas, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago) - Canada 3000. First time outside Europe. Amazing trip. Highlights include Vegas and Orlando. Bad point, losing $100 to a con artist in Little Rock

2000 - USA (Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa) - Sebina - More reasons to love the USA.

2001 - GREECE (Zante) - JMC - Typical beach holiday. Good fun

2001 - USA (Vegas, Grand Canyon - Airtours - Freezing Vegas, beer and gambling galore. Stuck in the Flagstaff snowdrift for the first time (see below)

2002 - FRANCE (Battlefields) - Ferry, school trip

2002 - ITALY/GERMANY/AUSTRIA/SWITZERLAND/LITCHENSTEIN (Venice, Verona, Munich, Vienna, Alps) - Car and camping, a picturesque journey.

2002 - SWEDEN/NORWAY/DENMARK (Stockholm, Gotenburg, Oslo, Bergen, Copenhagen) - Ryanair - Some special scenery and people in this great camping trip.

2003 - USA (Vegas, Grand Canyon) - BMI - World Heavyweight boxing match made the trip. Stuck in a snowdrift by Flagstaff for the second time, all good fun.

2003 - CZECH REPUBLIC (Prague, Pardobice) Easyjet - A boozy trip, great city for sites and nightlife.

2003 - ICELAND (Reykjavik) - Iceland Express - Always on the top of my list to see, was not a disappointment. Glaciers, Waterfalls, Geysirs, and great nightlife. But take your wallet, far from cheap

2003 - ITALY (Milan) - Alitalia - Italy v Wales, don't ask for the result!

2004 - CZECH REPUBLIC (Prague) Jet 2 - A boozy trip. Took in some ice hockey and did the donuhts (Funniest moment EVER)

2004 - ITALY (Rome, Naples, Sorento) - Ryanair - A truly beautiful city and some memories that will last forever

2004 - CHINA/THAILAND (Beijing, Xian, Chengu, Kunming, Bangkok, Koh Sok, Ko Samui) - Lufthansa - Trip of a lifetime for sure. The unique culture of China, rainforest and beaches of Thailand. Imagine being served in a hotel by a paid gibbon. One place you just know you will return to.

2005 - HUNGARY/GERMANY (Budapest, Berlin) - Berlin was pretty poor, but discovered a new Prague in Budapest. Bigger, better and cheaper.

2005 - NORWAY (Oslo, Bergen) - Ryanair - School trip, they loved the glacier hiking.

2005 - EGYPT (Cairo, Sahara, Luxor, Sharm) - Alitalia - A must see on every list. The ruins, the sun, scuba, shisha. An amazing adventure, only ruined by Alitalia who were late and lost my bags.

2005 - ESTONIA (Tallinn) - Ryanair - Heard lots about this gem, puts Prague and Budapest to shame.

2005 - PORTUGAL (Guimaraes) - Monarch - BWFC in Europe, 4500 fans, tiny village and Super Bock beer. Disaster guaranteed. Return flight missed, hangover of epic proportions. Amazing trip.

2005 - USA (Vegas, Grand Canyon) - NWA - Christmas and New Year on the strip. Neil Diamond in concert. A perfect trip

2006 - ESTONIA/LATVIA (Tallinn, Riga) - Air Estonia/Easyjet - Easily the coldest trip ever. Walked across a frozen river. Riga was not great, Tallinn confirmed as the greatest site/party town in the UK

Continued

2006 - HUNGARY/USA/COSTA RICA (Budapest, NYC, San Jose, Arenal, Cahuita) British Airways, Alitalia, Continental - Bizzare trip. Starting on a mad stag do, then onto the greatest city on earth, then hitting rainforest, and beaches in a must see location. Included my 50th flight!!

2006 - SPAIN (Barcelona, Girona) - Easyjet/Ryanair - A trip to the Nou Camp. Great but bloody cold. Didn't think that much of Barca as a city.

2006 - CZECH REPUBLIC (Prague) - BMI Baby - Away with the missus, sites and cheap beer. Ice Hockey a possible highlight. A great place to spend X Mas, but far too busy.

2007 - POLAND (Warsaw/Krakow), UKRAINE (Kiev/Chernobyl) - Wizz Air - Cold, but a trip combining cheap beer and some of the saddest history of mankind

2007 - SLOVENIA/CROATIA (Lubljana/Zagreb) - Easyjet - Slow pace but nice enough

2007 - ICELAND - Icelandair - Second visit to this amazing and active geographers paradise

2007 - BOLIVIA/PERU - BA, American Airlines, Taca - Maybe the best trip to date, mind blowing scenery and amazing people

2007 - ESTONIA (Tallinn) - Estonian Air - 3rd time here. Flu ridden trip, but a memorable New Years Eve in Old Town

2008 - POLAND (Krakow) - Easyjet/Ryanair - One year on I came back. More bars, very cold, great people

2008 - SPAIN (Madrid) - Easyjet - Athletico v Bolton UEFA Cup. Great result, good beer, violent police

2008 - ICELAND - Icelandair - School Trip, usual attractions, wet and windy but great trip

2008 - ETHIOPIA - BMI/Ethiopian Air - Amazing trip of history and culture

2008 - TURKEY (Side) - Thomas Cook - Hot, nice beaches and ruins

2008 - GERMANY/SWITZERLAND (Zurich) - Ryanair - To watch Evander Holfield v Nikoli Valuev. Nice city, good fight, bad result

2009 - BULGARIA/AUSTRIA/SLOVAKIA (Sofia, Bansko, Vienna, Bratislava) - Easyjet & Sky Europe - Annual beer holiday with some skiing thrown in for good measure

2009 - JAPAN (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Nara) - Finn Air - A packed trip of Japanese culture

2009 - ICELAND - Iceland Express - School trip, very wet but fun as always

2009 - USA/MEXICO/BELIZE/GUATEMALA - United/Taca - Ruins, sharks, lava, WOW

2009 - JORDAN - Royal Jordanian - Ruins and desert

2010 - LITHUANIA - Ryanair - Cold, drinking trip

2010 - MALTA - Ryanair - Pretty

2010 - ITALY (Sicily) - BA - School trip, Etna, coasts and lovely sunny beaches

2010 - IRELAND & NORTHERN IRELAND - Easyjet - Causeway, History and the Black Stuff

2010 - TANZANIA & KENYA - BA - Safari, Zanzibar, Tribes, Slums

2010 - FINLAND (Helsinki) - BMI - Carl Froch Boxing and all day drinking. Great city and got to meet the man himself on the flight home

2011 - CHINA, MONGOLIA & RUSSIA - Aeroflot/SAS - Great Wall excellent, long and overrated Trans-Siberian, Moscow

continued

2011 - USA (Boston & Atlantic City) - BA/AA - Boxing and Baseball cancelled, but nice trip to see friends and the first flight for baby Alex

2011 - ITALY (Rome) - Easyjet - Nice break with Deb

2012 - NETHERLANDS/GERMANY - Easyjet - Football in Dortmund and a few beers in Amsterdam. 1 more to go to the magic 50 countries visited

2012 - BELGIUM/LUXEMBOURG - Eurostar - Family trip to see some sights and tick off country number 50

2012 - POLAND (Poznan/Wroclaw) - Ryanair - Stag Party, cheap beer and scenic cities

2012 - SPAIN/ANDORRA/FRANCE - Ryanair - The mountains of Andorra and beach of Canet Plage with a bit of Rugby thrown in

2012 - IRELAND (Cork) - Ryanair/Aer Lingus - Stag do, plenty of Murphys

2013 - SERBIA & BOSNIA (Belgrade & Sarajevo) - Beer and culture

Intro Updated Apr 8, 2013
Report Abuse

Comments (14)

Reply
- Report abuse
DaHongHua Dec 2, 2012 at 4:21 AM

Hello Chris, nice meeting you in today's birthday list. Happy birthday and best wishes to you to keep travelling interest, years and years. Greeting from Malaysia.
Reply
- Report abuse
liliana91 Jul 12, 2011 at 5:58 AM

you have some lovely pictures!keep posting&writing! :)
Reply
- Report abuse
Elgreco77 Jul 18, 2010 at 2:13 AM

Chris, thanks for your advice re Costa Rica. I thought we'd done some travelling but not compared to you! All the best in everything except football, seeing as you knicked our manager. EG77 ( Joe)
Reply
- Report abuse
mickeyboy07 May 30, 2009 at 3:35 AM

Man,thought i was well travelled till i saw your pages,would be great to add you as a friend and swap stories,ratings etc.Mick,Oldham
Reply
- Report abuse
melnel Feb 6, 2008 at 12:53 AM

Just durnkenly stumbled upon your comments on staying in the Laughlin area. Ours ended similarly. Next time you're upfor a journey, please visit us on Flathead Lake, MT. The trip will be worth the effort! Cheers, Mel
Reply
- Report abuse
sagorion Dec 2, 2007 at 7:59 AM

happy birthday!
Reply
- Report abuse
maya1902 Dec 2, 2007 at 2:48 AM

happy birthday!...and how many travels have you done!!You've very beautiful photos on your pages and interesting tips! cheers!!
Reply
- Report abuse
siaki68 Jul 9, 2007 at 2:20 PM

Only Zante in Greece? You have missed the good part! :-))
Reply
- Report abuse
jmhenry1123 Dec 2, 2005 at 10:26 AM

Happy Birthday!
Reply
- Report abuse
vdoortje Jul 24, 2005 at 12:22 PM

Happy travels Chris! Things happened! Guess going to Egypt will be the same as going with the London underground. Hurts me more than I can explain I wished I could join you to Egypt! You cant outrun fate. Enjoy life! To the fullest! And dont let them win!