Photo Vacation Bucket List

[THXGEEK]

So....

I turned 61 this year and retirement is 3 years, 1 month and 14 days away (not that I'm counting). As long as the economy and my retirement funds cooperate (and assuming no intervention by the Lottery Gods), I'm starting to plan for the retirement adventures that lay ahead.

There are many sights I have not seen in Northern America. Acadia National Park. The Grand Canyon. Denali in Alaska. Banff in Canada (assuming the Canadians are still speaking to us Yanks). And so on. But I want to take a whole-Earth approach. With my Scottish and Finnish heritage, those wonderful countries are definitely 'in'.....

What photographic journeys have YOU taken that should be on one's 'bucket list'? What lessons have you learned? What would you do (or never do) again?

Thanks!

 

[iamdlewis]

If you want wildlife there are some obvious choices in Kenya, Tanzania (hope to be there in May) and South Africa (I know SA is also great for landscape as it is the one I've been too). If you want birds the Costa Rica to Ecuador area is a must (southern Ecuador has some amazing mountainous sights that I think are underrated).

If you want to get some tropical beaches and landscapes St Johns is great as it has a lot of great beaches and other tropical scenery but best of all as long as you stay away from Cruiz Bay area most of the areas will be lightly populated. There are some great Vrbos on the East End which makes for an awesome sunrise opportunity and there are dozens of places to see sunset.
Trunk Bay - this was like 8am

• SM-G996U
• 5.4 mm

Waterlemon at like 1pm

• SM-G996U
• 5.4 mm

Sunrise from deck of Vrbo

• ILCE-1
• Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS (SEL24105G)
• 24.0 mm
• ƒ/9
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 100

 

[GvilleRick]

We just returned from a Viking river cruise and had a great time and I got lots of photos. If you like museums, architecture, history, etc. it is a great experience. I saw lots of castles, cathedrals, and some stunning views of the Wachau Valley in Austria and on the middle Rhine.

We started in Budapest and were docked right below this bridge.

• DSC-RX10M4
• 13.0 mm
• ƒ/3.2
• 1/200 sec
• ISO 6400

There were lots of castle ruins and churches in the Wachau Valley on the Danube. Here is a shot taken from the ship of Durnstein Abbey and the Durnstein Castle ruins on the hill above the town.

• DSC-RX10M4
• 18.2 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/500 sec
• ISO 400

Another photo taken from a smaller tour boat on the Inn River of Sharding, Austria. I had a canvas print made of this shot.

• DSC-RX10M4
• 8.8 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/1000 sec
• ISO 200

Photo of the Nave of the Cologne Cathedral, the tallest twin spired cathedral in the world.

• DSC-RX10M4
• 8.8 mm
• ƒ/2.4
• 1/60 sec
• ISO 6400

Windmills in Kinderdjik, The Netherlands.

• DSC-RX10M4
• 13.0 mm
• ƒ/3.2
• 1/100 sec
• ISO 100

Canal in Amsterdam near our hotel.

• DSC-RX10M4
• 16.3 mm
• ƒ/3.2
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 100