<p>My graduating senior is obsessed with Costa Rica. This is the problem always. So many, many wonderful plays that I just get paralyzed with indecision. It's because we take so few trips, I guess. If we did this more often it wouldn't be such a big deal to decide on a destination.</p>
<p>Costa Rica is a very easy place to travel. They take the American dollar and speak English, although if your daughter (or any of you) speak Spanish, it's a great place to practice. The natives appreciate the effort and will switch back and forth between the two languages. Also, you can drink the hotel tap water in almost every part of the country and the food, in most major hotels and restaurants, is fine.</p>
<p>There is plenty to do with teens. The rain forest and zip line canopies are always a hit. If you have surfers - or anyone wanting to learn - there are nice, small towns on the coast where it's easy to rent boards or take lessons. There are great river rafting trips, some where you spend a night or two on a lodge on the river.</p>
<p>San Jose, the major city, isn't worth more than a day. What's interesting is the outdoors stuff - the volcanoes, the beaches, etc. You can rent a car, although it's recommended that you don't drive at night and don't leave your car unattended. Not so much violent crime as petty thievery. It's also very easy to hire paid drivers to take you from location to location. Plus there are two local Costa Rican airlines which serve the smaller airports. </p>
<p>We flew into San Jose and out of Liberia (northern part of the country.) The previous recommendation to add Panama might be a good idea. One of my favorite resources for hearing about other people's trips is to go onto the Talk Forum link at fodors. It's a great way to sift through first hand experiences and pick and choose what's good for your own family.</p>
<p>mammal:</p>
<p>My family did a trip to Scotland, Wales, and northern England this last summer so PM me if you have specific questions.</p>
<p>Panama is an astonishing and relatively "undiscovered" place. The cruise we took with Lindbladt went through the Panama Canal. Awe-inspiring. Then on the Kuna Indians living on islands off the coast. </p>
<p>Sea turtles.</p>
<p>And 14 manta rays jumping repeatedly into the air in unison, horseshoe shaped unison, for inexplicable reasons.</p>
<p>One of those best ever things.</p>
<p>Another good forum to go one for trip ideas, suggestions is tripadvisor. I found that to be invaluable when planning our trips to Hawaii and England. Good luck! So many great suggestions. I hope we get to do something big this summer as well as my D is also graduating.</p>
<p>Wales is awesome. Another gorgeously beautiful place is The Ring of Kerry in Ireland. Base yourselves out of Tralee, and you're smack in the middle of beautiful scenery, amazing history, and really, really nice people. Castles, monasteries, ancient ruins - plus horseback riding, hiking, and a gazillion other things. Trips to Dublin or Cork on the train are easy, too. With Ireland's iffy weather, too, June/July are the warmest and least overcast there.</p>
<p>In fact, can you take me with you? ;)</p>
<p>I can see now that H and I will just have to declare a year-long leave of absence and D1 will have to take a gap year and D2 will have to homeschool on the road for a year and we will simply sell the house, the cars and cash out the retirement and travel the world -- Costa Rica, Panama, Alaska, Wales, Egypt, St. Johns -- it's all very clear to me now!</p>
<p>We had an absolutely wonderful trip to Scotland a few years ago. We rented a car and stayed at bed and breakfast's without ever making reservations ahead of time. It's gorgeous and lots of different things to do. Hiking, castles, museums, Stonehedge era remains, whiskey makers... </p>
<p>Our second favorite place to visit was Japan, we only did it because dh had expenses paid for a conference that coincided with spring break. We had a great time, but it's more stressful than visiting a country where English is spoken. We stayed at several traditional style inns where no one spoke a word of English. In Europe, I speak French and German and a smattering of Italian and most people speak some English.</p>
<p>mathmom:</p>
<p>Our trip to Scotland was similar - arrive, rent a car, and go, and stay wherever you end up for the day. I do that with all my trips though.</p>
<p>
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...H and I will just have to declare a year-long leave of absence...
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I remember going to a presentation by Stan Waterman, a famous underwater photographer, back during my college days. He did just that - quit his job, wife quit her job (I think she was a professor), and they loaded up the kids and moved to Tahiti where he did more underwater photography (and was featured on 'National Geographic'). His lecture was very interesting and made me want to go to Tahiti someday. He and his family stayed in Tahiti a year. His lecture included why they made the decision to pull the kids from school and how much they learned during their year in Tahiti. I eventually managed to visit Tahiti myself - it's a very enjoyable place.</p>
<p>We did a driving trip from Washington to New Mexico. I fell in love with the western US again. For years I've been flying everywhere and had forgotten how much the spaces in between international airports have to offer. We met and chatted with interesting people everywhere we went, and took away some great memories (talking to firefighters at a tiny motel in Wyoming, geysers at Yellowstone, the magical one hour we spent stopped on the road at sunset in Wyoming due to a rockfall -- and getting to watch the colors change on the rocks, cliffs, and sagebrush, and seeing the stunning night sky in Cimarron, New Mexico). It was comparatively inexpensive, too!</p>
<p>WashMom and I loved Scotland, too, but that was <em>cough</em> years ago.</p>