Suggestions for 2 months of solo travel

SomeDude

Hi All,

I am heading to the States for a prolonged stay. But before I get there I'll have 2 months free to do some travel :-) I'm looking for some suggestions on where to go. I've done some solo travelling before but only for a couple of weeks.

I'd like a bit of beach time to make myself less pale. Other than that I'm open to suggestions anyone might have. I've done some train travel before and enjoyed that. I'd also like to experience a bit of the culture of the places I end up. I see that Trailfinders have a lot of tours listed on their site (as I'm sure loads of other places do). I'm in my mid 30's and don't want to end up with the 'old old folks' bus tour gang! So any suggestions on good tours welcome.

My initial thought is Central America and then train travel in the US before reaching the East coast. But the choice of destinations is bewildering!

Thanks All!

edanto

I've a few friends that have really enjoyed trips with Gap Adventures and Intrepid, it's an accompanied type of travel, with local guides and prices ranging from roughing it to luxury. Might be the type of tour that suits you - it's a million miles from the coach tour of old fogies.

SomeDude

Thanks for that. I'll check out those two sites.

schemingbohemia

I was in Panama earlier this year and loved it. You could start there and make your way up to the US, maybe stop off in Costa Rica, Belize and Mexico too.

SomeDude

Thanks for the reply. Panama sound interesting alright. Any recommendations on what to do there?

I notice you left out a few of the countries between Costa Rico and Mexico. Any reason for that? I read a bit about Nicaragua and parts of it can apparently be a bit dangerous for tourists.

schemingbohemia

No reason why I left some out, just know people who've been to Belize and Costa Rica and I was in Mexico myself so can guarantee them as interesting.

We did a great trip (but expensive) to Isla Coiba http://coibatrip.com/ amazing snorkelling and just a really interesting place.

We only had 17 days there so went over to Boquete inland which has some great walks/birdwatching (not something I thought I'd like but really enjoyed it) and coffee tours. We also went to Bocas del Toro which is nice for chilling on beaches.

It's a long time since I was in Mexico but it was fascinating, we were in Palenque, San Cristobal de las Casas and Oaxaca(?) but remember Mexico is huge so don't think you'll be able to take it all in.

Buses are cheap and our internal flight in Panama was cheap too (especially as the alternative was a full day by bus rather than 60 minutes by plane).

stephenamccann

If not too late I would say that whatever you do, book your flight home via australia or around that side of the world. That way you can say that you did a lap of the world (ireland - US - Australia - Ireland)