Jeremy from Budget Travel Adventures started an awesome year end event about Best Travel of 2011. Ben from AdventuresWithBen asked me to participate and I thought it was a great time to reflect back on the good, bad and ugly before setting off on this year’s adventures!
Best Domestic Travel Destination 2011
Over Memorial Day we spent the weekend at Sorensen’s Resort in the Hope Valley and completely fell in love with this area. . . again. Sorensen’s is lodging comprised of little single cabins but without TV or internet although you can get internet access in the restaurant if you really need! Being Memorial Day weekend, we expected warm dry weather so much that we didn’t even check the weather prior to leaving home! At least we were better prepared for the 4+ inches of snow than those that were out in shorts and capri’s! If you haven’t been to the Hope Valley, I highly recommend it!
Best Travel Experience 2011
Another area I loved was Mittenwald Germany but my favorite part of my stay was the Goatherd Encounter along the Lautersee above Mittenwald! I wouldn’t have been at Lautersee if it weren’t for the suggestion of my hotel, the Alpenrose. Yes trying to cool off allowed me this amazing encounter!
Best International Destination 2011
As I mentioned in Innsbruck You Captivated Me, I am in love with Innsbruck Austria and can’t wait to go back to explore the city more before stretching into the surrounding area. Armored Schloss Ambras, The Bizarre World of Swarovski and Worlds 2nd Largest Tomb is in Innsbruck are just a few of the reasons I fell in love with Innsbruck. I would love spend more time in the city exploring the nooks and crannies more fully and walking in the mountains plus discovering the nearby quaint villages and the Oetz Valley!
Worst Travel Experience 2011
I would have to say Budapest Hungary was my worst travel experience of 2011. Budapest is one of the Cities that Leaves Me Bleh! I am completely bummed about my feelings because I really wanted to love Budapest! But I didn’t. As I was watching Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol I was struck by the beautiful views of Budapest. Yes while I was in Budapest I found the beauty along the river but not elsewhere but the views shared in the movie has left me knowing I will return and give Budapest a second chance.
Most Embarrassing Travel Moment 2011
Fortunately or unfortunately my personality doesn’t allow me to have ‘those’ embarrassing moments. During the past year I have enjoyed reading AdventuresWithBen partly due to all the amazingly crazy pictures of himself he shares with us all! I find his smiling face infectious 
So a New Year’s resolution to allow myself ‘those’ silly moments and share them with you has been made!
Best Local Destination 2011
By far, I’d have to say San Francisco is the best local destination! We have enjoyed exploring the city more as our children have left home. This year we biked the Bay Bridge, enjoyed a free walking tour of Nob Hill, wandered the Haight and spent a very pleasant day watching the Columbus Day parade pass us by while being entertained by the jets flying over hear during Fleet Week. We have spent more time using the rapid transit system and shared that with my brother’s family over Thanksgiving weekend. The ‘colorful’ people you run into on transit is worth the price of admission Yes being less than an hour away from San Francisco is a very enviable place to be!
Best Travel Lesson from 2011
Four inches of snow over Memorial Day weekend taught us a lesson! Oh did I mention that the windshield wipers on our car stopped working too? Yup not checking the weather made for an interesting and fun weekend but taught us to always check prior to leaving home.
To continue the Best Travel 2011, I’d love to hear from:
EasyHiker
Country Skipper
The French Way Blog
Traveling With Sweeney
Pinay On the Move
Moving forward, tell us your travel plans for 2012!
Related posts:
The old fashioned buildings, the humidity, the scenery..I would definitely like to include this as a destination this summer.
I’m sorry to hear that your time in Budapest was not that great. I went there in 2011 as well and had a generally pretty good time. It was not my favorite spot on the trip perhaps, but it was a wonderful time still overall. But yea, maybe the city does look a bit more beautiful at night than it did during the day! The cabin seems interesting in your domestic trip. Being w/o TV and internet often is sometimes a nice experience for at least a little while!
I enjoy being “unconnected” from time-to-time. Our trip over Memorial Day weekend was fantastic even if we got some very unexpected snow!
Great post. I have lived (Germany) and traveled throughout Europe for some time and I must say I have done a majority of this stuff. For those who have never traveled to Europe all I can say is Travel to Europe. The people and experiences that you will have will last a lifetime.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
4 inches of snow on Memorial Day?! And I thought only I had that kind of luck
Sounds like a really great year for you, especially with two of my favorite places, Germany and Austria. Hope 2012 brings you great travels, less snow, and warm sunshine!
We did have a great year and are looking forward to more of the same in 2012. Germany and Austria are two of my favs too
Hi Debbie, glad you had a great year of traveling. Happy New Year 2012 and may this year bring you much more travels.
Thanks David. Happy New Year to you too!
What a great look back at 2011! Made me start thinking about how we would put in those same categories. . .
You definitely covered a lot of ground last year, Debbie!
Four inches of snow can really mar a good weekend away.
It definitely was a different weekend than we had expected but we are still laughing about it
Sweet! Thanks for tagging me Debbie. I’ll make sure to put my post up soon. By the way, I loved reading the goathered encounter last year =)
Thanks Grace. That was one of my very favorite experiences!
You’re had a great travel year, that’s for sure! I hope your 2012 is equally good!
Thanks Michael. It didn’t seem like I traveled that much until I put this post together
Looks like you got to visit some wonderful locations in 2011. Happy New Years and cheers to more amazing experiences to come!
Aw thanks. I wish you a very Happy New Year that is full of great adventures!
2011 was indeed a great year! wish i could to austria in the future
You’ll just have to make a resolution to visit Austria! It is indeed a very beautiful place full of great things to do.
I hope you’ll Budapest on your next visit. Happy New Year!
Me too! In pictures it is such a beautiful place and the history is so interesting. I was really bummed that I didn’t like Budapest.
I happens with some places. Sometimes you need to go second or third time to get to know that place.
That is absolutely true! Even though I enjoyed Paris the first time I visited, it was the subsequent trips that made me fall in love with it.
Often times, things I see in movies inspire me to return to a country – or at the very least I wonder, why didn’t I have that experience too?
Oh, and make sure you smile really big for your new 2012 photos! Hahaha, thanks for the shout out.
Oh gosh, I can’t tell you (or remember) all the times that has happened to me! It’s also fun to watch movies and relive a trip
you have had a great year am looking forward to more posts from you for 2012
Thanks for stopping by!
You don’t have any embarrassing travel stories!! I love how your resolution this year is to be more silly! I like that one!
Well I guess there are always the times you trip but I can’t really think of anything truly embarrassing. I’ll work on it though
Nice year. I need to go back to San Francisco… there’s still so much more to do there!
Thanks Scott! I hope you make it to SF. It is indeed a great place full of hidden treasures.
You did some great traveling in 2011, Debbie. I agree that San Francisco is a great place to visit (aren’t we lucky to live in this area with so many local travel options?) Your picture of the cabin in Hope Valley looks so cozy — I could go for that right now. Love the goatherd encounter — how cool!
The San Francisco area is a fabulous place to live! There are so many options in any direction you turn.
You know how I feel about Hope Valley and any mountain towns in Austria or Germany or anywhere else in Europe. However, very disappointed to hear about Budapest. I loved the city and thought it was very underrated. Fantastic place to visit and hope you do get a second chance there.
Best of luck in your travels for 2012!
Thanks Jeremy! I do know how much you love both mountain villages and the Hope Valley! Obviously, I couldn’t agree more with you
I definitely will give Budapest another chance.
Looking forward to reading about your 2012 adventures!