best place for an extended vacation? (6-12 months)

[eyeboy]

Thinking of bailing out for a while, I've been to mexico and thought it was great, but I hear the other countries have a lot to offer as well. I am looking for somewhere cheap, fun, safe and warm. beaches, mountains, cities, it's all good.

Been there? Share your thoughts.

Thanks!

[happily everafter]

belize

[AJ]

Belize is great.  The hiking, ruins & cave tubing in the west are lots of fun, and my friends who are beach fans / divers love the coast.  I'm not a big beach person, but snorkeling with manta rays & nurse sharks was amazing.  But, I'd get bored if I were there for 6 months.  It's a really small country.

Costa Rica is awesome, great surfing, volcanoes, cloud forests, hiking, beaches, lots of infrastructure, safe.  it's still pretty small though, I'd get a bit antsy...

I guess it depends on how chill you want to be

If I had 6-12 months i'd start in the Yucatan & make my way south to Patagonia

[lawbreaker]

for that length of time, i'd say Spain..

I have friends who travel to Coast Rica regularly and say it's amazing..

[Timmy Tucker]

I went to Costa Rica about 11-12 years ago. It was awesome, but I hear it's gotten quite touristy lately. I've read lots of wonderful things about Equador and Colombia. Can't go wrong with either of those 2 from what I've heard.

[duccarlos]

No question... Costa Rica. You get a lot of bang for the buck.

[Charlief]

I'd go to Playacar (Playa del Carmen) in Mexico. You can rent a house in a gated community for cheap. Great restaurants and golf. Cozumel is a boat ride away for a change of scenery.

If I ever hit the lottery I would live there 6 months out of the year.

[duccarlos]

I'd go to Playacar (Playa del Carmen) in Mexico. You can rent a house in a gated community for cheap. Great restaurants and golf. Cozumel is a boat ride away for a change of scenery.

If I ever hit the lottery I would live there 6 months out of the year.

Cozumel and that whole area in general is more americanized than Miami. I might as well have been in Florida.

[DoubleEagle]

San Miguel de Allende in the mountains north of Mexico city.

It is an Artist colony , known as the"  Paris of the New world " by many.

It's an Official Heritage site.

Situated between 2 mountain ranges , the climate from May through October is mid 40s for lows and mid to upper 60s for highs.

I've talked to several people that have been there and they say it is another world.

It has the largest concentration of Americans living there of anywhere in Mexico, about 12,000.

It takes about 10 hours to drive there from the US.

It doesn't have all the poison Spiders and Snakes that the other countries you mentioned have in abundance, the one's that can kill you, especially the Wandering Spider in Costa Rica.( pretty large too )

I've thought about it myself , I don't know if there are any Moto dealerships in the area .

I was considering moving there or spending the Winter there.

Dolph     

[AJ]

with all due respect, I've fixed it for you:

San Miguel de Allende in the mountains north of Mexico city.

It is a Retirement colony...

...I've talked to several people that have been there and they say it is another world.

It has the largest concentration of Americans in early or regular retirement there of anywhere in Mexico, about 12,000.

Seriously, I've been to San Miguel de Allende. It was beautiful. It was a desperately needed clean air and countryside respite from Mexico City.  The feast days of San Miguel were a huge party, a highlight of my trip.

But, there are a ton of Americans, 50 and up, chilling in retirement.  That's driven prices up and made it less of an ideal place to "bail out for a while" ... unless that's your scene...

[ZLTFUL]

Take you, a tent and rent/bring a mountain bike with you and head to Costa Rica.

Have 2 buddies who go every year to Costa Rica with all the clothes/stuff they can fit in a large backpack each and $500 cash each (after airfare of course) and they spend 3 weeks down there. They come back with the greatest stories and pics.

Of course, yer gonna need a bit more than $500. Hehe.

[RAT900]

Peru looks interesting...

Macchu Picchu and the whole Inca thing

it is on my list now that the Shining Path dipshits have been shut down

not sure how 6 months would work there


http://www.vivatravelguides.com/south-america/peru/peru-overview/living-in-peru/

[brimo]

Why restrict yourself to Central/South America, it's a big wide world out there.
Not long back from Goa myself, now there and down through Kerala to Sri lanka, now that could take a good 6 months of inexpensive languishing about.
Thailand, yep, Bali as well, all good cheap long term alternatives, (which like all places I s'pose), have their share of tacky tourist traps, but step off the beaten track a little and you could lose yourself for a good long while.

[TiNi]

Cozumel and that whole area in general is more americanized than Miami. I might as well have been in Florida.

we rented a car and drove inland for a few days to explore ruins from playa del carmen
it was not "americanized"... trust me 

[Vindingo]

Check out DTM's thread on going to Asia.  He just picked up and left about a year ago, bought a bike road around SE Asia then settled down on an island in the Philippines.