Where would you go?

Theres a foreign country only 2 hours (or so) drive away from you. CANADA!!

We accept US money and you could go east to Nova Scotia or Niagara Falls or west to Banff.

Great question. You didn't say anything about dragging the family along, so I'm guessing it's just you. If I had that week and it was just me, here's what I'm thinking ...

1. Stay domestic US. Way too much to see in the US to even think about spending half your week in airports and experiencing jet lag from 6+ time zones away from east coast time or 12 hours to Asia.

2. Visit the Southeast US. Fly to Greenville, SC, rent a car there, go downtown, shoot, eat stay there overnight. Drive to Atlanta. Do same. From Atlanta, head east to Savannah, GA. Maybe hit the beaches in the area while there. After Savannah, drive south to visit and shoot at St Augustine, FL. That should take you six or so days. Schedule return flight from somewhere in FL.

3. Head to Gulf Shores area like Gulfport / Biloxi, MS area. Maybe New Orleans and work your way east or west along the gulf coast depending on where you fly into. Map a route with points of interest, rent car and go. Could even start a bit further north like Mobile, AL then work your way south and west across gulf shores region to NOLA for short stay and return flight home.

4. Fly to Phoenix, stay at a nice resort in Scottsdale, hike Camelback mountain, shoot the sites around Phoenix. Next, jump in your rental car and head north to Prescott, Sedona then onto the Grand Canyon. Very impressive shooting in all those areas.

If you're traveling by yourself, $3 grand would provide a pretty luxurious week in any of these locations.

Keep us updated on your plans. And we'll certainly expect regular trip reports with pics from wherever you decide to go.

dave

Walt...you da man. Try a piece of this http://www.canadiantra​invacations.com/trip/c​oast_to_coast_by_rail/

If you don't get out too often, then you might not have a passport. In the US, if you like nature, either fly to Las Vegas and do a big loop of the Grand Canyon and Arches NP, or fly to San Francisco and then drive south thru Big Sur to San Simeon or drive east from San Francisco to Yosemite.

If you want urban, then San Francisco, NYC or D.C. would be my picks.

If you have a passport then Machu Picchu, Peru and the Galapagos is a week trip.

Can't really go wrong with a week to kill and $3k to spend.

Pick 5 US cities that are known for having an Urban Scene. Get to each one and spend a day and a night and do a "study" of Street/Urban life photography. Take the "best of" and print out a cool photo book!

Cities could be as various as (of Course) New York City, Seattle, Atlanta, San Fransisco, you could even have fun in the Florida Keys! Discover a bit of "flavor" from each place and try to capture it -- both the street stuff and the nightlife.

Even Portland, OR has developed a good active street life and nightlife over the years!

Wow, thanks for all the feedback everyone!

tonylong wrote in post #13082620
Heh! Or Hawaii, or Yellowstone, or Yosemite, or...!

Hawaii sounds very, very tempting. Just watched an episode of "No resevations" featuring Anthony Bourdain's visit there and it was so beautiful.

D Thompson wrote in post #13082846
The Southwest - New Mexico & Arizona is loaded with good places. Arches NP in Moab, UT is a favorite and several good spots around there.

I was actually born in Arizona and lived there until I was about 10 or so, I would like to go back and visit a few places. In fact, I still have family that lives there who would probably loan me a couch to crash on

ssim wrote in post #13084018
It would have been nice if the OP had told us what he likes to shoot. With only a week I would not fly half way around the globe. I like Tony's idea of yellowstone. Pick a national park you have never been to and strike that off your bucket list.

Anything aside from sports really. I mean, I love shooting sports...but just not on this trip

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #13085134
Kayak the coast of Georgia, camping along the way. Very challenging and fun. Watch out for gators and wild boars.

This is probably not going to happen...ever.

WaltA wrote in post #13085514
Theres a foreign country only 2 hours (or so) drive away from you. CANADA!!

We accept US money and you could go east to Nova Scotia or Niagara Falls or west to Banff.

I have been to Canada once. It was just 2 week work related stay in Windsor some years back, so I didn't really see too much. The people there were so great and friendly, I didn't want to leave.

snyderman wrote in post #13085988
Great question. You didn't say anything about dragging the family along, so I'm guessing it's just you. If I had that week and it was just me, here's what I'm thinking ...

1. Stay domestic US. Way too much to see in the US to even think about spending half your week in airports and experiencing jet lag from 6+ time zones away from east coast time or 12 hours to Asia.

2. Visit the Southeast US. Fly to Greenville, SC, rent a car there, go downtown, shoot, eat stay there overnight. Drive to Atlanta. Do same. From Atlanta, head east to Savannah, GA. Maybe hit the beaches in the area while there. After Savannah, drive south to visit and shoot at St Augustine, FL. That should take you six or so days. Schedule return flight from somewhere in FL.

3. Head to Gulf Shores area like Gulfport / Biloxi, MS area. Maybe New Orleans and work your way east or west along the gulf coast depending on where you fly into. Map a route with points of interest, rent car and go. Could even start a bit further north like Mobile, AL then work your way south and west across gulf shores region to NOLA for short stay and return flight home.

4. Fly to Phoenix, stay at a nice resort in Scottsdale, hike Camelback mountain, shoot the sites around Phoenix. Next, jump in your rental car and head north to Prescott, Sedona then onto the Grand Canyon. Very impressive shooting in all those areas.

If you're traveling by yourself, $3 grand would provide a pretty luxurious week in any of these locations.

Keep us updated on your plans. And we'll certainly expect regular trip reports with pics from wherever you decide to go.

dave

Awesome suggestions, thank you! I will certainly update this thread when I get back from wherever I decide to go.

tonylong wrote in post #13087232
Pick 5 US cities that are known for having an Urban Scene. Get to each one and spend a day and a night and do a "study" of Street/Urban life photography. Take the "best of" and print out a cool photo book!

Great suggestion. Even if I don't do the urban scene on this trip, the photo-book is a great idea.

You aren't that far from me. I would love to have the same opportunity. I think I would do a road trip. Drive up into northern Michigan and go to Mackinaw Island. Get a waterfall guide and drive across the UP. As has been mentioned, the fall colors are coming. Then you could drive back down the other side of Lake Michigan and spend time in a couple of the cities along the way. This all hinges on if you like road trips and spending time in the car, of course. But I'm certain it could be done for well under $3k.

Paris. Or New York.

Grand Canyon, man!
This is the time of year to see it. It's overrun with tourists in the summer and too cold in the winter (you could probably say the same about Yellowstone and a lot of other places).
Have fun!

In case I missed it....what time of year are we talking about? Because, that would decide it for me. If we are talking about now, then I would avoid hurricane areas and hit the fall colors. If you like more color, go to the NE states, if you like the mountains go to CO and Utah. Some people like to play down the fact that Aspens lack the color range of the NE....and this is true....but you can't get a 14,000 foot peak in the background or Colorado blue skies in the NE. Both locations are completely different that they really should be compared. They offer completely different types of scenery. The highest peak in the entire Appalachian Trail is lower in altitude than the city I live in. The fall scenery of CO and Utah are just beautiful.

However, if you are talking about a month away from now, then forget the above because 90% of the Aspens will be past Peak Color by the middle of October. The NE should still have color, however.

Another option, the Pacific NW, the SW areas are going to be much nicer temps.

Then, there is Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite....the list goes on and on. Heck, I could spend 2 weeks just going through CA.

TGrundvig wrote in post #13089638
In case I missed it....what time of year are we talking about? Because, that would decide it for me.

This month.

Costa Rica.. beach and rainforest? Sold.

I don't see a whole lot of creativity here. Almost all of these suggestions are for various parts of the US. The world is quite a bit larger than that you know.

A few from my list:

Cambodia.
Afghanistan, among the locals. Playing with the foreign troops is for tourists.
Northern Lapland.

But since you have severely limited time and funds, I would take WaltA's advise and go to Nova Scotia.
With a bit of luck, you might even be able to stretch the money all the way to Scotland. The highlands are amazing in autumn.

quiksquirrel wrote in post #13089918
I don't see a whole lot of creativity here. Almost all of these suggestions are for various parts of the US. The world is quite a bit larger than that you know.

A few from my list:

Cambodia.
Afghanistan, among the locals. Playing with the foreign troops is for tourists.
Northern Lapland.

But since you have severely limited time and funds, I would take WaltA's advise and go to Nova Scotia.
With a bit of luck, you might even be able to stretch the money all the way to Scotland. The highlands are amazing in autumn.

How do you know the OP even has a Passport? Do you know how long it takes to get one in the US right now? Maybe leaving the country is not an option for the OP. Also, booking a flight out of the US on short notice will cost a lot more money.

10megapixel wrote in post #13089782
This month.

Do you want to stay in the US?

If so, I would recommend the fall colors if that is something you have never done. Booking flights to travel out of the country at the last minute are going to cost you double, maybe even triple what they would cost if you planned ahead. I do not think some of these suggestions to travel around the world at the last minute have taken that into consideration. LOL It always costs more to book at the last minute. Not to mention, all the documentation you need to travel outside the US.

Unless you have all this documentation ready to go, then your best solution is to stay in the US if you want to get the most bang for your buck. Sure, you could jump on a plane and leave the US, but why waste all that money on the last minute flights?

Colorado, Utah, Cali, the Pacific NW, the NE, these are all great places this time of year.

If it was me, I would probably go for the area that would give me the most photo opportunities at this time of year and the most bang for my buck. Staying in the US and saving money of flights can mean more opportunities in locations. For example, there are a lot of places in CO that require 4WD to get to. Saving money on airfare would allow you to have the money to rent a 4WD vehicle or even hire a guide to take you to certain places. Or, heck, just find a workshop that is going somewhere you have never been and do that.