50th birthday; travel or car & roadtrip?
Discussion
Hi all,
For about 10yrs I had decided that for my 50th I would go to vegas. However in later years it has faded a bit and the fact that the vegas gp is on my birthday which whilst I love f1 I feel it will limit the experience somewhat. So I started to look at other options…
I travel a bit for work and have saved my KLM miles which should be enough for business flights to most places and essentially have the world to choose for a max 2wk trip. I literally can’t decide where to go although Canada or Vietnam are high contenders. I have been lucky enough to do a world trip in 99 which took me to many places.
I have also always fancied a sports car with the closest I have got being a mx5 and I love convertibles.
Soooo… After watching JayEmms video tonight do I take a nice holiday that will likely cost £8-10k as a one time cost or sell the mx5, buy a car as an investment and take a trip down to the Italian lakes or Monaco over 2wks. I have a budget of about £30k using man maths which buys a jag f-type (favourite even though the boot is useless and I may need to buy the hardtop). Also in the running is a grancabrio, v8 vantage and possibly a Porsche 911 but they are a bit leggy for what I want.
So many questions hence the post…great to get others thoughts as I am genuinely stuck.
For about 10yrs I had decided that for my 50th I would go to vegas. However in later years it has faded a bit and the fact that the vegas gp is on my birthday which whilst I love f1 I feel it will limit the experience somewhat. So I started to look at other options…
I travel a bit for work and have saved my KLM miles which should be enough for business flights to most places and essentially have the world to choose for a max 2wk trip. I literally can’t decide where to go although Canada or Vietnam are high contenders. I have been lucky enough to do a world trip in 99 which took me to many places.
I have also always fancied a sports car with the closest I have got being a mx5 and I love convertibles.
Soooo… After watching JayEmms video tonight do I take a nice holiday that will likely cost £8-10k as a one time cost or sell the mx5, buy a car as an investment and take a trip down to the Italian lakes or Monaco over 2wks. I have a budget of about £30k using man maths which buys a jag f-type (favourite even though the boot is useless and I may need to buy the hardtop). Also in the running is a grancabrio, v8 vantage and possibly a Porsche 911 but they are a bit leggy for what I want.
So many questions hence the post…great to get others thoughts as I am genuinely stuck.
I personally have no burning desire to visit Las Vegas, but many people do.
South America has some spectacular locations and great driving. We had a fantastic trip to Argentina, including the Andes, in the late '00s.
Morocco is another great place.
A European road trip down through the Balkans could be good.
How about modifying the MX5 or changing it for a Boxster?
South America has some spectacular locations and great driving. We had a fantastic trip to Argentina, including the Andes, in the late '00s.
Morocco is another great place.
A European road trip down through the Balkans could be good.
How about modifying the MX5 or changing it for a Boxster?
MarkGArgyle said:
Soooo After watching JayEmms video tonight do I take a nice holiday that will likely cost £8-10k as a one time cost or sell the mx5, buy a car as an investment and take a trip down to the Italian lakes or Monaco over 2wks. I have a budget of about £30k using man maths which buys a jag f-type (favourite even though the boot is useless and I may need to buy the hardtop). Also in the running is a grancabrio, v8 vantage and possibly a Porsche 911 but they are a bit leggy for what I want.
So many questions hence the post great to get others thoughts as I am genuinely stuck.
Northern France, Bavaria, Italian lakes, Napoli/Pompeii, Monaco back home is a feasible trip. Crancabrio has four seats so good for luggage. Hard tops are better for very high speed cruising, esp in Germany, so perhaps consider a Granturismo?So many questions hence the post great to get others thoughts as I am genuinely stuck.
You are right about the F-Type boot being useless, and in the convertible there is little interior room. In my view just OK if you're doing a solo trip and can use the passenger seat for additional baggage.. I had a couple of them for two weeks and I realized that they were quite unsuitable for long trips.,
RDMcG said:
You are right about the F-Type boot being useless, and in the convertible there is little interior room. In my view just OK if you're doing a solo trip and can use the passenger seat for additional baggage.. I had a couple of them for two weeks and I realized that they were quite unsuitable for long trips.,
Surely that’s what the XK is for? I’ve been to vegas, we were doing a trip from LA through Death Valley up to Yosemite then over to San Francisco snd back down the big sur to LA.
Vegas was kind of in the way so we stopped for a couple of nights. I don’t gamble, hate crowds, can’t stand heat and have no interest in tacky stuff. I’m much more an empty open spaces kind of person.
I (unexpectedly) loved Vegas. It’s just so mad to have all that in the desert, it’s not pretending to be anything else but a massive tourist attraction.
We did the trip in the typical tourist mustang convertible, loved the car. Not clever or subtle but great fun.
The car would be a "gift that keeps on giving" - it'll always be at your disposal, creating memories with whatever you use it for.
The holiday would be a one time experience, as incredible as you make it and something that you'll remember and cherish forever.
That's how I'd look at it personally, then decide which feels closest to how you want to celebrate your birthday.
The holiday would be a one time experience, as incredible as you make it and something that you'll remember and cherish forever.
That's how I'd look at it personally, then decide which feels closest to how you want to celebrate your birthday.
I would choose the car (whatever you go for) as something you keep and enjoy for more than a couple of weeks.
If I was doing a big holiday how about a USA coast to coast road trip? You can hire muscle cars easily, go see sights, map it out so you can drive on amazing roads rather than boring freeways.
I’d meant to do it on a motorbike but life got in the way.
If I was doing a big holiday how about a USA coast to coast road trip? You can hire muscle cars easily, go see sights, map it out so you can drive on amazing roads rather than boring freeways.
I’d meant to do it on a motorbike but life got in the way.
Speed addicted said:
RDMcG said:
You are right about the F-Type boot being useless, and in the convertible there is little interior room. In my view just OK if you're doing a solo trip and can use the passenger seat for additional baggage.. I had a couple of them for two weeks and I realized that they were quite unsuitable for long trips.,
Surely that s what the XK is for? One of our big US trips, we started in San Francisco for a few days, drove to Yosemite for a couple of days, stayed in Sequoia National Park for the giant redwoods, stopped at Bakersfield one night, onto Death Valley for a few days, then into Vegas for a few more days.
Ignore the gambling, do the shows and the food and visit old Vegas. Shoot some guns, and marvel at how over the top it all is.
Watch out for the interesting cars cruising. Skip hoover dam, do the grand canyon or antelope canyon
V8 mustang convertible was cheap to hire.
Ignore the gambling, do the shows and the food and visit old Vegas. Shoot some guns, and marvel at how over the top it all is.
Watch out for the interesting cars cruising. Skip hoover dam, do the grand canyon or antelope canyon
V8 mustang convertible was cheap to hire.
Edited by Byker28i on Tuesday 23 December 09:03
We're planning on doing the roadtrip thing in 2030 when me and the wife hit 50 and the kids are old enough (18/21) to be left at home for a few weeks.
Similar plan - lots of time spent in the Alps and the Italian Lakes etc and despite it being 4 years away from needing the purchase, I too am looking at cars to buy as a 50th present to us (me!) and take on the trip. Top of my list at the minute is a sorted 996 911 C4S. Biggest kicker for us is that my wife is in a wheelchair so we need something to stow that away which I think is doable in a 911 but a bit tight with the rest of the luggage so been half looking at roof boxes etc. The other car at the top of my list is something far more sensible - a B7 or B8 RS4 Avant.
Similar plan - lots of time spent in the Alps and the Italian Lakes etc and despite it being 4 years away from needing the purchase, I too am looking at cars to buy as a 50th present to us (me!) and take on the trip. Top of my list at the minute is a sorted 996 911 C4S. Biggest kicker for us is that my wife is in a wheelchair so we need something to stow that away which I think is doable in a 911 but a bit tight with the rest of the luggage so been half looking at roof boxes etc. The other car at the top of my list is something far more sensible - a B7 or B8 RS4 Avant.
Two years ago the wife and I were similarly minded to do a two to three week road trip through Europe. The original plan was to travel from home in Scotland in our MX5, through UK, across to Holland then through Germany, Austria, down the Adriatic coast, across to Italy, Amalfi Coast, up to Tuscany, Venice and return through Europe to home.
Looking at the miles that would have to be done each day just to get to the next accommodation we quickly realised that it would become a bit of an endurance feat, with no time or flexibility to change the schedule if we wanted to stay over an extra day or two in a nice place. Also, to do these miles would have meant sticking to autoroutes/motorways losing the opportunity to see the countryside.
What worked really well for us was leaving the MX5 at home, flying in to Venice and picking up a hire car (Fiat 500 convertible), then starting the road trip from there. It was fantastic, very relaxed; stayed at some beautiful places and drove some fantastic roads. Returned the car to Venice and then flight home.
Cost wise I remember it worked out cheaper than driving my own car all that way; the ferry from UK to Holland was extortionate.
One other thing - being in a convertible sounds great, however we very rarely drove with the roof back, the reason being the heat! When it's hot it's pretty unbearable.
So, I would highly recommend Europe, but avoid having to do high daily miles. Our next trip is likely to be the parts of Europe that we didn't do the first time - France , Germany and possibly Northern Spain.
Looking at the miles that would have to be done each day just to get to the next accommodation we quickly realised that it would become a bit of an endurance feat, with no time or flexibility to change the schedule if we wanted to stay over an extra day or two in a nice place. Also, to do these miles would have meant sticking to autoroutes/motorways losing the opportunity to see the countryside.
What worked really well for us was leaving the MX5 at home, flying in to Venice and picking up a hire car (Fiat 500 convertible), then starting the road trip from there. It was fantastic, very relaxed; stayed at some beautiful places and drove some fantastic roads. Returned the car to Venice and then flight home.
Cost wise I remember it worked out cheaper than driving my own car all that way; the ferry from UK to Holland was extortionate.
One other thing - being in a convertible sounds great, however we very rarely drove with the roof back, the reason being the heat! When it's hot it's pretty unbearable.
So, I would highly recommend Europe, but avoid having to do high daily miles. Our next trip is likely to be the parts of Europe that we didn't do the first time - France , Germany and possibly Northern Spain.
A round the world trip would be my suggestion. I spent 6 months doing it a while back.
If you venture off the beaten track you'll have even more life changing experiences.
The best part of a round the world trip is all the people you meet along the way. You will grow as person and have fantastic memories and stories.
If you venture off the beaten track you'll have even more life changing experiences.
The best part of a round the world trip is all the people you meet along the way. You will grow as person and have fantastic memories and stories.
First question - would a bigger heavier more luxurious car actually be more fun than your MX5? However if its an itch you're wanting to scratch then fair game... I'm sure it would be more comfortable on a long road trip.
For a 2 week road-trip holiday - I'm from NZ so of course can recommend coming here, some great driving roads but 2 weeks is a bit of a flying visit and you'd have to miss a lot. And its a long way away for you, which means more of your 2 weeks spent getting there and back.
Canada-wise, I really enjoyed a couple of weeks road-trip around Newfoundland a few years ago. Nice driving roads, interesting scenery and wildlife, friendly people - very strong Irish influence in the culture and accent.
For a 2 week road-trip holiday - I'm from NZ so of course can recommend coming here, some great driving roads but 2 weeks is a bit of a flying visit and you'd have to miss a lot. And its a long way away for you, which means more of your 2 weeks spent getting there and back.
Canada-wise, I really enjoyed a couple of weeks road-trip around Newfoundland a few years ago. Nice driving roads, interesting scenery and wildlife, friendly people - very strong Irish influence in the culture and accent.
Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 23 December 10:02
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