It sounds ideal Rose… I’m going to check Amazon and see if there are any special deals on mega large piggy banks 
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Good.
I would correct a couple of the worries you express. Exhausting travel? Only as much as you make it (or bad luck causes it). I’ve no problem getting up early for a flight, giving myself plenty of time, working out transport before hand - then enjoying that first beer at the hotel. Gippy tummy? I have twice had serious food poisoning when travelling - but both times were in India (so not unexpected and India is probably only for hardened travellers). If you sensible and a bit careful in most places then there is no risk of illness. And I eat pretty much everything and I’m always keen to try local foods.
I’m not trying to convince you as you are content. I’m just correcting misplaced assumptions.
Personally I would hesitate to go to the US under the current administration. Too many horror stories … and not a government I’d want to put my tourist money towards.
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Wise man … you’ll never convince a wise woman that she harbours incorrect misplaced assumptions.
You know I like you, you’re very droll.
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The tourism now from Canada has almost disappeared and rest of Europe and Asia I’m going to guess a 50 percent decrease .
Though I am using a link I see it all the time and cruise ships are feeling it as are hotels / motels in my area .
’ US is the only country facing tourism decline as Trump policies to cost $29 billion in visitor revenue: study ’
Donald Trump’s policies risks alienating millions of international travelers and could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars due to a sharp drop in tourism, a damning report says. Amid the president’s immigration crackdown, travel bans and sweeping global tariffs, the U.S. is expected to be the only one out of 184 countries to see foreign visitor spending fall in 2025, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
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Argentina’s morcilla ( black pudding sausage ) is delicious bit spicier then UK version but both are yummy .
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No good crying about it now 
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Spanish & Portuguese Blood Sausage is full of flavour and used as a flavouring for stews, they normal contain the magic ingredient: Aguardiente, firewater, a white brandy.
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Oh did you see that film?
I’m trying to put a YT link to Don’t Cry For Me Argentina by Madonna but it won’t work,
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That is fair as it did not work back when it was released. Try the Julie Covington original.
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Or I could just let everyone sing it to themselves.
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Madonna hit a home run in that movie , her singing AND acting superb .
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I had no idea they had white brandy and have eaten blood sausage here from Spain , I LOVE blood sausage / blood pudding .
There are like a dozen different types here at least from as many countries and I recently bought a lower cholesterol type someone here told me about , my regret was not buying more as place is like 20 minutes away .
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I have visited most if not all the countries that I have ever wanted to go and some I didn’t want to except, and it is a big except, China and Russia. I have never been to China except for a stop over in Hong Kong when it was British. Would still like to go but Russia has dropped off my list…
My brother loves New York, yet America is not somewhere I have ever wanted to visit even though I had migration applications for Canada, USA and Australia in 1966. The US was abandoned, Canada was a maybe but Australia was £10 (I do like cheap).
Annoyingly I have an open invitation to visit a friend and ex work colleague from the UK who lives in Dallas Texas where I could visit the grassy knoll but alas I lack the enthusiasm/interest.
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I enjoy going by cruise ship port and the reason is those ‘’ docks ‘’ are loaded with interesting fish and even small sharks , over time I got to know ship employee’s and in my area MANY work for cruise lines , it is sad how many foreign tourists now boycott the USA and can’t blame them .
Canadians who I enjoyed chatting with are pretty much gone .
" Canadians aren’t the only tourists shunning America as foreign visits plummet"
Overseas arrivals down 12% and car trips over the border drop more than 30%
Canadian travellers have been giving the United States the cold shoulder since President Donald Trump ramped up tariffs and sovereignty attacks — but they are not the only ones.
The latest travel data shows that international arrivals to the U.S. dropped across the board as trade tensions and stricter border policies spurred foreign travellers to cancel or postpone trips, said Ksenia Bushmeneva, an economist with Toronto Dominion Bank, in a report out yesterday.
@Bruce There was a time, back in the 80s when I was a bit reckless, I fancied Russia, seeing where the ordinary man in Moscow gets his vodka and sausage, a gig of Cossack dancers and squeezebox in a smoky cellar.
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Albany WA. Wazz Great. In the aftermath of WoomEra.
Whenever Jolly Jack came into the bar. The Whalers all ‘Stood On There Heads’. And said.
If ya wanna stay Pom. Buy us A Pony.
>> “You can take a Pony 2 Water.
BUT. U can’t make it drink Bluey”.
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My “grand tour” plan in the late 60s/early 70s was to drive overland to Russia then to India (and perhaps beyond.)
The whole plan came to nothing because at the time Russia/USSR would not allow you to enter (with a car) at one place and exit at another, you had to enter and leave from the same place. As that was clearly useless for this trip I abandoned the idea.
In 1972 I eventually left London on public transport and travelled overland through Europe to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India etc. The trip took over a year following the hippy trail I guess. You have to remember that at this time the UK had a £50 limit on funds you could export, my backpack and money belt were stuffed with cash and travellers cheques when I left from Dover.
In Bangkok I decided to carry on to Australia to replenish my very depleted funds and it was when I arrived for this second time that I realised I was “home”. I am a slow learner but I had this epiphany more or less as I left the airport.
Since then I have only been back to Europe three times, initially to sort out my affairs in the UK to move permanently to Australia then a couple more visits many years apart. Most of my travel since has been in SE Asia and the Pacific, though I still have not visited Kiwiland.
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