Help me decide my graduation trip with my friends, Read on! Lots of info?

I am 18 years old, and I will be graduating from high school in just a few weeks. I want to go on a trip with my friends this summer, and have a ton of fun with them before we all go on to different colleges next fall. The problem is, I can't decide where to go. I'm going to try and list the pros and cons of everything I have come up with so far, and I would appreciate any input you can offer. I especially need more ideas for places to go within the United States. I’m asking for your input on a destination.



I live in Austin, Texas by the way, that is important : ) We definitely want an urban environment, one that we can always find something to do. I don’t want to be stuck doing the same stuff everyday. We want to party, we want a young crowd, and we are very into music and concerts. We all have passports.



DOMESTIC



Texas Coast / South Padre / Corpus Christi

This is the easiest trip I have in mind. I believe it is a four hour drive from Austin to Corpus. We would stay at a hotel and hit the beach every day.



Pros:

Cheap, quick drive, popular location, young people, parties, beach, can make trip to Mexico



Cons:

Can only take four people total, beach will get old quickly





California

This will be a much more difficult drive. We will probably head to San Diego, go to the beaches, and possibly LA. We will then make a trip to Baja California, Mexico, crossing the border at Tijuana.



Pros:

San Diego and LA are cool, able to go to Mexico, beaches, California girls : )



Cons:

18 hour drive! Not a whole lot in between TX and CA, probably would stop in Phoenix to sleep. Would have to be a longer trip overall, taking into account drive distance. Much less safe, and Tijuana is the dirtiest city on the planet…





Chicago

This would be a trip to the Lollapalooza Music Festival, and we would fly.



Pros:

Cheap flight from Austin to Chicago, less wasting time getting there, awesome city with a lot to offer, Lollapalooza will be sweet



Cons:

Will need transportation in Chicago, Lollapalooza is about 40 miles outside of Chicago. Lollapalooza has a very similar lineup to Austin City Limits, which we will all be attending in October no matter what.





OUT OF COUNTRY



Please excuse my ignorance in this department, as I have never visited any of these places, and I don’t know much about them at all. I just think they sound like a lot of fun, and I really want to see the world. I haven’t been out of the country. I do have a passport. This obviously gets much more expensive, and part of making this choice will be deciding if this will be worth the extra cash. Any opinion on that matter is appreciated.



Rome, Italy

I’ve always wanted to go here. I am Catholic, and Vatican City would be exciting. Don’t know a whole lot about it.



Pros:

Beautiful, always wanted to go here. Italian food! Can see Vatican City, 18 = legal drinking age



Cons:

Expensive, will need to really study up on what to do there. Any English? I don’t speak Italian!





London, Paris, and (possibly) Amsterdam

This is definitely my favorite option so far, through my limited research. First of all, I can speak English. According to my grandma, they speak mostly English in Paris also, not French. I am not sure about Amsterdam. We would fly into London. I know for sure there is a train that goes straight to Paris, and we could make a whole trip out of just those two cities, forgetting Amsterdam.



Pros:

3 Awesome, Different Cities, a TON to see, will never be bored, huge cities, train to Paris, no required transportation, good music scene in London, Amsterdam is crazy!, 18 = legal drinking age



Cons:

Very Expensive, need to figure out transportation to Amsterdam if we decide to add that to trip, friends may not go for that as easy do to expense. Extra sacrifices will have to be made to not break the bank







I know I’m throwing out a lot of info there, just let me know what you think. I really appreciate the help.



Answer on Help me decide my graduation trip with my friends, Read on! Lots of info?



For my senior trip my friends and I went to Italy, and it was honestly one of the best experiences of my life. Yes, it is a bit more costly, but it was so worth it. I went to Rome, and Vatican City, and as a Catholic, the experience really is beyond words. Basically, all over Europe, 18 is the legal drinking age, and the atmosphere is amazing. I remember going out at night and the streets were alive with people my age, and it felt very safe. If yo and your friends can afford it, going abroad is worth every penny. My friends and I ended up going to different colleges, so it was really nice to share our out-of-country experience together before we went our separate ways. To this day we still talk about our trip. Anyway, the company I use is called EF College Break (www.efcollegebreak.com) and they basically take care of everything except lunch, dinner, souvenirs, and taxi's or whatever when you decide to explore on your own. They take care of airfare, hotels, you have a guide, and even picked us up and dropped us off at the airport, so all we had to worry about was having fun. Its tour-like and they take you from city to city, but you still have freedom to do what you want and have fun. I am actually going on another trip with them this summer with a friend- I'm really excited! Anyway, I got a job with EF College Break, and you can use my discount code if you guys do end up wanting to go abroad, it is West2009 and saves you $50 off any trip, and a lot of trips are on sale right now too. If you do have any more questions about my trip feel free to contact me. What ever you choose have a great time!

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