I. Touring & Cruising goals:
The goals of this "Big Bus Touring & Cruising' page is twofold:
1) to generally describe 3 main kinds of travel: SIT, Big Bus Touring and Cruising.
2) MY suggested approach to wisely choosing which.
A. Describe 3 Kinds of Travel:
SIT (solo independent travel) has already been discussed in great detail under home [pplk: Home] & [pplk: SIT] and will NOT be described in greater depth here,
Big bus touring and Cruising will be generally discussed here, but will be dealt with in much greater detail in 2 attached pages found at the end of this page:
1) Big Bus Touring: [pplk: Big Bus Touring]
2) Cruisng [pplk: Cursing]
ALL 4 pages -- SIT (solo independent travel), Big Bus Touring & Crusing -- allow you to make the most informed choice.
B. How do I choose a Travel Kind?
Now, for whatever the reason(s), you apparently have decided to investigate the possibility of foreign travel. “Good on ya, Mate” (Aussie term)
The travel kind you choose is in great measure, dependent upon 'deciding' where you want to go & what you want to see and do. This is My process for making those determinations
1. Where & what kind of foreign travel?
a. Where to travel to?
Where -- country?, sites? -- you want to go may dictate your Travel Kind choice.
Antarctica is pretty much just cruise ships, while Venice, Italy is all Travel Kinds. So, how do you decide?
You may already know you want to visit Egypt; other's may have no particular inclination.
Much of my choice of travel destinations came from a lifetime of reading, videos, education, public media, and even the news. Each tiny bit of interesting info was what I now call a ‘Travel Bud’. 
Like tiny rose buds, these near-infinite numbered ‘Travel Buds’ are potential travel ideas lying asleep in your mind under the snow waiting for you to turn them into a travel adventure.
So how do you resurrect those Travel Buds? This can be an exciting research adventure in itself.
Perhaps, like myself, you may be long past bungy jumping (never had that much courage), or crawling thru South Vietnam’s war era Cu Chi tunnels, ....
.... but I bet you might truly relish an after dinner stroll along Prague’s Vitava River & across its famous Charles Bridge or a stroll thru Beijing, China’s Forbidden City. Throughout our lives were exposed to these and many more targets for travel.
Very few Travel Buds can’t safely be visited. You only have to discover them & decide how & when to make your goals a “genuine probability rather than just a mere day-dream fantasy”
2. My Search Approach:
a. make a list:
This is how you might start to choose where you want to go.
I have a “Future Travel” document in my computer I constantly updated with little Travel Buds I ran across.
1st Column has countries of interest while 2nd column has the Travel Buds often by city.
Eventually, .... enough Travel Buds would accumulate for a country to attract my closer attention ... and I would start researching deeper .... becoming more & more obsessed to discover sites & eactivities. Soon I began building an itinerary. The process itself was exciting, ... building on itself.
ANECDOTE: Europe 101: History and Art: 22 Year ago after late spring back surgery, I read Rick Steves' “Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler.”, researched what interested me, created an itinerary & a couple months later booked a flight. I spent a month exploring Italy’s Renaissance art & architecture in Rome, Florence & Venice.
Throughout our lives each of us have been exposed to Travel Buds.
ANECDOTE: My 'movie' memories.: For me, Audrey Hepburn’s ultimate romantic European travel fantasy, “Two for the Road’ and much later, Russel Crowe’s “Gladiator’’s Coliseum would prompt my Rome visits. Brad Pitt’s “Seven Years in Tibet.” triggered 3 months in China.
ANECDOTE: My college Art History class .... exposed the intentional optical illusion of the Pantheon’s slightly bowed steps & bulging columns in Athens, Greece. I had always wanted to actually 'see it.'
And on and on.
Your mind is filled with your own Travel Buds, if you look for them.
b. Guidebooks & internet research:
OTOH, I spend months researching guidebooks & internet to ‘discover’ everything I think I might want to see & do because at my advanced age I have no intention of returning to that country or city.
So, all options are possible — your call.
It really is up to you, if you really want to explore foreign travel's sites & activities, this page & the Internet can help you make those choices.
Let's get started.
c. MISC Search suggestions:
a. Ask yourself: “What have I always dreamed of seeing or doing? Now, add these ideas, if any, to your Travel List.
b. Watch some TV or Netflix travel shows
Going: “ 50 of the Best Travel-ish Shows to Watch ….”:
https://www.going.com/guides/best-travel-shows
c. Explore some Travel blogs. (Don’t search “Travel websites” yet cuz mostly tour company advertisements)
FeedSpot: ”100 Best Travel Blogs To Read”:
https://travel.feedspot.com/travel_blogs/
d. Google Search deeper for specific countries, cities, sites & experiences.
SPECIAL NOTE: Maybe you are unable (me:-cancer) or simply do not want to foreign travel, yet, you've always been fascinated with foreign cultures: their history, iconic monuments, food, architecture, customs etc.
This website, and more importantly, my YouTube channel videos (Scott’s Travels) may allow you to vicariously pursue those interests. No ads, just day-to-day solo travel. “Get behind the video camera with me!” 😃
My website's sole purpose is to support & inspire your travel goals and give you the knowledge required to make informed decisions to achieve your goals. I can no longer travel (cancer), but I can give you the knowledge, insights, tools and hopefully the inspiration to do so safely and confidently.
3. Can I mix 3 Travel Kinds …. on same journey?
While I will initially focus on the characteristics, pros and cons of tours and cruising and then shift to SIT (solo independent travel), it is reasonable, easy, exciting AND time & cost efficient to mix all 3.
For example, cruisers may take 
a port-side day excursion, ....
while tour bus travelers may cruise Sydney Harbour in the evening ....
while both may SIT (solo independent travel) elsewhere after their cruise or bus tour.
All travelers may relish a walkabout’s serendipitous freedom.
Every combination is possible.
ANECDOTE: Argentina to Chile: In 2007, I did a 3 month SIT jaunt thru Argentina & Chile, [YTclip. not yet] including
(1) several SIT walkabout days in Buenos Aires,
(2) flew to Puerto Iguazu NP’s falls [YTclip. not yet].
(3) a hired driver to Brazil’s side of Iguazu NP’s falls [YTclip. not yet],
(4) followed by several weeks of bus ride, van tours and solo walkabouts alongside the Andes &
(5) fllight to Ushuaia for several walkabouts & National Park hikes followed by....
(6) a small cruise ship thru Drake’s Passage to Valparaiso, Chile.[YTclip. not yet] including
(7) a Torres del Paine National Park van day-tour/hike. and on and on.
I am leaving out a lot. 😃
Your informed & reasoned choice of a Travel Kind is the prelude to YOUR best foreign travel experience.)
The following 2 posts dive deeply into Big Bus Touring & Cruising! Good Luck.
