Where have you travelled (going to travel) open thread

[msj]

I am loving travel now that I have some spare time and some spare money so let's see where you've been and hope to be.

[msj]

Ok I will answer this first:

I have been to the U.S. (Oregon coast all the way from Astoria to Newport to Lincoln City, Florence and Reedsport; Washington State, Seattle, Port Angeles, Orcas Island; California, San Diego, San Francisco, Palm Springs region).

Been to Amsterdam on the way to Greece (Rhodes Island, Crete, Santorini, Athens).

France - eastern part which is like Manitoba farming country (Trehern and Brandon if you know what I mean), Dijon, Alsace-Lorraine region.

Germany - Frankfurt and Rhine Valley.

Thailand (northern part- Chiang Mai etc), Laos (all along the Mekong River and into the mountains) and Vietnam (down the coast from Hanoi to Ha long bay to Hoi Ann to Saigon).

SE Asia has changed me the most so far. Europe now seems so boring in comparison

Love spicy hot food now and have a tendency to walk amongst traffic.

As for future travel: Kelowna, Jasper, Banff, Nelson, Osoyoos road trip in September will be fun. Have done these places more or less before but it's been a long long time (30 years since I was last in Banff as a kid).

Then it's Ecuador and the Gallapogos Islands in December and Janurary. Should be interesting to go from mountains to Amazon rainforest to Darwins playground.

Then the planning will start for next year's trip which may be Mynamar/Cambodia or perhaps some place one of you convinces me to go to next....

Edited July 17, 2015 by msj

[The_Squid]

Most recently I toured Scandanavia. Was beautiful. Not cheap though, but well worth every penny. People there are great. The cities are exciting... I'll be going back in 2017.

[msj]

How's the food?

Was watching an old episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservation" last night about the Azores.

He quipped something about never doing a show in Scandanavia because the people don't love food like the Portuguese (or, in other episodes, the Italians, French, Spanish, Vietnamese etc).

Any truth to that in your experience?

[The_Squid]

How's the food?

Was watching an old episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservation" last night about the Azores.

He quipped something about never doing a show in Scandanavia because the people don't love food like the Portuguese (or, in other episodes, the Italians, French, Spanish, Vietnamese etc).

Any truth to that in your experience?

Absolutely! I was fortunate enough to go to Portugal and Spain as well.... They have the weather and the food!

Not that the food is bad... But it's basic. Often a bit bland compared to other places!

[On Guard for Thee]

I did Somalia and Afghanistan. Interesting but a bit noisy...wouldn't recommend either. More to the point though, Ecuador was good fun and very reasonable. The drive from Quito out to the Pacific coast through the Andes is great but leave yourself plenty of time...you may find yourself slowly following behind a truckload of Chiquita bananas. Closer to home, Haida Gwaii is absolutely beautiful, especially this time of year.

[WIP]

I'm not going to be able to afford vacations anywhere for the next 4 to 5 years (whenever I'm ready to retire), so I'm not really paying much attention to all this; except to ask globetrotters and wannabe world travelers if we are going to be able to safely travel anywhere in the world 10 to 20 years from now?

Specifically, I'm reminded that both Somalia and Afghanistan were safe places to walk about 30 or 40 years ago, when hippie backbackers were wandering about. I have a couple of friends who wanted to do Kashmir and India on the cheap, so they backpacked from Iran right across Afghanistan - through the Khyber Pass into Kashmir. Imagine doing that in this day and age!

[msj]

There are hundreds of countries to see so I don't think finding places to go will be a problem.

Just a question of where and when.

[-1=e^ipi]

Congrats on increasing your CO2 emissions through unnecessary travel. You can see all these places on google.

[msj]

Sure one can.

Or one can experience the smells, sounds, sights and gain real live experiences.

You should come out of your basement sometime and try it.

[Bryan]

It's unfortunate that it costs so much to travel, especially with a family. My vacation time generally gets limited to the US or Cuba -- even when the original plan was to at least look into other destinations. Minneapolis in the summer and Santa Clara Cuba in the winter are the two we hit almost every year, and it almost always ends up coming down to cost. Add to that the fact that my wife is more adverse to the "off the beaten path" approach (preferring only to stick with pre-arranged packages in established tourist destinations), and I think one of these days I might end up having to take a vacation on my own if I want to see the stuff I really want to.

Where've I been?

US: All over random parts of a bunch of states: Washington State, Oregon, Nevada, California, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota. Due to their proximity, I've seen far more of North Dakota and Minnesota than anywhere else (including any other parts of Canada outside of Manitoba).

Mexico: Piedras Negras. Yeah, that's it, one really small town. It is the birthplace of the nacho though. It was driving distance from San Antonio, and it has a really cool outdoor tribute to the Aztec, Maya, and Olmec history.

Cuba: Almost half the Island: Havana, Matanzas, Santa Cruz Del Norte, Varadero, Camaguey, Santa Lucia, Camaguani, Santa Clara, Remedios, Caibarien, Cayo Santa Maria, Holguin, Moron, Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad, Topes Des Collantes, and Cayo Coco.

You can see all these places on google.

You can't get any sort of feel for a local culture on Google. There is no replacement for being there.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Bryan

[On Guard for Thee]

Speaking of India, the beaches at Goa are lovely and Bogmalo Beach is one of the top ten windsurfing beaches in the world. The "shacks" as we called them along that beach provided much more interesting local food at half the price of than the hotel restaurant. Try the local todi (coconut wine)or fennie (country liquor, either coconut or cashew). If you like rum, try the Old Monk.

[-1=e^ipi]

I find it ironic that one of our local climate alarmists doesn't see any problem with spending lots of fuel traveling around the world and eating fancy food. If the world is doomed if we don't drastically cut emissions, why are you unnecessarily increasing your CO2 footprint?

[waldo]

I find it ironic that one of our local climate alarmists doesn't see any problem with spending lots of fuel traveling around the world and eating fancy food. If the world is doomed if we don't drastically cut emissions, why are you unnecessarily increasing your CO2 footprint?

offsets... like you staying at home in your basement! I kid... I kid!

[-1=e^ipi]

You can't get any sort of feel for a local culture on Google. There is no replacement for being there.

You can learn about different cultures online. It isn't hard.

Or one can experience the smells, sounds, sights and gain real live experiences.

I know what things smell like. If someone says the sea smells salty, I know what salty smells like. For sounds, you just need headphones and a computer. For sights, again you just need a computer screen. For tastes, there are all sorts of restaurants where I live, or I can go buy the ingredients and make it myself.

[msj]

I find it ironic that one of our local climate alarmists doesn't see any problem with spending lots of fuel traveling around the world and eating fancy food. If the world is doomed if we don't drastically cut emissions, why are you unnecessarily increasing your CO2 footprint?

Who's the climate alarmist?

I don't have kids which is surely saving tonnes of CO2.

It doesn't mean I don't think things like gas should be more expensive - I have no problem paying more for fossil fuels (or junk food for that matter).

I do look forward to the solar/wind/natural gas era when other fossil fuels (especially coal) are a fraction of what they are now.

Besides, I have had cancer, been on my death bed, so I will enjoy my life which means I will travel, I will burn gas in my 325hp V6 engine (until I can afford the Tesla), and I will oppose the Northern Gateway Pipeline and will vote accordingly this next election on this one issue.

Oh, and I will invest my savings in a diversified portfolio which may include Canadian oil sands businesses at times.

I'm a complicated guy.

At any rate, this is all off topic so enough of this.

[-1=e^ipi]

Who's the climate alarmist?

I was referring to On Guard for Thee.

[msj]

I think he's more complicated than me since he's been to Afghanistan and Somalia.

Still, I wonder if you should take a breather for your own sake.

I mean if you need to stalk him into this thread over climate change, well, give your head a shake man.

[On Guard for Thee]

I was referring to On Guard for Thee.

I wasn't in any of those places on a holiday. I was sent to those places to earn my paycheck. But hey, I didn't drive to work everyday like you probably do.

[-1=e^ipi]

I wasn't in any of those places on a holiday. I was sent to those places to earn my paycheck. But hey, I didn't drive to work everyday like you probably do.

I don't own a car.

[msj]

Add to that the fact that my wife is more adverse to the "off the beaten path" approach (preferring only to stick with pre-arranged packages in established tourist destinations), and I think one of these days I might end up having to take a vacation on my own if I want to see the stuff I really want to.

I remember a time when travelling by myself was almost unthinkable.

But as I get more comfortable with being in strange places and more comfortable talking to strangers it no longer concerns me.

So far the wife and I have been happy with each other's choices.

Each year we pick one far off adventure and one closer to home adventure.

One of these days, though, she is going to pick Australia or New Zealand and I just don't know if I will go.

I may just make it to Malaysia and no further.

[Bonam]

No interest in New Zealand?

I did a trip to NZ in 2013 and it was one of the funnest places I've been. But then, I primarily travel for the outdoor adventure / climbing / skiing, which NZ is known for. Hard to beat a week of heli-skiing

Soon on my list is a trip to go climbing in Patagonia:

Edited July 18, 2015 by Bonam

[msj]

How long does it take to get to from Seattle?

[Bonam]

How long does it take to get to from Seattle?

NZ? Freaking forever. I think the long leg of the flight (from LAX to Auckland) was like 14.5 hours.

[msj]

NZ? Freaking forever. I think the long leg of the flight (from LAX to Auckland) was like 14.5 hours.

Oh, that's not so bad then.

When I went to Thailand it took us 30 hours.

But that was a car ride, a ferry ride, a bus ride, a sky train ride, a plane ride, another plane ride, and a taxi ride.

The flight from YVR to Hong Kong was about 13/14 hours which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.