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Greentea
Bull in China Shop par Excellence!
Joined: Jun 15, 2007
Posts: 2188
Location: Middle East
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 Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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I think I've been guilty of a couple of the ones I listed too. The one about refusing to eat hot food for 10 days in order to save money, for sure.
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"It is the wounded oyster that mends its shell with pearl" - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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BoabDil
Sea Gull
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 211
Location: Denmark
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Greentea wrote: | | the bookkeeper - the Mona Lisa passes them by while, and they don't notice, busy as they are at the Louvre in Paris, pen to little notebook, calculating whether you owe them a dime now or they owe you. They refuse to set up a joint wallet for identical expenses such as drinks, hotel bills and hotel fares, so the trip becomes one exhausting book-keeping experience. |
Oh I will never forget the letter I recieved after a 10 day conference in Bulgaria. A methodic list of every drink purchased by one for the other. Photocopies of the bus tickets (local worth 0.5€) and other equally small expenses. Finally the calculated differential between the restaurant I paid and the one he paid.
and behind all this a bank check for 124 kroner (15€) and a thank you note 
Only a Dane can be that bad. |
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Triangular_Trees
What is right is sometimes found on the left.
Joined: Jul 18, 2007
Posts: 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Not to sound like a globus representative, but if you take a globus tour, your hotels are all paid for in advance so you don't have to worry about running out of money to pay for the hotels. Also, your trip fee includes at least 1 (sometimes 2 or 3) meals every day. So even if you do run out of money you won't starve. The one person on my trip used to stash away food at the free breakfasts for his lunch and dinner |
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BoabDil
Sea Gull
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 211
Location: Denmark
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Triangular_Trees wrote: | | Not to sound like a globus representative, but if you take a globus tour, your hotels are all paid for in advance so you don't have to worry about running out of money to pay for the hotels. Also, your trip fee includes at least 1 (sometimes 2 or 3) meals every day. So even if you do run out of money you won't starve. The one person on my trip used to stash away food at the free breakfasts for his lunch and dinner |
Well the problem with that is that you end up eating "international hotel cuisine" in the company of other tourists. My stomach is my best travel companion, I start thinking of what to eat for dinner the moment I finish lunch and tourists are the last people I want to speak with; "oh did you go there? I got some great photos, let me show you! we met this guy and he..."
Half the fun is getting lost and being forced to improvise. |
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Triangular_Trees
What is right is sometimes found on the left.
Joined: Jul 18, 2007
Posts: 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| BoabDil wrote: | | Triangular_Trees wrote: | | Not to sound like a globus representative, but if you take a globus tour, your hotels are all paid for in advance so you don't have to worry about running out of money to pay for the hotels. Also, your trip fee includes at least 1 (sometimes 2 or 3) meals every day. So even if you do run out of money you won't starve. The one person on my trip used to stash away food at the free breakfasts for his lunch and dinner |
Well the problem with that is that you end up eating "international hotel cuisine" in the company of other tourists. My stomach is my best travel companion, I start thinking of what to eat for dinner the moment I finish lunch and tourists are the last people I want to speak with; "oh did you go there? I got some great photos, let me show you! we met this guy and he..."
Half the fun is getting lost and being forced to improvise. |
You can always sit at your own table. Also with the exception of optional excursion you all went to the same place, so people won't be asking where you went
And you have plenty of time to get lost. I was lost with a group in Madrid, with a group in cordoba, and on my own in Torremelinos. And I was making an effort to not go anywhere that i might get lost.
The way my tour was set up you could have two complete days to do whatever you wanted in Torremelinos. THough, I choose only having one day as I wanted to go to Gibraltar. But after the first half hour we had several hours to go wherever we wanted there |
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BoabDil
Sea Gull
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 211
Location: Denmark
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| Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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There are many ways to travel and each decide what is best for their needs. I have only been on one preplanned/package vacation; a 13 day trip around Costa Rica in a group of 10 with a small bus and a guide.
It was the longest 13 days I can remember. My wife enjoyed herself immensely but just listening to the idiots on the bus was driving me insane on day 2. One girl in particular insisted on yelling "Mira! Un parajo!" (Look, a bird) every time she happened to see one, and there are alot of b... birds in the jungles of Costa Rica.
I survived thanks to an alcoholic guide who could be bribed into showing me the local bars.
By travelling alone I mean alone. To buy a ticket to and from a country, have a rough plan for where to go and then let it happen. I guess it just makes me feel free for a while. |
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Greyhound
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 10, 2008
Posts: 502
Location: Birmingham, UK
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| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:46 am Post subject: |
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I'm guilty of being really careful with the money, but that's because I don't have a great deal of money and I really do need to be careful with it.
By the way, the trips I have in mind are just hiking and camping or just day trips in my own country (England). I don't think I'll go abroad.
| Greentea wrote: | | - the over-adventurous - they'll try to drag you into all kinds of unnecessary trouble and call you boring if you don't follow suit. |
This'll be my brother. I'm hoping to go and do some of the Pembrokshire coastal path in July with my brother and my friend. I have a nasty feeling that my brother will need to be constantly told not to climb the cliffs. Of course, then I'll be seen as bossy  but I have got most of the responsibility as I'll be driving and paying for most of his stuff and pitch fees.
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I don't have Aspergers, I'm just socially inept
Diagnosed: Tourette syndrome
Suspected: auditory processing disorder, synaesthesia
Also: social, attention and organisation problems |
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dustbowlrefugee
Toucan
Joined: May 15, 2007
Posts: 250
Location: UK
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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Greentea, you have given me a boost of confidence!
The though of eating at restaurants had me worried... but not any more. I've met a number of the travellers you have described too! |
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youknowandy
Blue Jay
Joined: Mar 16, 2008
Age: 31
Posts: 97
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota
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| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:46 am Post subject: "Local" Traveling |
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| I've been doing a lot of traveling to places by myself that I can reach and return from in a single day or that I can reach before it get's dark after I get back from work. I live in Minnesota and one of my goals is to visit the downtown districts of every county seat in the state. Yesterday, I went up to Cambridge after work. Last weekend, I drove from my home in the Twin Cities and headed out to the South Dakota border. I just love the atmosphere of old downtown districts even when nothing is open except for a few bars and restaurants. I love the fact that I can just take off on a whim and don't need to mess around with planning anything, getting a hotel, or work around other people's schedule. I love showing up somewhere and not knowing what to expect. I love randomly coming across museums or historical markers and taking the time to read them without other people getting impatient. I love eating in new places. I like the fact that these towns that I am visiting are rather small and not very intimidating. It would be nice to travel throughout the country and world, but that can be stressful, costs a lot more money, takes a lot of planning (who knows if I'll be in the mood to do it once the appointed time arrives?), and takes more time than I really have. I'm not going to run out of places to explore in my own state and am quite content for now. Eventually, I might branch out... |
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Greentea
Bull in China Shop par Excellence!
Joined: Jun 15, 2007
Posts: 2188
Location: Middle East
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| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:21 am Post subject: |
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that was a very nice read, andy. I love trips in my area, mostly Jerusalem.
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"It is the wounded oyster that mends its shell with pearl" - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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ACG
Blue Jay
Joined: Oct 17, 2004
Posts: 95
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:17 am Post subject: |
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Hi!
I've gone on several trips by myself, generally for one or two weeks. They're really fun: you're out in the open and don't have anyone around to set your schedule. Among the highlights:
1. Combining several trips to do a road trip (including several off-the-beaten-path stops to see how the people really live) from Quebec City to Key West.
2. Yellowstone
3. The Grand Canyon
4. The Finger Lakes in New York
I recently went to the Galapagos as part of group of people where I didn't know anyone (I don't think that counts, though). Me, my girlfriend, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend also embarked on a circumnavigation of Maine (it's amazing how deserted the state is once you get away from the coast: the northwestern corner is all logging territory and there are no roads there).
I generally do a decent amount of planning. However, more often than not the low-level details tend to go out the window when I get to my destination.
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Autism: when you can solve world hunger but not tell anyone. |
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youknowandy
Blue Jay
Joined: Mar 16, 2008
Age: 31
Posts: 97
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:41 am Post subject: |
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| Greentea wrote: | | that was a very nice read, andy. I love trips in my area, mostly Jerusalem. |
Glad you enjoyed my post  It must be nice living in an area where many of the places around you have thousands of years of written history. |
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Greentea
Bull in China Shop par Excellence!
Joined: Jun 15, 2007
Posts: 2188
Location: Middle East
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:58 am Post subject: |
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Yes, I consider myself lucky to have such an interesting destination so close to home. It's 45 minutes by bus. It's nice to see so many different cultures and people from all over the world in one little place, each so representative of their religion and customs. The Old City of Jerusalem feels like entering a different era, like going back thousands of years, indeed. There are no chain stores, no modern stores.
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"It is the wounded oyster that mends its shell with pearl" - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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BoabDil
Sea Gull
Joined: Jun 10, 2008
Posts: 211
Location: Denmark
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 2:52 am Post subject: |
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Its my curse that almost all my travelling takes place while working.
Ive been to Israel twice but only had time to experience Jerusalem the one time for 2 days. History is my obsession and I must say it took me 2 mins to fall in love with the city, all defences down. The "air" or pulse of the life there is like nowhere else ive visited (or perhaps Halab/Aleppo, Syria has some of the same). All my prejudges was put to shame as Jerusalem really is a multiethnic/multireligious city.
Oh I want to go back !! |
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youknowandy
Blue Jay
Joined: Mar 16, 2008
Age: 31
Posts: 97
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 3:25 am Post subject: |
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| heh, one day we'll all be taking sub-orbital flights for quick day-trips to far away lands. well, it'd be nice anyways... |
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