RE: A personal Bucket List

RE: A personal Bucket List (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Off the Grid

Message

ChainGoddess -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 2:24:08 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: GreedyTop Scotland is on my list too.. . What about Ireland? You promised. [:(]

GreedyTop -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 2:25:27 PM)
naturally!!

NorthernGent -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 2:27:38 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: hizgeorgiapeach So - that being the case - I'd like to garner suggestions for a possible vacation spot outside the US. The Rough Guide...... Of the two hundred-plus destinations across the world that Rough Guide covers, there is none so fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse, yet as insular, self-important and irritating, as England. The French Tourist Office: Even though they have a well developed sense of humour and can laugh at themselves, they remain conservative and chauvinistic. The English are profoundly independent and insular.' In the event you need further persuasion, we have fish and chips, real ale festivals and alcohol-fuelled casual violence in abundance.

hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 2:55:27 PM)
Hmmmmm.. come to think of it, a Pub Crawling Tour of Ireland and the UK could be rather entertaining! The rain in Scotland wouldn't bother me to much - it's just water, and I would be there to look at old castles and drink a lot. There are several places I wouldn't mind seeing in Italy - though my Italian is VERY rough these days. (I've never spoken it fluently, but did take it as a required course during my Voice Major days in college - and haven't done anything with it since then!) And Amsterdam has it's own cough Special appeal for a Coffee House tour. Germany and Austria have a whole slew of old castles I wouldn't mind seeing up close. This is sounding better and better. Especially since I'm not that thrilled with the prospect of being someplace where the majority of my travel wardrobe consists of a swimsuit, now that I think about it more seriously. (Eh - some people should be banned from wearing spandex for any reason. I consider myself one of them. Pristine beachs where I'd feel like a stranded whale aren't high on my list of happy memory inducers!) Mexico I'm not so much interested in. It's not a bad suggestion, don't get me wrong. But (this is gonna sound both harsh and racist.) I see quite enough of the Mexican population just by going to the store here in Oklahoma, or driving down to Dallas, Texas to visit a couple of my few remaining relatives. There are plenty of places around here that if I want a taste of Mexico, all I've gotta do is drive 5 minutes from home and take a detour through those neighborhoods on the way back to the house. How long I stay gone from Oklahohum will depend really on what sort of costs I'm looking at for a particular destination. Budget is gonna be between $6000 and $10,000 US. If I pick the right destination (or destinations) that'll see me through probably 4 to 6 weeks of traveling. Part of my "plan" (even though it's rather nebulous right now lol) is to fly wherever 1st class, and then either rent a car or use mass transit (like train or bus) after that until it's time to fly home. I won't have to worry about keeping enough cash in my pocket to get home on, because I intend to do the flight as a round trip not a pair of 1 ways, so that'll already have come outta the cash stash when I get where I'm going. I'm also thinking that if I'm gonna be gone for more than a week, I'll probably drop ship/mail myself any souvenier type stuff back here at the house so that I don't have to worry about the weight difference getting home. Yes, I tend to be a Power Shopper when I'm on vacation, even though I'm not the rest of the time. The whole idea of a tour Group, set itenary, etc - not my idea of fun traveling. I'd rather go it alone, be able to stay someplace Interesting for an extra day, leave early from someplace that wasn't as good as I anticipated, choose where I eat and when even if at not so regular "meal times" and such. Even if I'm going someplace here in the states that I'm driving to, it's always been more about the journey than the destination - roadside stops for incredible scenery, eatting at small mom&pop places off the main highways that normally only a local would ever find, reading the various roadside monument plaques put up by the Highway department saying "such-n-such battle took place here in X year" kinda thing.

hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 2:58:10 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: NorthernGent In the event you need further persuasion, we have fish and chips, real ale festivals and alcohol-fuelled casual violence in abundance. Real Ales and Beers as opposed to what passes for "beer" around here is Always a good inducement. Not to mention that alcohol-fueled violence thing - I'm down with that! (Although I suppose being an outta towner, I would have to be careful not to be the Instigater of such LMAO.)

GreedyTop -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:04:53 PM)
Rhi.. if you go to the NEtherlands, Amsterdam was great (omg, so many awesome museums!), Rotterdam was fun too. Maastricht is AMAZING (there's a church there still operating that was built in 1420, I think. Luxembourg was gorgeous.. but I'll warn you.. it's VERY HILLY, and my legs were viciously sore after a day walking around there!

hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:13:22 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: GreedyTop Luxembourg was gorgeous.. but I'll warn you.. it's VERY HILLY, and my legs were viciously sore after a day walking around there! The exercise would no doubt do me a world of good lol. Heck, I may be in better shape by then anyway. Dad convinced me to get a dog. (DOH!) A big dog. She's a 2yr old Black Lab/Mastif mix and she's HUGE. And requires walking daily. Though I have yet to figure out if I'm walking her, or she's walking Me. Friend of mine who lived on base about a mile from here just got transfered to Turkey for the next 2 years, and couldn't take the dog with him - so guess who got suckered into volunteering to keep her until he gets transfered back stateside? Between her former owner and dad, I was stuck.

mc1234 -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:17:35 PM)
I'd love to do the travel-round Europe thing. I've done lots of beaches, cruises, Caribbean, U.S. vacations, etc. They're great, relaxing vacations for a week or two, but if you've got that kind of money, time and motivation, seeing different countries, experiencing different foods, museums, people - well, it just sounds fantastic to me. You could also consider going to the west coast of the US and doing a tour. I'd love to drive from Washington down to California. I've only done the San Francisco/Napa region in CA thus far, and want to explore more. It's gorgeous and relaxing and you may feel more comfortable. ETA: Sorry - didn't notice the 'outside the US' bit!

GreedyTop -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:18:16 PM)
snort I'm picturing this, RHi...LOL

hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:36:46 PM)
MC, while I'll probably do a lot more traveling here in the US - this vacation specifically is going to be somewhere Outside the US, and where I can Not drive there to see it. (Which leaves out Mexico and Canada.) I've done some traveling along the west coast - Cali twice, Washington/Oregon once - beautiful areas, very scenic, and several spots I want to see a second time at some point. I guess my main thing right now though is that I tell myself almost every year that I'm Going to take a vacation somewhere Outside the US. Then I make excuses about why it wasn't "this" year - it'll be "next" year. Mom and dad spent most of my adult life up until she died saying "we'll go see such-n-such place Next year" - and they did so for so long that suddenly there Were no "next" years, because mom was dead and gone. Dad spent the years between when mom died and when he had his stroke saying "I'll go to some of those places she and I talked about - after I retire." Then suddenly he was retired - long before he Expected to be - and in such poor health that his doctors won't even allow me to drive him to Dallas one last time to see his nursing home bound 90 yr old mother before he dies. I've realized that the idea of having to look back, years from now, at missed opportunities - at places I didn't go when I had the chance, putting it off til "the climate" is better or until I had "more money to enjoy it on" or some other such reason - the concept terrifies me at this point. It's heartbreaking, listening to dad at times, simply knowing that there's so much he Wanted to do, that he Could have done, that he literally passed up the Chance to do - that now he'll never Get the chance to do, or see, or experience, because he doesn't have enough life left to do any of it. I don't want to live that way. I absolutely don't want to eventually die that way. And that's what this trip is going to ultimately be about - grabbing some of those opportunities, seeing some of those sights, experiencing some of those unique and potentially wonderful things - before it's to late and there's no time left to do any of them.

ALAstella -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:42:20 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: StrictnSaucy Scotland is on my to do list! I just have to find someone that teaches the language first ;-) Hoots mon. A mair fly patter wid ye? I'm pulling your leg of course. Scotland is an excellent country.. not least for Disneyland. You see Scotland disnae have jobs, disnae have air conditioning, disnae have a good economy, etc..

hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:42:51 PM)
Yeah - a couple of other friends who've seen Lillie (the dog) are getting a load of giggles right now. They're folks who were mutual friends of mine and the former owner, so they know Exactly how big she is - and how much of a strain she was capable of putting on his arm, when she decided she was Going to Go somewhere while on the leash. (And he's not in the lousy shape I am lol - being in the military prevents him from getting This outta shape.) She's a darlin. Very well behaved, quiet - scarey as hell to look at from the sheer Size of her, if you don't know what a lover she is. Now if I can Just convince her that My bed is NOT Her bed .....

StrictnSaucy -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 3:55:48 PM)
Ah my fair lass, but sure you are a canny bonnie. SnS I'm a weyver, ye knaw, an' awf deead, So I do all at iver I can To put away aat o' my heead The thowts an' the aims of a man. Eight shillin' i' t'wick's what I arn, When I've varry gooid wark an' full time, An' I think it's a sorry consarn For a fella at's just in his prime.

ScooterTrash -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 5:32:16 PM)
Although there are destinations outside of the US that intrigue me, I am standing firm that unless I have seen all there is to see in the US it makes no sense to go elsewhere. Certainly Ireland would be my first pick if I was to venture abroad (ancestry thing), but I don't see that as likely to happen, too hard to get the RV and the bikes across that big pond...lol.

ShellyD -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 5:44:55 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: KMsAngel australia has it all [:D] and people, the accent is something fine I second this emotion......there are also some well organised clubs/groups in the major cities here, although my preference would be the European travel as described earlier this thread.....[sm=juggle.gif]

GreedyTop -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 7:05:12 PM)
Rhi.. Paris (what I saw of it) was awesome too.. but DO (before you go) find a metro/city map... we kept getting lost because if you're not familiar with what stop you need to take to get to where you wanna go.. you can spend a lot more money going back and forth!!!!!!!!!!! ok, it was KINDA fun doing the "OOPS! wrong direction!! turn around!" but if you want get anywhere at a set time, that could seriously screw your plans...

hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 8:01:56 PM)
Scooter, I can understand where you're coming from with the thing of staying in the US if you haven't seen all you want to see in the US.... and there have been several times in the past where that's been my excuse not to take a vacation outside our own soil. Thing is, it's easy enough for me to take trips INSIDE the continental US, to see various things that I wanna see here. I do that with a fair amount of regularity, just by making detours when going to visit someone. I pretty much always drive, rather than flying (unless I'm specifically renting a small plane and flying myself, rather than going commercial - but then it's about the air time, not about vacation time lol) and always plan extra days to RoadTrip things so that I can make "unscheduled" stops along the way at points of interest. I still want to make a trip to Yellowstone at some point, along with the Grand Canyon. I'd still like to take a short trip to NYC to hit a Broadway show. I want to go Back to Florida, and see Key West, the Cape, and DisneyWorld all again. (Not to mention Daytona Bike Week lol) I want to go back to California, and hit the Wine Country, San Diego, and San Fran this time, instead of LA - though I'm thinking if I go to Cali again, I'll likely hit DisneyLand a second time while I'm there lol. I'd like to do more than simply drive through Nashville and New Orleans - and Mardi Gras of Next year is looking like a real possibility for New Orleans. (I would do so this year, but no time to plan the trip and need the respite time for my show season instead of a "vacation".) I'd still like to see the Great Lakes, and one of my few cousins on dad's side of the family wants me to plan a trip to Michigan to visit sometime in the next year to year and a half - I'll probably make that a long one, do some fishing on the Great Lakes, and hit Rushmore and Yellowstone while I'm that far north anyway. I want to hit Vegas again - this time with sufficient time that I'm there for longer than 4 hours lol. I'd like to hit DC again, for longer than a day this time, to visit some of the places that I did Not get to see while I was there in '05. And at some point, I'd like to do a quick New England tour during the Fall when the trees are changing. (But dear gods prior to the start of actual Winter, and having to deal with all the friggin Snow up there!) There are a couple of places in Texas I'd still like to visit, but most of those I'll hit this year while I'm doing various shows. If I plan my show schedule right - I can do most of that over the course of the next 2 years without taking specific 'vacation' time to do so. Or I may decide to simply sell the house and buy a nice RV to live out of once I get back from my vacation Elsewhere - and spend some time on the road simply enjoying life for a while, seeing all the things in this country that I haven't had an opportunity to see yet. Hmmm.. wonder what it's like traveling in an RV with 3 cats and a dog the size of a meat eatting pony.....

mc1234 -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/11/2009 8:21:26 PM)
I can completely relate, peach, to what it is you want to do here. A good friend of my mom's booked a trip to Scotland after nursing her husband for two years through cancer after he passed. I don't think this woman had ever been outside Pennsylvania, let alone the US, and it was a wonderful thing for her.

wandersalone -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/12/2009 3:27:48 AM)
Thirding the Australia holiday.....our crap dollar makes it great for you guys to come here. Also Phuket in Thailand is a beautiful place if you want to relax on a beach and look at glorious sunsets each evening. Europe/UK if you are looking for a busier holiday ...there is so much to see and do within close proximity

Twicehappy2x -> RE: A personal Bucket List (1/12/2009 3:52:12 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: hizgeorgiapeach I still want to make a trip to Yellowstone at some point, along with the Grand Canyon. . (Not to mention Daytona Bike Week lol) Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are high on our list of places to take Scooter as soon as he starts his retirement (this month, does the happy dance!!!!!!). Daytona we are aiming for in 2010. Come along, but the dogs will have to be boarded in a kennel. The cat, Mr.Tom, whose staff we all are does not tolerate dogs, or any other animals in his space.

Page: << < prev 1 [2] 3 next > >>

Collarchat.com © 2025

Terms of Service

0.046875