If you were to travel to another country... ( an Activities discussion)

[KarlOmega1]

Today, I got a question in my head that had me focused on the topic of traveling. If you were to travel to another country...what would you do there? That's when it hit me to ask the same question on this board. Where anyone can discuss what they would do in another country. of course, if you can think only one thing at the time and posted it...then had another few more days later, you can post it was well.

I'll go ahead and start with this one...I'd find a Internet cafe and Search to see if any friends on the forums I surf (This one or any others) live within the country and decide to give them a PM telling them I'm currently visiting the country and would like to meet them. I'd talk to them over getting something to drink (sodapop, water, Milk, tea)....then ask how life is in the country they live in (curiousity about another's culture is ok, right?).

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

It depends on which country, and where in it.

See, I have family all over the place, so if I can find them, I'll go visit. Other than that, I'd find a beach if it's sunny, or run around madly looking for things to do.

It also depends on if I'm by myself (miss my wife?) or with my wife, or with my son as well. Different things, different times. Heck, the kid is amused by burying him up to his neck in sand, he can't be all bad, now, can he? :-)

All sorts of things can be done. Go walking in the rain, if it's warm enough. Build snowmen, if it's cold enough. Sit in bed and watch the snow fall outside. Sit in the sauna and watch the snow fall. Sit inside a window on a rainy day and watch the rain run down the pane. Get a group of friends together and play cards. Go looking for a pool hall. Go looking for an internet cafe, and see if the keyboard is different - and then send a friend an email typed in qwerty on a qwertz keyboard. Or, for bonus laughs, in qwerty on a dvorak...

The possibilities are endless.

[rabid_fox]

I've lived in a few different countries. The first thing I always do when I land somewhere new is take a random drive and get as lost as I can.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... this has nothing to do with the greeting you get in the airport? ("get lost, ye irish b...") ?

[rabid_fox]

Everyone loves the Irish (except in Manchester).

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

heeheeehee. :-)

Of course we do. They make a great meal. :-)

[Netami]

I would immediately try to go home. Honestly...

I went to the UK once and it was alright, but there's no place like home.

[xHaZxMaTx]

I wouldn't plan ahead.  I never do, and it seems to work out.  It doesn't take much to throw a schedule out of whack (you can't plan for everything) and it throws off the entire trip and everyone is in a shitty mood the rest the trip.

[Zina]

I think it's pretty stupid to go to another country without knowing anything about the culture. Read up on the country and its culture BEFORE you go. If they speak another language there, learn some of it. At least a few choice phrases and words. At least make it seem like you put SOME effort into learning about the other country before going over there.
I would also like to pretend I've planned things out. If I'm going there for tourist reasons, then I should have signed up for some tours. Got a map, made note of places I'd like to visit, planned out my days and how I'd like to spend them way before going. Arranged for places to stay or friends I'm going to meet. And made sure I had enough money for the trip.
I can't imagine someone going to another country and being all "I'm in another country, now what lol." That seems so incredibly ill-planned to me and just seems more stressful for what would otherwise probably be my vacation. Especially since, when travelling in a completely different country far from home, if something goes wrong, you are super-duper screwed.

[superluser]

If I'm going there for tourist reasons, then I should have signed up for some tours.

No!  Not a tourist group!  You always get cornered by some drunken greengrocer from Luton with an Instamatic and Dr. Skholl's sandals drinking bleeding Watney's Red Barrel and then there's the group from Rhyl singing ``Torremolinos!  Torremolinos!'' and bomplaining about the food, ``Oh, it's so greasy here...''

I meant to say, I don't like tour groups.  Plan your own trip with plenty of time to spare.  When I went on a trip to Poland with my family a few years back, we flew into Prague, and were there for only one day.  When I was in a gift shop for one of the castles, I noticed a book on the Golem of Prague.

I had been interested in the subject, but it had completely slipped my mind.  We made sure to take some time out and visit the Alt-Neu Shul, there.

But get a book, read everything, learn some phrases, and then plan to see only a few things, with restful interludes.  You don't have to see everything, and if you try to, you'll come away hating the place.

[Zina]

Tour groups are good if you've never been to the place you're visiting, and you don't have a friend or family that lives there. Especially if the people in that country speak a different language. Otherwise, yeah, skip tour groups. You tend to get more out of a trip if you explore on your own and steer clear of the tourist areas.

[Fuyudenki]

Where I'd like to go?  New Zealand(have a friend who lives there, though she's playing hard-to-find lately) or Ireland.(I'm part Irish.  It and Scotland are the two favored lines of my heritage.  Much better than France.  Blegh.)

Once I got there, I'd seek out a local friend to visit and have show me around the area.  Unfortunately, there are two people I know in Ireland.  One, I'm no longer on speaking terms with.  The other is our good buddy, Rabid Fox, and I don't know him well enough to say "friend," nor do I know whether he actually lives in Ireland, and I think it'd freak him out a bit for some crazy, red-haired, ADD-spazzing American to show up and say "Hey, care to show me around town?"

People I know or don't know aside, though, I'd love to visit Ireland at least once.  Since joining the running club at the local Irish pub(Jack Quinn's, down-town Colorado Springs.) and getting hooked on Dropkick Murphey's and Flogging Molly(thanks to my brother), my Irish side has come out quite strongly.

[Damaris]

I like to wander.  The first thing I tend to do when I get to a place is to hit the big wall of brochures and pick out some things I might like to do.  I'm also a big fan of pestering the front desk of a hotel (Hey!  Where should I go, what should I do, what's your favorite resturaunt, how do I get to [blank], where's the nearest movie theater)

I've not been out of the country much, but I have the feeling that my traveling there will be pretty similar to in the states.  I'm not a big fan of overscheduling, and I definitely dislike trying to get to a lot of places in a limited amount of time.  We'll probably leisurely wander.  Sadly though, I'm a high impact scheduler compared to Darkmoon, so we'll have to see how that goes.

[RJ]

I'll go wherever I can scab a free bed off one of you guys. 

[King Of Hearts]

There are three places I want to go to before I die...

USA, Washington DC - I'll be checking out the monuments and spend most of my time at the Congressional library reading rare books and manuscripts to make my own stories.

Japan, Akihabara - Every otaku's wet dream given form. the alternative is Kyoto.

Jerusalem, Israel - I want to see the holy land of the Abrahamic religions and take in the culture... o and some spirituality, I guess.

As for what I would do first... well go to the tourist help section first then plan my trip from thereon in.

[xHaZxMaTx]

Ugh, you actually want to go to DC?  Been there, done that and, believe it or not, it's a pretty sleazy city.

[King Of Hearts]

Well of course it is, they got the politicians!

*B-dm-tsh*

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I'll go wherever I can scab a free bed off one of you guys. 

I can loan you a couch, if you like... :-]

[RJ]

I'll go wherever I can scab a free bed off one of you guys. 

I can loan you a couch, if you like... :-]

A couch would do... better than the time I had to camp on a floor on the world's thinnest mattress in a bug-infested room for a few weeks.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

London is still bug infested, sorry. Can't do much about that.

[bill]

Ugh, you actually want to go to DC?  Been there, done that and, believe it or not, it's a pretty sleazy city.

+1. Washington is utter crap. Except for the Mall, it's one of the worst cities in the US.

Some nice restaurants, though. Unfortunately for Washington, they're all in Arlington.

[RJ]

DC is the worst city in the world for car jackings...

[superluser]

DC is the worst city in the world for car jackings...

Whoa, when did it pass Johannesburg?  You know, where side-mounted flamethrower is a standard anti-carjacking option?

[Zedd]

My place is boring...But if you go up north abit...You find a town where they celibrate Xmas 24/7...Woot! The FireKatKid will be in bliss there

[rabid_fox]

Where I'd like to go?  New Zealand(have a friend who lives there, though she's playing hard-to-find lately) or Ireland.(I'm part Irish.  It and Scotland are the two favored lines of my heritage.  Much better than France.  Blegh.)

Once I got there, I'd seek out a local friend to visit and have show me around the area.  Unfortunately, there are two people I know in Ireland.  One, I'm no longer on speaking terms with.  The other is our good buddy, Rabid Fox, and I don't know him well enough to say "friend," nor do I know whether he actually lives in Ireland, and I think it'd freak him out a bit for some crazy, red-haired, ADD-spazzing American to show up and say "Hey, care to show me around town?"

People I know or don't know aside, though, I'd love to visit Ireland at least once.  Since joining the running club at the local Irish pub(Jack Quinn's, down-town Colorado Springs.) and getting hooked on Dropkick Murphey's and Flogging Molly(thanks to my brother), my Irish side has come out quite strongly.

Especially since I live on the Isle of Man now. It's a tiny little insignificant island between Ireland and England (17 miles long, ten miles wide and it's awesome).

Oh. Get yourself onto The Levellers. They do what Flogging Molly tried to. I can recommend some top Irish folk that isn't really known outside the country too, if you care for that.

[Fuyudenki]

Heh.  Awesome is good.  I live in a tourist trap, I'm used to Awesome.

I'll go wherever I can scab a free bed off one of you guys. 

I can loan you a couch, if you like... :-]

A couch would do... better than the time I had to camp on a floor on the world's thinnest mattress in a bug-infested room for a few weeks.

For the record, I like sleeping on the floor.  Bugs, not so much, but when I went to Nan Desu Kan, I slept on the floor, in my clothing, using my bag as a pillow, off in a corner of the room.  Shame I can't afford to go again this year, I want to get more PVC figurines and jelly-filled marshmallows.

[Damaris]

I *like* DC.  Not to live there, because we have, and it's hellaciously expensive, but to visit I think it's amazing.  We're probably going in the fall to visit it again.

I would suggest the Holocaust museum to anyone going- it's extremely powerful.

[superluser]

I would suggest the Holocaust museum to anyone going- it's extremely powerful.

I found it more of something that tried to be powerful.  Definitely see it, if you're in DC, but I didn't find it very moving.

In contrast, I found Auschwitz to be tremendously powerful.  There are no reenactments there.  No replica Zyklon-B canisters, no elevators, nothing pretend.  There is room after room of artifacts from the captives.  The one that got me was the room full of hair.

Likewise, in Warsaw, there's the Ghetto Uprising memorial walk.  Worth seeing.

I've never been to Yad Vashem or Simon Wiesenthal, so I don't know how they compare.

[Darkmoon]

I would suggest the Holocaust museum to anyone going- it's extremely powerful.

In contrast, I found Auschwitz to be tremendously powerful.  There are no reenactments there.  No replica Zyklon-B canisters, no elevators, nothing pretend.  There is room after room of artifacts from the captives.  The one that got me was the room full of hair.

Eh, it was good before they decided to put in all the irdes. And what's with the mascots? That's just creepy...

The concessions were tasty, though. I'll give them that.

I found it more of something that tried to be powerful.  Definitely see it, if you're in DC, but I didn't find it very moving ... There are no reenactments there.  No replica Zyklon-B canisters, no elevators, nothing pretend.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was an actual concentration camp in DC. Next time, they'll have to use the real items them have around to educate the public instead of just slapping some fake stuff together.

[bill]

Where I'd like to go?  New Zealand(have a friend who lives there, though she's playing hard-to-find lately) or Ireland.(I'm part Irish.  It and Scotland are the two favored lines of my heritage.  Much better than France.  Blegh.)

Once I got there, I'd seek out a local friend to visit and have show me around the area.  Unfortunately, there are two people I know in Ireland.  One, I'm no longer on speaking terms with.  The other is our good buddy, Rabid Fox, and I don't know him well enough to say "friend," nor do I know whether he actually lives in Ireland, and I think it'd freak him out a bit for some crazy, red-haired, ADD-spazzing American to show up and say "Hey, care to show me around town?"

People I know or don't know aside, though, I'd love to visit Ireland at least once.  Since joining the running club at the local Irish pub(Jack Quinn's, down-town Colorado Springs.) and getting hooked on Dropkick Murphey's and Flogging Molly(thanks to my brother), my Irish side has come out quite strongly.

Especially since I live on the Isle of Man now. It's a tiny little insignificant island between Ireland and England (17 miles long, ten miles wide and it's awesome).

Insignificant unless you like motorbike racing.