Travel

[Gem Flower]

Are you planning a trip? Got advice for other travelers? Got suggetions for other travelers? All of that can be covered here. I'll begin; I'm on a plane headed for Canada! We'll arrive in half an hour! So, commence uh..... Screw it, you know what to do.

[JessSoccer]

Saturday I'm going caving in south Georgia with a group called Southern Adventures. It should be fun, I've been begging them to do a caving trip for 3 years now ^_^

[Volug]

I'm traveling to the kitchen to get my medicine... 5 minute trip!

*Goes to kitchen*
*Comes back in 5 minutes*
*Trips over shoe*

[Oeep Snaec]

I went to Greece a few years ago and had a blast. Always be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen for sunny places, along with bottled water. A hat wouldn't hurt either. And I learned the hard way not to forget to pack a good towel.

[Sneak]

I like travel. A few years ago I went to Israel. Last year I went to China and Barcelona, the year before that I went to Australia. This year I think I'm going to end up going to Thailand.

So, yes, I like travel. :P

[Gorbash]

I adore traveling... I've been to Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Turkey and the US (How I loathe you because you have Barnes and Noble and we don't! :smallyuk: )... This year I might be going to Austin, Texas to visit a friend in college, during the spring break. :)

[Vuzzmop]

Right now I'm in Paihea for ten days. Its a little town in the bay of islands in Northland. The weather so far has been utter cow-dookie (mental note to use that word more often:smallbiggrin: ), but I'm staying with a friend so its all good.

The more interesting places I've travelled to would be Thailand and Fiji. If you ever get the chance to go to either of those, take it. Its well worth the trip.:smallsmile:

[I'm da Rogue!]

I went to Greece a few years ago and had a blast. Always be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen for sunny places, along with bottled water. A hat wouldn't hurt either. And I learned the hard way not to forget to pack a good towel.
Hey! Greece isn't that sunny, it's just you who can't stand the sun!:smallamused:

[Amotis]

You get internet on a plane? O.o

[MrEdwardNigma]

I might be travelling to a third world country with a friend and my old gym teacher sometime soon, to help out the poor folk and such.

[Felixaar]

If you've got a damn good wireless internet connection you can.

I've travelled all around Australia, muh homeland, and in approx five months Im leaving to do a world tour... Africa, then America and Canada, then Europe (as much as can be done before money runs out).

[Icewalker]

My family travels a lot, so I'm lucky.

Australia, but I was like 7 and don't remember it.
Europe, many times...lets see...Switzerland, Scotland, Rome, several others...possibly Sweden, don't really remember.
Africa (South Africa, Botswana, around there)
Alaska (below the arctic circle)
In country: Hawaii, New York (regularly), Washington DC, Nevada, Aspen in Colorado twice, Road trip to Colorado (from California)...

I'm lucky in the way that this is stacked up and I'm 15.

[Dragonrider]

I have been to....

*drumroll*

Canada
Mexico
Belize
Guatemala
Panama
Costa Rica
Honduras
El Salvador
Nicaragua
China
Japan

*pauses for breath*

I've lived in the U.S., Belize, and China.

And I'm going to France and Israel in two weeks. :smallbiggrin:

Oh...and England in a year and a half. Hooray for a family that travels a lot!!!

(as for U.S. states...I think I've been to around 36 and lived in 4)

[Syka]

I went to Greece a few years ago and had a blast. Always be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen for sunny places, along with bottled water. A hat wouldn't hurt either. And I learned the hard way not to forget to pack a good towel.

How could you forget the towel!! Hehe, in other Hitchhiker news, the number 42 as the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything was mentioned on this past Friday's episode of Stargate: Atlantis. I watched it my boy, though I usually don't get around to seeing it, and about had a coniption. It went something like, "Oh my god, they mentioned it that's awesome I can't believe they mentioned it." all in one breath.

For travel, I've gone far too few places. I want to travel a LOT. Are there any Washingtonians out there? Got any tips on where to stay cheap in the Seattle area? My boy and I might be heading out there this summer. Probably not, but I'm still curious. :smallsmile:

Cheers,
Syka

[Rogue 7]

I've been out west more times than I can count, and I reeealllly want to go back. The east coast is so...flat. I like mountains. Luckily, my family's meeting up at our family house in Lake Tahoe. That's going to be awesome. Also, I may have the chance to go to Beijing for the olympics. I'm looking forward to that, if you couldn't tell.

[Dragonrider]

I've been out west more times than I can count, and I reeealllly want to go back. The east coast is so...flat. I like mountains. Luckily, my family's meeting up at our family house in Lake Tahoe. That's going to be awesome. Also, I may have the chance to go to Beijing for the olympics. I'm looking forward to that, if you couldn't tell.

As a person who has visited Beijing twice:

BEWAAAAAAAAAARE THE TOILETS!!!!

*evil grin*

Also smog.

[JessSoccer]

Let's see:

Greece several times
Spain
France
Switzerland
Germany
Austria
Denmark
UK
US

Unfortunately, most of the Europe trips are when I was younger, except for Germany where my dad lives and I visit regularly.

[Lord Herman]

I've been to:

France - Ten times to different parts of France, and three visits to Paris
Belgium - A weekend in Brussels, and a week in the Ardennes
Germany - A week in Berlin
UK - A week in southern England and Cornwall, two visits to London, and a week in Scotland
Italy - Two visits to Rome
Switzerland - A week somewhere in the south
Chech Republic - A week in Prague
Denmark - Lego land!
Russia - A ten-day trip from Moscow to St. Petersburg

And I'll be going to Ireland in April.

[Emrylon]

Well seeing as everyone else is listing places:

Wales - Where I lve, but I've been all round it
England - Many a time
Scotland - again many a time
Ireland - For a day trip
France - Alot of times my Aunty has a cottage there, been to Brittany, Normandy, Paris and Further south
Italy - On a School trip
Belgium - For the day
The Carary islands - Family Holiday
USA - I have relatives living in Kansas so i have been there, and we went to Colorade for a week
Ecudor - Went here for a month long expedition, went hiking, white waster rafting, Whale Watching, we did a comunity project by helping to build a school kitchen for this tiny middle of nowhere village and we went to the jungle. It is a fantastic country.

[Rare Pink Leech]

I live in Canada, in the Toronto area. The places I've been to:

In Canada: Montreal (twice), Quebec City, Victoria
In the United States: New York City, Florida (three times), California
Hong Kong
England (twice; mostly the London area)
Denmark

Places I really really really want to go to:

The rest of the British Isles
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands
Greece and Turkey (mostly Istanbul)
Australia and New Zealand
Mexico (specifically the Yucatan penninsula)
Other places in Canada and the United States, but they're too numerous and not "exotic" enough to list :smallwink:

[Morty]

Hmm, let's see.
Outside my country, I've been to:
-Slovakia numerous times
-Czech Republic twice for a short time and once for longer
-Hungary twice, although both times for one of two days only
-France for a week
-Germany for a week once and twice when going somewhere else
-Austria and Switzerland for a while when I've been to Germany
-Norway for three weeks passing through Denmark along the way
-Croatia for a week, passing through Slovenia, Czech Republic and Hungary on my way.
I wanted to go to England last vacations, but nothing came out of it. Same with planned trip to Alps.

[Telonius]

General advice to travelers:

1. DON'T PANIC.
2. Know where your towel is.
3. Always have photo ID on you.
4. Don't break local laws.
5. Don't be a jerk.

[Zakama]

I've gone to freaking nowhere. :smallfurious: I live in Wisconsin and the farthest away I've been is California. (no, I haven't been to Canada) Also, I've never been in a plane. I'm afraid that I'm never going to get a window seat because all these new-fangled uber fast planes don't have windows. :smallfrown:

[Gem Flower]

Ha ha! Canada is awesome! I'm in Ottawa right now, and I've seen the Canal and the Parliament buildings and the War Memorial! Yay!

[Rare Pink Leech]

Ha ha! Canada is awesome! I'm in Ottawa right now, and I've seen the Canal and the Parliament buildings and the War Memorial! Yay!

If you haven't already, make sure you go to Tim Horton's. It's not a true Canadian experience if you don't. They're easy to find - there's practically one on every streetcorner.

[SMEE]

I'm going to spend 3 days in Florida this may. :smallbiggrin:

It'll be my first transcontinental flight (even though it's in the same continent I live... :smallconfused: )...

[North]

Ha ha! Canada is awesome! I'm in Ottawa right now, and I've seen the Canal and the Parliament buildings and the War Memorial! Yay!

Welcome to Canada Eh.

Yes you have to go to a Tim Hortons..

But Ontario is not nearly as cool as Alberta :smallbiggrin:

[The Orange Zergling]

Lessee...

-13(?) states
-Germany
-Italy
-Canada
-Mexico
-England
We want to go to Greece and/or Hawaii in a couple years, but our budget won't allow... at least, this year.


I've gone to freaking nowhere. :smallfurious: I live in Wisconsin and the farthest away I've been is California. (no, I haven't been to Canada) Also, I've never been in a plane. I'm afraid that I'm never going to get a window seat because all these new-fangled uber fast planes don't have windows. :smallfrown:

In my experience (and opinion) it's not actually that great; aside from take off and landing you'll be above the clouds most of the trip, and thus the sun will be so extremely bright you'll want to keep the little shutter closed. But it is pretty impressive to see the city/airport from several hundred feet up before it all vanishes.

[Woofsie]

How could you forget the towel!! Hehe, in other Hitchhiker news, the number 42 as the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything was mentioned on this past Friday's episode of Stargate: Atlantis. I watched it my boy, though I usually don't get around to seeing it, and about had a coniption. It went something like, "Oh my god, they mentioned it that's awesome I can't believe they mentioned it." all in one breath.


That was awesome! :smallbiggrin:


I've actually never been outside of Ireland, it's ridicolous. My family doesn't go on a lot of trips because money is tight, but we're planning on going to England this summer.

[I'm da Rogue!]

My friends and I are planning to go to Ireland this summer, backpacking and camping. Hope I'll have enough money til then.

[Iudex Fatarum]

Well I live in the US so actual time in countries elsewhere
Canada (banf and jasper)
Netherlands Antilles (Specifically Bonare)
Mexico (cancun, i know touristy but still)
Hondouras (spent a week in Gracias and other poor villages in that area)
Israel
Italy
France
Latvia

Countries I've passed through
Denmark (yes i got off the plane spent the night but was back on a plane less than 24 hours later but i did get to see "the little mermaid" less than 7 days before its head got cut off)
Netherlands
Jamaica

Countries I'm going to
China (I'm leaving feb 28 and getting back aug 28 i'll be in kunming, if anyone lives in kunming say hi)

and States
Michigan (where I live)
Iowa (Where I was born)
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
West Virginia
South Carolina
Florida
Kentucky
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
S. Dakota
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
New Mexico
Arizona
Texas
Louisiana
Mississippi
California (although too young to remember it)

[Mephibosheth]

I live in Wisconsin and (unfortunately) haven't had the time or money to do much traveling. However, I get to spend the spring '07 semester studying in Hyderabad, India, and got to see quite a bit of the country while I was there, including:
Hyderabad and the surrounding areas of Andhra Pradesh
Jaipur and Amber in Rajasthan
Delhi and Agra
Aurangabad and Ellora in Maharashtra
Mamallapuram, Kanchipuram, Pondicherry, and Chennai in Tamil Nadu
Mysore, Bangalore, Shravanabelgola, Srirangapatnam, and Melkote in Karnataka
I highly recommend India as a destination if you can swing it. It's a fascinating, beautiful country. Getting there is pricey, but you can live pretty cheaply once you're there.

My one recommendation for people from "the West" heading to countries like India is to take a few risks and get outside of the main destinations. Everybody who goes to India does the Jaipur/Delhi/Agra thing, but there are thousands of other cities and villages that are just as breathtaking. Don't get me wrong, the Taj Mahal absolutely lives up to its reputation, but to really experience India, you have to get out of the major cities and guided tours and stay in cheap hotels in small towns, ride rickshaws and sleeper class overnight trains, and eat local food. Admittedly, this sort of traveling can be more taxing on your nerves, resources, linguistic abilities, and immune system, but it's absolutely worth it.

There, that's my slightly cliched travel advice.

[Nibleswick]

Well, I've not done much traveling, but in a month or two I'm going to go somewhere (I don't know where yet, I'm hoping for Germany or Austria) for the next two years. I'm so excited :smallbiggrin:

[PaladinFreak]

Well, I've lived in the U.S. most of my life, I lived in Central America for a couple years, and then in China for a few months. Oh, and I have to agree, a lot of the public toilets suck.

I've been to almost every country in Central America. That was years ago, I'd like to go back sometime.

[AslanCross]

I love travel. I somehow find planes rather comfortable, even in economy class. Of course I've never had to pay for my own air fare (except for my trip to Korea), so no problems so far.

I've been to the following:
-Hong Kong
-Singapore (3x)
-The US (California once, New Jersey twice)
-South Korea (this is the only trip where I had to raise my support and didn't depend on my parents to pay. It was a church trip and we visited the various churches there)
-China (Beijing and Shanghai. This trip was a graduation gift from my grandma.)
-Malaysia (Twice. I just passed through once on a connecting flight to the US, so the first doesn't count. The second one was a road trip to Malacca from Singapore.)


The ones I've enjoyed the most were the trips to Singapore and to South Korea. I'd really like to go to the Mediterranean someday. Israel, maybe Egypt, Greece, Italy, and Spain.


Well, I've lived in the U.S. most of my life, I lived in Central America for a couple years, and then in China for a few months. Oh, and I have to agree, a lot of the public toilets suck.


You mean the squat-style public toilets in China? *shudder* Thankfully I didn't have to deal with those that much in Shanghai, but they were a lot more common in Beijing. >_<

The public toilets here in Manila could be much, much worse, though. The public urinals (http://www.bulatlat.com/images/4-27/MMDA-urinal.jpg) here are little more than sheets of metal concealing a narrow pipe that goes all the way down to the sewer. So yeah, you'll have to err, calculate the trajectory properly. >_o

If anyone plans to travel to Manila:
1. Keep your wallet on a chain. Seriously. Most people here are very friendly to foreigners, especially Caucasians. However, a few unscrupulous souls prefer to get acquainted with your wallet.
2. Many shops in malls take credit cards. Keep the amount of cash in your pocket small.
3. When riding a taxi, insist on having them use the meter. Some will try to persuade you to pay a flat rate, usually many times the amount you'd pay by the meter.
4. Most people here speak English, or at least understand it. It's best to ask security guards for directions, as they're typically acquainted enough with English to help you.
5. Never ever ever EVER take the buses inside the city. Only take buses when going on road trips to the provinces.
6. Cheap, reliable, and (relatively) safe mass transit inside the city: the trains. There are three train lines that can get you to most important parts of the city. They can get you far quickly, over the traffic that usually congests our main thoroughfares. You'll have to deal with people traffic, though. They can get impossibly full at rush hour. Avoid bringing heavy bags and backpacks here, as you typically might need to wrestle. If your destination isn't near the train lines, it's often best to take the train to the closest station and then take a cab.
7. Bottled water is cheap. Avoid the tap water if you have a sensitive stomach.
8. The weather can get pretty unstable. Bring a large umbrella. It doubles as an improvised defensive weapon in an emergency.
9. If you rent a car or find yourself in any situation where you're driving, NEVER SURRENDER YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE to the MMDA Blue Boys. The Blue Boys (aka Smurfs) are distinguishable from true policemen by their Smurf blue (bright cyan-colored) uniforms. The Philippine National Police (http://www.pnp.gov.ph/index.html) wear blue-gray pinstriped uniforms. The Smurfs are responsible for traffic direction and can sometimes be dependable, but many times they lie in wait at intersections and stop you for no good reason other than to hint at asking for a bribe. Always ask them what they're pulling you over for FIRST. Traffic fines here are typically not very expensive. The police are much more dependable at least in terms of traffic management.
10. If street kids ask to watch your car, refuse. They can't do a thing to protect your car from a carjacker.
11. It's tempting to buy the pirated DVDs being sold on the street and in some bazaars (known locally as tiangge). Don't. Bringing pirated media out of the country is illegal.
12. If you're going to the beach, there are several possible destinations. Manila itself, despite being a coastal city, has NO beaches, and you would not want to even touch the toxic sludge that is Manila Bay.
12a. If you want to party and are willing to spend a lot of money, go to Boracay. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boracay) It's a long way south of Manila. Typically you'd take a plane from Manila Domestic Airport to get there.
12b. If you want to party, hike, and spend less, go to Puerto Galera. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Galera) It's not as pretty as Boracay, but it's a lot cheaper. One would typically take a bus (2-3 hours) from Manila to the province of Batangas, then take a ferry from the port to the island of Mindoro, where Puerto Galera is. Batangas itself has a lot of good beaches, though they might actually be harder to get to due to bad roads. (This makes them isolated and really good for some peace and quiet if you're willing to brave our crappy roadwork.)
12c. If you want an awesome beach, peace and quiet, and really cheap lobster, go to Pagudpud (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagudpud). It's north of Manila and involves a 10-12 hour bus ride. Buses that travel that far are often airconditioned and have a toilet on board, so no problems. I wrote about Pagudpud in detail here. (http://aslancross.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/pagudpud-journal/)
13. If you get caught in rain, NEVER EVER EVER wade into floodwater. There is a high chance the floodwater carries leptospirosis. You do NOT want to catch that here.
14. Local restaurants are typically clean, especially if they're inside malls. You might want to try street food, but only do so if desperate or strong of stomach. You don't know where that's been. You can always opt for McDonald's, but honestly, we typically hear more horror stories about McDonald's then other restaurants. I prefer the local equivalent (Jollibee), however. There's also Pizza Hut, Domino's (although rare), and Shakey's. The local dominant pizza chain, Yellow Cab, is very good. I daresay they're better than any of the three other pizza chains I've mentioned. Starbucks is all over the place. You'll also see a lot of Seattle's Best and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf here.
15. Wireless internet is typically available at Starbucks for about Php 100/hour. (~ US $ 2.10/hour) Burger King offers it for free if you buy a meal. Some malls have free wireless internet, but that's still pretty rare.
16. I'm always willing to give additional advice, especially if you're sure you know where you're planning to go. Drop me a PM.

[Syka]

Hey, SMEE, where in Florida are you headed? Depending on where, I might be able to give you some tips. :)

Cheers,
Syka

[Smeik]

I like travelling a lot!

Though i have to admit i never got out of Europe yet.
Unless yo count that day trip to Casablanca when we stayed in Gibraltar.

Unless Moscow counts as "out of Europe", that is.