What BamaNug said; when I flew to Taiwan my plan was what you said about staying up but that shit didn't work. I say sleep on the plane if you can. My other tip is get up and walk around the plane every couple hours. On a flight that long your ankles will swell pretty good if you don't
When I flew to Taiwan it was May 2009, aka height of the swine flu scare. My flight connected in Tokyo and I had been on the plane 13+ hours and was so ready to get off, only to find out we had to sit on there another hour after landing while the Japanese health folks came on and checked everyone's temperature with a laser scanner before they could deboard. Shit sucked
Headed back to Anguilla tomorrow but definitely want to start checking out some other islands nearby. Anyone been to St Kitts? Thoughts?
United mileage redemption values: great United helpfulness in changing itineraries due to cancellations: not great
Have any of you guys done write-ups on Amalfi, Rome, Cinque Terre, and Florence/Tuscany? I see that some of you have touched on it but not sure if anyone did a full write up. Russellin4885 NC Wolfpack Fran Tarkenton tjosu Jax Teller any guidance on what areas to stay, where to eat/drink, what to do, day trips, and general tips would be much appreciated. In exchange for your help, here's a write up of the kickass trip we did to Switzerland. I would do this exact same itinerary again. Also, I can write up out trip to Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore soon. Jax Teller feel free to put this in the OP. Spoiler Day 1 (Sat): Landed in Zurich; train to Lucerne - took a nap, hit Rathaus Brewery, walked around town (very charming), then went to Hotel Montana bar on the top of the hill and drank. Hotel Montana was very charming and overlooked the lake and town with Mountain views. Day 2 (Sun): Lucerne - rainy day so ate a pot gummy and went to the Swiss Museum of Transport, which was amazing. The flight simulator and mirror maze were incredible. Walked around the lake, got more beers. If it had been sunny, we would have done a boat cruise or Mt. Pilatus. Day 3 (Mon): Train from Lucerne to Interlaken - got in in afternoon and took train up to Lauterbrunnen, then gondola to Grutschalp, then hiked to Murren and got beers there on the side of a cliff at some hotel (maybe hotel Edelweiss or hotel Eiger), then hiked all the way down to Stechelberg. We got dinner at a beer hall in Interlaken called Husi Bierhaud that was surprisingly inexpensive. In general, Switzerland is very spendy so we bought stuff at the grocery store and made sandwiches for lunch every day and had yogurt for breakfast. Swiss food isn't that good so don't bother spending a ton of money for it. It's not like French or Italian. Day 4 (Tues): Train to Wengen then went on long, steep hike up to Kleine Schedigg. Got beers and apple streudel and then hiked to Mannlichen. Definitely do the hike from Kleine Schedigg to Mannlichen - it's only 1.5 hours and it's insanely gorgeous. Then take the gondola back down to Wengen. Go swim in the Wengen pool and relax. The pool is public and the fee is only 3 franks. Day 5 (Weds): Train to Grindewald, then took really long and steep hike to Bort. Ate lunch and took the Gondola from Bort to First, then hiked from First to Bachalpsee (Lake Bachalp) and went swimming. Hiked back to First and rented mountain bikes and rode them all the way down to Interlaken. Three hours but downhill the whole way - it was incredible. Highly recommend. Day 6 (Thurs): Train to Brienz. Ate a gummy and spent the whole day chilling in the sun and swimming in the lake. The lake is the color of opaque blue gatorade. There are community lounge chairs that you can take to your spot of choice. We found this spot about a 10 minute walk to the west of the train station. It was great for chilling, drinking beer, and diving in when we got too hot. Day 7 (Friday): Went back to Brienz and did the half day version of Thursday, then took the boat back to Interlaken. Then went up to Murren (see day 3 for route) and crushed liters. Day 8 (Saturday): Took the train to Zurich and got in around 11. Spent the afternoon at the Enge Seebad where we drank and swam. The girls were super hot and the water was amazing. Had beers there too. Then did dinner in old town Zurich which was really cool. This is the Seebad... Day 9 (Sunday): Flew home Couple of thoughts: - We got really lucky with weather. I talked to people who had shitty weather and never saw the mountains. Check out the averages when determining the amount of time to spend in the mountains - part of the reason we stayed so long there is because we thought we might get rained out a few days and would need the longer window to ensure we saw stuff. - I wish I had stayed in Wengen, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, or Grindewald (in that order), but Interlaken was fine. There won't be as much going on at night but you'll probably be tired from a long day of hiking/drinking and won't need any nightlife. - The one advantage to staying in Interlaken is that it made the trip to Brienz super easy. Staying in Wengen would just add 30 minutes to the trip. - Brienz was a super nice surprise. None of the tourist books mention it but it was close to our favorite place. There are mini pier-like things that we chilled on. There are free sun chairs so we just had our own little picnic party out there and jumped in every time it got too hot. - You could do fewer days in the mountains but you might miss out if the weather is bad when you're there. Personally, I loved just chilling there and soaking it all up and not really having an itinerary. Just hanging out in the presence of those mountains is incredible. - If you do want to go elsewhere, look at Lugano and Locarno, which are in Southern Switzerland near Italy. It's like Switzerland's Lake Como. If I recall correctly, the train from Interlaken would have taken forever, but you could rent a car and drive it in 2 hours. Then it's just a 2 hour train back to Zurich. - price out the trains before getting the jungfrau pass. I think we would have had to have spent $50+ per day on trains to make it worth it and we didn’t spend that much. Some of the hikes we did would have been $50 train rides if we didn’t hike. - Check out the Rick Steeve's youtube video on the Jungfrau region. - Here's the map of the area: http://bbqboy.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Jungfrau-Grindelwald-region-summer-map1.jpg
Going to Florence later this year, but did do Rome last year. For me, it is one of the top cities I’ve visited. Big city, but just doesn’t have that big city feel you’d fine in a Paris. My recommendation is to try and live like a local. We got an Airbnb a block away from Campo de Fiori and it was perfect for walking around. There was a joggers path right along the river that we used as well. We hit the major touristy areas, but avoided the tourist trap restaurants. Our Airbnb host had some great recommendations, but we found great food/wine by walking away from the crowds and stumbling into the more local scene. We ate at Da Pancrazio which was very good. They also claim Caeser was murdered there which was neat.
Couple buddies and I are planning a San Francisco > Yosemite > Lake Tahoe > San Francisco trip for late-August/early-September. Been combing this thread/TMB for ideas, but anyone have any "can't miss" recs for any/all stops? We're all guys in our mid-20's, no GFs or wives coming #blessed. Going to rent a car in SF, so we'll have wheels for the entire trip. TIA
I have not been other than 1 day in Rome. Sorry for lack of edits. The blocked TMB at work and it seems like I have 0 free time at home right now
I haven't been to Cinque Terre (or anywhere else in Italy for that matter) since 1999 when I was a college backpacker so I hate to give recommendations. It sounds like it's much more touristy and well known than when I was there (we stayed the night in Manarola in what was the only place renting rooms at that time; now I think there are dozens). So I guess the only point of this post is to say, "Look at me I was there before it was cool." Also to point out that I'm old.
Same. I studied abroad in Italy and went there several times in college but my priorities were very different. I can recommend a good pub crawl and some American bars where 19-20 year olds rip jello shots, but I have no perspectives that would be useful to grownups.
Both. Definitely planning to spend some time in the valley, but we're looking at staying in a cabin up near May Lake. Mariposa Grove and Tuolumne Meadows are on the early agenda, but I still need to do some research on specific trails and what not. None of us are "advanced" backpackers/campers/hikers, but we've all done trails before and are generally athletic. We're tentatively looking at 2.5 days in the park, so trying to pack as much in as possible.
It could just be because it was my first experience on a non-budget European airline (previously flew Wow and IcelandAir), but Lufthansa was amazing for getting to Rome. We were in standard economy Denver to Frankfurt and I was very comfortable in my seat with plenty of leg space, and I'm just under 6'1". Both dinner and breakfast were pretty decent for airline meals, and they weren't stingy at all with the free drinks, topping off wine several times and serving up mixed drinks or even after dinner cocktails. This was way beyond what I've experienced on United long hauls. They even included alcoholic drinks with the free service on our Frankfurt to Rome leg which was a surprise. 10/10 will fly again
There are so many great international airlines that service the us. Had some good international flights on us airlines too. Probably the oldest plane I've ever been on was the 15 hours from Houston to Beijing on air China but I was so fucked up it didn't really matter
looks like we are nixing Costa Rica, since the rainy season is in June, and doing Paris and Sicily (Taormina) trip instead
This is a pretty cool article on a Toronto man who walked across Africa for two years. Offers a different perspective from the traditional on vacation in Africa stories you see. https://www.thestar.com/news/insigh...-and-kayaked-across-africa-for-two-years.html
Got back from Boulders Resort north of Scottsdale from a 3 night stay with the wife, sans baby. Was an AWESOME place. Rooms are 'Casitas' that are little duplexes basically sprinkled around the desert, short walk to the lodge or the spa which had the main pools, or the bellhops drive you around with golf carts. Had real wood burning fireplaces in the rooms, they will bring you a load of pinion wood to burn daily, so wife and I did that each night. Had a bobcat and coyote both right outside our door one night in the middle of the night, to give you an idea of how close to nature you are. here are a few pics during the trip, can answer more Q's if interested Spoiler lookout point with the pool/lodge on the left, views of the golf course in the background main lodge pool Spa pool room w/ fireplace and yes, the notebook on TV. no qualms
Taking the wife on an impromptu trip to San Francisco this weekend. Staying at the Kimpton Buchanan. The plan is to hike and eat seafood. I figure we'll land Friday morning, grab lunch and go to Marin Headlands, then hike somewhere that direction. Bought parking reservations for Muir Woods on Saturday. Fly home at 2pm Sunday. We'll do Sotto Mare one night and then play it by ear for the rest. I think we'll grab lunch at New England Lobster Co in Burlingame before returning the rental car. Looking forward to it. And then I fly back to SFO for work on Wednesday and then have brewery-hopping planned with a couple of work friends Friday night and all day Saturday before catching a redeye home Saturday night
dahldennsull not surprised to hear about coyote/bobcat. More surprised to hear you didn't see any rattlers up there...
Have been to Portland a few times for short work trips, but after a year I still haven't really explored the city. Heading down there Friday after work for a weekend.
my ears were definitely perked up when I was hiking around the boulders and out on our patio. Never heard one though
not always stayed at the Kimpton Sir Francis Drake the room was relatively meh and the smallest bathroom ever. but my stay at the kimpton Nine Zero in Boston and it was great
We had family members stay in a Kimpton in DC for our wedding and they got a bag of meth as their welcome gift
Thinking of booking a trip in May for 3-4 days, including one in Bend. Need to start monitoring flights from SNA or Long Beach soon.
I want to check out Bend really bad. It'll be my next Oregon destination. I don't know about SNA or Long Beach, but I routinely see sub-$200 RT flights from Seattle to LAX/San Diego/San Francisco airports
TO: Amsterdam (AMS) Barcelona (BCN) Lyon (LYS) Madrid (MAD) Malaga (AGP) Milan (MXP) Nice (NCE) Paris (CDG) Rome (FCO) FROM: Atlanta (ATL) - $401 Baltimore (BWI) - $462 Boston (BOS) - $414 Charlotte (CLT) - $400 Detroit (DTW) - $402 Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) - $402 Hartford (BDL) - $402 Miami (MIA) - $402 Minneapolis (MSP) - $402 Newark (EWR) - $419* Orlando (MCO) - $402 Philadelphia (PHL) - $402 Pittsburgh (PIT) - $402 Raleigh (RDU) - $402 Tampa (TPA) - $402 Washington DC (DCA) - $403 Washington DC (IAD) - $403 * - nonstop WHEN: Varies by route. Mostly May through June 2018 but some cities have availability from September through October as well.
Checked into this. Found Charlotte to Madrid for $508 but you have to fly to La Guardia, leave the airport and travel to JFK, then proceed from there :/
TO: Brussels (BRU) Vienna (VIE) Zurich (ZRH) FROM: Baltimore (BWI) - $490 Boston (BOS) - $471 Burbank (BUR) - $505 Charlotte (CLT) - $514 Destin (VPS) - $495 Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) - $486 Hartford (BDL) - $495 Houston (IAH) - $499 Jacksonville (JAX) - $490 Long Beach (LGB) - $532 Los Angeles (LAX) - $490 Miami (MIA) - $482 Minneapolis (MSP) - $493 New York City (JFK) - $392 * New York City (LGA) - $409 Newark (EWR) - $395 * Ontario (ONT) - $516 Orange County (SNA) - $504 Orlando (MCO) - $475 Pensacola (PNS) - $490 Pittsburgh (PIT) - $476 Raleigh (RDU) - $476 Richmond (RIC) - $495 Sarasota (SRQ) - $514 Seattle (SEA) - $539 Tallahassee (TLH) - $490 Tampa (TPA) - $490 Washington DC (DCA) - $490 Washington DC (IAD) - $490 * - nonstop WHEN: Varies by origin. Generally April through early June 2018.
Im very poor. High Limit blackjack can do that to anyone and I have zero Vacation time due to my trip to Europe this past December.
Folks we've got a poor in here. What are you doing later, going to a fast food restaurant then showering with Irish Spring?