So, I was messing around with a trip out to Albuquerque for the Hot Air Balloon Festival and checked the Marriott hotels using the General Dynamics code. Great pricing and plenty of availability. I click on it to see what kinds of rooms are available and there was a little note that kind of stopped me in my tracks- "General Dynamics rate, 5.5 miles to office, includes breakfast, wired high-speed internet, wireless internet, self parking." I've used the code a few other times and it's saved me around $250 already and have never been asked for any sort of GD identification. Not sure if this might be flying too close to the sun.
I booked my flight and hotels for Japan for November/December. Itinerary is 5 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Kyoto and 5 in Osaka. We plan on doing day trips to various cities. Anyone who has been - would I be better of with a rail pass or buying a la carte?
Come on over to Indianola There’s a super 8 with your name on in a similar distance from the balloon field.
Random/Stupid question: Flying out of Los Angeles, want to bring my vape pen and current cartridge.. should i keep it in my carry on or check-on bag? My pen is a stizzy, looks like a jewel somewhat also, i'm going to amsterdam first. So i feel I shouldn't even bother.
Well you can’t put E Cigs in checked so you have to carry it on. I’ve flown with mine probably 100 times. Just keep it unscrewed and out of immediate sight.
I did a very similar trip and a la carte was cheaper. I think the rail pass only works better if you are taking trains between cities almost daily as it gets more expensive the longer its good for. I would reconsider 5 days in Osaka though unless for some reason you know someone there. That was my least favorite place and thats a lot of time there.
that's what my roommate said. to just have it on the carry on. i'm in amsterdam for the day, but in france and london.. would be nice to have
I live in Denver and know about 10 people who have done this successfully. But I will take your word for it. I myself don't transfer cartridges, but if I was transferring edibles, I'd check them
I’m primarily going on this trip to eat and Osaka is supposed to have the best food scene in Japan. We have some flexibility, though, so I’ll keep that in mind. What would you do with an extra day if i were to do four nights in Osaka?
I was excited for the same reason about Osaka and just didn’t find anything mindblowing. I tend to wing it more though and maybe would have had better luck with more research. I’d look at hitting a mountain town a night or two. I think Takayama is good for 2 nights. Hakone is another town that is more convenient on the way back to Tokyo, but less to do and one night is enough. Food experience wise, Takayama is known for its beef and beef sushi. Staying in a Ryoken is a pretty cool experience as well and you could hit up an Onsen.
I have carried on any drugs be it edibles or pens, but only on domestic flights. I am not risking taking something overseas
Our last night in Paris the wife and I ditched the kids and went on a Seine cruise from Pont Neuf. Cool to see the city from a slightly different perspective. Went by the Eiffel Tower just as it was starting its sparkle show
Siem Reap, Hanoi and tonight arrived in Phong Nha. Three days here then Hue and Da Lat It was 104 and you could cut the air with a knife in Siem Reap the day we visited Angkor. Thankfully we went for sunrise or I’d have died. High 70’s our whole time in Hanoi though. Just beautiful
This is a good one.... (NYC to St Petersburg Russia for $405) https://www.secretflying.com/posts/new-york-to-st-petersburg-russia-for-only-423-roundtrip/ As is this one... (Baltimore to Beijing for $503) https://www.secretflying.com/posts/baltimore-beijing-china-503-roundtrip/ ETA: This one... Chicago to Nairobi for under $600 (This is similar to the deal I used for my big Africa trip in the fall. Write up is itt if you missed it) https://www.secretflying.com/posts/chicago-nairobi-kenya-591-roundtrip/
Fran Tarkenton has a great write-up on London. In the search, just write "Shoreditch" and use his name and you'll find it. 2 random things about London that is worth noting: imo they have better Chinese, and better Indian food than we have in the states. I also think their pizza is very good -- I still think Pizza Express is awesome. Paris -- check out the Latin Quarter if you have a nice afternoon off. Grab a drink or coffee at a sidewalk cafe and enjoy. You're also doing yourself a disservice if you don't go to Versailles, my favorite site in Paris. Musée d-Orsay I like better than the Louvre, but when you go to the Louvre, buy your ticket in advance to skip the outrageous line.
times a million. If you put your vape battery in a checked bag it will be found and I am guessing so will the cartridges with it vape pen batteries have to be in a pressurized environment or else I believe they are at risk of exploding. So you are not allowed to check them. And I can't imagine having cartridges below the plane is good for them either, they would almost certainly leak just put everything in your carry-on/backpack and unscrew the cart from the battery and mix it in with some other items. I (and all my friends) fly with a weed pen and THC cartridges everywhere and have never had an issue. They would have to test the carts to see if they contain THC and they don't want to take the time to do that. They're looking for bombs.... Which the vape pen essentially becomes when it is checked ha
Shoreditch is a great part of London, lived right near there when I was studying abroad. Good mix of classic pubs in nearby areas and Shoreditch itself was on the “trendier” side or at least was 9 years ago.
My hotel is a block from the Louvre, so Ill go to that. need to buy my ticket in advance, for sure. Want to see Versailles, and heard of going to a could sections (forgot what they're called), and boss' husband recommended one because It has the best jewish deli
Go to the Louvre in the evening one of the nights it’s open late, we didn’t stand in line at all on a Wednesday night I think. Versailles get there early, line starts getting long later in the morning
My reaction to the Mona Lisa was “why isn’t everyone turning around and looking at this big ass painting on this wall”
Versailles is worth it for the gardens alone. They’re huge and you can easily spent 3 hours in there. TBH, if I were to do it again, I would skip the palace itself and just go to the gardens. The palace is grand obviously but the huge line (even if you bought an online ticket) + it being extremely packed inside kind of ruins it.
Go early and you miss some of the crowds; get the Museum Pass and avoid the ticket line even though you still have to go through the security line. Versailles was designed to be overwhelming, and it is. It's the gold standard of opulent summer palaces, and worth seeing for that, but after a while it just gets to be Too Much. I thought the gardens were large but not particularly colorful - maybe we went at the wrong time of year (early June) or we just didn't make it to the colorful part, but what we saw was just a lot of hedges when we went out to have our picnic lunch. Schonnbrunn's gardens have more of an explosion of color and Petro Dvortez' exterior and gardens have interesting fountains and lots of gold statues, and I think both are better on the outside than Versailles, if not as grand. Concur with whoever said to hit the Louvre on the evening that it's open late. Think I've said it before here, but we walked right in, no lines. Orsay does the same thing, but the one evening we tried they turned out to be closed for a special event. We went with three teenage boys, so climbing the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower were good ways to expend some young energy. They also seemed interested in Les Invalides for the military exhibits, less so in the Rodin Museum with thinkers and lovers.
Afrikaburn was one of the craziest, most intense experiences of my entire life. Really hard to even put into words. But absolutely amazing. Still need time to digest, slept 11 hours last night. But 101% would do again. Cold keg beer was an absolute hit. All the art installations basically turn into DJ stages at night. Spoiler
We also had the Cascadia flag flying on top. The sandstorms were fucking crazy and shredded all the flags
At the whole burn, everywhere. We had 33 people in our camp: -13 brazilians -British -Dutch -German -US/Canada -South Africa -Aussie -South Korea -Swiss
Anyone who has done angkor, do I need to book anything in advance or can the hotel line up a tuk tuk for me if I arrive at 11pm the day before?
No need to prebook. Our hotel arranged everything for us the day before. We got a private tour guide for the day, with an air conditioned car and I think it was like $35 so might look into that over just a tuk tuk. It can get pretty oppressively hot that it may be worth having the AC, plus the private tour guide helps you get a lot more info and you can go at your own pace.
A few, but not many at all. I would guess the majority was South African, lots of locals. But incredibly diverse. Still don't feel normal, don't think I will for a week at least.
I do not fucking understand how high speed internet is still so hard to come by in certain areas. It is virtually impossible on planes, I couldn't do shit on Emirates. I'm in the Dubai airport--one of the most technologically advanced airports in the world--and can't find a strong wifi connection to send/receive emails consistently. I would pay a large sum of money right now for fast internet. There is a market for it, how the fuck has someone not figured this out? Maybe I'm just naive to the logistics of internet capability outside of the US/in the air. /rant On another note, very underwhelmed with Emirates. It hasn't been "bad," but isn't any different from other international carriers. And their food is awful.
Question here. My brother is Global Services for United and has gotten bumped to Emirates out of Dubai. They aren't a Star Alliance partner, but he's gotten bumped to them due to United issues. Were you sitting in their true first class? I ask because my brother said it shit on everything not Luthansa.