Travel Subforum?

[Hugrad95]

Is there a sub forum for travel I know a few of us BOTL live for traveling and exploring the world and smoking.

Countries I have been to: Japan, Germany, UK, Canada, France, Spain, Australia, China, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Jamaica.
One of the great things about going out of the Country is the ability to legally smoke a few cubans. Best Cigar shop I visited was the Havana Club in Cologne Germany.

 

[orangedog]

no subforum but its a great idea. there are a handful of road warriors on the site. some more road than others, in literal terms.

there are a couple of travel forums out there and I think they are messy... but a subforum under "other interests" where we can post up photos and experiences would be cool. or maybe a subforum under "meetups"?

 

[mdwest]

Ive done a wee bit of traveling over the years..

Im sure Ill leave a couple off... but here's a list off the top of my head (looking at an alphabetical list of countries of the world..)..

Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, DRC, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Equador, East Timor, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jamacia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea (South), Kuwait, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mexico, Moldovia, Nepal, Netharlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, South Sudan, Sweeden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, UK, Venezuela, Vatican...

Ive got more air miles and hotel points than a BOTL could ever spend lol... (it helps when someone else is picking up the tab for about 90% of the trips listed...)


Sadly, I havent seen as much of the US as I would like... only been in about half the states... big gaps in the northwest and northeast both....

 

[bballbaby]

Wow. Looks like someone works for Uncle Sam but isn't allowed to say so.

 

[zama80]

Dave wins!

 

[bdc30]

One of the great things about going out of the Country is the ability to legally smoke a few cubans.

Not to be a huge nit, but just so you're aware, because Cubans are legal in whatever country you're in doesn't mean it's "legal" for you to smoke them.

http://cigars.about.com/od/cubantradeembargo/qt/0062002a.htm

Cuban Cigars Are Illegal at Home and Abroad
Technically, although an American citizen cannot even purchase or smoke a Cuban cigar while traveling abroad, there may not be any practical way to enforce the restriction.

 

[bryan122]

I'm traveling from the US to the Caribbean this February and was intending to bring some cigars with me. Is that legal? Can I throw my travel humidor in my checked bag and take a few with or is it best to just buy when I get there? Thanks!

 

[mdwest]

Wow. Looks like someone works for Uncle Sam but isn't allowed to say so.

lol... Ive actually never been directly on the US federal payroll.. other than the time I spent as a soldier.. a little bit of that travel was conducted in a set of BDU's..

a good chunk of the travel was in support of the fed govt in one way or another though.. (contract work)..

most of it was when I worked for another international organization

 

[orangedog]

Ive done a wee bit of traveling over the years..

Im sure Ill leave a couple off... but here's a list off the top of my head (looking at an alphabetical list of countries of the world..)..

Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, DRC, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Equador, East Timor, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jamacia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea (South), Kuwait, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mexico, Moldovia, Nepal, Netharlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, South Sudan, Sweeden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, UK, Venezuela, Vatican...

Ive got more air miles and hotel points than a BOTL could ever spend lol... (it helps when someone else is picking up the tab for about 90% of the trips listed...)


Sadly, I havent seen as much of the US as I would like... only been in about half the states... big gaps in the northwest and northeast both....

Nice list! Please tell me you have a world map hanging in your home with little pins stuck in everywhere you've been. That would be a cool visual.

So... to save me a bit of google time... any tips/resources you can recommend for someone who has done 95% domestic travel but is looking at a fair bit of international in 2013? Looking at Hong Kong, France, Spain, Switzerland, etc.

 

[LigaPrivadaFanboy]

My corp travel list is a LOT shorter than most here, but each trip on someone else's dime is awesome!

Japan, Singapore (soon 3x there), Thailand, Spain, Vancouver, B.C. In 2013 I expect to add England, Scotland and Estonia to the list. Maybe Czech Republic if the cards are right, as well as Japan again.

 

[bballbaby]

I'l add my short list...Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Pureto Rico, Afghanistan, France, Germany, England, UAE (Dubai)

Jamaica is my favorite vacation spot but Dubai with my wife was absolutely amazing.

Toronto is way cool too.

 

[mdwest]

France - Paris is very nice.. but extremely expensive... Lots to see and do there.. if youre willing to leave Paris and head to somewhere like Tolouse, Strausbourg, etc.. its a whole lot more affordable... Charles De Gaulle Airport SUCKS.. I probably hate that airport worse than any other I used to frequent (although they have improved it quite a bit in recent years...)

Spain - Barcelona over Madrid (in my opinion).. very affordable.. and a whole lot of fun.. great food.. fun people.. of the places you list, this would be tops on my list..

Switzerland - Ive only spent time in Davos.. I passed through Zurich, but wouldnt call less than 24 hours there much of a "trip"... Davos is incredible.. but very expensive and very exclusive.. and not a whole lot to do there once youve seen the town..

Hong Kong - Awesome city.. great food.. great people... but I dont know if I would fly that far from the states for tourism... If I were already in the area.. or combining it with visits to other locations.. it would definitely be on the short list.. but for me, I can see just about everything I want to see in a city in 2-4 days.. after that, I am bored.. Hong Kong = a ton of time in a crowded airplane for 48 hours of fun and excitement..

The cool thing (for me) about Europe (as opposed to Hong Kong) is the train system... you can land in Madrid.. spend 2 days.. then hop on a train and be in Barcelona in a couple of hours.. spend 2 days there.. and then hop on a train and be in Lisbon (or Paris) before nightfall.. spend 2 days.. and then hop a train back to Madrid in time to catch your flight back home... all in 1 week... the trains are reasonably cheap.. in most countries/places well kept and clean.. fast.. have decent food.. etc.. and are an experience in and of themselves..(for Americans... Europeans dont seem too impressed with them)

Ive done a wee bit of traveling over the years..

Im sure Ill leave a couple off... but here's a list off the top of my head (looking at an alphabetical list of countries of the world..)..

Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, DRC, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Equador, East Timor, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jamacia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea (South), Kuwait, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mexico, Moldovia, Nepal, Netharlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, South Sudan, Sweeden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, UK, Venezuela, Vatican...

Ive got more air miles and hotel points than a BOTL could ever spend lol... (it helps when someone else is picking up the tab for about 90% of the trips listed...)


Sadly, I havent seen as much of the US as I would like... only been in about half the states... big gaps in the northwest and northeast both....

Nice list! Please tell me you have a world map hanging in your home with little pins stuck in everywhere you've been. That would be a cool visual.

So... to save me a bit of google time... any tips/resources you can recommend for someone who has done 95% domestic travel but is looking at a fair bit of international in 2013? Looking at Hong Kong, France, Spain, Switzerland, etc.

 

[orangedog]

France - Paris is very nice.. but extremely expensive... Lots to see and do there.. if youre willing to leave Paris and head to somewhere like Tolouse, Strausbourg, etc.. its a whole lot more affordable... Charles De Gaulle Airport SUCKS.. I probably hate that airport worse than any other I used to frequent (although they have improved it quite a bit in recent years...)

Spain - Barcelona over Madrid (in my opinion).. very affordable.. and a whole lot of fun.. great food.. fun people.. of the places you list, this would be tops on my list..

Switzerland - Ive only spent time in Davos.. I passed through Zurich, but wouldnt call less than 24 hours there much of a "trip"... Davos is incredible.. but very expensive and very exclusive.. and not a whole lot to do there once youve seen the town..

Hong Kong - Awesome city.. great food.. great people... but I dont know if I would fly that far from the states for tourism... If I were already in the area.. or combining it with visits to other locations.. it would definitely be on the short list.. but for me, I can see just about everything I want to see in a city in 2-4 days.. after that, I am bored.. Hong Kong = a ton of time in a crowded airplane for 48 hours of fun and excitement..

The cool thing (for me) about Europe (as opposed to Hong Kong) is the train system... you can land in Madrid.. spend 2 days.. then hop on a train and be in Barcelona in a couple of hours.. spend 2 days there.. and then hop on a train and be in Lisbon (or Paris) before nightfall.. spend 2 days.. and then hop a train back to Madrid in time to catch your flight back home... all in 1 week... the trains are reasonably cheap.. in most countries/places well kept and clean.. fast.. have decent food.. etc.. and are an experience in and of themselves..(for Americans... Europeans dont seem too impressed with them)

Nice. Any logistical considerations? Not afraid to use google but short cuts are helpful.

For example, going into Hong Kong I won't need a VISA - only there for a week and no plans on visiting the rest of China. English is pretty common there, right? No need for a quick download via Rosetta Stone? France I will be spending a day or two in the countryside so have thought of getting the conversational version of Rosetta Stone (up to level 3 or 4 or something like that).

 

[mdwest]

visas not necessary for any of those locations.. just get your passport stamped when you come through the airport..

in most of the major cities (paris, madrid, zurich, hong kong, etc..) people in the hospitality industry speak decent to very good english.. you wont have a problem at the hotels, etc.. especially if you are staying with a US hotel chain (marriott, sheraton, hilton, etc..)... although Ive been in several resturants in spain and france both where the wait staff didnt speak enough english to communicate (I speak enough french to get by (barely) and have reasonable spanish.. so no big deal for me..)..

what I have used in recent years, and has worked out well for me, are the translation apps you can download on the iphone.. any time I cant get past the spoken language barrier, I can type in what I want to say into google translate (free app)... and it will spit it back out in the local language.. its not a perfect system... but if all you are trying to do is order a meal, get someone to help you out with a train schedule, figure out where the toilet is, etc.. it works fine (as long as you have an cell phone signal/internet connection)...

just dont hand anyone in madrid your phone... or youll watch your google translate app go running down the street quickly lol....

 

[LigaPrivadaFanboy]

visas not necessary for any of those locations.. just get your passport stamped when you come through the airport..

in most of the major cities (paris, madrid, zurich, hong kong, etc..) people in the hospitality industry speak decent to very good english.. you wont have a problem at the hotels, etc.. especially if you are staying with a US hotel chain (marriott, sheraton, hilton, etc..)... although Ive been in several resturants in spain and france both where the wait staff didnt speak enough english to communicate (I speak enough french to get by (barely) and have reasonable spanish.. so no big deal for me..)..

what I have used in recent years, and has worked out well for me, are the translation apps you can download on the iphone.. any time I cant get past the spoken language barrier, I can type in what I want to say into google translate (free app)... and it will spit it back out in the local language.. its not a perfect system... but if all you are trying to do is order a meal, get someone to help you out with a train schedule, figure out where the toilet is, etc.. it works fine (as long as you have an cell phone signal/internet connection)...

just dont hand anyone in madrid your phone... or youll watch your google translate app go running down the street quickly lol....

Google translate works good, just beware in Japan it will have you speaking Japanese "like a girl" which is a polite way of saying "you will sound like a fag." which is a polite way of saying "people will think you sound like a transsexual prostitute":-0

 

[LigaPrivadaFanboy]

France - Paris is very nice.. but extremely expensive... Lots to see and do there.. if youre willing to leave Paris and head to somewhere like Tolouse, Strausbourg, etc.. its a whole lot more affordable... Charles De Gaulle Airport SUCKS.. I probably hate that airport worse than any other I used to frequent (although they have improved it quite a bit in recent years...)

Spain - Barcelona over Madrid (in my opinion).. very affordable.. and a whole lot of fun.. great food.. fun people.. of the places you list, this would be tops on my list..

Switzerland - Ive only spent time in Davos.. I passed through Zurich, but wouldnt call less than 24 hours there much of a "trip"... Davos is incredible.. but very expensive and very exclusive.. and not a whole lot to do there once youve seen the town..

Hong Kong - Awesome city.. great food.. great people... but I dont know if I would fly that far from the states for tourism... If I were already in the area.. or combining it with visits to other locations.. it would definitely be on the short list.. but for me, I can see just about everything I want to see in a city in 2-4 days.. after that, I am bored.. Hong Kong = a ton of time in a crowded airplane for 48 hours of fun and excitement..

The cool thing (for me) about Europe (as opposed to Hong Kong) is the train system... you can land in Madrid.. spend 2 days.. then hop on a train and be in Barcelona in a couple of hours.. spend 2 days there.. and then hop on a train and be in Lisbon (or Paris) before nightfall.. spend 2 days.. and then hop a train back to Madrid in time to catch your flight back home... all in 1 week... the trains are reasonably cheap.. in most countries/places well kept and clean.. fast.. have decent food.. etc.. and are an experience in and of themselves..(for Americans... Europeans dont seem too impressed with them)

Nice. Any logistical considerations? Not afraid to use google but short cuts are helpful.

For example, going into Hong Kong I won't need a VISA - only there for a week and no plans on visiting the rest of China. English is pretty common there, right? No need for a quick download via Rosetta Stone? France I will be spending a day or two in the countryside so have thought of getting the conversational version of Rosetta Stone (up to level 3 or 4 or something like that).

Anyone else here find Rosetta Stone a complete ripoff? I learned more Brasilian Portugeuse from dating a Brasilian girl for 6mo than if I'd taken every available RS level. It's a good rehearsal tool for remembering stuff, but you don't learn survival phrases or real life conversation. You spend most of your time figuring out context and setting..."is the kitty-cat happy or sad?" - shit like that.

 

[mdwest]

nothing in the world quite like asking someone where the bathroom is.....

while sounding like a transexual prostitute :skew:

 

[mdwest]

agree with your assessment of Rosetta Stone...

its not bad if you want to pick up some vocabulary... or get a general understanding of grammar, etc...

but with many languages, there are so many deviations, street additions, exceptions to the "rules", etc.. that youre never going to speak "like a local" unless you learn to speak... from a local...

the way Mexicans speak spanish is totally different than the way the Argentines speak spainish.. which is totally different from the way spanish is spoken in Spain..

If you speak spanish.. you will be able to communicate in all three countries.. but you will likely use the wrong word to describe something pretty regularly... or pronounce things incorrectly... or conjugate your sentances in a way that confuses the shit out of the locals, etc..

Same thing is true of Arabic, French, etc..etc...

Watch a Saudi and a Jordanian talk to each other.. its actually pretty funny.. they have to go back and restate stuff all the time or give each other better explainations...

Hell.. get a brit, and aussie, a redneck from southern alabama, and a street kid from brooklyn all in the same room together..

Ive had some comedic gold moments when hanging out with with one of my buddies from New Zeland... Ill never forget when he told me he was frustrated about something.. and just needed to go outside and find a fag to suck on for a minute..... (he needed a cigarette)....

or my first semester in college when I told my room mate (from New Orleans) we needed to go find a couple of hoagies to eat... and he looked all shocked and confused about it for about 5 minutes (to me a hoagie was a sandwich.. to him a hoagie was what you call a dog turd thats been out in the yard so long that it has turned white)...

 

[zama80]

Okay, guess I will add my list; Japan, Hong Kong before it went pack to China, Panama before and after the canal changed hands, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, England, Spain, Korea, Honduras, Mexico, St. Maarten, Jamaica, Bahamas, Cayman Islands. And two smaller foreign cities closer to me...Miami and Key West...

 

[Cigary43]

Love to travel as my wife and I are retired and travel the world...not many places we haven't been so I won't bore you all with where. Suffice to say...travelling is its own education and we are blessed to be able to do it. We've already booked another cruise for next Nov. to Europe around the Holy Lands, Greece and other places in Italy.