Where did you go on vacation this summer?

[KeithTalent]

Considering you've been rich and spoiled for what seems all your life, you probably wouldn't understand what it is like not having everything you want at any point in time.

Again, as someone who is direly poor: I'll go for techno items because they serve me a great deal of use. What I'll remember over any vacation when I look back on my life is how miserable I was because I wasn't able to afford so many things that I wanted/needed that could easily have fueled better memories than some stupid vacation.

I grew up in poverty and I still look back on the places I've visited and things I've seen far more fondly than any object I owned. Stuff breaks or becomes obsolete very quickly these days, while nobody can take your memories from you, unless you get Alzheimer's or a lobotomy or something.

Of course everyone is different, some people just want stuff and are not enriched by exploring other places and cultures, and that's fine, but being poor seems like a strange reason to make that choice and I say this as someone who was formerly very poor.

KT

 

[IndyColtsFan]

my first trip out of the country was when i was 23, and i wish i had started earlier. granted it would have been harder since i was making much less money, but i still could have swung it.

i went to cancun this past january and one of my friends who went with me is like 35 and he had never traveled out of the country (and him being deployed to iraq doesnt count).

he mentioned quite a few times that after experiencing it he really wishes that he started doing that much earlier in life. he's now going back to aruba with us next year when we go with a group of people.

My wife had never been to Europe and her dream since she was a little girl was to go to France. So, for our honeymoon, we spent a week in France and a little more than a week in Italy. As much as I enjoyed the trip, I think my favorite part about it was helping her realize a dream she had since her childhood. :thumbsup:

 

[purbeast0]

Except that I hate camping and my apartment doesn't give me discounts because I am gone for a few days (Flat rate for everything)... I don't have AC and I already live on cheap food. woo...

lol no shit your apartment doesnt give you "discounts" when you leave for a few days. what the fuck ... do people really think that is even a possibility?

"oh i'm going on vacation this month for 2 weeks I'm just going to pay 1/2 my mortgage this month."

 

[ViviTheMage]

I grew up in poverty and I still look back on the places I've visited and things I've seen far more fondly than any object I owned. Stuff breaks or becomes obsolete very quickly these days, while nobody can take your memories from you, unless you get Alzheimer's or a lobotomy or something.

Of course everyone is different, some people just want stuff and are not enriched by exploring other places and cultures, and that's fine, but being poor seems like a strange reason to make that choice and I say this as someone who was formerly very poor.

KT

That and people are just not that adventurous. I cannot seem to find anyone that wants to travel anymore

 

[LookBehindYou]

I grew up in poverty and I still look back on the places I've visited and things I've seen far more fondly than any object I owned. Stuff breaks or becomes obsolete very quickly these days, while nobody can take your memories from you, unless you get Alzheimer's or a lobotomy or something.

Of course everyone is different, some people just want stuff and are not enriched by exploring other places and cultures, and that's fine, but being poor seems like a strange reason to make that choice and I say this as someone who was formerly very poor.

KT

I agree. I took my first vacation with the family to disneyworld this summer. Been married for 11 years, and this was the first one. We're going to the smokies in the next month or so.

I have always been one to buy something I could hold and keep over a vacation, and absolutely regret it. I almost did that again, it was a choice of a complete home theater system overhaul (could've got a nice one with a 5k budget) or vacation. I chose vacation and I honestly wish I would've been choosing vacation over the tvs, computers, video games and other bullshit. The memories will be far more important and enjoyable than anything you can buy.

Even if it's the choice of a video game or a day or two day trip sleeping in a tent or cabin, I will start choosing the trip a lot more often.

Things are nice, but the memories are nicer.

 

[TridenT]

That and people are just not that adventurous. I cannot seem to find anyone that wants to travel anymore

What you talking about? Everyone goes to Azeroth!

 

[purbeast0]

My wife had never been out of the country and her dream since she was a little girl was to go to France. So, for our honeymoon, we spent a week in France and a little more than a week in Italy. As much as I enjoyed the trip, I think my favorite part about it was helping her realize a dream she had since her childhood. :thumbsup:

yea i told my wife (girlfriend at the time) when i graduated college that i wanted to go out of the country and see clear blue water in the ocean because i had never experienced it. i wanted to go snorkelling and all that jazz. only beaches i was used to were MD or DE beaches, and NC or SC beaches, which aren't clear at all.

and less than a year after i graduated, i was on my way to aruba with her.

to this day, i still go through my pictures from that trip. i take SSSOOOO many pictures on my trips, like ridiculously amounts, because it's all digital and virtually unlimited. it's awesome though because i look through my pics and pretty much relive my trip again.

that may sound cheesy and maybe hard to fully explain for me, but nothing compares to when i look at the pictures and relive my trips. but it does make me shake my head and think "fuck i want to go back there now..." and then i realize that isn't going to happen and get sad lol.

but that is also what drives me to set up my future trips as well and gives me things to look forward to.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

nowhere since ACL in austin, playa del carmen and saint croix at the end of LAST year

baby FTL

 

[ViviTheMage]

yea i told my wife (girlfriend at the time) when i graduated college that i wanted to go out of the country and see clear blue water in the ocean because i had never experienced it. i wanted to go snorkelling and all that jazz. only beaches i was used to were MD or DE beaches, and NC or SC beaches, which aren't clear at all.

and less than a year after i graduated, i was on my way to aruba with her.

to this day, i still go through my pictures from that trip. i take SSSOOOO many pictures on my trips, like ridiculously amounts, because it's all digital and virtually unlimited. it's awesome though because i look through my pics and pretty much relive my trip again.

that may sound cheesy and maybe hard to fully explain for me, but nothing compares to when i look at the pictures and relive my trips. but it does make me shake my head and think "fuck i want to go back there now..." and then i realize that isn't going to happen and get sad lol.

but that is also what drives me to set up my future trips as well and gives me things to look forward to.

Exactly what I do too...videos are much better now too, love watching them ... even if it's just walking down the center of a small German city.

 

[blackdogdeek]

1 week in acadia national park
1 week on captiva island, fl

both awesome but for very different reasons. acadia is beautiful, obviously, but a very active vacation involving swimming, kayaking and hiking. captiva island is beautiful as well but because it's all calm beach area made for all out relaxation.

the biggest problem was that there were mosquitos in both and the ones in captiva were absolutely ruthless.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

On vacation right now with the wife and dog in a cabin on a mountainside in N. Georgia, a trip we make once a year to chill and enjoy nature. We love it here and plan on retiring in the area eventually.

 

[KeithTalent]

I agree. I took my first vacation with the family to disneyworld this summer. Been married for 11 years, and this was the first one. We're going to the smokies in the next month or so.

I have always been one to buy something I could hold and keep over a vacation, and absolutely regret it. I almost did that again, it was a choice of a complete home theater system overhaul (could've got a nice one with a 5k budget) or vacation. I chose vacation and I honestly wish I would've been choosing vacation over the tvs, computers, video games and other bullshit. The memories will be far more important and enjoyable than anything you can buy.

Even if it's the choice of a video game or a day or two day trip sleeping in a tent or cabin, I will start choosing the trip a lot more often.

Things are nice, but the memories are nicer.

:thumbsup: Agreed.

Even when I was first married and we were struggling through on one salary, while the other was in school, the road trips and short vacations to affordable places are what have stuck with me and what I can still remember fondly.

KT

 

[RbSX]

:thumbsup: Agreed.

Even when I was first married and we were struggling through on one salary, while the other was in school, the road trips and short vacations to affordable places are what have stuck with me and what I can still remember fondly.

KT

Yeah the best ones are the ones you can barely afford.

I remember when my ex and I basically were living off of my meager salary, but I happened to find an awesome deal for the Chateau Whistler for the weekend of her birthday. Only $100/night for a fairmont deluxe room. Shit it was a stretch, but it made it that much more fun.

 

[Blackjack200]

Studies show that you are wrong. Rich or poor, people who took vacations are measurably happier at the end of their life than those who didn't. Matierial possessions simply don't bring much happiness. You get a new techno item and are happy for a very short period then it fades right back to where you were before (miserable in your case). Vacation happiness never fades.

I don't remember it suggesting anything like that, but I did indeed read a study that concluded that people that spent money on "experiences" were signifigantly happier than people who spent money on material things.

I'm not sure why, but that study jolted me a bit, and even though I was never all that materialistic before, I made an extra effort to eschew material things and focus on "experiences".

Example: I'm about to buy a 10 year old Toyota Corolla for my DD, but in the last year I've gone to Abequerque, The Grand Canyon, Tennessee, Peru, NYC, and I'll be flying to Dublin in October, and maybe Vegas in November.

I'm lucky to have a good job and be able to afford all this, but even if I made much less, I would scale down other things (small apt. vs. a house, get rid of cable TV, etc.) before I spent less money on experiences.

I think it's really made a huge difference in my happines.

 

[Exterous]

This.

The wife and I aren't going on a big vacation this year (we've been on several the past few years), but we hope to go back to Europe next year. I'd choose a vacation to a nice destination over more computer stuff any day of the year. You're not going to remember your 2011 laptop model and configuration in 20 years, but you'll probably remember the trip to France or Italy with your wife.

:thumbsup: Course our biggest issue is that we don't really have interest in going to 'near by' places so we will do a big trip every other year (or as money allows)

first time out of the states for me was when I went to Europe with just my GF when I was 18 ...paid for it myself as well, 3 weeks...was pretty awesome.

I did a 4 week trek across Europe the year between High School and College that I paid for 95% on my own. It was an amazing time and I met several amazing people. It helps if you are a savvy shopper to. You can find some great travel deals if you are patient. We are taking our 'free' cruise next month (<- savage abuse of CC sign up bonuses and finding cheap travel deals)

That and people are just not that adventurous. I cannot seem to find anyone that wants to travel anymore

I am very fortunate that my wife and I are great travel partners. We share the same sight-seeing interests

 

[Exterous]

While not over the summer we went to Ireland in the Spring:

We'll be taking our Carribean cruise in about 23 days

 

[Capt Caveman]

Trident just prefers material things moreso than reality interactions. Not that it's wrong or anything, but I suppose that's his life. Let him indulge in his stuff.

It's b/c he has no friends and no life. If he did, he wouldn't be such a loser and be interesting in experiencing the world and interacting with people.

Things I want to do before I die include traveling to places around the world, experiencing new cultures and food, not owning a new laptop.

 

[Capt Caveman]

1 week in acadia national park
1 week on captiva island, fl

both awesome but for very different reasons. acadia is beautiful, obviously, but a very active vacation involving swimming, kayaking and hiking. captiva island is beautiful as well but because it's all calm beach area made for all out relaxation.

the biggest problem was that there were mosquitos in both and the ones in captiva were absolutely ruthless.

Plan to go up and spend time with friends near Belfast before visiting Bar Harbor and Acadia next month.

 

[dullard]

While not over the summer we went to Ireland in the Spring:

Ireland is my next international stop. What areas did you like best?

 

[secretanchitman]

las vegas! my brother, dad, and i stayed in the aria and it was very nice.

le reve is definitely a show that everyone must watch when they go. easily worth the money.

 

[Cookie]

This summer...

Went to Orlando, FL in June for 8 days and drove from there with a friend to Louisville, KY then back a couple days later.

Drove to 3 day family reunion west of Edmonton, AB.

11 day road trip from Calgary, AB through Banff to Vancouver, BC through Jasper to northern AB, then back to Calgary.

6 days in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania.

 

[Exterous]

Ireland is my next international stop. What areas did you like best?

The west coast of Ireland was amazing. Doolin is a great little sea side town and - if the weather is good - generally where you would go to take a sea trip past the cliffs of Moher. Dingle and the Slea Head drive had some absolutely breathtaking views plus the town itself had some great food and entertainment. I would recommend this drive over the Ring of Kerry if you end up on this side of the country

Dingle and Doolin were our two favorite places. Conner's pass - on the road between them - was also amazing. I would recommend - depending on time - renting a car and taking the longer, more scenic routes on occasion.

We didn't make it to the Wicklow mountains and opted for a second day in Dublin. This was about the only mistake we made on the trip as Dublin is really a 1 to 1.5 day visit. If you go to Dublin I would recommend the 'Hop on Hop off tour' as a good way to see the city. We were able to get tickets at our hotel cheaper than online or directly through the company that offers the tour

Of all the countries we've been to we liked Ireland the best so far. People were effing phenomenal!

If you want more specifics let me know!

 

[pontifex]

whats a vacation?

 

[vi edit]

Rented a house on a crystal clear lake in Northern Michigan. We were about 30 minutes east of Traverse City. Made it over to Sleeping Bear Dunes one day. Awesome experience.

Here's the lake in the morning:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e46bb480e134a82a#cid=E46BB480E134A82A&id=E46BB480E134A82A%21855

Later in the day:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e46bb480e134a82a#cid=E46BB480E134A82A&id=E46BB480E134A82A!859

Some shots of Sleeping Bear Dunes:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e46bb480e134a82a#cid=E46BB480E134A82A&id=E46BB480E134A82A!856

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e46bb480e134a82a#cid=E46BB480E134A82A&id=E46BB480E134A82A!857

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e46bb480e134a82a#cid=E46BB480E134A82A&id=E46BB480E134A82A!858

 

[skyking]

Nice pics, everybody
No big vacation this year or last, really. We have been camping many times but most of it close and short duration. We may head down to California in October for a week or two.