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Travelling through an NZ airport as a kiwi with an epassport is pretty rad after spending a few years being a non citizen traveler in various airports around the EU and UK. Not looking forward to Heathrow on the return leg to London.
2014 will I think take me to Turkey and or Greece, Germany and Poland. I might do some other trips but my budget is a bit stretched by my current holiday, home to NZ.
the food at LAX is insanely expensive, even by airport standards
it's got nice terminals though, in my opinion
when i was there they had a guy going around with some sort of "comfort dog". like, not his own dog. just an airport dog that they were bringing around the terminal for travelers to pet
So far thanks to Thailand being cheap and airline credit card miles, i've spent like $235, which includes all my international airfare, 3 domestic flights, and 5 nights of lodging. then still need to figure out a few more nights of lodging but also have a friend to crash with, and the rest of the money is for getting around, scuba diving, and funnnnn
mileage credit cards are the best if you wanna travel lots
Thailand is lovely. I spent most of my time there in Chiang Mai, and other than the traffic (which is insane, but you get used to it), it was great. The weather in February is fantastic. And there's this tiny coffee shop with amazing coffee near the market by the river (not the market with the flowers; this one's north of that) and if I remember the name I'll let you know. The lady who owns it is the nicest.
I did get mild food poisoning like four times in the few weeks I was there, so maybe pack some anti-diarrhea meds.
It would've been nice to go around now when the weather is nice, but my friend who lives in Thailand wanted us to come in April for Songkran despite the crazy heat, which supposedly will turn Chiang Mai into a complete madhouse, so sadly we're not going to spend a ton of time there and it'll be a bit crazy
But it should be an experience
I am heading to Vietnam and Thailand in about a week. It's sort of been the thing that's kept me going through the last semester. I'm going with two other people, and we're spending about two weeks going up the coast in Vietnam, before flying to thailand. I've got the guide to vietnam, and my friend has the guide to thailand, so I've got no idea what's happening on the second part of the trip, other than we want to do some diving.
Leaving for vietnam and thailand tomorrow. I somehow managed to buy $100 worth of drugs and supplies from a discount chemist. Most of my stuff has broken since my last trip.
Ecco and I are slightly revising our honeymoon/trip to pax to include taking the train from the east coast out to seattle.
Ive taken a train from Chicago to Seattle, was a very... long but pretty experience. I took it about 10 years ago. I certainly have a lot of good memories of it.
BarcardiAll the WizardsUnder A Rock: AfganistanRegistered Userregular
edited January 2014
I really really really hope to travel to Antarctica someday soon, and I also want to go to Nepal to see Everest... not necessarily climb it but maybe make it to the base camp.
I have found out that basically to travel to climb in Nepal you need to be rich. But I have found that if you sign up for a Marathon on Antarctica you can visit it, not too expensive, just the waiting list is insane. Yes, a marathon, on Antarctica.
I have found myself too often in the Seattle airport these days, but I actually like that airport once you get past TSA. San Diego is far worse though, and for some reason any Southwest flight from SD to Seattle is always delayed for at least an hour.
KakodaimonosCode fondlerHelping the 1% get richerRegistered Userregular
Do not take the Empire Builder if you need to arrive on time. Sometimes it's a couple hours late other times it's a day and a half late.
You run into a lot of interference on the freight lines in SD and Montana. And if there's something going on like wildfires or floods, you may be waiting a while. And in the winter it can be real bad.
LAX is... meh. Security screening is the worst part, especially in the Southwest Airlines terminal. Holy shit is that horrible. I never minded driving down from the Valley to pick people up, though, because I had figured out how long it would take me to get there at any time of day/traffic conditions and I could time the trip to pick up my person right when they walked out of the terminal.
Newark is by far the worst airport I have ever flown through. I had a connection there to get to Portland, Maine a few years ago and I was delayed 10 hours because of fog. And believe me, there's NOTHING to do in that place once the shops shut down at like 6 PM.
CDG was only horrible because of how far away everything is spaced. I think it took me 45 minutes to walk from my gate to the train station.
Shannon Airport in Ireland is comically small but getting through customs was so much easier than in other international airports I've been in. The information desk people were nice to me when I asked some questions about which bus to take, so A++ would buy from again.
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LuvTheMonkeyHigh Sierra SerenadeRegistered Userregular
Heading out from Philly to Chicago, then grabbing the Empire Builder out to seattle.
Or possibly the train that goes through the central US to Sacramento, and then up the west coast.
Not sure yet.
But man
I have always wanted to do a cross country train ride.
I am so excited
My parents did this a few years ago. Rode to Chicago and then took the Empire Builder to Seattle for a few days, then the Coast Starlight down to San Francisco for a few days, then the California Zephyr back to Chicago and home (with a stop in Denver for a few days for a family wedding, my sister and I flew out there to meet them). Said it was absolutely amazing. Also yes, pay for a sleeper car if you can, and any other upgrades would be good.
If you don't have any specific need for the rockies, I would just fly out to the west coast and train it out there. There are mountains in Wyoming/Montana near the borders, then a whole lot of nothing until you hit eastern PA (other than depressed mill towns).
So last year my girlfriend and I were planning to visit new orleans for a 3day weekend near the end of november (which coincides with my birthday). Unfortunately I got a ticket for speeding in early October and wouldn't you believe it, my court date was the Monday we were supposed to be gone. I felt like an ass because it was my fault and it totally screwed up our plans.
But now its a new year, I get all my vacation time back and we decided we should try again. So this past weekend we booked a 10-day trip to new orleans right in time for Mardis Gras!
As a side note apparently booking flights there is relatively easy, finding a place to stay without spending over $1000 is proving to be much more difficult
+2
Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
Man if that's your dream, go for it
I think I could spend maybe a day on a train before my lack of ability to sightsee as I traveled drive me berserk.
It is actually one reason I declined to take a trip on the trans-Siberian railroad
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
I love trains, but spending long periods sitting drives me insane and my legs to cramp, so for distances like that I'd probably fly. That said, it's definitely my preferred method of travel, and at least you can usually walk around a bit more easily than cars or planes.
The delays can be amazing (which is more a problem with rail lines and low passenger train priorities than the service itself), but they're usually very comfortable at least. Longest was DC to Boston, which was fine apart from a stall of several hours outside NY. have done NY to Philly many times and not had any problems though.
I am very bent on moving from my small town I grew up in to Portland, which is only like a 2 hour drive but it matters a lot.
I have talked to LS about how to get my ass to Korea because I really want to live in an eastern country for an extended period.
I need to get to Europe too, the real dream is to learn to sail, get someone who can handle me+the trip and sail from the East Coast to France. Then bike all over Europe, fall in love with a german mathematician, and settle down in Belgium
+2
Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
edited January 2014
That sounds like a good plan, so if you find more than one German mathematician let me know
Also feel free to pepper me with questions, as I firmly believe in doing people a solid whenever possible
Lost Salient on
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
I will share all the nerdy Europeans, but I will claim first pick
also if/when I get close to actually making that trip, however I do it, I will be asking you SO MANY THINGS and if you aren't already back there, I will do my best to bring you things to ease the 'home' sickness
+1
ASimPersonCold...... and hard.Registered Userregular
Posting this from 34,000 feet. Yay technology!
But yeah, back in the summer of 2006 I spent three months in Barcelona and got to travel to various other places in Europe. The main place I didn't go was Germany, which I'd like to do someday. Going back to the UK would also cool, and I also haven't been to Italy. My goal is to do this before my passport expires next year.
Oh, yeah, airport ratings.
CDG is the worst airport I've ever been to. When I was flying for that trip to BCN, we had a huge group of us college students. Air France employees formed a phalanx around us and escorted us through all these back corridors and had us cut in line at immigration. I understand this isn't uncommon.
On a side trip, a friend and I were flying from Brussels to London. For some reason he went through security/immigration like half an hour before me. Apparently they detained him because he didn't have an entry stamp from CDG. Neither did I, so when I went through I got a strange, very stern warning from the official that "IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE A STAMP" and he angrily stamped my passport. So suffice it to say, when we went back through CDG on the way back to Atlanta, I asked the guy to stamp my passport. He looked at me kind of funny but he did it, because I sure as hell didn't want want to take any chances with US Customs.
So next time I go to Europe, I'm going to try to fly either to my actual destination airport, Frankfurt, or Amsterdam.
Oh yeah, US domestic airports.
I don't travel that much, but I've made the sojurn from the SF Bay Area to the Southest so much that I have some experience in this regard.
SFO: I've never connected there, but the current terminal modernization program for the domestic terminals is desperately needed. Terminal 2 is the nicest (it's basically new) and probably has the best food, but there's no airside transfers at SFO so you need to be flying American or Virgin America. Otherwise, the obsolete parts are not great. For instance, the security checkpoint for many of the piers is sloped since the old terminals were designed before today's security theater environment.
SJC: My home airport. I rarely fly the airlines in the new terminal (mostly Southwest). Okay food, quicker and more convenient than SFO (that may be a slight understatement), but more expensive and less direct flights.
DFW: My most frequented connecting airport. It's Texas-sized, all right, which generally means it takes forever to taxi when you land. The food is mediocre for the most part except in the International terminal (the upstairs restaurants seem to be better). Main point in its favor is the inter-terminal train within security.
ATL: I usually am flying to Atlanta as opposed to through it, but I have connected there before. Rarely eat there as a result, but while it does have long walks I will generally reward any airport with an inter-terminal train. Wish the rental car counter wasn't on a separate system, though.
IAH: I've connected through Houston a couple of times. I remember doing a lot of walking and that the terminal layout wasn't super obvious.
SEA: The light rail from downtown to the airport is slow, but it is super-cheap. I always find going through security annoying here because it always seems like the checkpoint closest to my terminal is never open.
Full list of airport codes I've been too, but don't really have an opinion on since I haven't gone through them enough: BCN, BRU, LHR, LUT, JFK, ORD, DEN, BNA, HSV, BHM, TPA, MCO, ONT, BOS, AUS, SLC, CVG, DTW, MSP, CLT, LAS.
Ever since I renewed my passport, I decided that it needed at least one new visa stamp every year. So...
China - Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou, Shanghai - got to play a relative's 200 year old guqin on West Lake; I'd return to Xian and Hangzhou in a heartbeat
The Netherlands - Amsterdam, Den Haag, Haarlem, Zaanse Scans - wonderful food, particularly Pannenkoekenhuis "Upstairs", La Oliva, & Assaggi
Bahamas - for work (conference in Atlantis next week? Hell yeah! Uh, I mean, sure, I can do that)
UK - London - Stonehenge during solstice was mental, as was the Tiroler Hut
Canada - Quebec City - no stamp, so it doesn't count, but I still plan to hit Ninkasi again come spring
Posts
saw the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley
now it's time to settle somewhere
I'm not really a fan of driving for 6-7 hours and being exhausted
Love driving down to the Outer Banks in NC. Spent a lot of summers there
Charleston, SC is gorgeous and quickly becoming one of my favorite cities. I really like Charlottesville, VA too.
Spent my summers growing up in New Mexico. So I've been all up and down that state and up into southern CO into Durango mostly. It's a cool town.
Went fishing up in Ontario, Canada last summer and it was absolutely beautiful and a great experience.
I'd like to get farther out west into California and Washington sometime to check those places out.
but that's not saying much.
I like BWI though. And for small airports I love flying out of Salisbury, MD.
Really enjoyed my layover in Charlotte the one time that I was there, didn't see anything of Phoenix.
HATE HATE HATE LAX.
and Auckland international is pretty nifty.
Queenstown NZ is a good small airport.
Sydney international is a decent enough place to get stuck for a random 4 hours.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
2014 will I think take me to Turkey and or Greece, Germany and Poland. I might do some other trips but my budget is a bit stretched by my current holiday, home to NZ.
LAX is like.. it's so mediocre. Like, I don't have any strong feelings about it either way
but it has got nothing over basically any other airport I've ever been to.
And the parking is a nightmare, and the traffic is a nightmare, so pity the poor people who have to pick you up.
If they wanted to mitigate traffic, they'd give Delta and American their own terminals
at the bottom of the ocean, because fuck those airlines.
it's got nice terminals though, in my opinion
when i was there they had a guy going around with some sort of "comfort dog". like, not his own dog. just an airport dog that they were bringing around the terminal for travelers to pet
that's the most california thing possible
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Thailand is lovely. I spent most of my time there in Chiang Mai, and other than the traffic (which is insane, but you get used to it), it was great. The weather in February is fantastic. And there's this tiny coffee shop with amazing coffee near the market by the river (not the market with the flowers; this one's north of that) and if I remember the name I'll let you know. The lady who owns it is the nicest.
I did get mild food poisoning like four times in the few weeks I was there, so maybe pack some anti-diarrhea meds.
It would've been nice to go around now when the weather is nice, but my friend who lives in Thailand wanted us to come in April for Songkran despite the crazy heat, which supposedly will turn Chiang Mai into a complete madhouse, so sadly we're not going to spend a ton of time there and it'll be a bit crazy
But it should be an experience
Steam // Secret Satan
Steam // Secret Satan
Ecco and I are slightly revising our honeymoon/trip to pax to include taking the train from the east coast out to seattle.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Once it gets close enough it's really all I end up thinking about or wanting to do, so my flight is 15 hours away but I'm packed and ready to go now.
Just twiddling my thumbs
Ive taken a train from Chicago to Seattle, was a very... long but pretty experience. I took it about 10 years ago. I certainly have a lot of good memories of it.
I am not 100% sure, but I think it was this one:http://www.amtrak.com/empire-builder-train
I have found out that basically to travel to climb in Nepal you need to be rich. But I have found that if you sign up for a Marathon on Antarctica you can visit it, not too expensive, just the waiting list is insane. Yes, a marathon, on Antarctica.
I have found myself too often in the Seattle airport these days, but I actually like that airport once you get past TSA. San Diego is far worse though, and for some reason any Southwest flight from SD to Seattle is always delayed for at least an hour.
Heading out from Philly to Chicago, then grabbing the Empire Builder out to seattle.
Or possibly the train that goes through the central US to Sacramento, and then up the west coast.
Not sure yet.
But man
I have always wanted to do a cross country train ride.
I am so excited
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Upgrade as far as your budget allows.
It's nice scenary and everything, but shitty beds, lack of access to showers and food that isn't microwaved adds up quickly.
Satans..... hints.....
You run into a lot of interference on the freight lines in SD and Montana. And if there's something going on like wildfires or floods, you may be waiting a while. And in the winter it can be real bad.
Newark is by far the worst airport I have ever flown through. I had a connection there to get to Portland, Maine a few years ago and I was delayed 10 hours because of fog. And believe me, there's NOTHING to do in that place once the shops shut down at like 6 PM.
CDG was only horrible because of how far away everything is spaced. I think it took me 45 minutes to walk from my gate to the train station.
Shannon Airport in Ireland is comically small but getting through customs was so much easier than in other international airports I've been in. The information desk people were nice to me when I asked some questions about which bus to take, so A++ would buy from again.
My parents did this a few years ago. Rode to Chicago and then took the Empire Builder to Seattle for a few days, then the Coast Starlight down to San Francisco for a few days, then the California Zephyr back to Chicago and home (with a stop in Denver for a few days for a family wedding, my sister and I flew out there to meet them). Said it was absolutely amazing. Also yes, pay for a sleeper car if you can, and any other upgrades would be good.
But now its a new year, I get all my vacation time back and we decided we should try again. So this past weekend we booked a 10-day trip to new orleans right in time for Mardis Gras!
I think I could spend maybe a day on a train before my lack of ability to sightsee as I traveled drive me berserk.
It is actually one reason I declined to take a trip on the trans-Siberian railroad
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
The longest trip I've made with them was DC to Charleston and I wanted to kill something by the time I got there
and that was very enjoyable.
We're planning on allocating 4 days, even though the estimated times only say 3 days.
worst case is we end up in seattle a day earlier than we thought and I have to resort to crashing at my friend's house.
and then once we're in seattle, it'll be time for pax ! yay!
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
I have talked to LS about how to get my ass to Korea because I really want to live in an eastern country for an extended period.
I need to get to Europe too, the real dream is to learn to sail, get someone who can handle me+the trip and sail from the East Coast to France. Then bike all over Europe, fall in love with a german mathematician, and settle down in Belgium
Also feel free to pepper me with questions, as I firmly believe in doing people a solid whenever possible
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
also if/when I get close to actually making that trip, however I do it, I will be asking you SO MANY THINGS and if you aren't already back there, I will do my best to bring you things to ease the 'home' sickness
But yeah, back in the summer of 2006 I spent three months in Barcelona and got to travel to various other places in Europe. The main place I didn't go was Germany, which I'd like to do someday. Going back to the UK would also cool, and I also haven't been to Italy. My goal is to do this before my passport expires next year.
Oh, yeah, airport ratings.
CDG is the worst airport I've ever been to. When I was flying for that trip to BCN, we had a huge group of us college students. Air France employees formed a phalanx around us and escorted us through all these back corridors and had us cut in line at immigration. I understand this isn't uncommon.
On a side trip, a friend and I were flying from Brussels to London. For some reason he went through security/immigration like half an hour before me. Apparently they detained him because he didn't have an entry stamp from CDG. Neither did I, so when I went through I got a strange, very stern warning from the official that "IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE A STAMP" and he angrily stamped my passport. So suffice it to say, when we went back through CDG on the way back to Atlanta, I asked the guy to stamp my passport. He looked at me kind of funny but he did it, because I sure as hell didn't want want to take any chances with US Customs.
So next time I go to Europe, I'm going to try to fly either to my actual destination airport, Frankfurt, or Amsterdam.
Oh yeah, US domestic airports.
I don't travel that much, but I've made the sojurn from the SF Bay Area to the Southest so much that I have some experience in this regard.
SFO: I've never connected there, but the current terminal modernization program for the domestic terminals is desperately needed. Terminal 2 is the nicest (it's basically new) and probably has the best food, but there's no airside transfers at SFO so you need to be flying American or Virgin America. Otherwise, the obsolete parts are not great. For instance, the security checkpoint for many of the piers is sloped since the old terminals were designed before today's security theater environment.
SJC: My home airport. I rarely fly the airlines in the new terminal (mostly Southwest). Okay food, quicker and more convenient than SFO (that may be a slight understatement), but more expensive and less direct flights.
DFW: My most frequented connecting airport. It's Texas-sized, all right, which generally means it takes forever to taxi when you land. The food is mediocre for the most part except in the International terminal (the upstairs restaurants seem to be better). Main point in its favor is the inter-terminal train within security.
ATL: I usually am flying to Atlanta as opposed to through it, but I have connected there before. Rarely eat there as a result, but while it does have long walks I will generally reward any airport with an inter-terminal train. Wish the rental car counter wasn't on a separate system, though.
IAH: I've connected through Houston a couple of times. I remember doing a lot of walking and that the terminal layout wasn't super obvious.
SEA: The light rail from downtown to the airport is slow, but it is super-cheap. I always find going through security annoying here because it always seems like the checkpoint closest to my terminal is never open.
Full list of airport codes I've been too, but don't really have an opinion on since I haven't gone through them enough: BCN, BRU, LHR, LUT, JFK, ORD, DEN, BNA, HSV, BHM, TPA, MCO, ONT, BOS, AUS, SLC, CVG, DTW, MSP, CLT, LAS.
China - Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou, Shanghai - got to play a relative's 200 year old guqin on West Lake; I'd return to Xian and Hangzhou in a heartbeat
The Netherlands - Amsterdam, Den Haag, Haarlem, Zaanse Scans - wonderful food, particularly Pannenkoekenhuis "Upstairs", La Oliva, & Assaggi
Bahamas - for work (conference in Atlantis next week? Hell yeah! Uh, I mean, sure, I can do that)
UK - London - Stonehenge during solstice was mental, as was the Tiroler Hut
Canada - Quebec City - no stamp, so it doesn't count, but I still plan to hit Ninkasi again come spring
Steam // Secret Satan
I know loads, if that helps.