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Vacations & Travel

dutopiadutopia
edited May 2007 in Everything Else
wow, i haven't posted in this forum in 5 months.

Anyway, hi everyone. I'm in Cambodia right now. I have been travelling since early January and i have been to India, Nepal, Thailand, Laos & Cambodia. I am going to Vietnam in 2 days time for about 2 weeks, and then heading up through China to my final port - Hong Kong, where i will fly home. Oh travelling, what inspiration, what experience, what wonder. It's been hard being out of the 'geek' loop for so long, and finding a computer with everything working well enough to download Geeknights was a tough one, but i managed to catch up a bit in Thailand. I recently listened to the Vacation episode (which was very enjoyable by the way) and thought maybe i should ask the questions to the forum gang:

- Where have you travelled before?
- Where would you like to travel?
- Where are your favourite places?


If anyone is planning to do some travel at some stage in South or SE Asia, i would invite you to have a look at my travel blog and Flickr. Please, I'm not after page views or any stuff like that, i just hope my writings away may inspire you to see some of the places i went to. Oh and to Rym who said he may visit Ireland at some stage, I'm Irish and live in Dublin if you want any advice/info/etc. And if you guys are interested in ruins, you should go to the Temples of Angkor in Cambodia.
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Comments

  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Well I was born in San Diego, when I was 6 weeks old we moved to the Philippines, then back to the US. Then when i was 4 we moved to Adelaide. So there's the places I've visited by living in. In the US I've been to Connecticut, California, Hawaii and Florida (in a month I'm going to Florida again, DC and New York). In Australia I've been to Perth and Broome, Brisbane, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT oh and Norfolk Island. I've also been to New Zealand, Germany, France, England and other places in Western Europe.

    I want to go to Russia, the Balkans and Rwanda. I'd love to go back to Germany. My grandfather and I always talked about seeing an Ashes test match at Lords so thats something I want to do. I want to go to a Dawn Service at Gallipoli and to the Eurovision Song Contest. Because I love history I want to go places that I've studied and where things I'm interested in have happened. I love the feeling you get from standing somewhere that great events happening.

    My favourite places? I hated Paris I thought it was utterly overrated but I loved the rest of France. Berlin is an awesome city I'd love to live there for a while at some point maybe because I've studied Germany history so much. In Australia I would recommend Norfolk Island, Sydney for culture and Melbourne for shopping. Brisbane I wasn't such a big fan of. Tasmania was really nice but not all that exciting. I love living in Adelaide I'm not sure if it would be a great place to come visit, plan on traveling outside of the city cause there just ain't that much to do in Adelaide proper.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    I traveled where Uncle Sam sent me in the 90's.

    At this stage of my life I have so much going on that I do not want to go on any vacations! It annoys my wife but it's true. I'd rather stay home and get work done than waste my time on a vacation.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    dutopia: 5 months?!! Do you explain in your blog where you get the time/money for that? I'm gonna have to be grateful for one week in June.
  • dutopiadutopia
    dutopia: 5 months?!! Do you explain in your blog where you get the time/money for that?
    I didn't explain in my blog, all the posts there are just stories and events over the trip. Well, basically I'm studying a degree in Multimedia technology (Computers, Web, Graphics, 3D, Sound etc) but i chose a one year break between my move from Ireland to my last year in the U.K. I am due back in college in September, looking forward to it too. In terms of finances, it was not that difficult. I worked part time in a DVD company at the end of last year and some other incomes like eBay gave me more then enough. I spent two months in India, and spent about €500, that's about what $700? In Nepal i spent about €300, Thailand a bit more at €800 (In Bangkok i bought a fancy new cellphone and got some western comforts) and about €300 in Laos & Cambodia so far. Asia is very cheap, but you have to do the backpacker bum thing and get cheap basic rooms and eat with the locals at budget eateries (the best way to do it).
  • dutopiadutopia
    edited May 2007
    tuttle88. You have been to some great places!  I have to say I do love Paris, but there are many places that are better and cheaper too.  Berlin is very awesome. I have not been to Australia yet, but I hope to change that after college.
    Post edited by Rym on
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    I haven't travelled much but I spend 5 months in Japan a few years ago which was excellent.
    I'm aiming to go back but moneys been tight as of late. One of my aims in life is to live there.

    If your looking to go abroad for a gap year I strongly suggest Youth For Understanding who are government funded and provide a lot of help when it comes to going abroad.
  • tuttle88tuttle88

    tuttle88. You have been to some great places! I have to sayIdo love Paris, but there are many places that are better and cheaper too. Berlin is very awesome. I have not been to Australia yet, butIhope to change that after college.

    Yeah I've been pretty lucky, my grandmother is quite wealthy and loves to travel. She also believes in sharing her hard earned money with her family which means she likes taking us places. In fact her my mother and I are going to Hawaii in December. She'll be 85 in a few days.
  • CorbinCorbin
    edited May 2007
    I'm reading through your blog now dutopia, simply amazing. I love your writing style it's very to the point, understated yet very detailed, very interesting I like it alot. I can't wait to read more. I haven't been too active in the vacationing department, I've been to various states in the US mostly the North East. I've been to Disney World in Florida once, and a few places in Canada. I have been out of the North American Continent once to Tokyo Japan where I spent 8 days, if you'd like to look at some pictures here's a link to my webshots. I had a great time there.

    This fall I am going to study abroad in Osaka, Japan at a university called Kansai Gaidai. I created a blog to document my travels much like you did for yours I can only hope that mine is half as interesting, if you would like to read my blog you can find it here. I leave for Japan late August, so I can't wait for that. While I'm in that part of the world I plan on taking a weekend trip or something to South Korea.

    I would really love to travel around Europe, specifically Ireland, Scotland, and Germany. Someday *sigh*. In any case really great travel blog, I linked to you in my blog as well. Good luck in your continued travels and in your upcoming classes at uni when you get back!
    Post edited by Corbin on
  • SeanSean
    I guess you could say that I've only been on 1 overseas trip in my life. But it just happened to take two years!! I flew out of Sydney in March '05, spent 2 weeks in Hong Kong/China then on to London. I lived and worked in West London for about 18 months, taking a few side trips to Greece, Egypt, France, Monaco (for the F1 Grand Prix)and Holland. We then sent all our crap back to Australia and spent 2 months backpacking through Western Europe, spending most of the time in Germany, France and Italy. There were also some brief stops in the Czech Republic and Spain. Then it was off to the US for another 2 months backpacking!! Flew into New York, spent a couple of weeks there and then got a unlimited rail pass an just traveled anywhere that looked interesting. Boston, Philadelphia, DC, Montreal, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Seattle, Vancouver, San Fran, Vegas, Grand Canyon, LA, and there's probably more that I'm forgetting. So, I guess you could say that I've been to a few places here and there.

    In terms of favourite places though, Egypt would definitely have to be my favourite country. Its got great culture and history, the people are friendly, it was really safe, the food was great and it was very cheap!! Paris was also a fantastic city, just doing the sightseeing thing was alright, but the best fun was just wandering around the streets, finding little cafes to have a coffee and sampling some fantastic French wine. Seeing the Grand Prix in Monaco was also pretty spectacular, it was just a really great atmosphere.

    The next trip planned for early next year is to go through some of SE Asia, specifically Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Japan would also be a nice place to visit for a couple of weeks, but i should probably practice my Japanese first. Its been quite a while since i studied it! I wouldn't mind getting to South America at some point as well, but that's probably a few years down the track.

    Turtle 88: I'm surprised that you bothered to visit the ACT when you came to Australia! I was born here, and still live here to this day, but I'll be the first to admit that its a pretty dull place for tourists. What did you think of it??
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    edited May 2007
    Turtle 88: I'm surprised that you bothered to visit the ACT when you came to Australia! I was born here, and still live here to this day, but I'll be the first to admit that its a pretty dull place for tourists. What did you think of it??
    Well I've lived in Australia for almost 20 years now and we have family friends there. I've also been on a school trip. I loved it but I'm one of those freaks who loves learning about government. I download the podcast version of question time. Plus how can you resist the prospect of rolling down the roof of your own Parliament.
    Post edited by tuttle88 on
  • SeanSean
    Well I've lived in Australia for almost 20 years now and we have family friends there. I've also been on a school trip. I loved it but I'm one of those freaks who loves learning about government. I download the podcast version of question time. Plus how can you resist the prospect of rolling down the roof of your own Parliament.
    Alright, that makes sense. I somehow managed to skip over the line that said you moved to Adelaide! I used to love watching question time during the holidays when they had it on ABC TV around lunchtime. Entertaining stuff! We used to go up the grassy bit on the side of Parliament House all the time, but I think they have actually blocked off some of it now. From memory you can still roll down it, but you can't go all the way up to the top. I could be wrong of course, haven't been up there for at least 8 or 9 years.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    From memory you can still roll down it, but you can't go all the way up to the top. I could be wrong of course, haven't been up there for at least 8 or 9 years.
    I heard somewhere (I think on the ABC) that you can no longer walk on the grass at all anymore. For those of you who don't know what we are on about when Parliament house was built it was built into capitol hill. The public were meant to be able to walk over the top of the Parliament to symbolise that the people were the highest power in our government. Which is why them blocking it off for security reasons annoys me. I think it symbolises government taking away our sovereignty in the guise of security. imageimage
  • dutopiadutopia
    Thank you mitsukai, I'm really glad your enjoying the blog.

    I'm sure studying in Japan is going to be an awesome experience, and i will be interested to read your blog so thanks for the link. Oh you should definitely take a trip to S. Korea, they are very wonderful people and the food is just amazing (You will never hear the end of Kimchi). My girlfriend is from Seoul, which is handy for me staying there as it's a very expensive city. She is also teaching me Korean, which is a very tricky language but it sounds really nice and their written language is awesomely logical and easy to read.
  • dutopiadutopia
    Sean_R. You have done some great travelling there dude. :D
  • JasonJason
    Early tomorrow I'm heading to Cincinnati/northern Kentucky for the weekend. I promise to bring back pictures from the zoo.

    It will be my first time in Kentucky -- one of the very few states through which I've not yet passed. I fully expect it to be stocked full of yokels, especially the lawyers.
  • JasonJason
    edited August 2010
    Cincinnati Museum Center (formerly the city's central railway station):
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    Sandstone inlay on the center's walls:
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    Skyline:
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    Post edited by Jason on
  • AprecheApreche
    Wow, that train station/museum is really nice.

    Wow, that city is really small.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    Haven't posted in a long time, so I decided to start with an easy post.


    Reykjavík/ Iceland
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    Norway/ Opera in Oslo

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  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    Cincinnati Museum Center (formerly the city's central railway station):
    I feel like I should see the Super Friends entering and leaving that building at any time.
  • JasonJason
    A sampling of what we've done so far today. More to come as the week progresses.
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  • JasonJason
    edited August 2010
    We're back from a short cruise on the Ohio River between Cinci, Ohio, and Newport, Kentucky.

    Here's where the stupid Reds play.
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    This is the Kentucky side of the river. The sun's starting to fade and the humidity's high, so the light's not terrific.
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    This kid was awesome.
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    We also went to the Newport Aquarium, which has lots of neat exhibits but an imposing amount of curved glass. That junk makes photos harder than shit. I had to do extensive work just to make this shark look half-decent. About two dozen more pics were scrapped due to lens flare, crowds, poor ISO settings, underexposure, shadows, and miscellaneous other problems.
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    These jellyfish didn't really come out, but I wanted everyone to see how neat they were. No color editing at all. They are naturally bioluminescent.
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    All of the ones I've uploaded in the last couple of days were taken with a point-and-shoot Kodak digital. I've also been toting around my Canon Rebel SLR, but I only had my 70mm lens with me. No good zoom or telephoto on hand. Anyway, I'll browse those photos in the next couple of days and put up any that are passingly fair. Expect additional shots later in the week from the Toledo Zoo.
    Post edited by Jason on
  • MattMatt
    Haven't posted in a long time, so I decided to start with an easy post.

    These pictures are really great. Seems like there are some great sights to see in Iceland, and I'd like to visit there someday soon myself. Would you mind listing a few of the locations you took these photos at?

  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited August 2010
    These pictures are really great. Seems like there are some great sights to see in Iceland, and I'd like to visit there someday soon myself. Would you mind listing a few of the locations you took these photos at?
    Well, first off the best time to visit would be September, since it isn't that crowded with tourists, not too cold and the landscape is still lush green.

    I only took the first three pictures in Iceland. The first one was taken in Reykjavik from a roof top. The second one during a drive around Snæfellsnes, which is peninsula not far from Reykjavik. The third one was close to Geysir.
    If you're only planing a short trip to Iceland, there is a route called "The Golden Circle". Though all the sights you see on the way are probably really overcrowded during high season, it's fine if you go a bit earlier/ later.

    Here are a few more photos. (They were all taken early spring.)

    BTW there are a few spots in Norway where the landscape is very similiar to Iceland.
    Post edited by kiwi_bird on
  • JasonJason
    More from the Cincinnati Zoo:

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  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
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    Awwwww.....
  • JasonJason
    Awwwww.....
  • JasonJason
    edited August 2010
    The Toledo Zoo, while small and somewhat run-down, is actually a good one. The exhibits are designed to allow large groups of people to view animals simultaneously, and they give animals lots of room to roam and activities to perform. That makes animals much more active and closer to visitors, too.

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    Post edited by Jason on
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Awwwww.....
    Is it ok if I want one of these?
  • RochelleRochelle
    edited August 2010
    Is it ok if I want one of these?
    Yes, it purrfectly is ok to want one. >(^. .^)
    Post edited by Rochelle on
  • Nine BoomerNine Boomer
    After spending 3 weeks in California and a week in Kansas, I'm now heading out to Las Vegas to meet my brother.
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