Anyone Else Travel? Any Trips Coming Up?

Buenos Aires. I have lived there before. I'm going there to finish my degree.

Still in the US for now. I leave next month for Argentina. I am hoping to stay there at least a year. That is the plan at least.

I was curious about this so I messaged FooZe and asked him what happened... he graciously verified that "yes" my memory is correct - It was I who did indeed originally start this thread... and he graciously explained why the thread was restarted [there are some features and rules that I wasn't aware of]... so mystery solved. These community threads are a great way to interact in a low stress environment - I just started another one.

I'm counting down the days until I go to California - and I've been doing some web searches to figure which sights I want to see while I'm there. Hopefully the business part of my trip goes well, too... if it does I'll keep it in mind for future trips.

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Originally Posted by shakespeare47 I'm counting down the days until I go to California - and I've been doing some web searches to figure which sights I want to see while I'm there. Hopefully the business part of my trip goes well, too... if it does I'll keep it in mind for future trips.

Which part of Calif are you traveling to?

Los Angeles. I've been there twice before, but I never even stayed the night on those trips. I saw the Chinese theater and Hollywood walk of fame back in about 1986, and I went to Venice Beach back in 2006.

I was at Port Hueneme for training before my deployment to Kuwait in 2006. The Navy gave us some free time to spend with our families... my parents, my wife, and my sister and her husband came out to see me. I rented a convertible and we drove south on highway 1 with the top down. I remember stopping in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara as well.

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Originally Posted by shakespeare47 Los Angeles. I've been there twice before, but I never even stayed the night on those trips. I saw the Chinese theater and Hollywood walk of fame back in about 1986, and I went to Venice Beach back in 2006. I was at Port Hueneme for training before my deployment to Kuwait in 2006. The Navy gave us some free time to spend with our families... my parents, my wife, and my sister and her husband came out to see me. I rented a convertible and we drove south on highway 1 with the top down. I remember stopping in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara as well.

Oooh, hiway 1! Magnificent! I hope you have an absolutely wonderful trip.

Venice Beach was always one of my most beloved spots of all the places I've been. But I haven't visited since the late '90's and by all accounts it has changed dramatically. California now has the highest homeless population in the nation, with L.A. being one of the top cities, Venice Beach being the top. The entire situation is tragic. The economy is in a horrendous state, addiction is out of control, dah, dah, dah...and of course, the Calif coastal towns/cities are ideal places for unhomed people to live. Certainly not much is being done to help them. My son is politically very liberal, lives in San Francisco, he and his wife pay over $4,000/month for a small flat, and he's so frustrated (as about everyone who lives in the city is) because he bicycles around and says his tires are caked with human sh-it...people living in the streets have no facilities. No blame, it's just

Anyway, sorry. I went on a rant. As a native of this gorgeous state and as a humanitarian, the homeless problem is both frustrating and heartbreaking.

BUT! There's so much that's great here. I can't wait to hear about your trip when you return!

Universal Basic Income is sounding better and better all the time.

Did you ever get to see the Redwoods?

I am fully in support of Universal Basic Income. I agree @shakespeare47.

Yes, I've had the honor of visiting the redwoods many times. The redwood forests are absolutely magnificent. The trees are wise elders who surely know the answers to all of life's questions. And they are beautiful, remarkable. The color of their red bark, their green, their astounding height (tallest trees known), and immense diameter. They also have their own amazing ecosystem. If ever you have the chance - jump on it. You will be forever grateful. There are many places in which you can hike through a redwood forest - just a mile - straight out to the Pacific. It's a miracle.

For some interesting reason I am blessed to have a lone redwood tree outside of my kitchen window. Tall, lovely, there he stands. I find them so stunning, I have one tattooed on my arm.

I've got a couple of more trips lined up. In March we're going on a short cruise to Cancun. The cruise line was trying to attract customers during the pandemic and was offering steep discounts - so I bought the tickets in June of 2021. Next year I plan on taking the whole family with me on a business trip to Switzerland.

Just got back to Europe from a trip to the US and Mexico for the holidays. I don't want to travel anywhere else for a while.

@SlumberKitty, have a wonderful time in Peru! My husband and I went about 8 or so years ago and it ranks among our favorite trips. Cusco, Machu Piccu, and a train trip on Peru Rail were the highlights for me. Hubby and I went on our own and had no problems. The people there are wonderful. So happy we went!

Given your screen name, I have to share my story about my special alpaca blanket. Curled up in my favorite alpaca blanket – Bird Flight Coincidentally, as I type this I'm under the very same one.

How are your travels going @shakespeare47 ?

My trip to CA went pretty well. I was more tired than I thought I'd be - so the only "touristy thing" I ended doing was going to the Getty Villa... (just off highway 1) but I did also drive into Santa Monica to look in some of the shops... and I played disc golf, and went out to a nice Italian restaurant. The work portion of my trip was a success. One thing of note - the rental car company tried to charge me an extra $35 for returning my rental car 2 hours early! I called them and they removed the charge - but they made it sound like the only reason they removed the charge was because I paid up front through a travel website.

Isn't it amazing that this fragile gold laurel from the 4th century BC survived in such good condition? And isn't it amazing that the ancient craftsmen had the technological know-how to create such an object?

I just added another trip. I arranged to rent a nice home through Vrbo (I've used Airbnb quite a few times, but this is my first Vrbo) with my mom and dad (and my son and wife) in PA this summer for 6 days. We did the same thing last year - but in Ohio. My wife and son went to Cedar Point, and we all went to the huge Kalahari waterpark. But we also had some relaxing beach time.... and we spent time playing board games and watching "The Repair Shop". We saved some money by cooking virtually all our meals at the rental. This time, it's an actual work trip., but I should still have plenty of free time.

I just went on an overnight trip last Thursday. I felt like it was kind of a waste of time and gas and money for a hotel room but my mom enjoyed herself and I did get some shopping done.

Thankfully none right now. It's possible maybe in May, but nothing is decided. We may consider Greece. Neither Hubby nor I have ever been there. Frankly, I'd be happy not to go then, but Hubby may want to because in May it will be our 25th wedding anniversary. A biggie!

The trip was actually to Cozumel, not Cancun - and it was great!

Our finances have been rather tight lately, but they will improve soon - so I booked a Airbnb in Switzerland - and arranged to rent a car - this one is a business trip. I thought I'd be taking the whole family with me to Switzerland, but it looks like it will just be my son and I this time. My wife's new job will keep her pretty busy in April - so she can't go this time, but we're talking about when and where we'd like to go as a family (may or may not be a business trip).

Just applied for my passport