Travel

[Goody]

Where has everyone been to in their lifetime, and what were some of the more memorable places?

For me, i've only been as far north as Brisbane in Australia & as far south as Canberra. As for overseas travel I have visited Lord Howe Island & did both the North & South islands of New Zealand.

It would be interesting to hear everyone elses tales.

By the way, N.Z is littered with Roadkill; no kidding. We estimated that for every kilometre travelled there was atleast 1 poor animal flattened. Which equates to 500km or so alone in the North Island.

If you've been to Roswell or Area 51 please share your stories too .

Goody.

 

[schticknz]

Damn ... I did a seriously long reply and now it seems to be floating about in the ether somewhere.

Oh well in no apparent order ... really, my take 2 ...

Born in England, raised in Wales and Scotland. University in Edinburgh.

Worked and lived in Wolverhampton (England of course), Germany (for the ESOC in Darmstadt), Holland (for the EPO in The Hague), then went on a trip of the Middle East for 3 months, Started in Egypt, and then jaunted through Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran (yes that IRAN ... one of my favourite places, so i got to see it before it gets blown to bits), Indian (spent xmas at the Taj Mahal), and last but not least, Nepal.

Oh and I've had day trips and school trips to places like Norway, Ireland, France, passed through Belgium, passed through the airports at the United Arab Emirates, and Los Angeles (left a red fleece there ... if you see there ... its MINE!!! ).

Oh, had a holiday in Malta once ... saw some of those strange tracks which leave the land and go into the sea ... very cool.

What else ... been up and down the North and South Island of New Zealand (handy since I live there). Been as far south as Stewart Island (island off the coast of the South Island of NZ ... which is a fabulous place to disappear for a few days) ... and as north as Norway ... which was cold, and yes I did eat some reindeer.

And thats about it really. Still not been to Australia, or the US properly. Would love to do an American Road Trip someday, go all the way down to South America and check out Patagonia (a la Bruce Chatwin) and see all the wonderful Aztec architecture. Iceland and Japan are another two i'd love to visit ... been drawn to them both for years.

Oh boy the sleeping pill is kicking in so I'd better shut up. Travel is great for the soul, other cultures and all that ... still bloody expensive on this poor old schtick though

p.s. oh and did I mention that i did all this with an (always with me) acute anxiety disorder?? probably not but its true, and how the hell I did it all I shall never know ... luck I guess

Anyway bed beckons before this pill knocks me out in the middle of a se.... zzzz zzzz

 

[Michael L.]

My distance record would be Shanghai, which is almost as far from St. Louis, MO, USA (the center of the US) as I could go without falling off the edge of the planet. As far as that American Road Trip goes, call me and we'll drive Route 66. When I was coming home from Shanghai, tired, very homesick and looking at another 3 or 4 hours in the airport (I returned on the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, so I was told to show up at the airport 6 hours early) I was looking for a cup of coffee and a place to get comfortable and watch Singapore Airlines stewardesses go by when this guy comes screaming across the gates screaming what I thought was maybe "Lu Xixi." My Chinese name is Lu Maike, but I did not know this guy who was agitated, smiling huge and Japanese. He grabbed me by the arm, still saying loudly the phrase, which was "Lute sheeshee!" The Singapore Airline stewardesses were staring and, more menacingly, so were the SKS armed Chinese Army regulars. The guy was literally jumping up and down and yelling when he grabbed the back of my bowling shirt, which was the logo for a now demolished hourly rate motel called the Coral Courts which is considered by many to be the unofficial start of the "cool" part of Route 66. He was saying Route 66... we started kind of talking in a weird mix of English and Japanese laced Mandarin. He had taken the Route 66 Road Trip in a vintage Airstream trailer and was excited that I had been to Coral Courts many times (it was party location of choice in high school). Weird experience and there was a thick moment where I thought I was going to end up in one of the "Traveler Questioning Centers" I saw on the way into China... A small, cinder block room with a single hanging light, chair and floor drain!

But as far as best travels, I am probably a kindred spirit with my excited Japanese friend. One day with nothing to do for at least 48 hours a friend and I hopped in the car and drove to Memphis just to make a pilgrimage to Stax Records. We also paid our respects to Sun, ate barbecue and headed home, through Illinois just to see what we could see... which was nothing. Southern Illinois is a big nasty marsh!

 

[subject x]

Other then Alaska, I've been in every state in the US.
I've seen parts of Canada and Mexico.
Financial restrictions have prevented any trans-continental travel.

Hopefully that will change.

Funny thing is, as much as I love seeing new places in person, I hate traveling.

 

[Raevenskye]

I've travelled the East Coast of the US a lot..FL, GA, TN...
Spent Halloween in Salem, MA...that was a lot of fun.
Visited CO....gorgeous place! Loved it so much there.
Memorable trip: Gettysburg Battlefield....can't wait to go back and visit again.

 

[mike]

ive lived as far south as invercargill in NZ (where the only thing between you and the south pole are some cold and miserable penguins) and as far north as bundaberg australia, and a lot of places in between.
nowadays im settled in the blue mountains west of sydney which according to the link below is a hot spot for UFO activity

http://www.penrithregionalgallery.org/entry.htm


lucky for me bill chalker is goping to be there soon

Exhibition Tour with Bill Chalker - Saturday 17th February 2008 3pm
Join internationally renowned Australian ufiologist Bill Chalker, author of Oz Files and Hair of the Alien as he shares his unique insights on the works of art and evidence on display in The Visitors. Enjoy a glass of bubbly to toast the exhibition's close.
Cost: $5

 

[Goody]

ive lived as far south as invercargill in NZ (where the only thing between you and the south pole are some cold and miserable penguins) and as far north as bundaberg australia, and a lot of places in between.
nowadays im settled in the blue mountains west of sydney which according to the link below is a hot spot for UFO activity

http://www.penrithregionalgallery.org/entry.htm


lucky for me bill chalker is goping to be there soon

Exhibition Tour with Bill Chalker - Saturday 17th February 2008 3pm
Join internationally renowned Australian ufiologist Bill Chalker, author of Oz Files and Hair of the Alien as he shares his unique insights on the works of art and evidence on display in The Visitors. Enjoy a glass of bubbly to toast the exhibition's close.
Cost: $5

If I knew that was on I would have requested time off of work & come down for that one. I'm up near Port Macquarie on the Mid North Coast, so it's not too bad of a hike .

Goody.

 

[mike]

ive already seen the exhibition and you havent missed much, its more about art than serious data, but having just stumbled on the ozfiles site his name caught my eye.
ill be going back to check and see if there is any updates on his work.

 

[Brian Now]

born in Tennessee but half my life in Texas.

Taught overseas in Budapest, Moscow and Slovenia and travelled in other places in Europe.
Been on two vacations to Israel, one including Petra in Jordan.
Went to the Bahamas once.

The furthest south I've been is Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. And yes, as a matter of fact, Tasmanian Devils are real.

 

[Goody]

born in Tennessee but half my life in Texas.

Taught overseas in Budapest, Moscow and Slovenia and travelled in other places in Europe.
Been on two vacations to Israel, one including Petra in Jordan.
Went to the Bahamas once.

The furthest south I've been is Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. And yes, as a matter of fact, Tasmanian Devils are real.

We're all about the mystery down here in Down under .

 

[Jose Collado]

Born in Spain and now living in Australia

Been back to Spain a handful of times, UK, Singapore, Japan, North East Asia and all over Australia except Perth...because you need to drive through a desert to get there and I don;t want to die just yet.

Might be adding US to the list this year

 

[Chuckleberryfinn]

I was born on a remote military outpost -- I don't know where. Neither can I say with any certainty where I spent my childhood. We lived on a base -- was it the same base I was born on? -- somewhere in the Atlantic. I don't think it appears on any maps.

There were palm trees, blue coral reefs, and the weather was nice most of the time. Only once was I allowed to go to the "below level," as I called it, meaning the underground portion of the base which extends into an amazing underwater sea-lab. Me and the other kids used to swim out pretty far, wear our scuba gear, and then try to sneak a peak, but we were always run off by cyborg dolphins equipped with laser eyes. Occasionally a large black triangular craft would land just over a cliff that couldn't be reached by walking or climbing, from which presumably non-humans would emerge and enter the base. I never saw what was over that cliff. You couldn't swim around to the other side because the security prevented it. Eventually, I moved to TX for college and then to Oregon for graduate school. I will never see my parents again nor will I ever step foot on that mysterious goddamned base. I only talk to them once a year, usually on Christmas, when a strange looking man in all black will knock on my door and hand me a cell phone, which will ring the very second he places it into my hand. It will be my father and mother telling me that they miss me a lot and love me, etc., and the conversation will usually end when my father reprimands me for leaving behind the "secret life" for that of an ordinary citizen.

 

[Ron Collins]

All over the United States.

Japan
-Tokyo
It was insanely expensive. At the time, $200 USD for a taxi ride from the airport to the city. That was in 1990.

Hong Kong
I was there for 3 months. It was a nice experience. I was 17 and had no real concept of the world. It was nice to get exposed to such diversity while still in High School

I toured China for a month. I am from a rural town in Oklahoma. I went to church like most of my friends and heard the fire and brimstone preachers. I was pretty sure of my thoughts on all of that before I went to China. I changed my mind after visiting a Buddhist Monastery there. My religion told me that these people were condemned to Hell for not accepting Jesus Christ as their own personal savior.

While there we saw a doorway that was no longer in use. In fact it hadn’t been in use for over 200 years. The door way was a huge array of new and old spider webs. 200 years prior a spider spun a web over the doorway so as to not bother the spider they stopped using the doorway. It had been that way ever since. These strangely gentle monks would go out of their way to let nature’s harmony go undisturbed, yet they were all still going to Hell. I know it might sound crazy, but that was my epiphany moment. I stopped believing in one all encompassing religion at that very moment.

Some places we went that stand out.
- Xian (Terracotta Warriors are amazing)
- Liang (very nice zoo)
- Beijing
The Great Wall is about an hours drive. Then about a mile hike on the restored part. It was fascinating. I have 18 rolls of 24 exposure film from the Great Wall Alone. The Forbidden City is a must see. But plan to go for more than 2 days. It just isn’t enough time to see everything.
- Paddle Boat Cruise down the Yangtze River. This was simply Amazing. It is expensive but oh, so worth it.

Oh, and the Chinese love their Pagoda’s. Probably twice as many Per square mile as there are Pubs in England for the same area. For the record, if you’ve seen one pagoda, you’ve seen ‘em all.

Mexico
- Cabo San Lucas (to be honest, it was college and I was drunk for the entire trip)
- Cancun (See above)

France
- Paris (didn’t really like Paris. Probably should have said I was Canadian)

England
- I have family all over. I go about once a year for a couple of weeks.

Sweden
- Malmo (very nice, I highly recommend it.)
- Stockholm (very friendly for a big city)

Denmark
- Copenhagen (very nice as well, just a 15 minute rail ride from Malmo)

 

[Loose Leaf Tea]

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. I've danced to the Birdy Song on a coach trip to Austria.