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Don't get me wrong, I love going to different places and experiencing new things, but the some of the mind numbing time spent on busses, planes, trains, cars and such sucks.

 

What do you guys do to pass the time.

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I enjoy that time - looking out the windows of buses, boats, taxis, tuk-tuks, whatever... the smells, scenery, people, atmosphere - I love it all.

 

Had some hellacious bus rides/experiences in Cambodia, but wouldnt trade em for the world. Its so much more rewarding to travel than going though the daily monotonous lives we live: get up, eat, go to work, eat, go home, go to bed. Repeat daily.

 

No way. Id much rather be sitting on a sketchy boat traveling down the mekong than sitting in my apartment right now, or sitting in some makeshift restaurant not being able to communicate with the locals about what I'd like to eat by gestures or rudamentary attempt to speak their language.

 

I wanna hit Myranmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and the Phillipines for my next long trip \:D

 

No electronic stuff for me - except a camera. Dont want the hassle. Besides, music blocks out the sounds you should be hearing while traveling.

 

Wanna get lost again...

 

Thats my 2 yen

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 Quote:
Originally posted by Creek Boy:
I enjoy that time - looking out the windows of buses, boats, taxis, tuk-tuks, whatever... the smells, scenery, people, atmosphere - I love it all.
Same here, I enjoy everything when I see in a travel. Maybe sometimes it's boring if you need to wait for some more hours to change transportations but it's also a chance to find something you never find in your daily life.

Take it easy. If you feel something annoying or tough to stay with, it is. It's like age is just number - if you were young in mind, you are young.
;\)
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I love travelling when I'm bymyself and can rest when I want to, listen to music when I want to without kids pulling out my headphones etc etc. But with kids those days are gone, at least till they grow up abit!

 

I've done those hell bus trips through Indo, 6 days from Bali to Timor! Gave up in Flores and bought a plane ticket.

I travel by ferry ( 2nd class or up) where I can or by plane now. I've done the hard yards, nothing to prove to myself any more.. Also always travelling with a board bag bigger than a japanese coffin is a pain in the ass!

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yeah, i love travelling. music makes the time go faster, especially on looooong shitty bus trips, but pulling out a fancy ipod in the middle of nowhere in the 3rd world can do more harm than good. long endless bouts of transit are all part of the experience. plus the further you go and the harder it is, often the cooler it is.

CB, all those places are on my list too. i've somehow wangled myself into a fulltime job, but need to wangle myself out of it!

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I like travelling when I'm on holiday or it is fun.

 

The only time I really don't like it is commuting, being pushed and shoved, having to stand or listen to annoying people, when I have a headache etc. Take music with me and read in those cases.

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for the most part, i like travelling. being on a plane/bus/train.

 

however, i'm starting to grow very tired of the 11 hour bus trip ive made to new york city 3 times in the past six weeks. you drive for 8 hours through new york state making stops every few hours. quite annoying.

 

the only thing that justifies it is the cost and the fact that even to fly it would probably take me most of the day. by the time you get to the airport 2 hours ahead, go through customs, fly, land, get to wherever youre going on the other end etc.

 

atleast i can take the bus overnight and not miss a day.

 

i'm leaving again on friday to do this same trip. we've just had 20cm of snow fall in toronto. i hope its cleared up by then. i remember taking the bus to montreal one year after a big snowfall. the 6 hour trip took 11 hours. we were stuck behind a snow plough the entire stretch of highway. not fun at all!

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I travelled so much from 18-26, but eventually got a bit tired of it. I spent over 18 months travelling in total in that time, not including 3 years living in japan.

 

Now I have a family and will not travel for a few years. When the kids get old enough, I want to start doing backpacking holidays with the kids though - 2 or 3 weeks in costa rica, philippines etc. But I think I will never do another 3 month big trip again.

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I travelled over 250 days last year, here is my survival pack.

 

1) Bose noise cancelling headphones

- work like a champ on planes and seem to reduce the effects of jet lag. I think the engine rumble makes you tired as your ears have to deal with that noise for hours. These headphones bring that rumble down to a soft hiss

 

2) Zune player

- Hate Apple, hate ipod - this box ROCKS! Automatically downloads album art regardless if the song was bought or bootlegged.

 

3) PSP

- When you get real bored, why not race thru the streets of San Diego in a Dubbed out EVO or Escalade...or perhaps blow mutha f*ck#rs away to relieve some stress!

 

4) Palm T|X

- My portable kanji sensei. If i'm not too tired and in the mood to stimulate the brain - bust out the King Kanji proggie. Also have subway guide for every city in the world and it's a handy calandar, to-do, and address list tool.

 

5) Laptop

- I'm actually in a hotel in Boston (where it is puking outside with typhoon strength winds at the moment). How else you gonna keep up with the latest Snow Japan sheezy...

 

 

I agree with Creek Boy, when you are out and about in a country - enjoy the sights and sounds. But when you are on a long ass flight or bored out of your mind waiting for the bus...have a little fun.

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I did South America for 7 months and required a 3 week couch fest afterwards. I loved it, but it's exhausting always looking over your back, avoiding the coke dealers, blending in, not trusting the overly-friendly stranger asking personal questions about your life in America, wondering why the joint you are sharing with the homeless man sleeping under the boardwalk tastes sweet, like candy. shifty.gif

 

Taught me my street-smarts though and wouldn't trade that experience for anything. In SA, I learned to walk down the middle of the street at night, not in the shadows. I learned not to ride in taxis alone(that is very real). I also learned to exit a bus stop walking in a given direction, instead of looking at a map and turning your head like a lost chicken. Looking like you know where you are is not something I had previously ever considered as necessary. Seeing knife-muggings and gunfire turned me into a chameleon. (that was kind of fun, actually... in a sick kind of way.) I miss dirty strip clubs and coke heads snorting off toilet seats. I miss my students bringing rusty 45 Smith and Wessons to class to have me teach pistol-vocabulary. (true story too, btw. It never even fazed the student as being inappropriate. He was in his 50's.)

 

Japan is very easy, and traveling here is cake. But busses suck in any country.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by Tesselator:
Wow! Sounds like a wild ride samuri.

Ever thought of writing about it? I mean like a script or something?
Do we know each other? I don't recognize your screen name. I checked your profile, but it doesn't ring a bell.

Write about it? I assume you knew about the book in progress and henceforth- gave me a poking... like; "You finish that thing yet?"

(actually I have... self-editing as we speak. Wish me luck in the submision arena this summer. I know something about writing 80K words, but nothing about selling them... yet. Any marketing tips??? Something from experience?)

P.S. Any local CHILEANS around??? I need your dialectual influences by April. (will pay good cash.)

My wife says the above is a good reason to go to Chile. She's a good wife, and I never did see Tierra Del Fuego. confused.gif Bring on the fire!!!
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I love traveling too. The only thing I am not keen on is long flights. Then I take all sorts with my for my entertainment - vpod, books, mags.

 

I even tried a sleeping pill once, but it just did not work!!

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 Quote:
Originally posted by samurai:
My wife says the above is a good reason to go to Chile. She's a good wife, and I never did see Tierra Del Fuego. confused.gif Bring on the fire!!!
for all her frugalness she sure seems to know how to spend money! isn't that like the most expensive plane ticket you can buy? i think she spends money just as freely as you do man, only she is much better at justifying it. ;\)
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 Quote:
Originally posted by Creek Boy:
I wanna hit Myranmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and the Phillipines for my next long trip \:D
controversial travel choice man. i have been as close to myanmar as one can get, can't say i liked the barbed wire fences, imposing military presence, or the land mine-rich no man's land. signs stating "no video cameras" were also rather curious. granted having good friends who are Karen refugees does severely influence my opinion on this horrific situation.

as i am sure you already know, most NGOs and even Aung San Suu Kyi has asked for a total travel boycott on the country. it is nearly impossible for your money to not aid the military endorsed ethnic cleansing, and other crimes against humanity currently taking place.

but on the other side of the coin, the BBC and Al Jazeera both recently did in depth reports on the area, and reporters, aware of the travel concerns, noted that although human rights groups are opposed to travel in the area for obvious reasons, the ethical choice does little to deter military brutality. however, well informed travelers can make a financial difference to people who actually need it, ie: local shop keepers were thrilled to have tourists coming. it means they can eat.

tough choice eh? go and know that somehow you are contributing to unspeakable brutality, but at the same time if you are informed and conscious enough, you can help invigorate a strangled economy, give the lowest people a chance at survival, and possibly return home as a voice for these people whom are so seldom heard. hmmmm confused.gif
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 Quote:
Originally posted by daver:
 Quote:
Originally posted by samurai:
My wife says the above is a good reason to go to Chile. She's a good wife, and I never did see Tierra Del Fuego. confused.gif Bring on the fire!!!
for all her frugalness she sure seems to know how to spend money! isn't that like the most expensive plane ticket you can buy? i think she spends money just as freely as you do man, only she is much better at justifying it. ;\)
Actually, the most expensive plane ticket you can buy (I believe) is the one from Jackson Hole to Mt Vinson; the highest peak on the continent of Antartica.

Doug Coombs, Mark Newcomb and some other Marmot/Exum guys bagged the first ski ascent/descent and the price for airfare alone exceeded 110,000 dollars each.

a bonus though, Mt Vinson only gets an average of 10 inches of snow a year. It's actually a desert climate. They got a foot the night before their climb/ski and no avalanche activity along with bluebird skies. Mark said he felt that was "beyond lucky and teetering on the scale of divine intervention."

Holy dream-trip.

But no, my wife and I aren't going to chile any time soon. that was a joke.
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Interesting list there daver. Mine is much less interesting.

 

But when I travel for fun I don't want all my gadgets - they can come with me on the long flights.

 

What are the model numbers of those Bose phones you have Mr Jib?

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I like travelling except when you are stuck in a airport and your flights delayed and you have a connection to make on the other side of the world.

A good book and ipod are my friends as well as beer to kill the time. Also listening to other languages and trying to figure out what they are saying, now that can be a fun game.

I always have a fun trip when i connect in dubai on the way to the czech republic to see the inlaws as i can now go ride there which cool. snowboarding -10 inside and 40 degrees outside.

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yeah daver, extremely difficult choice. People who wanna travel there really need to know whats up before going - Id imagine most do, have read up, and know the best ways to avoid lining the pockets of the oppressive Generals pockets.

 

My honest opinion is I dont think travelers are actually forking over that much. Not compared with countries like India and China, who filled the void US companies left.

 

I fully understand the situation but I think isolationism isnt the key to solving Myranmars problems. Neither are sanctions. Same thing happened in Iraq. Its not the powers that be that are hurt by sanctions/isolationism; its the general people.

 

Hard debate no matter which way you slice it. Think people just need to be prepared is all.

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ipod ipod ipod ipod ipod ipod ipod - i'd die if i couldn't listen to musik every single day

 

love travelling, love the feeling of total escape when you sit down on a bus/train/plane alone, looking out the window, heading to a new destination and your mind just wanders, love that thinking time on a long flight.

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My problem is I'm a bit hyperactive and have trouble sitting still for 5 mins.

 

I once travelled for 7 days straight from Singapore to a remote Inonesian Island. The last night I slept on some oil drums stacked on the deck of a frieghter.

 

Another time I took a 26 hour bus ride from Rio, then jumped straight onto another bus for 18 hours to Chile.

 

Those days are looooooooooooong gone

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I have trouble sitting 30 minutes.

11 hours is a real problem for me.

 

I make sure I have as many things to do on a plane as possible.

 

Otherwise I really like travelling.

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