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Let’s talk about it. Anywhere from the obscure places to even the cliché. What are places you wish you did sooner, or regret not doing? How do you prefer to experience places?

When I was a kid, we traveled quite frequently as my mom was a flight attendant and we flew for free on stand-by. That said, our travel often consisted of weekends and was always domestic as her airline was only a domestic airline. It was typically going places like Washington (where she’s from), California (where we used to live and where my dad’s from), or other places that were typically close to Utah. Though I’d say we definitely traveled a lot like that, we didn’t do international travel when I was growing up (and my parents themselves hadn’t gone anywhere outside North America until their late 50s and everyone was out of the house). We did go to Mexico when I was in high school, and later did do a Caribbean cruise. My wife, on the other hand, didn’t really travel a ton growing up but her dad did get some international assignments when she was in high school, so she had lived in Germany and traveled all over Europe and then spent about a year in Tokyo. I didn’t leave North America until 2019 when my wife and I went to Italy. That was a weird experience as we were flying over the UK early in the morning and then over the Alps, seeing all these places that you’ve known about but seemed so far away that it was strange seeing them from that vantage point, realizing that they actually existed outside pictures and video (hard to explain). We had other plans later, but they got derailed over the past couple years, though we’ve still been doing some travel the past 18 months with more planned.

The realization I’ve had recently is that our kids are only young this once and my wife and I will have the rest of our lives to do things, but our kids may not have that opportunity, so trying to keep that in perspective and has been easier to shift thinking. We’ve got 5 kids so it’s hard, but also hard to leave your kids with someone while you’re out of the country, so I’ve pushed to just take everyone on some of our trips.

I know a lot of you have lived abroad and whatnot, what are you glad you’ve seen? What do you hope to see? What are strange or unusual things you’ve seen or hidden gems? What sucks? Pictures welcome.
 
I did quite a bit of international travel at my old job. The most beautiful place I've been to is Switzerland. The place with the best food I've been to is Thailand, the Thai people were also the nicest/friendliest. My favorite all around was Chile (mostly because I speak Spanish). I've spent the most time in Hong Kong / Guangzhou China. The place I've never been, but would love to go is Australia and New Zealand.

Unfortunately when you are traveling for business there isn't much time for sight seeing or really immersing yourself in the culture. I'd really like to go back to some of these places as a tourist and experience them a lot differently.
 
My family moved abroad when I was five and I toured the entire world to the point that I had extra pages added to my passport when I was six years old. The world was a different place then and I was obviously a much different person, but of all the places I went it was Greece that was my favorite. As an adult, my favorite is Kauai, Hawaii. If there is one place I'd like to go it would be Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica. It is the closest thing there is to visiting another planet.
 
My family moved abroad when I was five and I toured the entire world to the point that I had extra pages added to my passport when I was six years old. The world was a different place then and I was obviously a much different person, but of all the places I went it was Greece that was my favorite. As an adult, my favorite is Kauai, Hawaii. If there is one place I'd like to go it would be Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica. It is the closest thing there is to visiting another planet.

My stepsister lived in Antarctica for six months as part of her Masters or Doctorate (I forget which) program.
 
Our travel has been around sports. That means I’ve been to wonderful places like Mesquite, Pocatello, and Idaho Falls multiple times. This summer we went to Omaha for a tournament.
Of course we’ve done the obligatory Disneyland trip, but that was over eight years ago now (my wife was pregnant with #5). If I never go back to Disneyland I’ll be happy.
Since my oldest daughter just graduated high school, we took everybody on a cruise over Spring Break. We hit Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo. In Mazatlan we just took off and walked what they call the Blue Line. It’s literally a line of blue tiles in the sidewalk that leads from the port into downtown Mazatlan. It was so fun. We walked well over 8 miles that day. We went into an old Catholic Church, found an open air market, and then went to the beach.
The baseball team my soon to be 11 year old is playing is planning on going to Cooperstown when they play 12u (the only year you can go). I’m excited for that. We plan to stay an extra week and hit some other northeast cities. We were supposed to go when my oldest son was 12, but that was COVID year and nobody went.
 
Just asked my stepsister where she was in Antarctica. It was McMurdo Station. I recall her saying the weather there wasn’t bad…I wanna say she said in the 50’s iirc.
 
I have written about this on here before but we lived in Germany in 2015. Took 2 of my 4 kids, one in Jr High at the time. So she was in a german school learning german. Not much of it stuck as at the end of the year I got laid off and had to find a way back to the states.

But while there we made a few great trips, Hit Berlin, Munich, Nurnberg, Neuschwanstein castle was a high point. We went to Paris. With our church group my daughter ended up visiting more countries than the rest of us as they had weekend trips to Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Czech republic, somewhere else.

I have been to England a few times on business, Manchester mostly. Really liked the city. I was there the day they celebrated Manchester City winning the championship, or whatever. I do not follow soccer at all. However, it was interesting because their color is blue and Man United, the bitter rival, is red. And I was wearing a work shirt in our company colors that happened to be red. Brought some interesting stares from the crowd. lol

Being in another country was eye-opening in lots of ways.

For my wife and I it was more of a cultural/political awakening of sorts, where I saw a true socialized health-care system in action - my son has a form of epilepsy and he had an incident there that prompted a call to german 911, an ambulance ride, and a 3 night stay in a neurological hospital along with an EEG and other tests. Total cost out of pocket - 30 euros (35 bucks maybe). My wife had several tests done for a chronic hip problem she had, and got the diagnosis of hip dysplasia which is causing bursitis, something half a dozen doctors in the US brushed off as "you are too fat" even when she was barely 130 pounds. Ridiculous. The total out of pocket cost of her tests, dr appointments and MRI, CT scan, couple x-rays, and physical therapy that worked wonders for her - maybe 200 euros total. We also found the doctors to be very professional, knowledgeable, caring, took the time to work with their patients. Her primary care doctor, in essence a PA, took the time to call her personally after her first physical therapy appointment to ask how she was doing. I told my friend this, who is a primary care doctor in Arizona, and he said "man it would be nice to have that kind of time". Exactly. We stack appointments up purposely to make people wait so the dr never has a missed appointment, can't miss that revenue. It is all about chasing the dollar here. There they all were paid basically a salary, way better than most other professions, but the focus isn't getting the cattle through to make the money. The money is there, so they can take the time with the patients. Completely different way to look at health care. They treat it more like I have been saying we need to, as a utility that everyone should have reasonable access to. Not as a commodity to be packaged and sold to the highest bidder, like we do. It is a travesty how badly our health care system has lagged behind.

But we also saw the downsides to the German political machine. Many parties means a lot of conflicting ideas and priorities and that much of what gets passed as law is hated by a substantial portion of the population. I think having multiple viable parties is far far better than our anemic 2-party cluster-****/circle-jerk that is going on now, but it has its downside when so many parties are strongly ingrained in the public consciousness. Germans are passionate and vocal about their country, their national pride, and their politics in general. Merkel was loved, reviled, hated, and revered. It was kind of weird. There is still a strong nationalist pride in Germany, not as much a "keep the race pure" thing of course, but more of a "we like our Germany the way it is, we don't need anyone else". To the point there were public demonstrations weekly in Leipzig against the influx of new "ausländer" (foreigners), primarily the Syrian refugees, but really anyone not of German descent, to the point where it almost bordered on riots. It was a heavily vocal minority, but after we were out in the city center during one of these protests, people carrying signs, armed police watching over the whole thing, and getting the side-eye, as it is hard to hide you are American, and we felt distinctly that we were listed among the "ausländer", so we did not feel safe. So for the next few months we made sure to not be outside on Monday nights. But that was really a special circumstance. And otherwise we felt welcome and safe in all other ways really. Every country has its problems like this though. But no one attacked the Reichstag over the whole thing. Imagine that!

Anyway I could go on and on about that kind of stuff.

But for my kids it opened their eyes to see how big the world really is. My daughter had a bunch of friends in her "new kids learning german" classes from all over the world. 2 or 3 were Syrian refugees with their families. Another one from Africa, one from eastern Europe, I think from Belarus. Another was from Georgia. Despite Germany being heavily white, her class of maybe 30 kids had like 4 white kids, the rest were of color and some other ethnic group. It was a great experience for her, and she still keeps in touch with many of them. For my son also, as he interacted with her and he friends probably more than anyone else, as he was disinclined to get too involved. He tells me now he really regrets wasting his time in Germany and not getting out there and doing more things to explore and get to know people and experience the culture more. We all have those, right? But now those 2 kids have a much broader view of even domestic issues, being concerned about how they affect other countries and what our influence is abroad. Heart-warming for a parent, for sure, to see their experience so expanded and their minds open to the differences across the globe. Great experience for them.

If I ever won the lottery, I am moving to Germany. At least shoot for dual citizenship, or something, and get a house there and spend most of the year there probably, exploring the rest of Europe and venturing further east. Despite all the issues there, I really want to visit Russia. I have not been to the east either, and Japan is high on my list of preferred destinations. As is South Korea. I had a friend who went there on a mission and his stories made me want to go.

And I still want to visit Australia, even though I might run into @Rubashov or @Douchebag K ,even by accident. Worth the risk!
 
This subject angers me because I should be traveling everywhere for my work and my wife's work. But due to living in the only country that's still is strict with COVID it's hard to travel.

I am going to Tibet in two weeks assuming there isn't 3 more cases between now and then in a city of 21 million people. So, my hopes are low, but I'll be very stoked if it works out.
 
This subject angers me because I should be traveling everywhere for my work and my wife's work. But due to living in the only country that's still is strict with COVID it's hard to travel.

I am going to Tibet in two weeks assuming there isn't 3 more cases between now and then in a city of 21 million people. So, my hopes are low, but I'll be very stoked if it works out.

Can you travel wherever you want within China, just not outside? Or can't even leave your province?
 
Can you travel wherever you want within China, just not outside? Or can't even leave your province?
It's complicated, haha. I can travel anywhere outside China and come back to Beijing but I have to quarantine for 2-3 weeks. Inside China you can travel anywhere but if there are cases where you are from or going to you might get stuck or have problems. As a foreigner it's more tricky because you might follow the rules but one person can cause a lot of issues and there is a lot of negativity towards foreigners now surrounding COVID.
 
It's complicated, haha. I can travel anywhere outside China and come back to Beijing but I have to quarantine for 2-3 weeks. Inside China you can travel anywhere but if there are cases where you are from or going to you might get stuck or have problems. As a foreigner it's more tricky because you might follow the rules but one person can cause a lot of issues and there is a lot of negativity towards foreigners now surrounding COVID.

hmmm... yeah that would be a hard way to live. My wife and I love to take weekend trips and go see something new. China is so big and diverse that it seems like there would be a ton of weekend type trips you could make. From my experience there it's also pretty easy to hop on a flight and get from one city to another in China.

It would be tough to not feel comfortable being able to just go wherever you want to without any risk.
 
My Chinese Visa is still good for another couple of years. I am hoping to go back with my brother and sister-in-law who is from Shanghai and have a proper tourist experience. We are obviously waiting until the Covid restrictions are less restrictive.
 
It's complicated, haha. I can travel anywhere outside China and come back to Beijing but I have to quarantine for 2-3 weeks. Inside China you can travel anywhere but if there are cases where you are from or going to you might get stuck or have problems. As a foreigner it's more tricky because you might follow the rules but one person can cause a lot of issues and there is a lot of negativity towards foreigners now surrounding COVID.

That’s ****ing ironic.
 
hmmm... yeah that would be a hard way to live. My wife and I love to take weekend trips and go see something new. China is so big and diverse that it seems like there would be a ton of weekend type trips you could make. From my experience there it's also pretty easy to hop on a flight and get from one city to another in China.

It would be tough to not feel comfortable being able to just go wherever you want to without any risk.
Yeah, China is very beautiful place. Before COVID stuff it was very easy to travel. I've been to almost every province. Because of restrictions leaving the country is made me travel more inside than I ever thought I would, which has some benefits. My wife is from Shanghai. Probably every other trip I run into an issue but usually it's just a long argument before being allowed somewhere.
 
That’s ****ing ironic.
It is, it's mostly because China media pushed really hard after Wuhan about how much better they were doing with COVID and how bad other countries were, and that every country in the world had dead people everywhere. They even publish COVID numbers based on from inside the country or people coming from overseas. They make it sound like foreigners are bringing it in, where the reality is it's just Chinese people returning. People still put a mask on when they see me or move seats in the subway, it's kind of entertaining at this point.
 
I have written about this on here before but we lived in Germany in 2015. Took 2 of my 4 kids, one in Jr High at the time. So she was in a german school learning german. Not much of it stuck as at the end of the year I got laid off and had to find a way back to the states.

But while there we made a few great trips, Hit Berlin, Munich, Nurnberg, Neuschwanstein castle was a high point. We went to Paris. With our church group my daughter ended up visiting more countries than the rest of us as they had weekend trips to Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Czech republic, somewhere else.

I have been to England a few times on business, Manchester mostly. Really liked the city. I was there the day they celebrated Manchester City winning the championship, or whatever. I do not follow soccer at all. However, it was interesting because their color is blue and Man United, the bitter rival, is red. And I was wearing a work shirt in our company colors that happened to be red. Brought some interesting stares from the crowd. lol

Being in another country was eye-opening in lots of ways.

For my wife and I it was more of a cultural/political awakening of sorts, where I saw a true socialized health-care system in action - my son has a form of epilepsy and he had an incident there that prompted a call to german 911, an ambulance ride, and a 3 night stay in a neurological hospital along with an EEG and other tests. Total cost out of pocket - 30 euros (35 bucks maybe). My wife had several tests done for a chronic hip problem she had, and got the diagnosis of hip dysplasia which is causing bursitis, something half a dozen doctors in the US brushed off as "you are too fat" even when she was barely 130 pounds. Ridiculous. The total out of pocket cost of her tests, dr appointments and MRI, CT scan, couple x-rays, and physical therapy that worked wonders for her - maybe 200 euros total. We also found the doctors to be very professional, knowledgeable, caring, took the time to work with their patients. Her primary care doctor, in essence a PA, took the time to call her personally after her first physical therapy appointment to ask how she was doing. I told my friend this, who is a primary care doctor in Arizona, and he said "man it would be nice to have that kind of time". Exactly. We stack appointments up purposely to make people wait so the dr never has a missed appointment, can't miss that revenue. It is all about chasing the dollar here. There they all were paid basically a salary, way better than most other professions, but the focus isn't getting the cattle through to make the money. The money is there, so they can take the time with the patients. Completely different way to look at health care. They treat it more like I have been saying we need to, as a utility that everyone should have reasonable access to. Not as a commodity to be packaged and sold to the highest bidder, like we do. It is a travesty how badly our health care system has lagged behind.

But we also saw the downsides to the German political machine. Many parties means a lot of conflicting ideas and priorities and that much of what gets passed as law is hated by a substantial portion of the population. I think having multiple viable parties is far far better than our anemic 2-party cluster-****/circle-jerk that is going on now, but it has its downside when so many parties are strongly ingrained in the public consciousness. Germans are passionate and vocal about their country, their national pride, and their politics in general. Merkel was loved, reviled, hated, and revered. It was kind of weird. There is still a strong nationalist pride in Germany, not as much a "keep the race pure" thing of course, but more of a "we like our Germany the way it is, we don't need anyone else". To the point there were public demonstrations weekly in Leipzig against the influx of new "ausländer" (foreigners), primarily the Syrian refugees, but really anyone not of German descent, to the point where it almost bordered on riots. It was a heavily vocal minority, but after we were out in the city center during one of these protests, people carrying signs, armed police watching over the whole thing, and getting the side-eye, as it is hard to hide you are American, and we felt distinctly that we were listed among the "ausländer", so we did not feel safe. So for the next few months we made sure to not be outside on Monday nights. But that was really a special circumstance. And otherwise we felt welcome and safe in all other ways really. Every country has its problems like this though. But no one attacked the Reichstag over the whole thing. Imagine that!

Anyway I could go on and on about that kind of stuff.

But for my kids it opened their eyes to see how big the world really is. My daughter had a bunch of friends in her "new kids learning german" classes from all over the world. 2 or 3 were Syrian refugees with their families. Another one from Africa, one from eastern Europe, I think from Belarus. Another was from Georgia. Despite Germany being heavily white, her class of maybe 30 kids had like 4 white kids, the rest were of color and some other ethnic group. It was a great experience for her, and she still keeps in touch with many of them. For my son also, as he interacted with her and he friends probably more than anyone else, as he was disinclined to get too involved. He tells me now he really regrets wasting his time in Germany and not getting out there and doing more things to explore and get to know people and experience the culture more. We all have those, right? But now those 2 kids have a much broader view of even domestic issues, being concerned about how they affect other countries and what our influence is abroad. Heart-warming for a parent, for sure, to see their experience so expanded and their minds open to the differences across the globe. Great experience for them.

If I ever won the lottery, I am moving to Germany. At least shoot for dual citizenship, or something, and get a house there and spend most of the year there probably, exploring the rest of Europe and venturing further east. Despite all the issues there, I really want to visit Russia. I have not been to the east either, and Japan is high on my list of preferred destinations. As is South Korea. I had a friend who went there on a mission and his stories made me want to go.

And I still want to visit Australia, even though I might run into @Rubashov or @Douchebag K ,even by accident. Worth the risk!

I'd live in Germany, where would I find work is the issue.

In terms of coming to Australia... We don't want you Americans...

Where you going to go?

Queensland? The great barrier reef? Dying rocks, Queenslanders have voted for conservative governments for years that are destroying natural wonders all over this country. It also ****ing their tourism industry. **** them.

Sydney? For the bridge and the Opera house? Maybe go down the rocks to look at the blue like an American flog? Yeah you'll probably do that.

Will you come to Melbourne? UNESCO city of culture, one of the great vibrant cities of the world? Embrace what it is to be a modern Australian? Multicultural, refined, a citizen of the world?

No you'll embrace the American outback fantasy. Oh I hate you all!!!!
 
I'd live in Germany, where would I find work is the issue.

In terms of coming to Australia... We don't want you Americans...

Where you going to go?

Queensland? The great barrier reef? Dying rocks, Queenslanders have voted for conservative governments for years that are destroying natural wonders all over this country. It also ****ing their tourism industry. **** them.

Sydney? For the bridge and the Opera house? Maybe go down the rocks to look at the blue like an American flog? Yeah you'll probably do that.

Will you come to Melbourne? UNESCO city of culture, one of the great vibrant cities of the world? Embrace what it is to be a modern Australian? Multicultural, refined, a citizen of the world?

No you'll embrace the American outback fantasy. Oh I hate you all!!!!
I figured this is you, maybe with more tats. And less teeth. And isn't this just all aussies?




This is what I want to see, the real aussies in their natural habitat, trailer parks maybe?
 
I figured this is you, maybe with more tats. And less teeth. And isn't this just all aussies?




This is what I want to see, the real aussies in their natural habitat, trailer parks maybe?


****ing Queenslanders, backward, useless, racist *****. The whole state may as well be a trailer park. They dont observe daylight savings in Queensland because it fades the curtains and confuses the cows. They let these ***** vote!
 
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