# Where do you plan/want to vacation?



## FleshEater (Aug 23, 2013)

Growing up, the longest vacation my family ever took was from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. And it wasn't to the beach. It was business. 

Because of my rather dull childhood, I've decided I'd rather travel as much as I can with my wife and children than anything else. My wife and I are lucky enough to have decent paying jobs and are able to provide these experiences to our children, so I say, "Why not?"

So, I've been planning to build my 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited into an expedition vehicle. My wife and I have conjured up three BIG vacations to take within the next 10 years. We'll still do smaller trips (Seneca Rocks WV, Hocking Hills OH, Ghettysburg PA, etc.), but these are the big ones. 

First big vacation (hopefully next year) will be to the North East: Vermont, New Hampshire, Salem, and Maine.

Second big vacation will be a drive to Disney World for a few days, and then off to the Georgia and Carolina mountains.

Third big vacation will be four weeks driving from Western PA to Alaska. This is the one I can't wait for and what I'm ultimately building my Jeep (and possible trailer) for. 

The Jeep is a bit smaller than a larger SUV, but what I'm building for is the extreme weather the east can dish out during my favorite months (October-December). A prime example is the last time my wife went to Florida with her mother. They were stuck in Florida for an extra four days while the east got hammered with snow. I was in West Virginia the day before my wife was scheduled to drive home from Florida. I heard the locals talking about the storm, and needless to say, that following day they had 30" of snowfall. My mother-in-laws Honda was ill prepared for something like that.

This might seem like an insane idea to some of you, but I've got a pretty solid build planned: winch, front electrical/selectable locker, plenty of storage in rear and on roof rack for emergency supplies, a Genright Safari Gas Tank for an added 12.5 gallons of gas, dual Kodiak battery set up, and the list goes on. The Jeep is a six speed manual transmission with 4.46 first gear and 3.73 axle gear ratios. What that translates to is a super slow crawl speed on 31" tires for steeper mountainous roads without the use of brakes (which can be devastating on snowy roads). Ideal, you could say.

Granted, this all depends on things going the way they are now. We all know life can happen and drop a huge turd on your plans, so...

Do any of you have places your planning to see, or want to see, and are working towards getting there?


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## popsprocket (Aug 23, 2013)

Canada. 2+ weeks of snowboarding.

That's big vacation numero uno.

I suppose I should do the big Europe thing where you squeeze a dozen countries into two weeks, but to be honest I'd rather just go snowboarding over and over and over.


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## FleshEater (Aug 23, 2013)

Snowboarders leave me in awe. Insane.

My interest in Europe died out around 25 years of age. There is A LOT to see in Europe, but I prefer road trips. And it costs WAY too much to make it to Europe. 

Africa or Australia would be fun.


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## WechtleinUns (Aug 23, 2013)

I would like to spend a couple of weeks in Berlin and Argentina for a bit. Granted, my spanish is much better than my German, which still needs some work, I'll admit. Alaska seems like a pretty cool place to visit, actually. The terrain up there is something to admire.

How old are your kids, Flesh? If I might ask?


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## FleshEater (Aug 24, 2013)

I've wanted to see Alaska for quite awhile now. Every time I see pictures of 4x4 clubs going up there I sit for hours imagining the journey getting there, and then actually looking over that landscape. 

One's 3 right now, and the other is still baking in the oven, ready around October 31st.  I figure ten years would be perfect for Alaska. One will be 13, almost 14, and the other will be 10. You have to drag them on vacations like that before they turn into major teenage devils.


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## FleshEater (Aug 24, 2013)

Oh yeah. 

a western road


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## popsprocket (Aug 24, 2013)

Europe is supposed to appeal for all the history and whatnot. And it _does_ appeal for those reasons. But on the other hand I find sight seeing boring and would rather play in the  snow.

If you come and visit Australia you have to like beaches/swimming. We don't have anything else touristy to do here apart from the theme parks on the Gold Coast.


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## FleshEater (Aug 24, 2013)

Nobody ever ventures out into the Outback?


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## BreakingMyself (Aug 24, 2013)

I want to go back to Austria at some point, it's awesome for sight seeing and the cleanest country I've ever visited (Littering = No quibbles jail time).

I also want to go to America. The States or Canada, I'm not fussy. Maybe Vegas, to see Penn & Teller and lose some money in the casino.


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## Lewdog (Aug 24, 2013)

I really want to go to a nice beach resort in Thailand like Phuket.  It is absolutely beautiful with nice fine sand beaches and clear water full of all kinds of species of fish.  The temperature is moderate and constant, and the women...well they are hot!  As long as a tsunami doesn't hit while I'm there, it would be the time of my life.


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## escorial (Aug 24, 2013)

Monterey and sit on a bench and read Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday, Totrilla Flat and hope one of the charachters in any of the books walks past.


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## FleshEater (Aug 24, 2013)

BreakingMyself said:


> I want to go back to Austria at some point, it's awesome for sight seeing and the cleanest country I've ever visited (Littering = No quibbles jail time).
> 
> I also want to go to America. The States or Canada, I'm not fussy. Maybe Vegas, to see Penn & Teller and lose some money in the casino.



I've been to Toronto twice. It's a nice city, but I got bored with it each time. Canadians are really irritating if you're from the U.S. Everywhere you go, and you pay with your credit card or American cash, you get, "You know, your money isn't gold up here." Yep. Got it. We're dollar for dollar now. It's like that always angered them that our dollar was worth more than theirs. 

Everyone I spoke to in Canada from the U.K. loved it. In fact, one guy even relocated there from the U.K. But then said he could never afford to fly home and visit his family because of the exchange rate. Poor bloke. 

Vegas is always tagged for the casinos (obviously), but it has some beautiful scenery, and California is only a stones throw away. 



Lewdog said:


> I really want to go to a nice beach resort in Thailand like Phuket.  It is absolutely beautiful with nice fine sand beaches and clear water full of all kinds of species of fish.  The temperature is moderate and constant, and the women...well they are hot!  As long as a tsunami doesn't hit while I'm there, it would be the time of my life.



Yeah...the ocean terrifies me. Nasum's lead singer died in Thailand during that tsunami. After that I said no thanks. Ha-ha!


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## PiP (Aug 24, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> Do any of you have places your planning to see, or want to see, and are working towards getting there?



I would love to return to Alaska. Living by the beach means snow is a novelty to us. 

Our most memorable holiday was a cruise through the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Alaska, and in hindsight I'd wish we should have stayed longer. 

PoPs, I also love playing in the snow... When we went to the French Alps with our daughter last winter she nearly died of embarrassment when I unearthed a beach bucket and spade from my rucksack so I could build a snowman!




If I were a little more sprightly on my trotters I would love to try skiing...


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## Kevin (Aug 24, 2013)

escorial said:


> Monterey and sit on a bench and read Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday, Totrilla Flat and hope one of the charachters in any of the books walks past.


 There are many pleasing things about that place. I'm sure "Doc' would have been totally stoked on the _Monterey Bay aquarium_(s). Just to north, the artichoke fields are still there (not yet paved over) and Salinas* (_East of Eden)_ is a just little inland. Further north is the Santa Cruz and a nearby redwood forest. To the south is a 100 mile stretch of undeveloped parkland: Big Sur. A search of the word_ Esalen_ and you can surf/hop the names of writers, intellectuals, authors, teachers...but I love the coastline all by itself.


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## popsprocket (Aug 24, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> Nobody ever ventures out into the Outback?



Oh I suppose. If you're building a 4WD up for a big adventure then it would probably suit you, but most tourists are too scared of the outback to go out there 

Seriously, we have antivenom for our most dangerous critters, there's nothing to panic about.


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## Lewdog (Aug 24, 2013)

popsprocket said:


> Oh I suppose. If you're building a 4WD up for a big adventure then it would probably suit you, but most tourists are too scared of the outback to go out there
> 
> Seriously, we have antivenom for our most dangerous critters, there's nothing to panic about.



Are you going to come with, to suck out the poison?  :lol:


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## popsprocket (Aug 24, 2013)

When they finally agree on how to treat venomous bites I'll apply first aid


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## justanothernickname (Aug 24, 2013)

Im scared of big snakes...they suck


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## Ty_lol (Aug 25, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> I really want to go to a nice beach resort in Thailand like Phuket.  It is absolutely beautiful with nice fine sand beaches and clear water full of all kinds of species of fish.  The temperature is moderate and constant, and the women...well they are hot!  As long as a tsunami doesn't hit while I'm there, it would be the time of my life.



I visited Phuket back in 2007 and it was fun.  But the beaches are not that great (small waves).  And the women are very pretty but only god knows if they are really a man or woman.  During the day everything seems very civil, but once its dark out, there are prostitutes galore begging for your money.

If you want to take a real vacation go to Bali, Indonesia.  The women are even more beautiful, the beaches are 10 times better with the biggest waves.  When I was there a hotel cost about $10 a night and you could rent a scooter for $5 a day.


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## Myers (Aug 25, 2013)

We're going to Barbados in a few weeks for six days. My in-laws are coming to stay with the kids while we're gone. Pretty stoked about it.


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## DPVP (Aug 25, 2013)

in the short run the only trips i look like i may do is a visit to Massachusetts and to Texas.  the long run, i want to go hunting in Africa. it would probably be plains games but a lion would be on my dream list. a good chunk of the places i want to go are based on going hunting. 

Jordan to see Petra is up their along with go back to Egypt. last time i was their Mumbark was in charge. 

nice rig you got planed their Flesh


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## squidtender (Aug 25, 2013)

Just once in my life, I'd like to be able to go to a place like this:




A little tropical place, secluded, white sand and clear water . . . I wanna sit back, read a book and sip drinks with little umbrellas for a month.


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## Pluralized (Aug 25, 2013)

We're going to Astoria, OR in the spring and renting a house for ten days. I was out there two years ago and can't stop thinking about it. I'm sure it will be rainy, but I don't even care. My mom just got some kind of sign-on bonus from her new job, so it's on her nickel. Hard to argue with that.

View attachment 4963
It's not this house, but that would be cool.


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## philistine (Aug 25, 2013)

Pretty much everywhere in Europe I haven't been already. The major countries would be France, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland.

If all goes to plan, I'll be in Hungary come October. What with my girlfriend's parents having just purchased a house in Germany, I don't doubt I'll be back there before the year is out, too.


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## Lewdog (Aug 25, 2013)

Astoria?  Make sure to look for One-eyed Willie.  I mean the pirate not some sort of street walker.

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised Speilberg didn't get in trouble for letting the young Sean Astin get so close to One-eyed Willie.


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## FleshEater (Aug 25, 2013)

DPVP said:


> nice rig you got planed their Flesh



Thanks!

This is how it sits right now:




This is where we took it today (posting a photo I found online...the wife's iPhone didn't turn out the best pictures, and the water was really low):


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## FleshEater (Aug 25, 2013)

popsprocket said:


> Oh I suppose. If you're building a 4WD up for a big adventure then it would probably suit you, but most tourists are too scared of the outback to go out there
> 
> Seriously, we have antivenom for our most dangerous critters, there's nothing to panic about.



If I spent the money and time to get to Australia, you better believe a 4x4 is in my future to cruise the outback. Although, most tourists probably can't work on a trail rig if they break down.


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