Holiday

[Emma Raducanu]

Where are you going on holiday this year? Or, where have you been this year?

I'm going to Edinburgh



We know so little about it, which influenced our descision to go there. I like to explore.

Where are you going? And what do you hope to do, see, hear and smell?

There's no place like home.

[buttgammon]

I still don't quite know, but probably either Morocco or Tunisia. Let's hope I'm not blown up by suicide bombers!

[purlieu]

Nowhere.

[Dark Sky]

Holidays are rubbish and stressful and full of anger, irritation and unhappiness.

In my experience.

[ccab]

I used to live in Edinburgh and miss living there most days.

I'm going to be in south-west Africa for 3 months from August, exploring Namibia, Angola & Botswana.

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

Is that a reaction to being dumped ccab (serious question)?  The former ms aaaaaaaaaargh! is going off for a couple of months travelling later this year. 

As for me, I've been to the US and Spain this year and am going off to Le Mans next week.  I'll have had 5 holidays in the last year which is unusual for me to say the least as I've probably had 5 holidays in total in the previous 10 years.

[Mr. Analytical]

I hate holidays.

I like being at home.

If I had my way, I would never go away on holiday ever.  This has caused significant tensions in past relationships as women seem to be obsessed with going away on holiday and tend to take it very badly when you say in all seriousness "I hope you have a nice time, I'll see you when you get back".

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Cologne, on the 21st. I can't wait. Now universities finished I have bugger all to do once I've sent off my application forms for various bad jobs.

It'll be great, unless it rains, which is likely to happen. It'll still be a laugh even if that happens.

[Tamarind Massacre]

I still don't quite know, but probably either Morocco or Tunisia. Let's hope I'm not blown up by suicide bombers!

I just got back from spending two weeks in Morocco.  It was fantastic, and I didn't get blown up by suicide bombers.

But the cities were the least interesting part - not unpleasant, but by the end I felt that all the medinas were pretty much alike.  So try to arrange something that involves some travel through the countryside.  (Best bits for me:  High atlas, Todra gorge, Erg Chebbi dunes, and a guy forcing a goat to sit in an argane tree near Essaouira).

I'd even recommend the tour company me an my girlfriend went with: http://intrepidtravel.com/.  I'm always reluctant to go on group tour holidays, because I don't like the feeling of being a passive customer trapped on a standard package.  But our holiday in Morocco had none of that, it felt more like a backpacking holiday where someone else had done all of the planning.  Intrepid are an Australian company, and they do a lot of places other than Morocco.

[lardboy]

I've only got a week and a couple of days this year, but I'm making the most of it with one of my best mates.  We're flying to Chicago next Saturday, where we pick up a couple of these and then head to Indianapolis.  Then it's Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and back to Chicago for Saturday night.

What do I want to see?  Well, there's the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis; zombie shit in Pittsburgh, along with a baseball game; Niagara Falls near Buffalo; The south shoreline of Lake Erie on the way to , then the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and a gig by Richard Thompson (ex Fairport Convention) in Cleveland; Gross Point near Detroit, and hopefully a Second City show in Chicago.  The main point of the holiday is travelling, we're planning around 1300 miles just getting from one place to another, but on a big bike with the radio blaring, it's a pleasure just cruising for a couple of hours.

Can't fucking wait, especially as I'm moving to London and a new job on my return.

[actwithoutwords]

We know so little about it, which influenced our descision to go there. I like to explore.

DolphinFace, yesterday.

[chumfatty]

I'm going to USA and Canada for the first time in Sept. Boston, Vermonth/New England, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Niagra (inc. the falls) and New York. We didn't go away last year as we were saving for this years hols, although I did sneak off to Malaga for 4 days for a Stag do, much to the annoyance of Mrs Chumfatty.

I would quite like a nice sunny week away though, but her highness has no more Leave left and we need a new boiler.

[Emma Raducanu]

This was me coming out of the supermarket yesterday



Some interesting and exciting trips then! Especially Lardboy, I love the sound of travelling around America though I'd have to do it on a bicycle and that'd take ages.

[ccab]

Is that a reaction to being dumped ccab (serious question)? 

Nothing as melodramatic as that. It's been planned for ages and had we still been together I'd have been going without her. It's part of the attempt I've been making in the last few years to get back to the 6 months working, 6 months travelling lifestyle I led 10 years ago.

[lardboy]

I love the sound of travelling around America...

I've been a few times, including a different Chicago round trip that encompassed Memphis, Nashville and St Louis, last year's California adventure, and 4 trips to Las Vegas.  Ideally I'd like to take a couple of months off and go coast to coast both north and south, and a lump of Canada, but just hiring the bike for that long would cost a fortune.

I love the mixture of unfamiliar and familiar that you get in America.  Their love for making anything vaguely historic "AN IMPORTANT PLACE" complete with museum and gift shop is amusing but there is some beautiful scenery when you get out of the cities.  Also, I've found every American that I've come into contact with over there to be unerringly nice and polite, and as long as you don't try sarcasm, you'll get along fine, especially with anyone connected to "Homeland Security".  My major issue with America is that I always put on a stone when I go there and spend the next year trying to shift the weight and get my waist back to a sensible size before doing it all again.  I blame the breakfasts at The International House of Pancakes.  Best breakfast menu ever.

[buttgammon]

I just got back from spending two weeks in Morocco.  It was fantastic, and I didn't get blown up by suicide bombers.

But the cities were the least interesting part - not unpleasant, but by the end I felt that all the medinas were pretty much alike.  So try to arrange something that involves some travel through the countryside.  (Best bits for me:  High atlas, Todra gorge, Erg Chebbi dunes, and a guy forcing a goat to sit in an argane tree near Essaouira).

I'd even recommend the tour company me an my girlfriend went with: http://intrepidtravel.com/.  I'm always reluctant to go on group tour holidays, because I don't like the feeling of being a passive customer trapped on a standard package.  But our holiday in Morocco had none of that, it felt more like a backpacking holiday where someone else had done all of the planning.  Intrepid are an Australian company, and they do a lot of places other than Morocco.

That sounds like an interesting kind of holiday, then. I hate the package tour kind of feel as well, and the more rural parts of Morocco sound very interesting. I would really like to go up and see the Atlas Mountains, which is actually part of what makes the place sound interesting.

As for the cities, I would only want to spend a little bit of time in Casablanca or Marakech or somewhere, anyway.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I'm definitely going to Konigswinter when I'm over in Cologne, it looks amazing as do a lot of German towns in the Rhine valley. It has the impressively gothic sounding mountain Drachenfels nearby too. Cracking.


Edit: HAH! It's twinned with Cleggy!

[hoverdonkey]

My favourite ever holiday, in fact probably the best two weeks of my life, was the fortnight we had on the west coast of the US. Flew to SF, stayed there for four days then gradually made our way down the 101 (I think, the one right on the coast). We drove straight through LA because it was raining and looked rubbish so went on to Palm Springs for a few days' total relaxation before driving up through the desert for four days in Vegas.

[sublingual]

I just got back from spending two weeks in Morocco.  It was fantastic, and I didn't get blown up by suicide bombers.

But the cities were the least interesting part...

Bugger. My girlfriend and I have just booked a Riad in Fes. Wish you'd posted this earlier! Still looking forward to it though - what chance do we have of using this as a base to do the other things you mentioned?

[Tamarind Massacre]

Bugger. My girlfriend and I have just booked a Riad in Fes. Wish you'd posted this earlier! Still looking forward to it though - what chance do we have of using this as a base to do the other things you mentioned?

Fes is quite central, so you should have a lot of options for day trips.  But there isn't much in the way of public transport apart from the routes between the main cities, so you should look for a local tour operator that can arrange transport and guides.

Also, Fes has the biggest and best medina in Morocco.  We spent a full day in there.  But definitely get an official guide (if you go in the big medinas without a guide, you might as well be wearing a t-shirt saying "please rip me off", and you will find a lot of people trying to make your acquaintance, normally resulting in you being shown carpets and other trinkets).  And even the official guides get commission on sales, so be clear to them from the outset about what you are interested in seeing and buying.

[Artemis]

I don't tend to have 'holidays', more stints of long-term travel. Next month I'm off to Australia for up to two years, depending on how quickly I get bored and how quickly my money runs out. I've never really gotten into going somewhere for a week or two, staying in a hotel with a load of other tourists, then coming back again. It's never really struck me as the best way to see somewhere.

[Murdo]

We're going to stay in a cottage on Jura for a week. BBQs, whisky and no people for miles. It should be great. George Orwell wrote 1984 when he stayed there so I'm going to try and emulate him (this will not happen).

[Bingo Fury]

Post us all a picture of the whirlpool when you get back. On our one and only visit to Jura, the ex-G/F and I set off towards it but gave up and walked back after a couple of miles (couldn't park any closer as there's not much in the way of roads on the island). Would like to have seen it.

[SetToStun]

I don't tend to have 'holidays', more stints of long-term travel. Next month I'm off to Australia for up to two years, depending on how quickly I get bored and how quickly my money runs out. I've never really gotten into going somewhere for a week or two, staying in a hotel with a load of other tourists, then coming back again. It's never really struck me as the best way to see somewhere.

Two years? Will you be working your way around or have you managed to save enough to just coast?

[glitch]

Went to Amsterdam to visit a mate earlier in the year. Will be going to Germany later in the year but that's just for a music festival. Might hit Berlin some point over the summer though.

[SOTS]

Nowhere.

Yuuuup. Haven't been on holiday since 2003, I think.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Nowhere, because of a lack of funds. I'm fairly desparate to leave the country though.

[Artemis]

Two years? Will you be working your way around or have you managed to save enough to just coast?

Well yeah, up to two years. I'll be 30 in September and having spent my twenties travelling and studying, I have no career of any description to show for it, so I ought to focus on that soon I suppose. I'll be working my way round on a working holiday visa, and I'll be taking enough money not to have to work.

[SetToStun]

Well yeah, up to two years. I'll be 30 in September and having spent my twenties travelling and studying, I have no career of any description to show for it, so I ought to focus on that soon I suppose. I'll be working my way round on a working holiday visa, and I'll be taking enough money not to have to work.

Nice one - sounds great. That's actually my one regret: I thought you had to start work on your career when you were 20 so that you were settled by 30. Turns out I was wrong. You might as well start at 30 because early retirement just won't be an option anyway, so you only really need to get your career into top gear by 40, giving you 25 years to build up to packing it in. What a fucking mug I was.

Of course, if you've got a really specialised career in mind, the above might just be so much horse-shit, but in my case it turns out to be true.

[Make me smile]

I'm going off for a rail pootle around Europe with the other half, probably in August.

Does anyone have any recommendations for places to go? We are probably going to focus on Poland/Slovakia/Croatia/Montenegro area. Any decent accomodation recommendations would be gratefully received as well.