Vacation

[Shire Le Buff]

Help a brother out.

I've got a good chunk of vacation time queued up and I want to decide what to do with it before it becomes too hot for me and my pale body to leave the indoors. A trip is how I want to spend some of this time, and I'm toying with doing it alone. I've got a stupid romantic notion that would be pretty dang fun.

So, does anyone have any suggestions? Keep in mind I'm a man-baby who's only left the country for Dominican Republic resorts with the family. So my first solo trek should probably be in this continent. Ideally, it'd be some place with stuff going on but wouldn't necessarily need my participation. I'm a lazy dude. My ideal vacation would be 50 percent reading someplace pleasant and 50 percent walking around exploring. I want a place where I can point at stuff and tell myself "Ha. Hilarious."

Bonus points if I can get there easily by train. Again, stupid romantic notion that would be fun.

[Infinite Jerkgrinders]

The West.

Some of the most beautiful places in America are west of the Missippi. Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Montana if you like trees and mountains and other big epic shit, Yellowstone is fucking awesome, but even just driving around out there is really really beautiful. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah if you want to see canyons and desert and mesas and that type of shit.  The Grand Canyon is pretty great (make sure to hike 1/2 way down the bright angel trail), but Canyon De Chelly is far more pretty and easier to hike down into, as is Bryce Canyon in Utah.  I've also heard that Zion national park is pretty excellent too.

I took a trainride across America once when I was a kid - through chicago and then down across arizona and new mexico, stopping for a day or so at a few places, renting a car and seeing stuff.  I also did a rafting trip down the Snake River in Idaho, which was fucking. awesome. Absolutely beautiful, good amount of reading time after camp's been set up ... sleep out under the stars, usually some cool people.

Also, Vermont in the spring/summer is one of the most beautiful places on the east coast, if you know where to camp/hike.

All those places though, are relatively low-key and solitude-y. Train-ing to those place would be good because usually you can meet some pretty interesting people on the overnight trains. Getting hammered on a train is a lot of fun, too.  I've heard Seattle is a pretty awesome town.

[FAGGOT WATCHIN TRON]

Yes I would say Vermont. I went to Stowe many years ago with the family for a little vacation and it was nice. Small town, lots of hiking and stuff if you're into that (we went in the summer), cute little shops, good food, and its nice to just sit around and do nothing.

I'd also suggest the Outer Banks for that (although not the last weekend in September because that is when I am going!). Dunno if you can get there by train, I'd imagine at least partially? But its super pretty, fairly isolated, and its kind of up to you how much you want to do. Lots of hiking and parks and stuff, of course, also beaches! And you can go pretty late in the year and its still warm and stuff. Mostly its big houses you rent for a week, but they have condo's and stuff, too, which might work better for you.

Seattle sounds like it could be fun. I know Ethan's been California a few times, maybe he can suggest somewhere up there? I think a cross-country train ride would be awesome. I kind of want to do that just as the trip itself at some point.

[Rhino......................]

If you're not looking to veer too far out of your geographic comfort zone, Ithaca is one of my favorite places that I've visited. The town itself is sort of a weird oasis in the middle of what is otherwise a bumblefuck wasteland of decrepit towns that are a barrel of laughs to look at as you pass through them. Since it's located in the frigid North, you don't really ever have to worry about it getting too hot, but if it does, you can always cool off by hiking in one of its many gorges:



The culture is almost painfully ultra-liberal, so you might not want to live there, but you're pretty much guaranteed to see hilarious/interesting things everywhere you go. The nearest train station is in Syracuse, so public transit might not be ideal. Having driven there several times though, I can definitely say the drive is beautiful and definitely worth it.

[Coney_Island_n*gga1983]

davey what a gorge-ous picture 

[Rhino......................]

 

[Shire Le Buff]

That Syracuse talk sold me. Maybe just for a weekend though, not a whole week off.

God damn, yellow stone! Yes! It would be a pain in the ass to get to, but the more I hear that name in my head the better it sounds. This is my current favorite.

I used to go into Vermont fairly regularly to visit a girlfriend going to school there. It's beautiful country and the people are super nice there. I don't know if I could handle it for more than a weekend though. I always feel a little out of place in New England.

I got invited to PAX this summer with a college friend who's gone alone before. It's in Seattle, and I'll spend most of my time fucking up games of Catan but I want to try to see the city a little bit too.

Has anyone ever gone on vacations by themselves? Is it boring (THE WORST) or the best (THE BEST)?

[FAGGOT WATCHIN TRON]

I haven't done it, but I would imagine that largely depends on what time of person you are and how well you plan out your vacation time. I can see you having a pretty good time, though. I would suggest doing a lot of research on the city you're going to beforehand and putting together a loose idea of what you want to do and see while you're there. That way you'll always have something to do and you'll see a lot of the city and I think that would be pretty much THE BEST. Also, I definitely see not having to squabble with people over where to go/what to do as a definite advantage. If you change your mind about what you want to do that day you don't have another person or a group of people to convince! You can just do it! That also sounds like THE BEST!

The only disadvantage is you'd have to ask lots of strangers to take your picture.

[Infinite Jerkgrinders]

God damn, yellow stone! Yes! It would be a pain in the ass to get to, but the more I hear that name in my head the better it sounds. This is my current favorite.

notice the pathway? Yeah. You can walk right up onto the edge of that big gorgeous motherfucker.   And all the while, there's a chance that the yellowstone caldera beneath your feet will blow up, and you'll have the honor of being at the epicenter of the end of the United States of America.

[Shire Le Buff]

Bonus.

[Shire Le Buff]

Decided on San Fransico! Taking a whole week off, the first week will be spent never leaving my apartment or changing out of my underpants. The second half I'll fly to San Fran, spend a few days there by myself, then Angelina will ride into town at the tail end of her own cross country vacation.

[Rhino......................]

Nice. Always wanted to go there. Now I can go vicariously through you. Take lots of pics!

[FAGGOT WATCHIN TRON]

Sounds awesome! Have fun, Nick!

[Shire Le Buff]

Reporting in from San Fran. The hotel's in the awesome location RIGHT outside the main Chinatown entrance. I've spent a lot of time so far just walking around. Went to the Fisherman's Wharf last night to find the video game/coin operated machine museum. Everything there is awesome and terrifying because everything there is old and a marionette.

Last night a dude might have tried to pick me up? Not sure. He was older and asked for directions then told me he was a photographer and talked about my hair color a lot. I gave him the directions.

Angelina's getting here later tonight and then we'll start doing more touristy stuff like the Alcatraz tour and watching Angelina drink wine.

[oatmeal fetish....]

If you get a chance I recommend walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and hanging out on the rocky crags and park right on the other side it is a really cool place!