Trying to decide where to go this winter.

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by daniel, Sep 29, 2009.

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  1. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Spokane doesn't really have winter, if your perspective is from North Dakota, but it does get snow and ice and generally unpleasant weather. I'm not a snow bird, but I like to get away now and then for a week or two. I don't like cities. So I'm trying to decide where to go. Oh, I also do not like excessively long trips, which makes the south Pacific very difficult.

    Places I'm considering:

    Belize (Long Caye, Glover's Reef, which the operator, Slickrock, calls its "adventure island"); Mayaguana aboard Nekton Rorqual; and a spa at Tecate, Mexico. South America would be a place to go in winter, but it's surprisingly far away, and all the specific locations that have been recommended to me (I especially like upscale hiking lodges) take three or four days to get to, due to the poor infrastructure for travel in the third world.

    I've been to Long Caye once. Long trip, including three flights and a rough and very noisy 2.5-hour boat ride. Very rustic, beautiful coconut-covered island. Sea kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, and for those more coordinated than I, windsurfing and kayak surfing.

    I've been on the Rorqual's sister ship, the Nekton Pilot. Very comfortable, well-run dive boat. Staterooms have private bath and shower. Friendly, skilled, and helpful crew. Their on-line description of Mayaguana sounds fun.

    I've been twice before to the spa at Tecate. Hiking, gymnasiums, spa classes and treatments (the latter don't particularly interest me) fabulous food (vegetarian plus fish; no meat or fowl, so I never have to ask if a dish has meat) and a great cooking school connected to the organic garden.

    Belize is the one I'm least certain about, due to the hardship of the trip and the extremely rustic nature of the island. E.g. the shower water is slightly salty so you never feel completely clean.

    I'd welcome suggestions. Requirements are: outdoor/nature type of place; not too hard to get to; nice weather when it's winter in Spokane.
     
    #1 daniel, Sep 29, 2009
  2. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    Oh, take me! take me! take me!!

    Me, I'd go to Belize. There are lots of other places there, besides the one with salt-water showers. Of course, I am also a fan of cruise ships :D

    I'd love to visit Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Brazil... hey, even Australia and New Zealand! :p
     
    #2 Rae Vynn, Sep 29, 2009
  3. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Oooh, salt water showers? Poor diddums. I'd sentence you to three months of hard labour outdoors in the cold, just so you'd appreciate what you have.
     
    #3 hyo silver, Sep 29, 2009
  4. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    #4 a_gray_prius, Sep 29, 2009
  5. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Hawaiian islands.
     
    #5 ualdriver, Sep 29, 2009
  6. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    You could always pop in to see me.

    In January

    I'd even let you run the snowblower, because that is the sort of pal I am
     
    #6 jayman, Sep 29, 2009
  7. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Hey, that sounds like fun. Can we build ramps and see how much air we can get on the snowmobile? :)
     
    #7 hyo silver, Sep 29, 2009
  8. tleonhar

    tleonhar Senior Member

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    We always do our winter vacation in the Philippines, it may be a bit on the long distance for your desires (although shorter than Indonesia), but it's definitely worth the trip.
     
    #8 tleonhar, Sep 30, 2009
  9. mojo

    mojo Senior Member

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    This may help you decide where to go.

    [ame=http://www.google.com/search?q=foreign+wife&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:fficial&client=firefox-a]foreign wife - Google Search[/ame]
     
    #9 mojo, Sep 30, 2009
  10. octavia

    octavia Active Member

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    Crazy idea here.
    What if... instead of looking for the *perfect* place to go, you instead use your resources to create the *perfect* expereience for someone else. I think you might find that the enjoyment from giving the gift of a fabulous experience to someone else is almost as good ( if not better for some of us do-gooder junkies) than experiencing it yourself.

    1. find someone you dont even really know and anonymously send them to a place where you have already been and enjoyed a lot. The key here, is you don't know them, they don't know you. Having a few conversations with family and friends will usually create a list of "I know EXACTLY who deserves and could use a get away" people.
    2. While they are away experiencing the place you so love I can almost guarantee, you will spend the days they are there, remembering what you have done and wondering at their experience. You will probably find yourself smiling unexpected all throughout the day as these thoughts hit you. You might even find yourself glowing with the inside secret knowlege of the good thing you have done and the joy they are bound to be experiencing because of it. You might find yourself secretly geeking out, lost in pleasant thoughts to the perfectness of the kindness you have visited on a total stranger.
    3. You HAVE to remain anonymous to them. This eliminates attached strings, both real and imagined, and the gift needs to be given without you recieving anything in return. The minute you allow them to share how the trip was, or say thank you.. expectations get ruffled up. As long as you are able to just give it, know it is happening, and walk away. You get to have the most *perfect* experience possible. In your mind... it will be the same amazing experience for them as it was for you. :)

    Just a thought.
     
    #10 octavia, Sep 30, 2009
  11. Dave_PH

    Dave_PH New Member

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    I've been to Hong Kong and Thailand. They're both fun and as close to going to another planet as you'll ever get. The food is increadible.

    I'd definitely go to Vietnam if my cats would let be be away that long.
     
    #11 Dave_PH, Sep 30, 2009
  12. mojo

    mojo Senior Member

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    Ive been wanting to go to Cuba for a
    loooooong time.:cheer2:
     
    #12 mojo, Sep 30, 2009
  13. Dave_PH

    Dave_PH New Member

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    A slight modification

    Originally Posted by octavia [​IMG]
    Crazy idea here.
    What if... instead of looking for the *perfect* place to go, you instead use your resources to create the *perfect* expereience for someone else. I think you might find that the enjoyment from giving the gift of a fabulous experience to someone else is almost as good ( if not better for some of us do-gooder junkies) than experiencing it yourself.

    1. find someone you dont even really know and offer to cat sit for them while they go on a fabulous vacation.
     
    #13 Dave_PH, Sep 30, 2009
  14. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    What's the name of that movie where Nichole Kidman is a Russian mail-order bride? Great movie. And a warning against trying to find a wife by mail.

    :pound:

    Sorry, Octavia. I'm not that noble! ... Anyway, I'm not looking for a perfect place. I'm just trying to decide where to go, and looking for possible places I have not thought of yet. ;)

    If you lived within Xebra-driving distance of me, and your cats were not quite so psychotic, I'd be happy to cat-sit for them while you're away, providing that I was not away at the same time.
     
    #14 daniel, Sep 30, 2009
  15. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Boy, can't even ask for travel suggestions without getting razzed! :(
     
    #15 daniel, Sep 30, 2009
  16. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Sorry, Daniel. I don't always get my regular dose of endorphins, either.
     
    #16 hyo silver, Sep 30, 2009
  17. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Snowblower. Not snowmobile. Though quite possibly, if I really opened her up, it might actually drive off the ramps

    I actually saw a guy do that with a snowblower, but by accident. He was trying to drive his snowblower up flimsy homemade ramps into the box of his pickup

    He almost made it to the tailgate, the ramps broke, the snowblower came straight down, and both wheels broke off. A snowblower isn't very helpful without wheels

    We don't train cats, our cats train us

    But at least my cats are handsome
     
    #17 jayman, Sep 30, 2009
  18. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    I just saw that Samoa suffered a tsunami.

    If I had a bunch of money and time, I'd go THERE - and spend some time volunteering, helping out as much as I could.
     
    #18 Rae Vynn, Sep 30, 2009
  19. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Mine didn't have any wheels. Just a flat blade and a handle. Yours probably clears away the snow faster than mine did, though.

    Great idea! Spend three days traveling, each way, so that I could get in peoples' way.

    I do, however, give money to the sorts of organizations that help out in cases like that. But I'm still going to go somewhere for winter.
     
    #19 daniel, Oct 1, 2009
  20. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    That actually sounds EPIC.
     
    #20 a_gray_prius, Oct 1, 2009
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