The "I'm Traveling somewhere" Thread

[KevShmev]

Send some pics Kev. We'll take care of Nick in Boston.

I'm not much of a picture taker anymore, but I am sure I will get a handful.  I may be too busy shaking it off. 

[TAC]

What do you have to shake off?

[KevShmev]

Stress.

[TAC]

Well, then it'll do you good to get away.

[KevShmev]

Yep, should be good to get away from it all for a day or two before it all comes back. 

[King Postwhore]

Don't I know it.

[Nick]

Tricia, here's things after night 1

https://youtu.be/MVTS3_cIgFk

[chknptpie]

Tricia, here's things after night 1

https://youtu.be/MVTS3_cIgFk

Invading Chad's country 

How much juice did you use overnight? Curious if you started at like 90% did you wake up to 70%? I love that your bag is hidden so when your car is parked somewhere it isn't low hanging fruit for something to smash and grab. Did you bring anything to cook or are you living purely off processed foods? lol

[Nick]

I used about 8% to keep at 60 degrees and keep all the cameras running.

I brought some food/drink with me and am stopping occasionally for meals, definitely not cooking anything. Cashews have been the main snack thus far.

[Nick]

Night 2 is behind me and should be the toughest of the trip. Both shows in Montréal were at the same venue, so I parked in a residential area not far from the venue. Not ideal, but I put a hoodie up between the front seats (blocking view from front), and all the other windows are tinted, so pretty happy with that.

[cramx3]

Tricia, here's things after night 1

https://youtu.be/MVTS3_cIgFk

That's actually really sick. I think I mentioned back when you first said this idea, that I don't think I personally could live in a car, but after seeing your set up, it definitely looks possible.  I guess I didn't realize how slick the Tesla features were to do such a thing (like temp control all night).

[axeman90210]

Good stuff Nick. I do find the word "frunk" to be... unsettling for some reason

[Nick]

Yeah, I still don't fully accept that word.

Last night was perfect, stopped at the first truck stop on the way to Montreal. Not only a great place to park for the night, but was able to pay $10 for a much appreciated shower in the morning.

[Anguyen92]

I'm thinking about spending a weekend in one of the following locations for a concert in August: West Virginia, Milwaukee, or San Antonio.  Is there anything interesting to look for in these areas?

Change of plans in this one.  A podcast I regularly listen to has announced a live show in Chicago on 08/26.  Alter Bridge is playing in Grand Rapids on 08/25 (which is a Friday).  So my weekend trip will be fly to Grand Rapids on Thursday evening that week, watch Alter Bridge in Grand Rapids on the Friday, take a Amtrak train to Chicago early Saturday morning and enjoy the live show podcast thing that evening and spend the Sunday in Chicago.  I think I should be happy with that.  Now to find the prices of flight and hotels.

[pg1067]

Random situation.

I got an email from Delta regarding my return flight from Boston in September.  I had booked a one-way flight from Boston to Orange County (via Atlanta) that was supposed to leave Boston shortly after 4pm, connect in ATL for a little over an hour and get into SNA just before 10pm.  I paid for an exit row, so it was about $450.  The email informed me that the flight was changing to leave BOS just after 1:30pm and arrive in SNA just after 7:30.  No big deal, right.  I randomly checked to see what this new flight would cost if I were to book it today, and it was just over $300.  Fortunately, I was able to cancel my original booking, get a refund on my card, and book the new itinerary for $150 less (with the exact same seats).

Yay for me, but I kinda think it's BS that they did such a drastic flight change, but it was up to me to figure out the cost difference and take steps to take advantage of it.

[Anguyen92]

So, after a few days of looking through hotel prices in Grand Rapids and given I'm only going to be there for one day and off I go to take a early morning train from Grand Rapids to Chicago, I feel like it's not feasible (cost wise) to get a hotel room or AirBnB, etc. in Grand Rapids.  I checked around and I think I can store my luggage somewhere in the area for $15.00 until 5 AM and then I can walk from the storage place to the train station and take the 6 AM train. 

My question now becomes what could one do in the late night between 11 PM - 5 AM if one have no interest in buying a room to stay in?  I found a 24 hour diner in the area, but I think I'm going to get only two hours chilling in there.

[El Barto]

So, after a few days of looking through hotel prices in Grand Rapids and given I'm only going to be there for one day and off I go to take a early morning train from Grand Rapids to Chicago, I feel like it's not feasible (cost wise) to get a hotel room or AirBnB, etc. in Grand Rapids.  I checked around and I think I can store my luggage somewhere in the area for $15.00 until 5 AM and then I can walk from the storage place to the train station and take the 6 AM train. 

My question now becomes what could one do in the late night between 11 PM - 5 AM if one have no interest in buying a room to stay in?  I found a 24 hour diner in the area, but I think I'm going to get only two hours chilling in there.

Adult bookstore.

Honestly, I have no idea why one would do that. The cheapest fleabag motel in GR is probably going to be better than any place you might wind up killing time at 0400.

[pg1067]

So, after a few days of looking through hotel prices in Grand Rapids and given I'm only going to be there for one day and off I go to take a early morning train from Grand Rapids to Chicago, I feel like it's not feasible (cost wise) to get a hotel room or AirBnB, etc. in Grand Rapids.  I checked around and I think I can store my luggage somewhere in the area for $15.00 until 5 AM and then I can walk from the storage place to the train station and take the 6 AM train. 

My question now becomes what could one do in the late night between 11 PM - 5 AM if one have no interest in buying a room to stay in?  I found a 24 hour diner in the area, but I think I'm going to get only two hours chilling in there.

Adult bookstore.

Honestly, I have no idea why one would do that. The cheapest fleabag motel in GR is probably going to be better than any place you might wind up killing time at 0400.

Agree.  Red Roof Inn Grand Rapids Airport is $61 (including taxes/fees) on hotels.com.  That's only an extra $46 on top of the $15 to stow the luggage (and you'd be saving whatever you'd otherwise spend sitting at the diner).

[Samsara]

Yeah, saving money is one thing, but hanging around for six hours in the middle of the night in a public place just to save 60 bucks isn't a good idea, IMO.

[Anguyen92]

All right, all right.  I was hoping maybe there was something that I'm missing when it comes to planning this out that didn't require spending money for a place to stay.  Not going to stay at the Inn near the airport since that's way too far away from the train station.  I found an AirBnB about 1.5 miles away from the train station for $70.00.  I'll just do that and take an Uber/Lyft for $15.00 to get to the station.

[El Barto]

Chicago has now become my most hated of all cities. The surrounding areas are fine, but Chicago proper is just miserable. It's the only place I've ever been where the closer you get to some place the further away you are.

Your destination is 31 miles away. You will arrive in 1 hour, 27 minutes.
Your destination is 26 miles away. You will arrive in 1 hour, 31 minutes.
Your destination is 22 miles away. You will arrive in 1 hour, 33 minutes.

And I defy any Chicaggers to say I'm exaggerating.

[TAC]

It's easily the worst traffic that I have ever personally witnessed.

[cramx3]

I've never been to Chicago, but I hadn't really heard too much about the bad traffic there.  Typically you hear about LA and NYC.  But I just quickly googled and yup, Chicago is rated the worst here for 2022: https://www.thestreet.com/money/30-cities-with-the-worst-traffic-in-the-us#gid=ci02b61a41f000253a&pid=san-francisco-sh

[TAC]

Yay Boston

[SwedishGoose]

Will be flying to Tokyo in about 3 weeks with my son on the 26th.
We will be spending 2 weeks in Japan before travelling back home again.
So far we have only booked the first four nights in Tokyo. We plan on going to Osaka / Kyoto and Himeiji and then probably back to Tokyo again.

Anyone have any suggstions for things to do, places to stay or anything else you want to suggest?

[MirrorMask]

I'm finalizing now the details about my summer vacation, and one week will be spent in Lisbon! first time in Portugal, and I'm gonna break my record of being the westernmost I've ever been, after last year I achieved the double feature of stretching at the same time my east and south limits by going to Santorini in Greece.

If I eventually go to Lisbon and then to Cabo de Roca to see, for the first time ever in my life, an ocean (Atlantic of course), that will be as well the westernmost point of continental Europe, so that will be it - if I would want eventually to go even more westwards, there's no Europe anymore, it'd have to be the Azores or the Canaries (technically "Europe") or, the Americas.

[ReaperKK]

Chicago has now become my most hated of all cities. The surrounding areas are fine, but Chicago proper is just miserable. It's the only place I've ever been where the closer you get to some place the further away you are.

Your destination is 31 miles away. You will arrive in 1 hour, 27 minutes.
Your destination is 26 miles away. You will arrive in 1 hour, 31 minutes.
Your destination is 22 miles away. You will arrive in 1 hour, 33 minutes.

And I defy any Chicaggers to say I'm exaggerating.

Completely agree. I have extended family that lives outside of Chicago but the city itself sucks, incredibly difficult to get around.

[Anguyen92]

All right, I got my flights booked.  So on 08/24, I'm going to travel from San Diego to Grand Rapids (going to take an Amtrak train from Anaheim to get to San Diego).  Go see Alter Bridge and Sevendust on 08/25 in Grand Rapids, and then on 08/26 take an early train from Grand Rapids to Chicago to watch a live show of a podcast I frequently listen to.  Spend a day on 08/27 in Chicago to relax and then head back to the OC on 08/28.   Will cost $373.00 in flight and train expenses.  I am perfectly ok with that.  Now to find some good AirBnBs to stay in.

[Anguyen92]

Ok, well, the train ride idea from Anaheim to San Diego has hit a bit of a snag.  Apparently, a few days ago, Amtrak is closing the Pacific Surfliner in certain parts on the way there because there was a landslide near tracks and they got to look into that.  I guess an alternative for me is to take another train as far south as I can go.  Apparently, the further south via train I can go will be in Oceanside and I'll just have to take a Lyft/Uber to the Airport.  Maybe this whole thing can get itself sorted out by August, but I doubt it given the poor state of rail transportation in these parts.

[Chino]

I leave tomorrow for Niagara Falls for a few days (the Canadian side). I've never been!

[axeman90210]

Just a couple days now until I fly out to San Diego for week for a much-needed vacation.

[chknptpie]

We head to disney and universal on Tuessday!

[ReaperKK]

I leave tomorrow for Niagara Falls for a few days (the Canadian side). I've never been!

I've only been to the Canadian side and I really enjoyed it! Hope you have fun!

[lordxizor]

Im off to Boston on Monday for a work confernece. Not much time to sightsee but the hotel is right in the thick of things, so hopefully I have time to at least wander around a bit.

We head to disney and universal on Tuessday!

Say hi to Mickey for us!

[TAC]

Im off to Boston on Monday for a work confernece. Not much time to sightsee but the hotel is right in the thick of things, so hopefully I have time to at least wander around a bit.

Where are you staying? Not stalking lol.