International travel!

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Merk
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International travel!

Post by Merk » Mon Dec 01, 2008 5:22 pm

Let's talk about our exciting international travel experiences! I for one have never been out of the country. But hey, I like to be world-oriented and am curious as to where people have been and their experiences.

Mr. Rodent, I read your blog recently and I was wondering what possessed you to go on a bike ride throughout Nippon (that's Japan for you Gaijin (foreigners))? Where did you find the time to undergo this sorjourn?
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Re: International travel!

Post by LikeableRodent » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:29 pm

Merk wrote:Mr. Rodent, I read your blog recently and I was wondering what possessed you to go on a bike ride throughout Nippon (that's Japan for you Gaijin (foreigners))? Where did you find the time to undergo this sorjourn?
Summer vacation my friend, summer vacation.

This reminds me that I never actually finished writing about it.

And speaking of foreign countries, I'm hopping on a flight to Arizona in two weeks to visit my family for Christmas (they live near Phoenix now). Yay for not stepping foot on US soil for nearly a year and a half.

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Re: International travel!

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:22 pm

LikeableRodent wrote:
Merk wrote:Mr. Rodent, I read your blog recently and I was wondering what possessed you to go on a bike ride throughout Nippon (that's Japan for you Gaijin (foreigners))? Where did you find the time to undergo this sorjourn?
Summer vacation my friend, summer vacation.
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Re: International travel!

Post by ShammerS » Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:13 am

Funny you make this topic the same week I'm applying for my passport. I have a personal goal of seeing at least one different country every year for the next ten years. Traveling is a life goal of mine..

This summer I'll be studying Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico. After that, I want to go to Japan really, really badly and visit two of this site's admins as well as see the countryside / city life.

As my last 'big' Christmas gift from my family, I'm asking for a travel-ready digital camera to help me document all these ventures.
Each place has so many landmarks and events and just naturally beautiful destinations it's really a shame not to get to experience at least some other culture / country in our lifetime. Other countries of priority I plan to visit:

Spain
England
France
Portugal
Finland / Sweden
Australia
Argentina
Cuba
Peru
ALASKA LOL (never been =/ )... I want to see the Northern Lights and take a cruise so very badly.

I HEAR THE WATERS ARE MERKY

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Re: International travel!

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:32 am

ShammerS wrote:Funny you make this topic the same week I'm applying for my passport. I have a personal goal of seeing at least one different country every year for the next ten years. Traveling is a life goal of mine..

This summer I'll be studying Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico. After that, I want to go to Japan really, really badly and visit two of this site's admins as well as see the countryside / city life.

As my last 'big' Christmas gift from my family, I'm asking for a travel-ready digital camera to help me document all these ventures.
Each place has so many landmarks and events and just naturally beautiful destinations it's really a shame not to get to experience at least some other culture / country in our lifetime. Other countries of priority I plan to visit:

Spain
England
France
Portugal
Finland / Sweden
Australia
Argentina
Cuba
Peru
ALASKA LOL (never been =/ )... I want to see the Northern Lights and take a cruise so very badly.

I HEAR THE WATERS ARE MERKY
Alaska is great. Go in the spring sometime before it gets too touristy in the summer. Also why no Korea on list?

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Re: International travel!

Post by Riot » Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:33 am

I went to Alaska on a cruise it was purdy.
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Re: International travel!

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:24 pm

Riot wrote:I went to Alaska on a cruise it was purdy.
I'd recommend kayaking in the glacial waters.

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Re: International travel!

Post by danc1005 » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:22 pm

I've been to several different places in Europe, including Romania, Hungary, Austria, England, and France (if you want to include just the inside of airports, then I can add Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany to the list).
I'd really enjoy going somewhere in eastern Asia though, I think it would be very interesting.
Also, I HATE being a tourist; when I see a country or a culture, I would like to see it as the locals see it. That's part of the reason that I didn't much enjoy Paris this past summer. It didn't feel at all like I was getting a feel for French life.
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Re: International travel!

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:23 pm

danc1005 wrote:I've been to several different places in Europe, including Romania, Hungary, Austria, England, and France (if you want to include just the inside of airports, then I can add Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany to the list).
I'd really enjoy going somewhere in eastern Asia though, I think it would be very interesting.
Also, I HATE being a tourist; when I see a country or a culture, I would like to see it as the locals see it. That's part of the reason that I didn't much enjoy Paris this past summer. It didn't feel at all like I was getting a feel for French life.
I agree. I'd avoid cruises for this very reason.

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Re: International travel!

Post by malictus » Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:08 am

I was in my thirties before I had ever left the country. I went to Britain (London and Oxford) for a week through my work about six years ago. The actual amount of work that we had to do there was negligible, so most of the time was actually spent sightseeing. The highlight was probably the Oxford university campus, and Christ Church cathedral (portions of the Harry Potter movies were filmed there). It sort of puts perspective on supposedly 'old' buildings around here which were built a mere 150 years ago....

Also, I went to Mexico in 2004 on my honeymoon. We were in Playa Del Carmen (just south of Cancun) and took trips every day to various places, including several Mayan ruin sites and a bunch of other interesting places. The true highlight though was the food --- 'Mexican' restaurants here are really nothing like the food on the Yucatan peninsula --- home of the habanero pepper --- even the breakfast foods came with hot sauce!

Oh yeah, and I went to Toronto last year --- but it seemed so much like any other large Midwest city that I hardly realized I was out of the country...

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Re: International travel!

Post by lgolem » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:01 pm

I plan on making a trip to Japan sometime in the next year or so, just lacking in my budget to afford such a trip. I would very much like to go to South Korea as well that trip is less likely to happen....

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Re: International travel!

Post by Jizzon » Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:27 am

Okinawa's a lovely little place: an assortment of cultures tossed together (local, Japanese, Chinese, US military) makes for quite a bit to take in for such a small island. Definitely worth a look if you can make it out.

I'm also a budding travelholic! So many places I dream of visiting:

Japan proper (for longer than a few hours anyway)
Korea
China
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Australia
Europe (that's right, all of it!)
Iceland
Alaska
Hawaii again
Probably the US in a few years :wink:
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Re: International travel!

Post by FLAKK » Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:14 pm

I've been out of the country twice. My first trip was in 2006 when I traveled to Seoul, South Korea for WPF. The city is beautiful. I wish I would have been able to stay longer and see more of the country. This past summer, I went with IUS to travel across China. We went to Beijing, Jinshanling, Qufu, Tai'An, Xi'An (my favorite city of the tour), and Shanghai, spending 16 days total in China. Both experiences were a lot of fun. I met many cool people from all around the world in Seoul since people from many countries came to attend the event. In Xi'An, I met some local dance game players that took me to one of the arcades they play at.
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Re: International travel!

Post by Amp Divorax » Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:09 am

I really want to go to Japan badly, but sadly that will probably never happen.
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Re: International travel!

Post by dr88 » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:33 pm

Well, can't say that I haven't been in Korea enough, since it's only been 7 years that I live out of Korea. I'm going to Korea for this Christmas vacation to see my family, for about 2 weeks or so (Dec. 26 ~ Jan. 12). Only thing scares me right now is the fact that the 1st day of Spring 2009 semester is Jan. 12. Meaning, that I would have to skip every class on 12th since I won't be back to Bloomington at least 'til 10 PM.
Here are the countries that I've been:

South Korea
(I was born in there. My family's house is currently at Il-San City, Gyunggi Province - So...during summer, if you have any plan to visit Korea...you would probably want to stop by there :D )
USA (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, DC, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida)
Bahama
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Poland
Austria
Hungary
Hong Kong (when it was still the British colony)
China (Beijing and nearby area)

I'm probably going to stop by Japan next summer for about 3 or 4 days, while my next stop will be Korea to visit my family.
Hmmm....that's the outline for my international travel story. What country should be the 1st country for me to talk about, in details? Please give me some opinions!

dr88
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