Do Americans have it better?

[griffonwing]

Yeah, we have our own form of Cockney Rhyme Slang. It's called Backwoods Hick!

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Without a Jeep, Tim has been known to unplug all of the hookups in order to go to Dollar General in The Love Shack.

Yeah. Back when I had my van, I didn't haul a toad (for those not of the RV culture, a "toad" is the car that would normally be "towed" behind your RV), so I would unplug all the hookups at the campsite each day (again, cultural reference "hookups" are electrical, water and sewer connections to your RV), and go sightseeing.

It was really nice at places like Disneyworld, say at a water park or something, where I could just walk out of the park midday and take a nap in the air conditioned van for an hour or so, and then walk back into the park. That was much better than waiting for the monorail or a boat or a bus to come and drive me back to the campground.

[DixieGal]

You know how people name boats? Well, our motor home is bigger than a boat, and I named it after the song, "The Love Shack." Lyrics: I got me a Chrysler, it's as big as a whale! Love shack, baby, love shack.

Dollar General is an inexpensive store, located everywhere, where you can buy anything you want and things that you didn't know you wanted until you saw it, mostly for a buck or two.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

You know how people name boats? Well, our motor home is bigger than a boat, and I named it after the song, "The Love Shack." Lyrics: I got me a Chrysler, it's as big as a whale! Love shack, baby, love shack.

Aha! I know that song I just thought you meant a store and a store by that name was quite puzzling to say the least...

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by kazbates

With the vastness of the USA and perhaps because I am not much of a traveller, I've only been west of the Midwest a couple of times to visit my brother when he lived in Utah and Washington state. Most of my vacation trips have been on the East coast, predominantly to South Florida and Disney. My husband took a couple of months to do a road trip across the US when he graduated from college and has been grumbling about wanting to do it again. We even looked into taking the train out west, but then you are left without a car which is definitely needed once you get off the train at the various stops. We've also looked into renting one of those fancy RV's but that doesn't seem like much of a vacation to me. He would do all the driving and I would do all the cooking, etc. We had hoped to take more adult trips once my older two children were grown, but then Ryleigh came along and it was back to Disneyworld.

I have traveled to every state west of the Mississippi River except North Dakota by car, RV or van pulling a camping trailer. I have also traveled the deep South all the way to Florida. I like to travel that way, you can stop when you want and do what you want. There is lots to see that you don't know about until you get there. The rest of the country is on my to do list although I have traveled to parts of it by train or plane.

I have also visited a fair amount of Europe and headed back in a month. I have also hit some high points in other parts of the world.

Dale

[Stitchawl]

The US is a perfect place for motorcycle touring! (Of course, so are most other places in the world, but the US makes it easy!) There is no better way to really see a country than from the back of a motorcycle. You become part of the environment rather than a spectator passing through it watching from inside a metal box.

It always seemed to me that the majority of motorcycle tourists were senior citizens so age really isn't a barrier. Camping along the way couldn't be any easier with all the campground directory guidebooks for virtually every section of the country. For rainy days, or just for a treat, take a nice motel for the evening. Sampling the regional foods, stopping at local points of interest, and meeting other motorcycle tourists at just about every scenic point along the roads!

We have toured through every state in the US, all across Canada, and upper Mexico, and never had a problem with anything more than a sore butt. We've ridden in 17 different countries on four continents, and the biggest difficulty was finding clean gas in some of the Third World countries.

We met entire families touring. Dad driving with Mom and the kids either on the back or in a sidecar. We saw families touring pulling pop-up travel tents. Gas is cheap when you drive a motorcycle, camping costs 1/5 the price of a motel, and you really, really get in touch with the locale. Helmet communicators mean easy talking with the family, connections for I-Pod and cell phone, and bike to bike conversations with others if you are traveling with friends.

It's a nice way to travel and see the world!


Stitchawl

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by kazbates

He was actually looking at something like this:

Attachment 33266 Attachment 33267

knowing how I like to travel. He figures if he can give me a little luxury on the road I won't mind all the other work that goes with it.

Well, I prefer the smaller one... We're thinking about getting one, a bit bigger than that Mercedez-Benz, but not as huge as one of those American ones. You hardly see those huge RV's here. I actually saw only one, while we were in Sankt Moritz, it even had a smart car inside it...

(oh, as an answer to the original question: Do Americans have it better? No, but they must have everything larger!)

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Sounds good for you. Actually, I love to travel, except for the traveling part. You know how they say "the journey blah blah blah the destination.." Just don't tell me that after 45 minutes sitting in traffic in the middle of Maryland somewhere. Or the one time we waited 3 hours to get through the toll booths of the Geo Washington bridge.

Argh!!!

BOb

That's why we tend to go to non-tourists places and avoid highways. And the journey is usually the important part of the holiday, unless we go skiing (then we just want to get there, so we go by train).

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Yeah. Back when I had my van, I didn't haul a toad (for those not of the RV culture, a "toad" is the car that would normally be "towed" behind your RV), so I would unplug all the hookups at the campsite each day (again, cultural reference "hookups" are electrical, water and sewer connections to your RV), and go sightseeing.

We always did that. But then, we hardly ever stayed in one place longer than 2 days when we were traveling around in that bus. I remember one year, when we went all the way to the south of Spain in winter (in Marbella at Christmas and in San Sebastian at New Year) and that next summer, we went to the top of Norway (from Denmark, to Sweden, to Finland, to Norway and then the entire length of Norway back to Oslo and finally back home, I want to do that again!).

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

The US is a perfect place for motorcycle touring! (Of course, so are most other places in the world, but the US makes it easy!) There is no better way to really see a country than from the back of a motorcycle. You become part of the environment rather than a spectator passing through it watching from inside a metal box.

<snip>
It's a nice way to travel and see the world!


Stitchawl

Oh, I will believe that! But I doubt I'll ever learn to ride one But I do agree on camping. I don't like motels or hotels. I like my own tent much better!

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Well, I prefer the smaller one... We're thinking about getting one, a bit bigger than that Mercedez-Benz, but not as huge as one of those American ones. You hardly see those huge RV's here. I actually saw only one, while we were in Sankt Moritz, it even had a smart car inside it...

(oh, as an answer to the original question: Do Americans have it better? No, but they must have everything larger!)



That's why we tend to go to non-tourists places and avoid highways. And the journey is usually the important part of the holiday, unless we go skiing (then we just want to get there, so we go by train).



We always did that. But then, we hardly ever stayed in one place longer than 2 days when we were traveling around in that bus. I remember one year, when we went all the way to the south of Spain in winter (in Marbella at Christmas and in San Sebastian at New Year) and that next summer, we went to the top of Norway (from Denmark, to Sweden, to Finland, to Norway and then the entire length of Norway back to Oslo and finally back home, I want to do that again!).



Oh, I will believe that! But I doubt I'll ever learn to ride one But I do agree on camping. I don't like motels or hotels. I like my own tent much better!

We do like our big toys!

I wouldn't be caught dead in a tent (or possibly that's the only way you would find me in one ). My mother felt the same. I've only been camping twice. The second time on a retreat with my husband and a group from his church. It was so aweful that he when he asked me to marry him, one of the conditions to my acceptance was that he never make me go camping again! After almost 24 years, he's held to that promise, although he has tried to get around it a bit with a cabin in the mountains. As long as it has a bathroom and electricity, I told him it would be okay.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by kazbates

I wouldn't be caught dead in a tent (or possibly that's the only way you would find me in one ). My mother felt the same. I've only been camping twice.

Funny. But, I'm with you. To me "roughing it" means staying in a 3 star hotel.

Funny though, 24ish years ago when my wife and I had just got married we lived in a trailer for about 18 months. Now that was minimalist.

BOb

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Funny. But, I'm with you. To me "roughing it" means staying in a 3 star hotel.

Funny though, 24ish years ago when my wife and I had just got married we lived in a trailer for about 18 months. Now that was minimalist.

BOb

My favorite saying is that my idea of camping is staying at the Holiday Inn rather than the Plaza!! Hence the reason we don't go on long vacations.

[DixieGal]

My needs are pretty basic when traveling. Indoor modern plumbing is the only necessity.

EDIT: By "indoor modern," I mean with a flush toilet, not no scary "squatters." The shape of the toilet does not matter, as long as it flushes. I've got pictures of a hotel toilet in Naples that is square. Actually, it was very comfy, like sitting in a chair.

[yvanleterrible]

I've slept outside during winter at -20C. Amazing experience!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

EDIT: By "indoor modern," I mean with a flush toilet, not no scary "squatters." The shape of the toilet does not matter, as long as it flushes. I've got pictures of a hotel toilet in Naples that is square. Actually, it was very comfy, like sitting in a chair.

There's actually squatting toilets that flushes. I've seen one once, and it was nice and clean and with modern appliances. I think you're thinking of a privy?

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Ea

There's actually squatting toilets that flushes. I've seen one once, and it was nice and clean and with modern appliances. I think you're thinking of a privy?

You still have the danger of doing in your pants if you're short legged.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Ea

There's actually squatting toilets that flushes. I've seen one once, and it was nice and clean and with modern appliances. I think you're thinking of a privy?

Most of the French toilets were squatters... At least when I was last there (which would be about 20 years ago). And they all flushed!

My needs are pretty basic when traveling. Indoor modern plumbing is the only necessity.

All campings we go to have indoor modern plumbing...