Foreign Travel?

[Suburban Plowboy]

As has been noted in other posts, tourists in Europe are now like ants on a dead dog. There are swarms of them. And because India and mainland China have gotten more prosperous, there are a lot of tourists who suddenly have money but no idea how to act. There were signs in Europe telling mainland Chinese people, basically, not to poop on the floor.

It was saddening to see how expensive Switzerland had gotten. They are deliberately jacking prices up to reduce tourism. A place that sold me cheeseburgers for maybe $3.00 in 1977 was offering them for about $35.00, and I saw a restaurant charging about $7.50 for tap water.

Switzerland is the only place I've ever been where I would call the scenery breathtaking. You turn around, see a gorge or an array of mountains, and you literally stop breathing. I also admire the people a great deal. But I spent over $500 per night for a room that would cost maybe $150 in the US. I felt insulted. This is my favorite country in Europe, but I don't think I'll ever go back.

Rome's sites were completely jammed up. I felt like a cow in a busy stockyard, being rammed through these places. Great food. Fun people, except for the hordes of rude illegal immigrants badgering us to buy terrible souvenirs. I think if we go again, it will be in the middle of the winter. There is nothing in Rome you need warm weather to see.

I wish I could have shown her ******, but it was difficult to get a visa, and the constant genocidal terrorist attacks make it a questionable proposition these days.

I would like to see Russia, but I guess that will not happen given the way past American regimes have failed at establishing cordial ties.

Anyway, but for my wife, I would have stayed right here in Florida and been very happy about it.

 

[ultrarunner]

One of the nurses I work with is from Indonesia… she married in California and they have a daughter…

I attended the wedding and only her aunt with a Belgium passport could attend from her family.

Her parents dreamed of seeing where her daughter lived and meeting the American family… several years of trying without luck.

They then signed up for an organized travel tour and the travel company arranged the Visa… but her 45 year old brother was denied.

I met parents during their 30 hours in San Francisco when they came to see her workplace.

Lots of tears of joy seeing their 8 year old grand daughter for the first time… my friend said it’s 30 hours she will never forget…

Parents returned home with the tour and within 4 years both had passed away…

Their trip to California to see their daughter and her new family was the highlight of their lives.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

We had to get married over Zoom. In the past, if you wanted to get married over video in the US, you and your bride both had to be on US soil. A county in Utah dropped that requirement, and people like my wife and me swamped them. She was in Africa, and I was here in my bedroom. We had Zoom witnesses and Zoom guests. I think our wedding cost $85.

As I recall, I could have flown to her country, but neither of us was excited about that. Back then, I thought a 30-hour plane trip was unthinkable. My attitude really changed in 4 years of travel. To get to Hong Kong, I had to take THE longest commercial airline flight, with a drunken Russian using me as a seat back. Exactly 16 hours. No other commercial flight is as long. That was after flying to JFK and waiting for the Hong Kong flight. Singapore to San Francisco is nearly as long, and once I got to San Francisco, I still had to fly to Florida.

The USA likes to see married couples get together physically before giving them visas, on the somewhat archaic assumption that if you're together, you have consummated the marriage. This is why we went to Turkey after Egypt. To convince Uncle Sam we were getting busy.

 

[Izebluke]

I started using Travel Business Class to find cheap business class tickets whenever I have to fly somewhere a couple years ago after getting fed up with long layovers and cramped seats. They've helped me find good deals on business class tickets that didn’t break the bank. Definitely made those longer international trips way more comfortable, especially when crossing multiple time zones.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Been to 11 countries in the world, here is a few things I took away from my travels, always keep your head on a swivel (being alert is a good way to catch trouble before it comes to you), sit in a corner with easy access to an exit, Big one don't be an @ss, keep your money in your front pockets, but not all of it, some of it in you socks, If you have friends there they should keep you safe, and the big one "have fun".

I always carry a travel wallet belt under my pants when traveling abroad. I always make paper copies of passports and other important documents and keep them in it with the majority of cash. We usually have Philippine pesos with us so we can avoid bad exchange rates when getting off the plane and can go straight to a sim card stand and then to a taxi.

 

[NoTrespassing]

We had to get married over Zoom. In the past, if you wanted to get married over video in the US, you and your bride both had to be on US soil. A county in Utah dropped that requirement, and people like my wife and me swamped them. She was in Africa, and I was here in my bedroom. We had Zoom witnesses and Zoom guests. I think our wedding cost $85.

As I recall, I could have flown to her country, but neither of us was excited about that. Back then, I thought a 30-hour plane trip was unthinkable. My attitude really changed in 4 years of travel. To get to Hong Kong, I had to take THE longest commercial airline flight, with a drunken Russian using me as a seat back. Exactly 16 hours. No other commercial flight is as long. That was after flying to JFK and waiting for the Hong Kong flight. Singapore to San Francisco is nearly as long, and once I got to San Francisco, I still had to fly to Florida.

The USA likes to see married couples get together physically before giving them visas, on the somewhat archaic assumption that if you're together, you have consummated the marriage. This is why we went to Turkey after Egypt. To convince Uncle Sam we were getting busy.

I think we had a flight over 16 hours about 10 years ago. The longest flight according to Google is over 18 hours.

The world's longest commercial flight is Singapore Airlines flight SQ23 from New York (JFK) to Singapore (SIN). This flight covers a distance of 9,534 miles (15,344 kilometers) and has a scheduled flight time of approximately 18 hours and 40 minutes, according to Flightradar24. It is operated by an Airbus A350-900ULR, designed for ultra-long-range travel.

 

[kenmbz]

Done the NY to Singapore a number of times, makes the trip to California or England seem short.
Singapore air is a great airline.

The trip to South Africa is long too, on the way back you stop for fuel so it's 16 hours.

We were in Switzerland a few years back and I remember even in the 80's it was not cheap.
Going off the beaten path to local restaurants and groceries you save a lot of money. We usually avoid tourist food places if we can, sometimes it's just not possible.

We stay in business rental flats or business hotels as they are cheaper that the big hotels. Usually clean nice and professional staff. Great concierges too. Just not a lot of amenities.

Nothing like sitting in the bar on the roof of a business hotel and looking over the city enters.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep… corporate relocations out of state is a big deal…

Also a lot of vacant retail here from fast food, grocery stores, CVS, Walgreens, banks, auto parts and strip malls.

The smaller operators that got hit hard during years of pandemic often folded.

Large retail chains closed profitable locations due in large part to theft… both upon patrons and also the establishments.

A lot of retail is dark…

We've got a Kroger store that's closing soon. Part of the latest group. They say it's underperforming. We all know it's getting shoplifted to death. Filthy store, too.

 

[MossRoad]

When we went to Ireland we did a bus tour and they obviously take you places thar are safe. Out tour guide talked some about politics and talked about their immigration problem. She also talked about Britain pulling out of the EU and I got the idea there was some hate there.

When we went to the Wisconsin Dells, we did a horse drawn wagon tour of a local attraction. Our tour guide talked about some politics and talked about their immigration problem. He also made some racial slurs and I got the idea there was some hate there.