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You mean you'd rather read about a great meal in the food section of the Sunday paper, than sit down and eat it? You'd rather read about a wonderful wife and kids, than have a family of your own? You'd rather read about great music, than listen to it being performed? You're out in a bliizzard, all you want is to read about a guy sitting by his fireside?
I don't have any taste buds, so the "enjoyment" of food isn't really high on my list. I'm glad not to have a wife or kids. I could care less about the music. But your last thing brings up my point--while you're OUT in a blizzard, I don't want the experience of the same, so I'd stay in.
Some kind, thoughtful, compassionate person should bang you over the head with a passport, repeatedly!
The underlying issue? Laziness, laziness at its worst!
I could watch travel video's of every country in the world, but nothing, nothing approximates the experience itself.
Foreign travel can be a helluva lot of work, definitely not for the lazy! You come back from India or China, so exhausted, you can barely make it out of the plane. Is it worth it? Yes, yes, yes and one more yes!
Get that passport updated and go, go, go! That's an order!
I went, went, went, when I was in the Navy--and hated every minute of it. There was nothing I enjoyed more than pulling into my home port in the good old USA, unless it was returning to my home state.
I went, went, went, when I was in the Navy--and hated every minute of it. There was nothing I enjoyed more than pulling into my home port in the good old USA, unless it was returning to my home state.
I guess what I would say with that is that traveling with the Navy is different from being out on your own. I travel a lot for work and it's never the same when you have those work obligations and commitments in the background.
For me , it isn't a matter of lack of desire. It is a matter of is it safe of good idea. One place I would love to travel to is Russia. The thing is, I know as a Black man, I run a high risk of getting murdered there because of alot of xenophobic violence, much of it going unpunished. Would I like to go? Of course. It is safe for me to go? Probably not. I want to go there, especially to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Fact is, this is where alot of the xenophobic violence from Neo-Nazis is occuring at.
I guess what I would say with that is that traveling with the Navy is different from being out on your own. I travel a lot for work and it's never the same when you have those work obligations and commitments in the background.
I didn't enjoy being overseas at all. And even here in America, am I to be drawn in by the multitude of tourist traps? Or could I just save my money for something more important to me--food and shelter.
Also, I prefer familiar surroundings to someplace where I don't know my way around. I could quite happily remain within...let's say 2 square miles of where I currently live for the rest of my life. At least I THINK my job is only two miles away.
Jamaica - I hear there is an overwhelming amount of poverty and crime, more than the other islands.
China - I would be uncomfortable going to this Communist country. I'd be nervous of doing something wrong and getting sentenced to 20 years of hard labor.
Branson - this is locally popular where I live (MO) but I don't get the big deal. Sounds like a major tourist trap to me. Folks here love the shows but, when I think of great shows I think of Broadway, or some of the great, small theater shows I have seen in NY/NJ. A country musical just isn't my thing.
New Orleans - would have liked to see it pre-Katrina but I suspect most of the best places are gone now. I'm also annoyed that so many of my tax dollars have gone to rebuilding a place that is entirely in a flood zone.
For me , it isn't a matter of lack of desire. It is a matter of is it safe of good idea. One place I would love to travel to is Russia. The thing is, I know as a Black man, I run a high risk of getting murdered there because of alot of xenophobic violence, much of it going unpunished. Would I like to go? Of course. It is safe for me to go? Probably not. I want to go there, especially to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Fact is, this is where alot of the xenophobic violence from Neo-Nazis is occuring at.
It always surprises me how few African Americans are interested in going to Africa. I didn't meet a single one when I was traveling there, and I've only met one here in America who had ever been there.
It always surprises me how few African Americans are interested in going to Africa. I didn't meet a single one when I was traveling there, and I've only met one here in America who had ever been there.
I didn't know how to respond to the first sentence, so this is what I have to say.
I haven't met many people period who want to go to Africa. Most of the African-Americans I have met wanted to travel to the Caribbean. I have thought of traveling to Africa
Actually, there have been some African-Americans that have moved to Africa to stay.
Yeah, I can relate to the last few posters. I want to return from my trips unharmed, thank you.
People have marveled that I take vacations solo, but I've never traveled abroad. Nor would I do it unless it was with a tour group. Because my type of visiting is not the safest in many places. I see no point to visiting places that are in a violent war, or that passionately hate Americans. To go to certain Middle Eastern countries right now would be, to me, the act of an imbecile.
Going to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica would not be how I'd want to do it. I'd rather be out 'n' about exploring the REAL area and its culture, including drives outside the townships. But that would be a dangerous risk in many places in the Caribbean. (Besides, I can go to an all-inclusive resort in Palm Springs if all I want is to bask in the sun.)
We are, we are! Indeedy, indeedy! The home of the brave!
Yeah, I can relate to the last few posters. I want to return from my trips unharmed, thank you.
People have marveled that I take vacations solo, but I've never traveled abroad. Nor would I do it unless it was with a tour group. Because my type of visiting is not the safest in many places. I see no point to visiting places that are in a violent war, or that passionately hate Americans. To go to certain Middle Eastern countries right now would be, to me, the act of an imbecile.
Sadly, the American media has seriously overstated the danger of traveling abroad.
My wife and I are birdwatchers, and when we travel, that is one of the primary objectives. We have wandered around in forests and open country, on our own, unescorted, in 15 Latin American countries and 15 countries in east Asia, with never even a dirty look. We walk through rice paddies in China, carrying binoculars, and field workers just nod a friendly greeting to us. We ride local buses to small towns where we can find simple lodgings,and just walk into the country looking for birds. Nobody cares if we take shortcuts across private property, everyone does that in most countries.
When we go to Mexico, we take our own car and drive where we please. We have never had an unsettling experience. I've driven as far as Panama. As for the Middle East, I lived in Jordan for two years, and traveled in almost every Muslim country, without for a moment ever suspecting the motives of anyone I ever met.
We have to be much more careful in the USA. Trespassing laws are very strict in some states, particularly Florida and Texas. Americans have called the police to report us as suspicious characters, just for walking along a public road, and birdwatching is hard to explain to a redneck with a gun.
I can only wish that America were as safe to travel in as Colombia or Vietnam.
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