what got you interested in travel?

Hi,

how did you get "The Travel Bug"?

while I made my first intercontinental trip to France in 1959 for a
cousin's wedding in St. Denis Cathedral (Antoine Pinay, the former Prime
Minister, was walking the bride down the aisle, you see my family was
involved in French Politics ;-} the father of the bride was in Monsieur
Pinay's cabinet, and the groom was later a representative from the Loire
etc.)

but I don't really remember much of the trip...

I'm told I bit a cousin...

I saw him at Christmas a few years ago and he doesn't remember it either
:-}

it was a prop plane, an engine caught fire on the way over and we
switched planes in the middle of the night, and my aunts house had a
yellow room at the end of the hall.

but all these trips to France and elsewhere in Europe that I've made
over these 50 years weren't really "tourism"... most were to visit
family... and while there visit a few things...

in Paris I feel at home. Locals ask me for directions in French.

and I talk to everybody... from the taxi drivers to the other customers
at the boucherie chevaline who find an American there interesting.

I still have this thing about Limonade and wish it still came in the
wire bail bottles.

my wife says I'm "in my environment" in Paris and she says she
understands more about me after seeing me there (like why I like rare
steaks and why I fix a French style green salad at home).

but is Paris and France what got me going on Travel?

no...

actually it was my Uncle Chuck Ennis's "home movies" (aka "Raw Footage")
of African and Asian Safaris in the 50s and 60s, his trips into the
jungle in Mexico and Central America to uncover Mayan ruins... and to
fish at Don Pablo Bush Romero's fishing camp... you may know it now as
Cancun... it was less developed then (it was thatched huts, no
electricity, access only by boat) :-}

and I still like the "home movies" better than the finished movies/shows
(this was the era of Wild Kingdom on TV and Hitari in the theatre)

I've got links to Uncle Chuck's and Don Pablo Bush's books on Amazon.com
in my "Special Request" box on the hackamore travel blog... below maps
and guidebook recommendations.

I'm moderately handicapped now... and the days of the African Safari are
pretty much over so I won't be doing those... but I still love to
travel... these days it's mainly Europe and the Caribbean.

so how did you get the bug?

--

Hackamore
http://www.hackamore.com
http://www.hackamoretravel.com

hackamo

[snip interesting story]

so how did you get the bug?

Small, recent bug, for small but _very_ interesting short trips: I'm
into geocaching.

The wife and I always enjoyed visiting small towns and quaint regions,
not too far from home (say, within 600km). The parts of the world that
you normally drive through without seeing the castles, the villages and
the water mills, for instance.

Has changed with geocaching. It has become our way of exploring regions
we haven't really got to know yet. Very recommendable. Very enjoyable.
And no air line stress, either!


--
Erick

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:38 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis wrote in post :
:

Small, recent bug, for small but _very_ interesting short trips: I'm
into geocaching.

I've tried that a few times too but generally end up frustrated, as I can
never find anything :-( . The places you get to see are almost always
interesting though. And many of the trails lead you to lovely places you'd
probably never have found.

--
Tim C.

On 10 June, 08:45, Erick T. Barkhuis -o-m
wrote:
hackamo

[snip interesting story]

so how did you get the bug?

Small, recent bug, for small but _very_ interesting short trips: I'm
into geocaching.

The wife and I always enjoyed visiting small towns and quaint regions,
not too far from home (say, within 600km). The parts of the world that
you normally drive through without seeing the castles, the villages and
the water mills, for instance.

Has changed with geocaching. It has become our way of exploring regions
we haven't really got to know yet. Very recommendable. Very enjoyable.
And no air line stress, either!

--
Erick

Yep, got my first overseas geocache last year (Venice)!

Surreyman

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:38 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

geocaching

I hadn't heard of that, bit like Dartmoor letterboxing
--
Mike

Mike:
On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:38 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

geocaching

I hadn't heard of that, bit like Dartmoor letterboxing

Right. But more fun.
May I recommend it?


--
Erick

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:08:06 +0100, Mike wrote in post :
:

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:38 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

geocaching

I hadn't heard of that, bit like Dartmoor letterboxing

Yes, very much so. It's fun. You can do it with any GPS equipment where you
can input a gps co-ordinate. You have to work out the clues a start point
which gives you the next co-ordinate, where you can find the next clue...
and so on. Sometimes only one step, sometimes more.

--
Tim C.

Tim C.:
On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:08:06 +0100, Mike wrote in post :
:

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:38 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

geocaching

I hadn't heard of that, bit like Dartmoor letterboxing

Yes, very much so. It's fun. You can do it with any GPS equipment where you
can input a gps co-ordinate.

A Garmin Etrex H for about 75 euros will already do perfectly.
More expensive ones, with topographic maps, are available, sometimes
handy, but certainly not necessary.

You have to work out the clues a start point
which gives you the next co-ordinate, where you can find the next clue...
and so on. Sometimes only one step, sometimes more.

Exactly right. Of course, geocaching.com introduces the lot nicely, but
also, Wikipedia has a proper explanation.

Come to Holland or North-Western Germany, and I'll be happy to take you
along to do a few caches.
My wife and I have seen at least 100 interesting spots within a 30
miles radius from home, that we would probably never have seen or
noticed without geocaching. Things that you will visit are
- hidden monument in a small town, right behind the mayor's office
- that white, tiny beach in the middle of a forest
- the most beautiful jogging track at the side of a city park
- a 1,500 year old tomb stone under a covered bridge
- etc, etc.

(Unfortunately, there are also caches hidden at almost random places
that aren't interesting at all, like a phone booth or a deserted former
bus stop).


--
Erick

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:48:59 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis wrote in post :
:

(Unfortunately, there are also caches hidden at almost random places
that aren't interesting at all, like a phone booth or a deserted former
bus stop).

or the one in Linz under the bridge where the drug-addicts hang out. I
didn't find that one :-)
--
Tim C.

On 10 June, 14:48, Erick T. Barkhuis -o-m
wrote:
Tim C.:

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:08:06 +0100, Mike wrote in post :
:

On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:38 +0200, Erick T. Barkhuis
-o-m wrote:

geocaching

I hadn't heard of that, bit like Dartmoor letterboxing

Yes, very much so. It's fun. You can do it with any GPS equipment where you
can input a gps co-ordinate.

A Garmin Etrex H for about 75 euros will already do perfectly.
More expensive ones, with topographic maps, are available, sometimes
handy, but certainly not necessary.

You have to work out the clues a start point
which gives you the next co-ordinate, where you can find the next clue...
and so on. Sometimes only one step, sometimes more.

Exactly right. Of course, geocaching.com introduces the lot nicely, but
also, Wikipedia has a proper explanation.

Come to Holland or North-Western Germany, and I'll be happy to take you
along to do a few caches.
My wife and I have seen at least 100 interesting spots within a 30
miles radius from home, that we would probably never have seen or
noticed without geocaching. Things that you will visit are
- hidden monument in a small town, right behind the mayor's office
- that white, tiny beach in the middle of a forest
- the most beautiful jogging track at the side of a city park
- a 1,500 year old tomb stone under a covered bridge
- etc, etc.

(Unfortunately, there are also caches hidden at almost random places
that aren't interesting at all, like a phone booth or a deserted former
bus stop).

--
Erick

Similarly from Surrey, UK.
My son letterboxed on Dartmoor, graduated to this and introduced me.
We're only up to 50 caches found but have barely moved more than a few
miles from our home as yet. The xxxxxxxxs are all over!
We particularly like the cache trails - maybe 20 caches that take you
on a circular - around Windsor Great Park for instance.
These tend to be very direct clues - maybe simply the co-ordinates.
Other puzzle clues can take weeks to solved for just one find!
Adds impetus and interest to get one out on great country walks that
might otherwise just not happen.
There's also a social side if wanted - local cachers meet up at pubs
or whatever, maybe arranged around a specially laid cache hunt for the
day.
And, of course, one is free to start laying one's own caches!
Great new hobby for us, certainly.

Surreyman