Cool vacation activities...

[LiveCoug]

I love to travel and while I haven't done much travelling in the last few years, I have had some cool experiences. My dad is a retired pilot and I used to travel anywhere United flew for free. I took advantage of it while I was a poor college student. My question is, what is the one coolest activity you have done while on a vacation? This isn't meant to be a brag fest, but more of an interesting travel log as I bet many CUFers have been to cool places around the world...

I'll start:

Taking a crappy boat from Mersing, Malaysia to a wonderful little island and then staying a week on a small beach. The beach had a couple little huts and a common area where a dude would make you food when you wanted it for cheap. It was so much fun and so different from a typical beach vacation experience. I saw 6 foot lizards and humping monkeys and made friends (there were maybe 10 people staying at that beach) from many parts of the world.

Let's hear em!

[foofcoug]

I saw 6 foot lizards and humping monkeys and made friends

I missed that "and" to begin with and thought to myself, "That really would be a sight to see!" Unfortunately I reread the line and caught the "and" the second time around - doesn't have nearly the same pop.

[TheBYUGuy]

I missed that "and" to begin with and thought to myself, "That really would be a sight to see!" Unfortunately I reread the line and caught the "and" the second time aroung - doesn't have nearly the same pop.

I don't know. I still think it's pretty cool that he made friends with humping monkeys.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

In Alaska a few years ago we went whale watching. Not all that exciting in general, but we did stumble upon a pod of whales that were bubble net feeding. The process is that the pod of 5-10 whales will swim in a circle blowing out massive amounts of bubbles that distract and confuse the fish. After a couple of moments of this the pod in unison will pop up with mouths open swallowing all the fish, I believe it was herring.

It was amazing to see in person and at least according to the guide on the boat we were on not something seen all that often on whale watching trips. She alleged to have seen it only once before, I tended to believe her because of how excited she was watching it. But I can never tell if women are faking excitement.

Here is a video example.
[YOUTUBE]vJvfjiCTvq4[/YOUTUBE]

[LiveCoug]

In Alaska a few years ago we went whale watching. Not all that exciting in general, but we did stumble upon a pod of whales that were bubble net feeding. The process is that the pod of 5-10 whales will swim in a circle blowing out massive amounts of bubbles that distract and confuse the fish. After a couple of moments of this the pod in unison will pop up with mouths open swallowing all the fish, I believe it was herring.

It was amazing to see in person and at least according to the guide on the boat we were on not something seen all that often on whale watching trips. She alleged to have seen it only once before, I tended to believe her because of how excited she was watching it. But I can never tell if women are faking excitement.

Here is a video example.
[YOUTUBE]vJvfjiCTvq4[/YOUTUBE]

Thanks for sharing HFN.. I've never been whale watching. Looks cool. This is what I'm looking for in this thread

[Indy Coug]

I love to travel and while I haven't done much travelling in the last few years, I have had some cool experiences. My dad is a retired pilot and I used to travel anywhere United flew for free. I took advantage of it while I was a poor college student. My question is, what is the one coolest activity you have done while on a vacation? This isn't meant to be a brag fest, but more of an interesting travel log as I bet many CUFers have been to cool places around the world...

I'll start:

Taking a crappy boat from Mersing, Malaysia to a wonderful little island and then staying a week on a small beach. The beach had a couple little huts and a common area where a dude would make you food when you wanted it for cheap. It was so much fun and so different from a typical beach vacation experience. I saw 6 foot lizards and humping monkeys and made friends (there were maybe 10 people staying at that beach) from many parts of the world.

Let's hear em!

I've been to a lot of cool places, but haven't done anything particularly exotic or unconventional at any of them. Just your standard stay in a hotel/condo/b&b, take it easy, see the sights kind of stuff.

About the most "unusual" thing we did as a family was get to sit in the Royal Box in London to see Miss Saigon as the result of a ticket snafu and a merciful theater management.

[creekster]

I don't know. I still think it's pretty cool that he made friends with humping monkeys.

Like that's hard to do.

[statman]

My two favorite segments of vacation so far were 1) staying for two weeks in a rented apartment in the Val de Sole in northern Italy (near Trento). We did day trips every day and saw a lot of the Alto Adige (sp?) / Sued Tirol area of Northern Italy, with trips into Verona, Trento, Bolzano, Venice, Merano, Padova, Lago di Garda, etc. It was a fantastic trip, and everyone got to see things that interested them. Oh yeah and my wife got to ski 2X in July on the glacier at Paso Tonale. And when mom skis, she's happy, and everyone else is happy...

2) This one might sound very unexciting, but we had a great time. WE went for a week to Euro Disney with our wo sons and my MiL - stayed at the resort, and got a great rate on room, food, park entrance for everyone, etc. My wife and I spent the first and last day in the park with the kids, and the other five days wandering around Paris. The boys & their Oma spent parts of six days in the park, one whole day and two evenings with us in Paris (to see the big memorable things). My wife and I had a blast. The kids had a blast. MiL was happy to be included.

BTW - the rate we got for staying at the park was so good, that we figured it would actually be cheaper to pay for us all to fly to Paris and do the Disney thing there then it would have been to fly to Orlando and do Disney there.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Best vacation I have been on was to Fiji. We took two tours into the interior of the island. One of a large cave complex and the other of multiple water falls. When I am at home, I will post some pictures.

[creekster]

some specific activities that come to mind:

1. Kayaking in the bayous of Jean Lafitte NP outside of New orleans

2. Attending evensong in St. Paul's Cathedral in London

3. Attending candlelit baroque concerts at a couple of churches in Venice (touristy, but still very cool)

4. Attending regular church service at the old North Church in Boston

IN general I agree with Statman that one of the best ways to see a place is to rent an apartment for a week or so and try to live as much like the locals as possible. We have done this in several diufferent European cities and it has been very memorbable each time, especailyl for the kids.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Best vacation I have been on was to Fiji. We took two tours into the interior of the island. One of a large cave complex and the other of multiple water falls. When I am at home, I will post some pictures.

Fiji is on the list of places I am trying to convince ldc to go.

[falafel]

IN general I agree with Statman that one of the best ways to see a place is to rent an apartment for a week or so and try to live as much like the locals as possible. We have done this in several diufferent European cities and it has been very memorbable each time, especailyl for the kids.

What did your kids think of the European schools? Better or worse than their regular classes? Or did you make them go to work selling gellato to tourists instead while you refused to shower and drank cappuccino all week?

[creekster]

What did your kids think of the European schools? Better or worse than their regular classes? Or did you make them go to work selling gellato to tourists instead while you refused to shower and drank cappuccino all week?

My son refuses to shower here, so that made him feel at home. I just taught them rudimentary pickpocketing techiniques and then had them join some romanov gangs. They actuall liked the european schools except for that funny language thing.

All kidding aside, some fo their more memorable experinces (and I know this will sound weird, but it is true) have been going to local shops to buy groceries for making meals at the apartment.