BootsnAll Travel Community

Ah, my travel sins....

I only speak one language and even that is debatable

I have been to many a foreign McDonalds

Never been to SE Asia

Don’t mind haggling in general but for some reason absolutely hate haggling for food

Until I travel a region I’ll be damned if I could find the exact location of a country on a map.

Been a little jaded once or twice

Upon spotting a Hooters in Vienna, I tried (but failed) to get my buddies to at least check it out. We didn't have to sit down and have a meal, I just wanted to see some good Austrian boobies...was that too much to ask?

quote:

Originally posted by halfnine:

I have been to many a foreign McDonalds

Add to that, Starbucks.

Let's see... traveling sins...

I'm quite a country-counter. If you ask me how many countries I've been to, I'll say 21, even though quite a few of those were extremely short-term visits; three of them (the Vatican, Denmark, and Norway) I actually spent less than 24 hours in, but I still list them right along with the others. Furthermore, I'd almost always prefer to go to a "new" country than one that's already on the list, regardless of how little time I've actually spent there. Oddly enough, despite this, I'm still not at all interested in seven-countries-in-two-weeks tours and would very much rather spend a month of travel time in one country than spread it out over four or five countries, which I think redeems me a little bit.

Hmmm... what else... I'm not at all interested in traveling in Europe anymore. Someday, sure, but right now it just seems too expensive and not really... exotic enough, I guess, so I have no real desire to see more of it at this point.

quote:

Originally posted by MLISS4816:
Upon spotting a Hooters in Vienna, I tried (but failed) to get my buddies to at least check it out. We didn't have to sit down and have a meal, I just wanted to see some good Austrian boobies...was that too much to ask?

I had to eat at a Hooters in Singapore. I was a month into a trip and nothing would make me happier than a wings, curley fries and ranch dressing washing it down with a terrible bud light.

Wow... Seems we all have the same basic travel skeletons in our closets!

I've committed many of the above mentioned "sins" - been on tours, eaten at McDonalds, stayed in fancy hotels, never been to Mexico, but the two that bother me the most right now:

My only trips out of the US since July 2005 have been a weekend in Toronto and a 5-day Caribbean cruise.

I rarely know the names of the leaders of the countries I'm in (or the names of major world leaders at any given point in time, for that matter)

I lived in Paris for almost all of '98 and around Halloween I was so damn sick of the city that I went to Chili's on the Champs and it was amazingly good. I'm sure I paid $50 for my nachos, cheese sticks and milkshake, but damn. I don't know that I've ever been to a Chili's in the US, but I was dying for it when there.

The only redeeming point is that it took almost ten months for me to get to that point.

I've also never been to Canada or Mexico.

Due to a disaster involving temporarily lost luggage and a general bad experience, we checked into a $50 a night resort on Ko Chang, Thailand with the intention of moving next door to the $4 a night hut. We did move next door and rented the hut for a week. We slept one night on the mattress on the floor wrapped in our mosquito net, took a cold shower the next morning (also in a cloud of mosquitoes) and then packed our stuff and went back to the resort for the rest of the time. We didn't even both to try and get the rest of our money back from the hut place.

We actually liked the resort so much that we went there a few months ago for two weeks. Of course, now it costs $140 a night instead of $50 like it did in 2004.

i lived in the UK for 2 years and never once did i go over to continental Europe... one of my biggest regrets in life! I did however go to Ireland twice...

When faced with the choice between continued traveling/living overseas and settling down with a girl, I chose the girl. I haven't regretted it for a second.

I always thought everyone on this board was so hardcore, guess it turns out I fit in after all. I don't really do the McD's thing ever, but I think that's more because I'm vegetarian.

The biggest one I guess is that I've been to ~35 countries, to Europe 3 times, including living in France for several months, and I've never been to Germany or Italy. Italy is especially embarrassing because I have a degree in art history.

I like nice hotels and will splurge big time on a design or boutique place. I also once cut a SE Asia trip short by a week because I had to revise my budget. I couldn't deal with the $4/night places I thought I could. But you have to figure that 5 weeks of fun is much better than 6 of just getting by.

I have to confess that I like to stay at a place with a pool whenever possible. And one that has a bar with froufrou drinks like daiquiris.

And I always look around for a Starbucks...

I think there was another thread somewhere on traveling in your own country, but I haven't done much of it. I'd like to see more of the place but when it comes down to a choice between going somewhere abroad or staying home, I almost always go for the former. Other than changing planes at DFW, I've only been west of the Mississippi once and I've yet to set foot anywhere in New England. Although I did see Vermont once from the New York side of Lake Champlain. While I was driving to Canada.

quote:

Originally posted by Haci Richard:
I ate at Pizza Hut in Kota Kinabalu, twice....

Oh, supressed memory coming forward now. (Funny how one can lie to themselves so easily.) It doesn't take long of "new and interesting food" while traveling for me to default to my pre-healthy lifestyle of Pizza Hut or whatever consistent, chemically enhanced food that is familiar. And it feels good now that I think about it. Ah, that peaceful hour eating an individual pan pizza at Pizza Hut in Nanning while reading the paper years back. Mmmm....

quote:

Originally posted by Llalewyn;
I've never been to Canada...

Well, nothing to be ashamed of there. Are you ashamed that you haven't seen Carhenge? Or the Grainger County (TN) Tomato Festival? No great loss. (I jest! I jest!)

quote:

braslver:
I have never worn/carried a backpack of any kind in an urban setting.

Wow...big confession in these here parts. Then again, I never did until I was 35. Military duffel bags, yes. Backpacks, no.

quote:

T&A said:
I rarely know the names of the leaders of the countries I'm in (or the names of major world leaders at any given point in time, for that matter)

Hehe...I was recently in Kyiv and the only thing I could tell you about the Prime Minister is that she is the hottest national leader in the world. (That Princess Lea hair thing really works for me.)

quote:

HaciRichard said:
When faced with the choice between continued traveling/living overseas and settling down with a girl, I chose the girl.

And a fine woman she is. So, that is nothing to be confessed!!! This thread is about embarrassing, you'd-normally-not-mention-it-because-it-is-a-bit-seedy stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Stoo:

quote:

Originally posted by Llalewyn;
I've never been to Canada...

Well, nothing to be ashamed of there. Are you ashamed that you haven't seen Carhenge? Or the Grainger County (TN) Tomato Festival? No great loss. (I jest! I jest!)

You say that assuming I have never been to carhenge, but I have.

quote:

Originally posted by Llalewyn:
You say that assuming I have never been to carhenge, but I have.

Carhenge rather than Canada. OK, I can see that.

These are some of the places I ate at that seemed a bit out of place...

Hooters in Singapore
Long John Silvers in Singapore
Popeyes Chicken in Hong Kong
Chilis in Kuala Lumpur
Sizzler in Bangkok
Krispy Kreme in Bali
A&W in Kualua Lumpur & Bangkok

i've heard that if you're anywhere in the world with a mcdonald's, eating their burgers will help fix your stomach if you're having issues with it. gross, but useful to know, if it's true! lol. fact or fiction???

quote:

Originally posted by Stoo:
Hehe...I was recently in Kyiv and...

Ummmm. Eewwwww? Starting a sentence like that isn't a confession....it's a sin!!!

But I forgive you, Stoo-y. This thread, along with your Joey/xoom conspiracy-dating thread, have made me laugh and have been a welcome relief after a stressful day. See, just this afternoon I was driving the periferico in Guadalajara and....

quote:

Originally posted by skobb:
I have been to McDonalds in many countries around the world and I don't find anything wrong with that. This also applies to Burger King, TGI Fridays, and 7-Eleven.

My confession is pretty much McDonald's....all roads lead to McDonald's...almost everywhere I've been there's one, and when chicken foot on a stick just gets to be too much the golden arches are my easy way out. I really try to avoid them in the states...but it's cheap so..whatcha gonna do?