The Travelling Forumite
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:56 am
EDIT: Here's a direct link to Retiarius' post which contains the Ma3 Forumite Google Map!!
Hi there, everyone!!!
Lately, we've increased the internationalness of our crowd! People are starting to think of visiting other people from the forum IRL!!!
So, I thought I'd start a thread on a topic that seems to have been overlooked (just like food and drink, by the way, beyond the recipes ;) ): Travels!!!
I'm from Germany, as a few of you know. There seem to be no forumites closer than ~ 1000 km from me (Many in England, two Swedes, two Greeks, one Romanian) - so no visits from me in the near future...
Anyhow, my travels...
My mom is American, from Russellville, Arkansas. My first trip there was at -3 months!! ;) All in all, I've been to the US 14 times. The first 13 were "family business", we went every two years (plus a few additional times, e.g., when my Grandaddy died in '83) until 1992, then in 1993 I went there with two good friends, one of the awesomest vacations ever.
And then nothing until a month in Columbia, Missouri, in 2006 for PhD work. Alas, I've never been to a scientific conference in the States...
Otherwise, I've been several times to Richmond, Virginia, as a cousin of mine lives there. Twice to "The Mall" in Washington. The rest were just airports. New York, Atlanta, Chicago... My "westernmost" was Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
The little country of Luxemburg lies just 20 kilometers from where I grew up, they have cheap gas and a movie theater showing English language (non-dubbed) movies, so I have been there probably ~100 times. Also, France and Belgium are reasonably close, so I have traveled there a few times as well.
During my early school years, we had youth trips each summer, which lead me to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Sweden. Italy (Roma!) was also the final trip of my Latin class in late 1995. I've been to Italy (including Roma, Milano, Venezia, Bologna) several times during my PhD as well, for conferences and similar business.
In summer 1995, me and my best friend travelled per rail through Scandinavia. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, back to Norway, back to northern Sweden, then Finland and then a rush home through Sweden and Denmark again. I was also recently in Kopenhagen for a friend's PhD defense. Reached my "northernmost" during this journey somewhere east of Narvik. (I've also been to Iceland, but only as a stop in an Icelandic flight.)
My PhD has made me a traveller again. After more than a decade of not flying, I have now quite a few miles under my wing. An observing school in southeastern Spain, conferences and work visits in Italy, Turkey and Holland.
Further reaching were my two "great travels". In December 2007, I flew to the Chilean Andes for a week of observations at La Silla observatory, Santiago de Chile marks my "southernmost". And in July 2008, I was invited as a speaker to a conference in Nanjing, China, which marks my "easternmost".
So far, my continent count is missing only Africa, Australia and Antarctica. Alas, I will not be able to attend a conference in April in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt...
Right now, I'm broke and not travelling, so no idea what the future will hold.
I'm looking forward to your experiences!! Any travel-related stories, or airport-catastrophes, are also welcome here, of course!!
Hi there, everyone!!!
Lately, we've increased the internationalness of our crowd! People are starting to think of visiting other people from the forum IRL!!!
So, I thought I'd start a thread on a topic that seems to have been overlooked (just like food and drink, by the way, beyond the recipes ;) ): Travels!!!
I'm from Germany, as a few of you know. There seem to be no forumites closer than ~ 1000 km from me (Many in England, two Swedes, two Greeks, one Romanian) - so no visits from me in the near future...
Anyhow, my travels...
My mom is American, from Russellville, Arkansas. My first trip there was at -3 months!! ;) All in all, I've been to the US 14 times. The first 13 were "family business", we went every two years (plus a few additional times, e.g., when my Grandaddy died in '83) until 1992, then in 1993 I went there with two good friends, one of the awesomest vacations ever.
And then nothing until a month in Columbia, Missouri, in 2006 for PhD work. Alas, I've never been to a scientific conference in the States...
Otherwise, I've been several times to Richmond, Virginia, as a cousin of mine lives there. Twice to "The Mall" in Washington. The rest were just airports. New York, Atlanta, Chicago... My "westernmost" was Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
The little country of Luxemburg lies just 20 kilometers from where I grew up, they have cheap gas and a movie theater showing English language (non-dubbed) movies, so I have been there probably ~100 times. Also, France and Belgium are reasonably close, so I have traveled there a few times as well.
During my early school years, we had youth trips each summer, which lead me to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Sweden. Italy (Roma!) was also the final trip of my Latin class in late 1995. I've been to Italy (including Roma, Milano, Venezia, Bologna) several times during my PhD as well, for conferences and similar business.
In summer 1995, me and my best friend travelled per rail through Scandinavia. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, back to Norway, back to northern Sweden, then Finland and then a rush home through Sweden and Denmark again. I was also recently in Kopenhagen for a friend's PhD defense. Reached my "northernmost" during this journey somewhere east of Narvik. (I've also been to Iceland, but only as a stop in an Icelandic flight.)
My PhD has made me a traveller again. After more than a decade of not flying, I have now quite a few miles under my wing. An observing school in southeastern Spain, conferences and work visits in Italy, Turkey and Holland.
Further reaching were my two "great travels". In December 2007, I flew to the Chilean Andes for a week of observations at La Silla observatory, Santiago de Chile marks my "southernmost". And in July 2008, I was invited as a speaker to a conference in Nanjing, China, which marks my "easternmost".
So far, my continent count is missing only Africa, Australia and Antarctica. Alas, I will not be able to attend a conference in April in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt...
Right now, I'm broke and not travelling, so no idea what the future will hold.
I'm looking forward to your experiences!! Any travel-related stories, or airport-catastrophes, are also welcome here, of course!!