Cherrystone wrote:
C'mon admit it. You weren't at the breweries you were sampling ganga at the various sales outlets, right?

Haha, nope.  Not that I have anything against it, but smoking makes me lazy, and I really wanted to drink my weight in beer I can't find in Iowa.

L A F wrote:
So I just got back from Colorado with two of my friends.  We had preplanned the trip, decided it would be all about breweries and hiking (cause heck yes, Colorado), but by the first day there it was quite clear none of that was going to happen.

Now anyone that knows me knows that I'm a huge craft beer fan, and once I start hiking, I don't stop.  So I was more than excited to go do both of those things.  We went to one brewery.  We hiked for a little over an hour.  The rest of the time my friends decided they wanted to go to the mall, the zoo, and eat at chain restaurants we have in the Midwest.  And I was outvoted.  Needless to say, I wasn't the happiest camper (well, not camper, since we didn't hike) and am calling the trip a bust.

Make me feel better...what are some of your 'vacation' horror stories?

Next time, leave your friends.  Go enjoy what you enjoy.

I'm going to Seattle and Europe with friends starting in Oct.

We've all made it pretty clear, we are all responsible for our own fun/entertainment.  Everyone is welcome to join whoever they want on whatever adventure they want.  But if there is something you want to do and no one else wants to...go...do it.  Enjoy it! Own it!  Don't let anyone else ruin your vacation and don't ruin anyone else's by insisting they do stuff they don't want to do.

Christopher Hartman wrote:

Next time, leave your friends.  Go enjoy what you enjoy.

Oh, trust me, lesson learned.

The issue was that we had taken my car since it was the only one that made sense.  (good on gas mileage, road trip worthy, ample space for 3 people)  With only one car, and 3 people, majority vote always won.  And unfortunately, since it was my car, my friends had numerous excuses of why they couldn't drive...they couldn't parallel park, didn't feel comfortable driving a new car through mountains, etc etc. 

Anyway, the instant I got a chance, I took the car out myself and drove around town.  Stopped at a few liquor stores to pick up stuff I can't get in the QC, visited some local store, talked with the locals.  I had more fun with that than I did the rest of the trip.

So if I travel again in the near future, I'm going alone.  Or with a SO.  Basically, there will be no uneven voting, and the person I'm going with will have some kind of loyalty to me that they feel the need to compromise. 

Christopher Hartman wrote:
A friend of mine often says, you learn a LOT about someone when you go on a trip with them.

So very true.

Eclectic Vision  wrote:
Years ago I went to Florida with my Mother, Stepfather, and kid sister. One night my stepdad wakes me up and says I need to go take care of my mom. They had gotten into some huge fight and she was drunk and crying on the beach.

I went down to talk to her. She was sitting on the beach, crying, and talking nonsense. "I need to go home. Home is in the sky. The sky touches the ocean." So I had to hang out with my nervous breakdown having mother and make sure she didn't throw herself into the ocean.

Yeeeeeeah... and the rest of the "vacation" wasn't really great either.

Eep!  Yeah, that would definitely dampen any vacation.  And totally not a fair situation to put you in!

L A F wrote:
Oh, trust me, lesson learned.

The issue was that we had taken my car since it was the only one that made sense.  (good on gas mileage, road trip worthy, ample space for 3 people)  With only one car, and 3 people, majority vote always won.  And unfortunately, since it was my car, my friends had numerous excuses of why they couldn't drive...they couldn't parallel park, didn't feel comfortable driving a new car through mountains, etc etc. 

Anyway, the instant I got a chance, I took the car out myself and drove around town.  Stopped at a few liquor stores to pick up stuff I can't get in the QC, visited some local store, talked with the locals.  I had more fun with that than I did the rest of the trip.

So if I travel again in the near future, I'm going alone.  Or with a SO.  Basically, there will be no uneven voting, and the person I'm going with will have some kind of loyalty to me that they feel the need to compromise. 

Your car, you driving, you decide where the car goes.  They want to go to the mall, you say "my car is going to where I can hike, come along or find other transportation".  They want to go to a chain restaurant to eat, you say "my car is going to a small brewery to, come along or find other transportation".

Especially if the three of you had agreed and planned prior to the trip that you would be hiking and sampling craft beers.

L A F wrote:

Eep!  Yeah, that would definitely dampen any vacation.  And totally not a fair situation to put you in!

Yeah, I wanted to friggen strangle him for getting her all fucked up and then foisting her on me. But you do what you gotta do. Thankfully she's with a good man now.

ernst tischler wrote:

Your car, you driving, you decide where the car goes.  They want to go to the mall, you say "my car is going to where I can hike, come along or find other transportation".  They want to go to a chain restaurant to eat, you say "my car is going to a small brewery to, come along or find other transportation".

Especially if the three of you had agreed and planned prior to the trip that you would be hiking and sampling craft beers.

Although I agree with you to some extent, there's the issue of then dealing with two people who 1. Aren't having fun  2. Are pissed  3. Are definitely going to let you know.  It's not exactly fun to sit having a pint while two people are glaring.

Though I did put my foot down a few times.  They wanted to go to the movie theater (uh, what?  In Colorado?  Why?).  I told them they were more than welcome to do whatever they'd like, I'd drop them off, and they could text when the movie was done and I'd pick them up.  Not enough time to drive into the mountains and hike, but certainly enough time to hit a brewery or local bar that sells local brews.

..and I still got flack for that because 'we should be doing things together'.  Like sitting in a movie theater where we can't talk?  Sure.  Anyway, movie didn't happen, but neither did anything else.  They went back to the hotel, I took the car for a joy ride.

L A F wrote:

Although I agree with you to some extent, there's the issue of then dealing with two people who 1. Aren't having fun  2. Are pissed  3. Are definitely going to let you know.  It's not exactly fun to sit having a pint while two people are glaring.

Though I did put my foot down a few times.  They wanted to go to the movie theater (uh, what?  In Colorado?  Why?).  I told them they were more than welcome to do whatever they'd like, I'd drop them off, and they could text when the movie was done and I'd pick them up.  Not enough time to drive into the mountains and hike, but certainly enough time to hit a brewery or local bar that sells local brews.

..and I still got flack for that because 'we should be doing things together'.  Like sitting in a movie theater where we can't talk?  Sure.  Anyway, movie didn't happen, but neither did anything else.  They went back to the hotel, I took the car for a joy ride.

I love movies.  But unless it's a famous theater or I'm on a 4+ week vacation, I don't want to waste valuable time in a theater watching a movie I can do when I get home. I want to experience the local culture and sights to be seen.

BillyVegas wrote:
If you visit Chicago, bring a model and I'll have a westvleteren 12 or heady topper for you.

If I bring two models, can I get both? 

ernst tischler wrote:
About 20 years ago, my family plans a reunion in Hawaii for the following summer.  I am in the Corps and stationed overseas, but I manage to call in some favors and get my leave approved so I can attend.

We were in Hawaii for seven days.  My oldest brother had traded some time shares or something and had four condos for everyone to stay in.  It was on the beach and had a pool.

The first day everyone just met at the pool and then went to the beach.  We all came in at different times, so it was okay for the first day.

The second day, we again met at the pool and then went to the beach.  All our meals so far had been at the same restaurant in the hotel across the street.

So I ask my oldest brother, who had supposedly done the planning for this reunion, what sort of activities do you have planned for the next 5 days.  He says he didn't plan anything.  I ask why.  He says he just thought Hawaii would be a good place for everyone to meet and spend time together.

Holy Big Island, Bat Man!  I was not about to use valuable favors to get precious leave and pay big money to fly halfway around the globe to Hawaii to sit by the pool and see one little patch of beach for a week.  WTF?!?!?

The next morning, my cousin and I went out on our own.  That evening, we told everyone else what we had done that day...they started asking what we were planning to do the next day.

The following morning, we had the entire family, even my oldest brother, following along with us as we went to see the sights.

That's awesome that they were all willing to participate when they realized they were missing out.  I'm definitely one of those people that if I travel somewhere, I want to see things.  It doesn't need to be crazy, I don't want to be on the run all day, and I'm definitely fine with wiggle room within the plan.  But I don't just want to sit at the hotel, or do things I could do at home...because then I would have stayed home.

Christopher Hartman wrote:

I love movies.  But unless it's a famous theater or I'm on a 4+ week vacation, I don't want to waste valuable time in a theater watching a movie I can do when I get home. I want to experience the local culture and sights to be seen.

Yes, this is very much the way I am.

I like to see the occasional tourist spot, and then I want to do what the locals do.  I want to know where the best food is, what the little known fun attractions are, and then see the major things as well.  No real timeline or anything, I just want to know I'm doing something I can't do at home.

Vintagevista wrote:
Ok, Here's one

In 1988 the family was to meet in England for Christmas.  I was coming from the mid-west and they were coming from California.

They used Pan Am Miles for the trip and flew to London on the 747 "Clipper Maid Of The Seas"

I met them at the London airport and we went into London.

That night - on the return trip back to the US - the Clipper Maid of the Seas blew up over Lockerbie Scotland, killing all aboard.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj23 … CRATER.jpg

Merry Christmas - not     I don't think anybody in Britain has good memories from that Chistmas season...

Oh my goodness, that's horrible!  Thankfully you and yours were safe, but I'm sure everyone was in shock and mourning.

Laura UnBound wrote:
Any vacation with my sister.
We have a 5 year age difference, her being older, so when I was in the mood for things like the boardwalk, carnival rides, sand castles, general FUN etc…she just hated every fucking thing and wanted nothing to do with any of us.
She also gets home-sick. Like literally sick, won't sleep, panic attacks, vomiting, the whole shebang. As a grown ass adult she went on a vacation with her (ex) boyfriend and his family and was so miserable that they bought her a fucking plane ticket home ONE day early. ONE DAY. She was gone, on a BEACH, for less than a week.

There was also a summer vacation to south carolina with my dad and evil wicked step mother. I was like, 8 maybe? We did night walks along the beach, not wearing shoes because its a beach, and not even halfway through our stay I stepped on a broken glass bottle in the sand and sliced open the bottom of my foot, toes to heel. We didn't take flashlights with us because my fathers an idiot, and my dad being my dad just for whatever reason didn't believe Id just cut my foot wide open on something because I did it running and we couldn't immediately find the thing I cut it on because it was buried in SAND…so I had to keep walking. With a bleeding open wound, in sand. For like half a mile, which when you're 8 is really really far. And then I had to clean all the sand out of it when we got home which hurt more than walking a beach with an open wound on the bottom of your foot. The rest of that stay was pretty miserable, i couldn't get my foot wet and I was at a fucking beach. Also didn't get an apology.

My sister was the same way on the few vacations we went on together.  It wasn't so much that she would get homesick, but she would complain about absolutely everything.  And if it was something I wanted to do, she was hellbent against it.  I learned real quickly to say I wanted to do the exact opposite of what I actually wanted...that made vacations a lot more fun. 

And eep!  That's crazy!  Hope your dad at least felt bad about it afterwards, even if he didn't say so.

Model Sarah wrote:
When my ex and I were together we'd take yearly trips to San Diego because his uncle owns a B&B there and we wanted to escape the Ohio February winters for 70 degree weather for a week. We were friends with this couple we'd invite over for dinner/drinks so we thought to invite them along with us. The guy was your average guy but his wife was one of those girls who walks like she has the coat hanger still in her shirt. Very quiet, and prissy. I actually didn't like her much at all. So Columbus had this airline (briefly) called Skybus which worked a lot like Megabus does. First come first serve you get cheap tickets. So we planned it a few months out and was able to fly directly (no stopovers) to San Diego for about $80 round trip each. We were staying in the B&B (which is gorgeous and near everything) for free so it sounded perfect right?

Wrong.

Miss Prissy didn't like the Inn (for whatever reason) and the second or third morning of a 5 day vacation she decided they were going to stay in an expensive hotel instead. Okay, fine. So we had planned on a day where we'd all go to the San Diego Zoo and Balboa park to hit the museums and gardens because duh, that's awesome. Basically we just did our thing separately unless they wanted to meet up in the Gas Lamp district to have dinner or whatever. Apparently the guy told us that they never left the hotel room because she "didn't feel like it"!! So getting her out of the hotel to go to the zoo was like pulling teeth for him apparently but he really wanted to do it and she didn't want him to leave her in the room alone. She basically didn't say anything the entire time and didn't enjoy herself at all. Her moodiness kind of ruined the vacation for us. Had we known she was going to be like this we would have never invited them.

This is actually pretty reminiscent of my trip.  One of the girls I was traveling with was just prissy about everything.  Nothing was going to be good enough.  Although we had discussed well ahead of time the trip was all about hiking and breweries, she decided once we were there that she wasn't down with that idea anymore. And unfortunately, the third girl on the trip is a peacekeeper, so she was going to side with the person who made the biggest fuss in an attempt to keep tension down.

But the crummy mood of the one girl completely ruined things for me.  Outside of being outvoted the entire time, and doing what the two of them decided one, I still had to listen to an absurd amount of bitching.

Get this, we went to the zoo in Denver, and when we went to leave it was raining.  I told the girls that if they didn't want to walk back to the car in rain, we should probably skip the sea lion show, but we went anyway.  Which is fine...it's rain, and it was 95 degrees out anyway.  Plus, sea lions are adorable. But as soon as we went to leave, and they saw the rain, they decided they weren't going to walk to the car because they didn't want to walk around Denver wet.  I offer to go get the car, pull it around, but nope...they want to wait cause 'the rain should end soon'.  So I wait a few minutes, and the prissy one steps outside (it's barely even drizzling) and refuses to walk because she felt a drop of rain.  So I wait another minute.  Literally, no movement in the puddles so I suggest we start walking.  Nope, someone needs to go out and 'check if it's raining' so I offer to 'check' and just start walking.  Literally, felt 3 drops of rain.  I was dry before I reached the car.  I was beyond fed up.

L A F wrote:

My sister was the same way on the few vacations we went on together.  It wasn't so much that she would get homesick, but she would complain about absolutely everything.  And if it was something I wanted to do, she was hellbent against it.  I learned real quickly to say I wanted to do the exact opposite of what I actually wanted...that made vacations a lot more fun. 

And eep!  That's crazy!  Hope your dad at least felt bad about it afterwards, even if he didn't say so.

No, probably not. /shrug



Id already moved away from home three times by the time my sister finally left the nest. her first apartment was only 20 minutes away and she still came home every day. She's somehow managed to last a year away from home in Tennessee. Babys all grown up!

She became slightly more tolerable on vacation once she was old enough to bring a friend along. (IE: her friends were old enough for their parents to trust my crazy ass dad taking them several states away for a week or so). But then it was 2 against 1 for 'what are we gonna do today', and we stopped going on vacation by the time I was old enough to bring someone too. We didn't actually start getting along until I was old enough to be her DD

Laura UnBound wrote:

No, probably not. /shrug



Id already moved away from home three times by the time my sister finally left the nest. her first apartment was only 20 minutes away and she still came home every day. She's somehow managed to last a year away from home in Tennessee. Babys all grown up!

She became slightly more tolerable on vacation once she was old enough to bring a friend along. (IE: her friends were old enough for their parents to trust my crazy ass dad taking them several states away for a week or so). But then it was 2 against 1 for 'what are we gonna do today', and we stopped going on vacation by the time I was old enough to bring someone too. We didn't actually start getting along until I was old enough to be her DD

My sister and I grew up in different households so we were never all that close, but that definitely bred resentment on her part, which is why she would insist we never did anything I want to do.

She now lives in Arizona.  It's much more peaceful that way.

Toto Photo wrote:
Last year a woman I used to have an intimate relationship with called from Boston to tell me she'd broken up with her boyfriend and would love to come out to NorCal for a visit. I booked two nights at one of the best inns in Sonoma, wine country. As we were getting ready for bed she teasingly showed me her new French lingerie. It had a predictable effect, however she immediately got embarrassed, threw on a robe and proceeded to tell me how she'd made up with her boyfriend and couldn't, um, "stray" physically with me.

Wow!

And damn that's cold on her part.  At least be honest and cancel the trip, or just be honest from the get go.  Shame on her.

L A F wrote:

This is actually pretty reminiscent of my trip.  One of the girls I was traveling with was just prissy about everything.  Nothing was going to be good enough.  Although we had discussed well ahead of time the trip was all about hiking and breweries, she decided once we were there that she wasn't down with that idea anymore. And unfortunately, the third girl on the trip is a peacekeeper, so she was going to side with the person who made the biggest fuss in an attempt to keep tension down.

But the crummy mood of the one girl completely ruined things for me.  Outside of being outvoted the entire time, and doing what the two of them decided one, I still had to listen to an absurd amount of bitching.

Get this, we went to the zoo in Denver, and when we went to leave it was raining.  I told the girls that if they didn't want to walk back to the car in rain, we should probably skip the sea lion show, but we went anyway.  Which is fine...it's rain, and it was 95 degrees out anyway.  Plus, sea lions are adorable. But as soon as we went to leave, and they saw the rain, they decided they weren't going to walk to the car because they didn't want to walk around Denver wet.  I offer to go get the car, pull it around, but nope...they want to wait cause 'the rain should end soon'.  So I wait a few minutes, and the prissy one steps outside (it's barely even drizzling) and refuses to walk because she felt a drop of rain.  So I wait another minute.  Literally, no movement in the puddles so I suggest we start walking.  Nope, someone needs to go out and 'check if it's raining' so I offer to 'check' and just start walking.  Literally, felt 3 drops of rain.  I was dry before I reached the car.  I was beyond fed up.

Like...why in the hell would someone pay money to fly all the way to California and change FREE accommodations to stay in an expensive hotel to NOT LEAVE and do nothing dragging everyone down with? Why didn't she just stay in a hotel in our own city? I could not understand that at all.

Model Sarah wrote:

Like...why in the hell would someone pay money to fly all the way to California and change FREE accommodations to stay in an expensive hotel to NOT LEAVE and do nothing dragging everyone down with? Why didn't she just stay in a hotel in our own city? I could not understand that at all.

I'm totally with ya.  I don't get it.  Why waste the money?  And who has the money to just throw away like that?  Certainly not me.

That's how I felt with my trip.  Why go to Colorado if you're not going to do anything that's pretty Colorado'y?  If you want a mall, go to Chicago, 2 1/2 hours away.  Omaha is 5 hours and it's the second best zoo in the nation.  But why drive 13 hours both way to go to a movie and sit in the hotel.  No thanks.

People never cease to surprise me, that's for sure.  Some people are just hellbent on having no fun at all.

Robb Mann wrote:
Denver is awesome. So much to do and drink. Sorry you had a bad time. So man good places to eat. So many good bars. So many good nearby mountains.

Seriously. Denver is an awesome city. Between Denver and Portland...whew craft beer city heaven.

Robb Mann wrote:
Denver is awesome. So much to do and drink. Sorry you had a bad time. So man good places to eat. So many good bars. So many good nearby mountains.

I think that's what bothered me the most...it was knowing there were so many cool things to do and see, and yet, we were at the mall or at some chain restaurant.

I'll be back at the end of September for a wedding, so I won't be able to go out and see much, but at least I'll get to see a little more of the area.  That and the wedding is at a winery, so heck yes.

Model Sarah wrote:

Seriously. Denver is an awesome city. Between Denver and Portland...whew craft beer city heaven.

:crai:

I'll be going back, for sure.  Though I won't go with a group, it's either me alone, me with the boyfriend, or me with one other friend.  (I'm thinking Rachel Jay, she shares my love of the same things)

But no uneven group, and no me being a pushover to keep the peace.

Isis22 wrote:
I will spare you the tale of my wedding and honeymoon in Europe, that was NO vacation. Instead I will tell you the vacation that was the final nail in the coffin of my marriage. A 3 day trip to Vegas that the in-laws paid for. 2 planes to get there including a bunch of young women who had never been on a plane before who literally screamed like they were on a roller coaster. We got into Vegas around Midnight. I just wanted to go to bed, not gamble, I went to bed alone. I found out our room had 2 beds, not the 1 I had wanted. Husband refused to change the room. I was dragged all across town(hotel was at the end of the strip) and I literally asked for 2 things the whole time. I wanted to see the White Tigers and I wanted to go to a 7-Eleven. Apparently I didn't smile enough in the dozens of photo taken and the in-laws got shitty with my husband because of it. Back at our room my husband asked me what my problem was. I said I wasn't happy in our marriage. His response was to tell me that I didn't need to let everyone know that. Looking back it's kind of funny and not as much of a downer as it seems. I want to go back to Las Vegas just to see if it can be fun:)

It definitely can be fun!

I think that's what is so frustrating about trips like that.  It's having only a couple of requests and then being completely ignored, or being treated like you're putting the other person out.

Totally blah!  But definitely try to give it a go again with a few friends that are definitely on the same page.  There are some cool things to see and do.

L A F wrote:
Make me feel better...what are some of your 'vacation' horror stories?

Or car broke down just outside of Dutch John Utah and we ended up spending 3 days trapped in Vernal Utah waiting for it to be fixed.