Phuket, in southern Thailand. Beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, coral reefs for diving, and great nightlife. You do have to watch out for the lady boys, though.
@DoctorEvil, I couldn't walk 100 yards in Phuket without getting propositioned by a woman of questionable origin. Wide shoulders, narrow hips, and a deep voice going "Hey handsome, muah muah!"
Crested Butte Colorado. We skied there for three days. The week prior to our arrival it snowed 4 feet. The three days we were there it snowed 38". When I lifted the Jeep's lift gate, it pushed back 8" of snow. Steep and deep in 2005.
Scotland. Started in Edinburgh, saw some incredible history and partied our asses off for several nights, including one of the coolest strippers I ever met. Then we drove west to hike an ancient trail, drinking a shit ton of whiskey along the way, and see a friend get married.
Ko Phi Phi, Thailand, as well. All the reasons @DoctorEvil mentioned, but I found Ko Phi Phi less touristy and kitchy than Krabi or Phuket.
Both were as much about the company as the location.
Cause that was just one day of a week long trailer camping trip along a river in a spot private enough (most of the time) for nude swimming. Stargazing, massage table, nude snorkling. Camping is it for me.
Las Vegas. Took the wife there for our 25 year anniversary a few years ago. Was there for a full week. Loved the restaurants. We saw several shows. Took a helicopter ride out to the Grand Canyon. Rented a Ferrari for a day and drove to Hoover Dam. Only lost $200 gambling because I only went to the casinos for a short time on two nights. Stayed at the Vadara, which is attached to the Bellagio. Nice. The pool was off the hook during the day. The wife was wondering why I was trying to get so tan. Sad statement about that trip is that may be the last time we actually got along.
->@Muddy: "San Francisco I thought was a cool city."
San Francisco is a great city. Most important thing is to get away from the Market Street corridor (between 2nd and 6th Streets) and avoid the tourist traps of Chinatown and Pier 39. Good way to see it is on a bicycle if you don't mind some hill climbs
One of my fondest memories was a weeklong stay at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. We rented a beautiful cottage for a week. One of the best things we did was to take our regular baby sitter with us, which relieved us from a lot of child care duties. One afternoon, we rented a sailboat. Another afternoon, we rented a nice little runabout. It rained several days, but the place had a full-width covered porch with Adirondack chairs and I read through the entire Hornblower series. It was a great time for all.
San Diego. It never disappoints. You’ve got TJ and COI for mongering, great beaches, a few casinos, great shopping - malls, surf shops, smokin hot tail everywhere, terrific food, and the best weather in the US. Tons of hot tail on SA too. Avoid staying in the city and stay by a beach between La Jolla and Encinitas.
China. I spent six weeks in Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Lishui City, Jinyun, and whatever random smaller areas I was driven to in the Zhejiang province (there’s some amazing stuff out there) for hiking. Also hiking up and camping overnight at the Great Wall is something I’ll never forget. 😊
I could probably write a book on the 2 week adventure my best friend and I did in Mexico back in the 70's.
We took a "55 stock VW and converted it into a poor man's dune buggy. We left from Orange County CA in November. First stop was Ensenada, MX. We spent the night bar hopping from bar to bar and hitting the few strip clubs. We also converted as much US currency to pesos as we could find.
The next day we headed down the Baja. 1000 miles of unpaved road with nothing but our wits and a Spanish dictionary. It took us 29 driving hours to get to La Paz. We spent 2 nights camping out.
We spent 2 nights in La Paz waiting for the Ferry to Mazatlan. It was a 16 hour crossing done at night.
From there we drove down to Acapulco. We spent a few days there and then drove back to the US on the mainland side. Top speed in the buggy was 50mph on regular and 55mph on premium but we got 50 mpg.
We stoped along the way at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Culiacan, Guymas, Hermosillo and San Luis. We hit the strip clubs/bordellos in every city we stopped in.
We declared 2 bottles of booze when we crossed the border at San Luis. After 2 weeks in Mexico, they just waved us through.
Maui, many moons ago, first trip with my first sugar babe, and really the first time i had money and splurged on vacation. It was just perfect, probably because of so many firsts i.e. everything was new.
Vacation is a state of mind more so than it is about the place you go to. A warm destination in the winter or a mild(er) destination in the dog days of summer helps. So does having the logistical pieces fall into place. Thus leaving one more time to pursue favorite activities, be it on the slopes, the beach, the trails, museum visits, or just reading a book by the pool.
Lastly, as much as I like clubs, I build my vacation around other interests apart from the clubs.
Montreal. A long weekend of great food, booze, bars, strip clubs, and escorts. Even in my early 20s it took me a couple of days to recover afterwards. If I ever drank like that now multiple nights in a row, I'd fucking die. But man that was a great three days back when I could still sort of handle that kind of thing.
What is the standard amount of days paid vacation workers get in the U.S.A? Is a minimum enshrined in law? I get 34 days a year of which 3 have to be used over the Christmas period. Would that be a good amount over there?
When I retired after 42 years with the company, I was working 3 12 hour shifts per week with 6 weeks of paid vacation and 10 holidays that I could get extra pay for or an additional day off. I was represented by an in house union.
Londonguy it depends on the company. I have been with my current company 8 1/2 years and I have 25 paid vacation days per year. When I started it was 20 and then bumped up to 25 starting with my 5th year and will go up to 30 after 10 years in 2022 with an extra 5 days added every 5 years. That is in addition to the 10 paid holidays each year.
My boss has 50 vacation days since she has been here 30 years that she is using to take off from the last week of October through the end of this year and using next years to be off until mid-March so her and her husband who is retiring next month can spend 5 months sailing around the south pacific.
As for the best vacation, I like to just unwind and unplug on my vacations so my best one was probably about 3 years ago when I went camping for two weeks in Yellowstone.
@Londonguy
I own a small business with less than 25 employees
When I hire I offer 1 week after one year employment along with about 7 paid holidays and after 2 years the Compensated vacation is upped to two weeks
Some of my employees get more comped time off the longer they are with me
We do have a few times that we consider a blackout when time off will not be granted
In the US two weeks is typical with additional time added for longtime employees
I allow 5 days sick pay with medical orders and I have added Election Day to our paid holidays
Londonguy, it seems that 2 weeks vacation is pretty much the norm for several US companies. As prior posts have mentioned, as company tenure goes beyond 3 to 5 years, employees get an additional week. Some 25 year plus employees can get up to 6 weeks. The Puritan Work Ethic is alive and well in America, when compared to Western Europe.
Wow, soo many for different reasons and I couldn't just say one place.
Banff and Jasper national park in British Columbia Canada for outdoor natural beauty. Portugal for culture, history and people. Jaco Beach, Costa Rica for general fun activities and for the PL's latin debauchery (legal brothels). Las Vegas for poker and high class casinos (with all their top shelf hot spots). Florida for water activities (diving, fishing, boating...).
"... What is the standard amount of days paid vacation workers get in the U.S.A? Is a minimum enshrined in law? ...."
No law mandating vacation time - most companies offer it - usually 1 week for the 1st year of employment, then an additional weeks get added (a week at a time) with additional years of employment
Yellowstone is simply the single most amazing spot on the planet. Amazing that it has over 50% of all geothermal features on earth and the largest petrified forest on earth as well.
Standard vacation for minimum wage employees is zero to 1 week. Most get 2 weeks. Upper management gets 4-6. My wife is in a union and accrues 5.22 hours per week off per week. This includes sick and vacation time and is almost 7 weeks a year. She gets 10 paid holidays and a lot of bereavement leave.
I am self-employed and now have no paid staff as I use temps., if needed. Since I don't get paid if I don't work, its up to me how much time I take off. I shoot for 10 weeks a year and spend at least 35 weeks a year working 75 hours to make up for it. I have taken 2 sicks days in 37.5 years. Anaphylxis (sp) put me in intensive care for a bit in November and I still went to Court that afternoon. Time off is for fuckin around and if I am deathly ill, making for a sucky day, I always go to work which is always a sucky day.
The absolute best vacation I've ever take was a 5 day cruise to Mexico. This was pre-"Need a passport to cross the county line" days, and it would be unthinkable for me at this point, but I've never had a more relaxing time, or a vacation that felt like an actual vacation.
Next up are trips to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon.
three week family camping trip from flagstaff arizona up thru southeast side of utah, week in colorado which included driving up pikes peak, royal gorge and then back to arizona via durango.
I have 18 employees and I do not keep track of vacation or sick time. If they need the time take it but make sure your job gets done. I started doing that 20 years ago and they seem to love it and so far no one has taken advantage
Backpacking in Colorado, moose hunting in Ontario, canoe trip in the BWCAW. Too hard to choose among those three but they were all in beautiful country with very few people.
^+1 for Huntsman on Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Definitely in my top 5 vacas. For those who haven't been, consider going in Sept for fewer/no mosquitoes and low/no crowd.
32 comments
Ko Phi Phi, Thailand, as well. All the reasons @DoctorEvil mentioned, but I found Ko Phi Phi less touristy and kitchy than Krabi or Phuket.
Both were as much about the company as the location.
Cause that was just one day of a week long trailer camping trip along a river in a spot private enough (most of the time) for nude swimming. Stargazing, massage table, nude snorkling. Camping is it for me.
San Francisco is a great city. Most important thing is to get away from the Market Street corridor (between 2nd and 6th Streets) and avoid the tourist traps of Chinatown and Pier 39. Good way to see it is on a bicycle if you don't mind some hill climbs
We took a "55 stock VW and converted it into a poor man's dune buggy. We left from Orange County CA in November. First stop was Ensenada, MX. We spent the night bar hopping from bar to bar and hitting the few strip clubs. We also converted as much US currency to pesos as we could find.
The next day we headed down the Baja. 1000 miles of unpaved road with nothing but our wits and a Spanish dictionary. It took us 29 driving hours to get to La Paz. We spent 2 nights camping out.
We spent 2 nights in La Paz waiting for the Ferry to Mazatlan. It was a 16 hour crossing done at night.
From there we drove down to Acapulco. We spent a few days there and then drove back to the US on the mainland side. Top speed in the buggy was 50mph on regular and 55mph on premium but we got 50 mpg.
We stoped along the way at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Culiacan, Guymas, Hermosillo and San Luis. We hit the strip clubs/bordellos in every city we stopped in.
We declared 2 bottles of booze when we crossed the border at San Luis. After 2 weeks in Mexico, they just waved us through.
Lastly, as much as I like clubs, I build my vacation around other interests apart from the clubs.
My boss has 50 vacation days since she has been here 30 years that she is using to take off from the last week of October through the end of this year and using next years to be off until mid-March so her and her husband who is retiring next month can spend 5 months sailing around the south pacific.
As for the best vacation, I like to just unwind and unplug on my vacations so my best one was probably about 3 years ago when I went camping for two weeks in Yellowstone.
I own a small business with less than 25 employees
When I hire I offer 1 week after one year employment along with about 7 paid holidays and after 2 years the Compensated vacation is upped to two weeks
Some of my employees get more comped time off the longer they are with me
We do have a few times that we consider a blackout when time off will not be granted
In the US two weeks is typical with additional time added for longtime employees
I allow 5 days sick pay with medical orders and I have added Election Day to our paid holidays
Banff and Jasper national park in British Columbia Canada for outdoor natural beauty. Portugal for culture, history and people. Jaco Beach, Costa Rica for general fun activities and for the PL's latin debauchery (legal brothels). Las Vegas for poker and high class casinos (with all their top shelf hot spots). Florida for water activities (diving, fishing, boating...).
No law mandating vacation time - most companies offer it - usually 1 week for the 1st year of employment, then an additional weeks get added (a week at a time) with additional years of employment
Standard vacation for minimum wage employees is zero to 1 week. Most get 2 weeks. Upper management gets 4-6. My wife is in a union and accrues 5.22 hours per week off per week. This includes sick and vacation time and is almost 7 weeks a year. She gets 10 paid holidays and a lot of bereavement leave.
I am self-employed and now have no paid staff as I use temps., if needed. Since I don't get paid if I don't work, its up to me how much time I take off. I shoot for 10 weeks a year and spend at least 35 weeks a year working 75 hours to make up for it. I have taken 2 sicks days in 37.5 years. Anaphylxis (sp) put me in intensive care for a bit in November and I still went to Court that afternoon. Time off is for fuckin around and if I am deathly ill, making for a sucky day, I always go to work which is always a sucky day.
Next up are trips to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon.
I think I just associate BC with the Canadian Rockies more than Alberta.