Eleventh salon: What makes a vacation a vacation?

[jenett]

Welcome to the eleventh salon! Wander in, invite a friend to come along, and chat! (Not sure what's going on? Here, have a brief FAQ.) You can find previous ones in my salon tag. Please take a quick look at the reminders at the bottom of this post, too.

I am now on vacation, so you get vacation question, round two!

What makes a really great vacation for you? Are you a person who just wants to sleep and recuperate and drink thing with little frilly umbrellas in them? Do you want to go to interesting and unfamiliar places and explore the world? Do you want to do this with other people or on your own?

My usual vacation is either "Stay home and get things done on projects" or "Go visit people I like in place I am not currently living". The current vacation is the latter, though not in my most usual place for it, and I'm contemplating what it would take to go do two weeks in England in the fall of 2014. (which would be a Go See All The Things vacation, for slightly odd values of 'Things' because I've already seen most of the obvious tourist things, and have a very specific "This museum and that place" set of goals.

(I am currently in a room filled with interesting and fascinating people in person, and there will be other people around tonight, so comment replies slightly slower than usual.)

Quick reminders

- jjhunter did a great guide to following conversations here on Dreamwidth. Also a roundup of regular Dreamwidth events.
- If you want to post anonymously, please pick a name (any name you like) that we can call you - it makes it more conversational and helps if we have more than one anon post.
- Base rule remains "Leave the conversation better than you found it, or at least not worse". If you're nervous about that, I'd rather you say something and we maybe sort out confusion later than have you not say something. (I've heard from a few people who worry they're going to say something that's going to be taken weirdly. If it helps, I am usually around and if there's a thing you'd like to get out in the conversation, but you're not sure how, feel free to PM or email or IM me, and I'll nudge the conversation that direction.)
- The FAQ still has useful stuff, and I added some thoughts about getting conversations going a few weeks ago.
- Comments tend to trickle in over the course of a day or two, with a few nearly a week later: you might enjoy checking back later if you're not tracking the conversation.

Comments

[jenett]

That is so totally not the kind of vacation I do, but sounds absolutely lovely.

(I'm actually contemplating what it'd take to add a couple of days of walking in Cornwall to this theoretical trip to England, both in terms of logistics, and in terms of my body. Though, thankfully, don't need to make any decisions about it immediately.) Because yes, space and thinking and so on.)

[sashajwolf]

boxcat is from Cornwall, so if you'd like me to ask him about less-challenging walks, let me know. I can also dig out some UK websites that provide walking directions with maps and difficulty levels, if that would help.

If your theoretical trip to England includes social time somewhere in reach of London, do let me know :-)

[(Anonymous)]

That would be exceedingly excellent! I was poking around on assorted websites, and contemplating what I might be able to work up to with a year's notice. (My aim, assuming I can get my boss to approve, is 2 weeks around late September or early October next year.)

The plan also involves at least 5 days in London, and social time, and you are one of the people I would especially like to see. (Because, how long have we known each other online?)

[jenett]

The above was me: dear self, logging in is handy.

[sashajwolf]

Oh, yay! *blushes*

Erm, thirteen years, I think? aegidian and I opened our marriage in 2000, which is what sent me to a.p.

So, useful websites:
Walk magazine, by the Ramblers - the UK's oldest walking charity/campaign group. Some of the routes are members-only, but I'm a member, so if you let me know which ones interest you, I'll get them for you.

Live for the Outdoors - similar idea, but less user-friendly. Again, I should be able to get you the subscription-only routes if you know what you want (but will probably let my subscription lapse when it comes due in June next year).

Walking in England, a great collection of links to free walks, but whether you get a difficulty rating depends on the site whose link you follow.

Do you have an idea of what sort of length and elevation change you'd be looking for, and/or other restrictions, or would it be better for me to ask boxcat for his thoughts nearer the time when you know how you're progressing?

[jenett]

That seems likely, re: time.

As far as length: something like 5-8 miles seems plausible for a day or two or maybe three (either something that produces a circle, or something that produces a couple of days in a row. I'd rather guess too short than too long, all things considered. Reasonable places to pause every so often would be handy (by which I mean 'place one can sit on the ground/convenient rock/etc.' not actual amenities). And I am aware that there's services that will, say, transport your bags for you, and things.)

Hills are an issue for me: down is fine, up is problematic though easier if it's either quite steep (stairs, say) with some rest points or very long and gradual: the worst for me is the middle ground of steepish for a long distance.

[sashajwolf]

Okay, I shall ask!

[jenett]

Excited! (Also, I can tell already that a bunch of the fun of this trip is going to be the advance plotting and the background reading of Relevant Things, and so on.)