Maybe I post too many questions? If I think a topic in the General Rant thread is interesting I'll ponder making a thread about it… but enough about that.

Everyone travels long distance, right? Most of the time it's by plane, but some of you travel via bus or automobile. And long ago we travelled long distance via trains and ships. What don't you like about going on long trips?

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Ugh… flying can be a hassle. Especially with all the static electricity that builds up in your pants. I walk around the plane every 1.5 hours to discharge it. I also wish they had charging stations on planes, especially long distance flights. The PSP and DS can only run so long on 14 hour flights. I don't have an extra PSP battery, and my DS games can only keep me occupied for so long. I should probably get a laptop and an extra battery for it too…

Well, Australia is a BIG country, bigger than most places since it's empty. 95% of the population sticks right on the edges of the coast. It takes 3 or 4 days driving non-stop to cross from end to end (either side to side or top to bottom), and much longer with normal sleep stops.
So I've some experience in long trips.

Driving with your family is nice, but because it's empty here you don't see much when you stop apart from roadhouses and enormous road-trains that thunder past. It's also hot as a bastard out there. The leisurely pace is nice.

Going in a coach is a nightmare. No real stops longer than an hour or so, being cramped up in a seat for days and days… I HATE IT. That experience has nothing to recommend it at all. The last few times I've ended up with serious nerve problems from pinched nerves in my neck that have lasted over a year or more.

Trains are ok. It still takes 3+ days, and you can't get out and walk (there might be one stop) but at least the seats are bigger and it's a lot easier to get up and walk around. It's still not nice to be trapped for so long and the scenery is really, really monotonous here- red dirt and scrubby little bushes for thousands of kilometers. No hills, it's flat all the way. And it's one of the longest sections of straight rail track in the world.
I've been on Amtrack in the US. That was weird… The ticket collectors are dressed like something from the 1800s. And it's SLOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW…. WIth the classes and things it really is very old fashioned, but at least the trains are clean and nice inside.

Planes are the best! Nice and fast. 3 or 4 hours depending on the winds. I love take-off and landings too. Airport check-in, collecting bags, and customs/security are a hassle, but apart from that I love it.
International travel is much the same, but MUCH longer (20+ hours) because we're a long way from everywhere. I don't mind it. The cabin air dries me out though.

Ships… I've only been on long voyages on a sail training ship… maybe 4 weeks all up. And apart from that just sailing yachts for a few days. The experience is much the same: cramped births, constant sea movement, constant ocean sounds, the smell of diesel bellow and salt above. It's nice really, but you're stuck on that tiny island of stability in the middle of the ocean with nowhere at all to go, stuck with the people you're with… Can be very trying for an introverted person!

Hmmm, well, I haven't travelled rediculously far in my life from my home, the furthest I've been was to the centre of Australia (Uluru, biatch)…

Driving is good, though, with the petorl prices these days, it can be farily expensive if you're going a long way. Only problem I have with driving is that if you need to take a leak, then its out to the bushes with you, particularly on the old, empty highways out in the middle of West NSW. And it does get quite boring and your body gets really stiff after 12 hours in a care non-stop…

Planes are definately the best, very fast, there's a goddamn toilet, and food. And like Oz… I have this child-like joy of taking off and landing, it's the absolute best hahaha. But it does have its draw backs, cost, getting to and from the airport in the first place, the fact that there always seems to be annoying children or crying babies… Oh and I will push people out the way to get a window seat. That's right, I'm one of those people.

Trains I've never been a big fan off, possibly because where I am there are heaps of druggies, homeless and creepy people on the train or at the station. I've been on a train maybe four or five times, and each time I've hated it because of the people on there… Too many creeps. But its faster than driving sometimes and quite cheap.

Planes. Ugh. God made me with a weak stomach. As soon as we take off, I'm holding the barf-bag on standby. Often times it's not enough, and I usually puke in those large shopping bags. Needless to say, I hate planes and avoid them as much as possible… The longest ride I've been in was to Greece (family's home country). Been to Greece many times, and the flight is 10 hours long. You can imagine how much I love that ride!

As for Trains, I don't know. I rode on the subway a lot in Manhattan and loved it. Never got sick or anything. So maybe I'm a train guy. Boats I can half handle; I get sea sick if we're not moving.

It kinda sucks with my plane condition though. I want to travel all around the world, but avoid it solely because of the plane ride. Trust me, I've tried all kinds of meds. None of them work. My sister even worked at a doctors office, and she had him prescribe me some heavier stuff. Didn't do a damn thing! I considered donating myself to science because of it :P!

Oh, and Australia is one country I will never fly to. A 20 hour plane ride? Sh*t, you might as well just put me in a coma and wake me up when we get there.

Someone
Oh, and Australia is one country I will never fly to. A 20 hour plane ride? Sh*t, you might as well just put me in a coma and wake me up when we get there.

Fine then, don't come and visit our awesome land. ;)

It's even longer if you're coming from England, 21-22 hours depending on contitions :B

Some places are worth long plane rides. Hawai'i is one of them even when riding in Cattle Car class (Coach) while the wife is in First Class.

I've been on plane rides from hell courtesy of the U.S. Air Force as being on a turboprop older than I am and I see two engines go out. And turbulance in a C-130 makes a commercial plane ride in a thunder storm seem like pure pleasure. So flying ain't nothing to me.

Trains, I love them so much. I've been on the vintage train rides in Hawai'i and the Caribbean as well as mass transit in the Northeast corridor. I even like sitting backwards so I can pretend I'm in a Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle.

Bus? I've done 24 hour rides on commercial and school buses. Just give me a bathroom and a book.
Cruise ship. In smooth seas you'll never know you're at sea. You can eat and drink 24/7. Imagine the nicest hotel you've ever been in at sea. Sure the room is so cramped you can't turn around, but then you're not there to stay in your cabin. Go out on deck and enjoy the ride. Nothing is better than watching the ocean go by. And I have been in rough Atlantic weather on one, and you don't notice, just don't go outside.

But I hate going to bathroom when I have to hold on for dear life to keep my bum on the toilet! I don't stand to urinate on any transportation while it is moving. There's always that unforeseeable bump.

But taking a shower on rough seas is fun. I can understand now why the Navy soaps up and then turns on the water. You are too busy holding on to concentrate on staying under the water and soaping up. One thing at a time.

You want nasty travel? Try back of military truck, tank, jeep whre there are no seat belts and you get thrown everywhere. And in a tank more often as not you have to stand up to do your job. After loading the main gun in a tank going across rough ground at 20 miles per hour and the tank pitching more than my friend's small sail boat on choppy seas? Twenty hours on a 767 is pure pleasure. Come to thnk of it I wouldn't even mind a diet of Spam sandwiches on a cruise ship without electricity.

bravo1102
You want nasty travel? Try back of military truck, tank, jeep whre there are no seat belts and you get thrown everywhere. And in a tank more often as not you have to stand up to do your job. After loading the main gun in a tank going across rough ground at 20 miles per hour and the tank pitching more than my friend's small sail boat on choppy seas? Twenty hours on a 767 is pure pleasure. Come to thnk of it I wouldn't even mind a diet of Spam sandwiches on a cruise ship without electricity.

Ugh… thanks for reminding me of the times I rode a HEMTT (I forget the proper spelling). Even when I was strapped in the top of my head would hit the cabin ceiling. I had to duck constantly to keep that from happening…

bravo1102
Bus? I've done 24 hour rides on commercial and school buses. Just give me a bathroom and a book.

Try 72+ hours and see how you like it then.
Nasty.

The biggest vessels I've been on for any extended time were medium size high speed ferries. Even in very rough seas in the open ocean they were a dream to be on. Very nice.
Apart from that, the sail training was a three masted sailing ship. Lots of hard work, sleeping in shifts only a foot away from the other 5 people sharing your berth, which (for me) was right up in the bow, so it had the most movement up and over those waves, with an unsecured anchor that WHAMMED constantly in the side each time… But even with the mandatory day of sea-sickness and the cook's assistant serving us with her own personal vomit bucket on her hip at all times (often full), with work that isn't over till it's over (even if that means missing your meals that you NEED and going well into the night) and makes you so tired you're shaking and dreaming of doing it all over again when you finally drop off despite the constant WHAMMING… Even with that and more, it's still sooooooo much better than a long coach ride!

I'd rather ride in your tank. :)

Lonnehart
Ugh… thanks for reminding me of the times I rode a HEMTT (I forget the proper spelling). Even when I was strapped in the top of my head would hit the cabin ceiling. I had to duck constantly to keep that from happening…

Sorry, I mostly rode in 2 1/2 ton trucks originally built in the Korean War. I hated the metal roofed ones. In the canvas roofed ones I thought I'd go through the roof.

In a tank your roof can be a hatch and you don't hit it, you fly through it and get some nasty bruises so you hold on for dear life. And that driver thinks it's funny to stand on the brakes and 60 tons of tank comes to a sudden stop. However whatever isn't strapped down goes flying and that includes the crew. Lots of inertia when something that massive comes to a stop. I've seen broken ribs from that.

My tank once hosted an Australian officer for a ride down range. Great guy.

My favorite kind of travel is when I get to see things along the way, so usually I prefer car, but some trains have been good. Haven't tried a bus (they're rather noisy).

If time is limited, like only 7-10 days so that most of the trip would be in a car, then it's a plane. The worst part for me is feeling packaged. “Hello, ma'am, you are sardine #204”. I accept that the security is necessary, but it reinforces that feeling of being processed – and that I pay a lot of money for being treated like a unit doesn't help either.

oh well, the plane ride is quickest – I just accept it as “paying the dues” to get to do what I want later.

Couldn't imagine traveling by ship. Gotta hand it to my ancestors who crossed the Atlantic in sailboats. *sorry, grands, your great-great-etc. is a spoiled, sea-sick-prone wimp*

I pretty much hate all forms of travel except driving myself. This inlcudes riding with other people. Some of this has to do with smoking cigarettes. As in, I like to be able to do that at least once every hour, which I can easily do in my own car. Not so much with other options.

I hate flying because I pay the airline companies an exorbitant amount of cash (more now, with checked baggage and other dumb fees) to provide a service that not only does not have to be in the least bit satisfactory, but does not even come with a guarantee that said service will even be provided! In the past ten years I've had more delayed or cancelled flights than on-time ones. If I can drive somewhere in 18 hours or less, I won't fly. Also my legs are short, so my feet don't really touch the ground completely in their stupid seats; this puts a lot of pressure on my legs and makes it very uncomfortable to sit for more than an hour or so. Sounds weird, I know- like the opposite of the complaint larger people have with plain seats!

I haven't had much experience with buses or trains; it's not really much cheaper than flying, and takes way longer, and since I'm lucky enough to have an automobile I might as well just drive.

*edited to add that as I routinely have about ten f*cking pounds of metal either in or on my person, security is never fun. I just look at them when they tell me to step through the metal detector the second time (“Uh, try taking some jewelry off”… like that wouldn't hold up the line for twenty minutes) and say, “Look at me. Just get the wand out. I know the drill. I do this every time.”

OnlyFoolsAndVikings
Fine then, don't come and visit our awesome land. ;)

It's even longer if you're coming from England, 21-22 hours depending on contitions :B

:dizzy: I really do want to go to Australia, but that 20 straight hours of constant, nauseating suffering puts a dent on it.

Slightly off topic, but whenever I was in Greece I loved hanging out with the Greek-Australians. They're just so fun. I mean yeah it's fun to be with fellow Greek-Americans, but the ozzies just have a way of… I dunno, partying hard, but remaining classy?

Not to mention I think I developed a “thing” for girls with Aussie accents.

Heh… I wouldn't mind travelling to Australia myself. It's a couple thousand miles south of me, but the ticket would be very expensive. Ugh… even tickets to the Philippines are expensive these days. I'm sure the flight to Sydney would probably be around 3 hours if I went straight, so it's not a long flight. My longest flight was from the U.S. to Japan with no stops inbetween. Fourteen hours long…

NickyP
Slightly off topic, but whenever I was in Greece I loved hanging out with the Greek-Australians. They're just so fun. I mean yeah it's fun to be with fellow Greek-Americans, but the ozzies just have a way of… I dunno, partying hard, but remaining classy?

That reminds me of the Nick Giannopoulos movie The Kings of Mykonos.
I saw that on the plane to the US last year… I dropped off to sleep though so I didn't see the whole thing. (The Aussie in Greece aspect was interesting, but the movie wasn't really as entertaining as his earlier stuff)
Most Greek Australians live in Melbourne I think.

Come over on a ship… haha Cruise ships are super expensive, but you could always get work on a container ship or fishing vessel (going after bluefine tuna or patagonian toothfish), maybe negotiate passage? ^_^

ayesinback
Couldn't imagine traveling by ship. Gotta hand it to my ancestors who crossed the Atlantic in sailboats. *sorry, grands, your great-great-etc. is a spoiled, sea-sick-prone wimp*

I've been on board the Mary Constant in Jamestown which is a typical sailing ship of when my ancestors got here. Big scary ride, tiny, tiny ship. I've looked down at the Santa Maria reproduction in 1992 after it made it's transatlantic trip form the deck of USS Intrepid. The last cruise ship I was on was bigger than an Essex class aircraft carrier. That is a lot of ship.

Cruise ships aren't expensive if you look for deals. Get an interior cabin not a suite. My next cruise for 14 days in the Med and transatlantic costs less for the cabin than the flight to Rome.

Hyena H_H: get a doctor's note listing every piercing. Wear the least amount of jewelry you can get away with. In fact that goes for anyone. Imagine you're going for an MRI and you can't have ANY metal on you at all. You're dealing with a system designed by and for idiots so make it simple for them.

TSA inspectors have seen all kinds of piercings and heavy jewelry in fact depending on where you're flying out of they might have more than you do. ;)

bravo1102
Hyena H_H: get a doctor's note listing every piercing. Wear the least amount of jewelry you can get away with. In fact that goes for anyone. Imagine you're going for an MRI and you can't have ANY metal on you at all. You're dealing with a system designed by and for idiots so make it simple for them.

TSA inspectors have seen all kinds of piercings and heavy jewelry in fact depending on where you're flying out of they might have more than you do. ;)

Thankfully it's all above the neck, if ya know what I mean. So it's all visible. It's still a pain in the arse though.

Lonnehart
all the static electricity that builds up in your pants. I walk around the plane every 1.5 hours to discharge it. I also wish they had charging stations on planes, especially long distance flights. The PSP and DS can only run so long on 14 hour flights. I don't have an extra PSP battery, and my DS games can only keep me occupied for so long. I should probably get a laptop and an extra battery for it too…

maybe you could charge em up with thos static pants?

night flites are definitly the worst if your unlucky enough to get stuck on one - they turn of the light, they turn of the air, they turn off the charm - may as well jus turn off the gadamn engines and be done withit. mos people sleep thru this but i always end up nex to some 7ft japanese girl with night tterrors and sharp elbows

the last time i rode a train, i was four, so i can't really say my feelings on traveling long distance. although for a moment i considered it for this trip. the tickets would have cost more, for about 1 days more worth of travel.

My preferred mode of transportation is driving. I think it's a control/trust issue. When i fly commercial, i don't know the guys in charge, and i know the extra risks that they take to get that extra dollar for the companies.

Bus: i hate it. driving for more than 18 hours.. i really hate it. you can't move or sit in a comfortable way. My feet ALWAYS get swollen after 4 hours driving and my legs gets numb. If there are tv and there are a movie going on. I will try to watch it to ignore the pain in my feet or ass. but ain't easy. With my luck.. there will be either an annoying brat behind/front of me or someone behind/front who can't sit still and needs to shake your seat for some weird reason. “Sorry i just am trying to shake feeling in my legs.” “For hours?”
It might be cheap. but it is not cheap for my body.

Train. Now that is more like that. easy to walk around to shake some feeling in my legs and i can even sleep without my seat being rocked of a brat or a drunk bastard who chooses my shoulder as their pillow. I feel pretty relaxed on a train.

ship.
one of my favourite. I really enjoy to walk around and enjoy the fresh air outside. Who cares about the cabine? i only use this to sleep and nothing more.
Sure it can be boring after a while. but it can be helped since some ships got cinema, disco, bar and m.m.

airplane.
Well it is fast for sure but it reminds me of bus. abit too much. barely any room to move. in fact it is almost the same as bus expect it is in air and you can enjoy the view from the window.

Car: Well it is so-so. it depends on the car and the company. If the car is a old wreck… then it sucks.


car