Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Vacation Recommendations Sought

Hey, all.

I feel in desperate need of a vacation that doesn't involve family responsibilities.

The thing is, aforementioned vacation is probably going to have to be a solo trip.

So I need a vacation for a single person that isn't a singles' vacation. By that I mean I just want a vacation. I'm not looking for love, lust, or even companionship in general. (Though I certainly wouldn't mind meeting some nice people.)
I just don't want a vacation that's catering to someone looking for someone.


I'm also a diabetic (diet and exercise controlled) and a vegetarian or as I like to call it, "A Meat Avoider."

I'm leaning towards the idea of a cruise under the assumption that I could maybe get on one that would involve guided tours, possibly. (I do have my passport-- had it for two years now-- and have not really had a chance to use it yet.)

So ... anyone have any ideas for me?

I really enjoyed traveling cross country by train.

Amtrak vacations by rail You could also just take the train to a destination.

Somewhat pricey, but very nice. The roommettes are great when you are by yourself. Getting the roommette also gets you breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (and they do have vegetarian entrees. They also do vegan on request)

On my first trip, I did a coach seat between Albany & Chicago (17 hours at night) It was really crowded. The second time, I got a roommette. Also, when booking, request a roommette on the lower level. The train has an upper and lower level. My first trip, I had a lower level roommette and it was great. On the second trip, I had a roommette on the upper level, and the movement of the train kept rocking me awake.

Oh, that looks promising Quis.

Leaving from?
How long?
Drive?

Preferably Indianapolis IN though I could probably do Chicago in a pinch. 8-)

No more than a week, most likely.

Driving would be okay. I love flying too.

Boston has a lot of history.

DC has lots of . . . free.

For some reason, S. Pacific and India are relatively cheap. Still, the per diem is high for a week trip.

I've not been to Vegas since I was a kid, but a webpage on "great hotel pools" led me to this
Swim with sharks

There was a Miami hotel that had an awesome, block long pool.

Someday I hope to get here:

Shack Up (not what you think) Inn

My drive vacations I plan either by what city I want to see or by googling something like "quirky roadside attractions" or "where to see nude women."


At the beginning of July, I found round-trips to JFK for about $200 and a hostel in a good section of Brooklyn for $20 dorm, but had to put it off. Week metro for $27. Maybe you can still get a flight that cheap.

I don't cruise, but from friends who do, you have to really research carefully to get a line that fits your personality. Some cruises are like multi-day trips to Wal-Mart with the exits closed -- dirty, crowded, loud, cheap, etc. A travel agent might really be able to help. On the plus side, you can often get great last minute deals on cruises that aren't full.

I'm a big proponent of Europe as a tour destination, especially if you are travelling alone. There are just SO many more resources for the single tourist there, from super helpful tourist bureaus in every locale to affordable accomodations to more free or nearly free great tours than you can possibly do. Plus, there are lots of other people traveling alone, and that casual camaraderie is fun and helpful--no "ooh, you're alone" stigma. One issue is when you plan to go -- much of Europe goes on vacation itself in August, so you can arrive in a major city and find no-one there but other tourists. If you haven't been overseas before, a great first trip is to England. London is just an awesome city, and there are amazing and easy day trips outside London -- Oxford, Cotswolds, Cambridge, Winchester, West Country, etc. You can even go across to France on a day trip. They speak a language approximating ours, and if you've spent anytime watching British comedy (and enjoyed it) you will be having a blast in no time.

I'm going on a day trip to Chicago on Thursday using the Amtrak Train. It'll give me an idea as to how I'd like traveling on a train for a longer trip.

I'll be riding the Spirit of New Orleans.

I'm hoping to hit the Museums and squeeze in Sears Tower. My return home train leaves Chicago at 8 pm and the museums close at 4:30 to 5:00 pm so I'll be hitting the Sears Tower after that, trying to fit in at least a light dinner, and then seeing what sort of souvenirs I can pick up.

Are you having a seat or a roomette? How long will the train trip be? There is a difference between having a seat and having a roomette. Oh wait, you said a day trip. probably not having a roomette.

Anyhow, Have a great trip.

Chicago doesn't have those. lol.

Been to Chicago before?

I'd thought to do the same thing but the best price I could find was about 65 each way and that's only from Toledo. Too much for me to day-trip on that.

Blue make sure you let us know how Chicago goes for you! I've been once and am returning in November for a work thing but then adding a long weekend with my wife after, whose never been.

And BB is right...awesome mega-steakhouses and deep dish pizza are the rage. (I'm sure you'll find something of course but try to glimpse at one of those mega-steaks if you can).

And anything really cool you see / do that a visitor might not otherwise think of, totally let me know!

OK, this has got me thinking and itchy feet. I'm thinking of taking the train from Boston to Seattle, stay in Seattle for 2 days, then flying back. So give me some encouragement.

Duck! Fish!
Chihuli. Gesundheit.

Okay.

Quis asked me to releate how my trip to Chicago went.

I had purchased both my tickets and a City Pass online. (The City Pass lets you take in the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Museum of Science and Industry, and either the Sears Tower or the Hancock Building at a much reduced price ... and WITHOUT having to spend time in those long lines.)

Well, on my scheduled day, I wound up being late for the train. (I had printed out directions on the internet which proved to be somewhat less than accurate.) I missed the train by 10 minutes, and had to reschedule for Friday. (Fortunately I had originally purhcased tickets for a Thursday.)

The next day, I left extra early and arrived at the train station 40 minutes before the train was due ... and the train decided to be late an extra 40 minutes on top of that.

Now this was the first time I had ever ridden a train, so I didn't know for sure what to expect. The nice thing is that I didn't have an assigned seat, so I was able to get a window seat. (I always like window seats when I travel.) As another plus, the train was right next to the dining car.

I hadn't had anything to eat yet, so I went to the dining car and got my first surprise:

It was a BUMPY ride. If you didn't hold onto something, you would fall flat on your face ... or posterior. Still, I only had to go about 10 feet so it wasn't all that bad.

They didn't have any egg substitutes, so I had to go ahead and order scrambled eggs. (I will eat eggs and dairy products though I don't eat meat, so I was in luck there.) The food itself wasn't bad at all-- not particularly cheap-- probably comparable or a little cheaper than airline food.) It had the same sort of airline taste to it it as well-- looks like they have the meals premade and just pop them in an oven per order. At least breakfast. I didn't have dinner on the train.

The train got to Union Station only about 10 minutes behind schedule. Now the website said you could get an all day bus pass at Union Station, but I couldn't find where I was supposed to buy one, so I asked at a convenience store, and found out the bus passes are actually sold down the street at a CVS.

I got my bus pass and went looking for the bus that would take me to the musuem campus where Shedd, Field Museum, and Adler Planetarium are.

For a couple of bucks, a homeless guy told me where to find the right bus, and I made it to the campus right on time. I went into the Field Museum first and after some initial confusion, picked up my City pass and went into the museum proepr.

The vendor I got the City Pass from was annoying as heck though, and the worst experience I had in the city. Nothing on the website said you needed to provide them with anything beyond the bar scan page, but apparently there's a second page they need to get credit for the sale. She was chewing me out for not having that page with me, but I did get my pass... and found the page and gave it to her. Overpreparation for the win!

(Brief aside here: definitely get the City Pass if you go to Chicago. It's not cheap, but you really do manage to get out of those dang long lines that take FOREVER to see anything ... and when you're on a tight time schedule like I was, you'll find its well worth the trouble.)

I won't go into the museums much. It was pretty neat, but I found that I didn't like the Shedd Aquarium all that much. Felt kind of sorry for all the fishes in the tiny tanks which had nothing to do. The dolphins and buluga whales were neat though-- there was a cafe you could see the bottom of the dolphin tank while they performed. It's amazing just how deep they go when they jump up and down.

The bus was a surprise to me. I was expecting something dirty and dingy and not looking forward to riding it at all, but it turned out to be really clean and nice. The pass itself was a paper card you put in the bus meter and it sucked it in and out.

I managed to go into the Sears Tower and try out their new "platform" on the Sky Deck ... and found it to be pretty disapointing. It was basically a box about four feet over the edge of the building. Some people clearly couldn't stand on it, but I didn't have any trouble, and got my picture taken on it though it didn't show the floor because you were kind of pressed for time and I didn't want to inconveniece the person who took the picture for me ...

And I was also a bit concerned because I realized that I had left my bag of souvenirs down at the security check in, and the line to get down was pretty long too ... and I was running out of time before I had to be back for the train.

Still, I recovered my booty and got my booty down to the train station on time. I had a veggie burger and fries from one of the restaurants in the food court-- which is the nice thing about the trip-- there were a lot of places offering veggie hot dogs and burgers now.

The train back was on time, and was slightly faster than the train there. Since I had eaten dinner in Chicago I didn't have to buy dinner on the train. Every seat was sold, so it was a tight trip back.

All in all, I was quite pleased with my trip. I'll probably go back to Chicago again, and when I do I'll go by train as that's really the best way to go for me. No hassle about finding a place to park, and the public transport is really pretty nice there.

As for traveling overnight... I'm not sure I'd do that. Some people fall asleep instantly when the train starts moving, but I wasn't able to relax that much on the train. I just couldn't get comfortable in the seats. (Not that they're uncomfortable; I just didn't fit them very well.)

My suggestion, Quis, is that you take a day trip by train if you can and then decide if you think you'd be able to sleep on one.

BB,

Glad you had a good experience. How long a trip each way was the train ride?

I already have travel cross country by train twice and am doing it again tomorrow. So I know I can sleep on the train. I'll have a roomette and not just a seat. They fold down the seats in the roomette to form a bed. I did discover in my two trips that the roomette on the lower level of the train as there is less of a rocking motion. Even without the roomette, I have always been able to sleep on a train or a bus.