I know I "editorialize" in a number of places, but I thought that I would centralize things and create a place to muse.

I am humble enough to know that most people will not care what I have to muse over and egotistical enough to go ahead and do it just for myself.

So there will be thoughts here and opinions and probably a lot of junk.

The title of the thread sounds negative, but it will not be all negativity here; the title just came to me while I was driving home and thinking about this:

"I Don't Get Around Much Anymore"

My traveling days, at least in the recent past and for the present, have been extremely limited.

I used to go all over the world, but I haven't been out of the U.S. for the last 9 years (almost). I thought about that and said, "Shit, that is a long time!"

Part of it is simply circumstantial, part of it is opportunity, but a lot of it is financial. If I am not going somewhere that is business oriented, I just can't afford it.

Even domestically, I have only made seven trips in the U.S. in the past five years (I am not counting roaming around in-state or barely crossing a state line before looping back) and six of the seven have been related to business---research mainly.

I'd like to go somewhere over the Summer, but I have no immediate plans and I have so much writing I need to get done, I will probably be pretty home bound. Beyond that, the only trip I KNOW will be coming up is a year away---next April.

So much for the Roamin' Umpire. Where are those orgies when you need them?

 

one of my favorites....

 

Ha!

Randy, you card

 

​

 

as far as travel...these fucking air lines have gotten nuts over the fuel cost...

gas has gone up 20% but airline tickets up 40 to 70%....just plain BS

sure was cheaper to travel back when everyone thought we were going under...

 

I get about 1/4 the travel reimbursement I got 8 years ago and everything costs twice as much.

 

even as I have gotten older and have more money....

I think the older I get the prices get even harder to stomach...

In 60 years.....10cent 12oz drafts to 2.50 pints...just to mention a little

 

Gas goes up, everything goes up.

I remember when I started driving back in 1981, I could get gas for about $1.05 to $1.09 a gallon. Early the following year, I got my first "real" job and made $23,000.

If everything was equal (or even close to it), since gasoline is 3.477 times higher, I should be making about $80,000.

I'm only off by about $27,000.....

 

I spent a lot of time travelling at the government expense and not all of it was for a little ruckus, some of it was adventurous training, climbing, canoeing, skiing and such, but in the last few years I stopped and doubt I will do any more travel which is a little saddening, there are some places I want to go to and some I want to return to, but when the cost of travel insurance is in the thousands then it doesn't add up finacially.

 

Maybe in 20 years when I retire I'll get to travel more ; of course, I'd have to win the lottery first.....

 

"Editorialize" huh ... is that what they call preaching these days?

I hear you on the rising cost of traveling though and luckily I have gathered enough air miles over the years to travel for the rest of my life without having to pay much other than the surcharges on flights.

 

:-s

 

Well, I did some roamin' last night.

Yes, sir & ma'am, I left the state!

I did indeedy-do.

Crossed the state line, had dinner, and came home.

I am a regular Michael Palin, I am!:excited:

 

Pattaya, Thailand

 

That's a long way to go for Pad Thai !!!!!

 

I have a summer place that is more than affordable for me to maintain. My issue now is the cost to get there for the weekend. It's sad to think I may have to let it go.

 

I have a writer friend who retired to Pattaya. He's come out of his retirement to work for a while, but to him Pattaya is paradise.

 

Maybe but its really cheap and very beautiful

 

I am not passing judgment on anyone here, because there are a multitude of reasons for people to travel to various locales and to favor some of them.

Years ago, I knew a guy who vacationed in Thailand every summer for about 3 weeks. He would rave about how beautiful it was, how well he was treated, how inexpensive it was and that he was going to retire there.

He was a really good guy, generally speaking.

I, of course, was extremely naive and thought (in the relative poverty of my college days) it would be nice to have the time and money to go there----until I found out about the child prostitution, forced transgender ops, etc, which make up such a large portion of the Thai 'tourism economy'.

I kept this newly found knowledge to myself for a few months before I asked my Thai-traveling friend about it, and he was very open about it. One of the big attractions for him was that he could pretty much get all the 10 to 14 year old girls or boys he wanted, unless of course, you wanted a virgin----then the price went way up.

And so ended 1) my desire to ever go to Thailand and spend a dime in such a pit and 2) my fairly regular---once or twice a month---trips to the local Thai restaurant with a really good guy----generally speaking.

 

I'm sure you could find quite a lot of countries with forced child prostitution.... including Japan and a lot of african countries. But don't let something like that keep you from experiencing and enjoying a nice place. To be honest, Thai Fried Rice is the best fried rice I've ever had and I don't even like fried rice