What do you look for in travel?

[Tybee]

Several of our close friends moved to Palm Springs. You know, I’ve seen pictures and I’m gonna nope out of that although I think there are many cool architectural things in Palm Springs that’s for sure.

I went years ago with my first husband. I had an asthma attack on a horseback ride because of all that fine, red dust. Then I got sun poisoning lying by the pool. That was on a day where we took a tram up and there was snow on the ground. High contrast area--I am a low contrast person.

[iris lilies]

Your perception that the West is desert is inaccurate.

I do understand you cannot see the entire globe and your priority is Europe.

Our drive-vacation from St. Louis to Las Cruces a few years ago was the worst vacation in a long time, such a contrast to our fabulous trip to Romania and Prague a few weeks prior to that. I don’t want to repeat that trip.

I may have to to go Las Cruces again next year, but will fly. Although then I would like to drive up to .Santa Fe, but that is a 4 hour desert drive, ugh.

[razz]

Our drive-vacation from St. Louis to Las Cruces a few years ago was the worst vacation in a long time, such a contrast to our fabulous trip to Romania and Prague. I don’t want to repeat that. I may have to to go Las Cruces again next year, but will fly. Although then I would like to drive up to .Santa Fe, but that is a 4 hour desert drive, ugh.

Funny reading the different viewpoints of travel. I have traveled to Europe a few times, Japan, across Canada, the mid-East, etc., but especially treasure the three week tour through the US south-west. One view is human architecture over the centuries and the other is nature's architecture over the eons. They are incomparable, IMHO, and I enjoy them both in all settings.

[iris lilies]

A great question--I think for me, it has always centered around beaches, although I have seen some nice cities like San Francisco. But left to my own devices, I'd go to a beach any day, and try to drag the family along with me.

I remember one sordid “team building” effort at work where our assignment was to decide where to go on vacation and the choices seemed to be, as I remember, cities or beaches. I am not fond of a beach vacation for more than a day, but I remember just going along with the loudest extrovert in the group who was quite certain everyone would have a wonderful time at the beach. I went along because who really gives a damn at these exercises? We were supposed to negotiate our desires and build team comraderie in doing so.

I honestly thought of places like Phucket in Thailand where beaches are nice and there is plenty of nearby cultural things to explore, but I didn’t speak up.I was a terrible team builder!

I hated that day, for two reasons, well three (one above): it was a command performance on a .Saturday. And while I came into work most all Saturdays on a voluntary basis, that specific day was a major conflict where I was chairing an event for my neighborhood and had to find a substitute for my role, so that sucked big time. And then,a colleague I liked very much made the mistake of being honest during the team building exercise and within 4 weeks he was “out.”

Quite a load of bullshit it was. One should never be forthright at these honesty exercises. And it was long enough ago I can talk about it.

Beach vacations! That is my trigger for dredging up crappy work experiences in my brain! Haha.

[iris lilies]

I probably mentioned this before, but the only "D" I got in English class was on a brief essay I wrote on deserts. I wrote about how desolate they were, with no life, and my teacher "corrected" me resoundingly. Of course, the #1 rule of writing is, write what you know about, and I had never been to a single desert. I was 46 before I visited the Southwest and I was just enthralled. My son brought me to the Botanical Garden in Phoenix and it was just wonderful. We also climbed Camelback, which was daunting, and it was just fun to experience a wholly different topography than what I was used to in my Northeast home base.

The desert is alive with many things, just things I am not interested in.

It can grow iris tho, I will say that for it! Bearded Iris like sandy dry soil, and Arils are absolute desert plants.

[iris lilies]

Funny reading the different viewpoints of travel. I have traveled to Europe a few times, Japan, across Canada, the mid-East, etc., but especially treasure the three week tour through the US south-west. One view is human architecture over the centuries and the other is nature's architecture over the eons. They are incomparable, IMHO, and I enjoy them both in all settings.

I lived in the Southwest and culturally, it has some very interesting places, human made. Parts of the topography are ok. I remember the Gila Wilderness in the spring, it was lovely! But I guess that was with rainfall. In general, tho, just not my bag.

[iris lilies]

I went years ago with my first husband. I had an asthma attack on a horseback ride because of all that fine, red dust. Then I got sun poisoning lying by the pool. That was on a day where we took a tram up and there was snow on the ground. High contrast area--I am a low contrast person.

The dustiness in general is a problem with desert land.

[JaneV2.0]

I grew up at the beach; I didn't like it well enough to go back, apparently. I have friends who drive to the coast every week or so and explore, collect shells, etc. I enjoy the scenery, but lying in the sand for hours is my idea of actual hell.

Those team-building exercises are another version of hell; I would have done exactly what you did. Or maybe what your colleague did. The loudest person always wins. Maybe that's what's wrong with today's businesses.

[iris lilies]

I grew up at the beach; I didn't like it well enough to go back, apparently. I have friends who drive to the coast every week or so and explore, collect shells, etc. I enjoy the scenery, but lying in the sand for hours is my idea of actual hell.

Those team-building exercises are another version of hell; I would have done exactly what you did. Or maybe what your colleague did. The loudest person always wins. Maybe that's what's wrong with today's businesses.

My god we truly were separated at birth! Although probably no one really likes the teambuilding exercises except for the super extroverts. I’m sure it was our marketing person who decided everyone loved beaches and if we didn’t love beaches she would show us how to love beaches. Eyeroll.

Large bodies of water are pretty, who doesn’t like them? They are ok for the day and then I start to wonder “so what else is around here?”

As for my work colleague who was sadly on target with his honesty, he said, and I still remember his exact words ‘ This is the most dishonest place I have ever worked.” Ouch. He had been brought in to right a listing ship. He was a strong and competent manager. He did a good job but he didn’t umm, fit in with our dominant culture I guess, ha ha. We very much liked saying one thing and doing another, but especially loved hopping around from one unfinished project to another and failing to objectively analyze successes. Our attention span was that of a toddler.

And because I see too much of the same things in my volunteer job, I am getting out in October. Since I probably couldn’t complete an entire term next time anyway because we will be moving some time in that period, best to get out now.

[Teacher Terry]

I love large bodies of water to look at or walk by but a beach vacation is my idea of hell as well as team building exercises. As my son said once “We aren’t beach people.””