Saturday, June 24, 2006

TWQ: Vacations: Good And Bad Features

TWQ (The Weekend Question) this week looks at vacations, as at this time of year, a lot are going away.

What is the best and worst features of a vacation? Can you give some examples?

My answer is:

The best part of a vacation is seeing people and places that one has never seen before. The Great Pyramids of Giza was a classic example, as was Red Square, Moscow. What I dislike most of all are airport waiting. Though flying itself can be a thrill, the check-in, security procedures, carousel luggage waiting is awful. On a short-haul flight, one spends far more time at the airport than in the air.

Now it's over to you...

32 comments:

Meow (aka Connie) said...

The best feature of a vacation (however short or long) is the fact that there is no routine. I love that.
The worst feature of a vacation is the very end of it, knowing that the next day it is back to routine.
I am not very original, but that's me.
Have a great weekend.
Take care, Meow

rashbre said...

Vacations are mainly great. I can usually enjoy the travelling too, and sometimes the events in the journey make the whole experience more fun.

It can be intense though and in my case includes evacuation from a bomb threatened airport, being moved at gunpoint in Italy, being searched on a train in Croatia after someone loaded a refrigerator into our compartment, having to pay the entire toll from the start of a very long toll road when I took a wrong turn and had to do a 'U'.

You can spot that my holidays often involve travel rather than simply a destination. What's that old saying?

Sarah Jane said...

This is too funny! The best part of a holiday is seeing someone's laundry on a line in a foreign place. Like in India, incredibly overcrowded, and laundry hung from wherever someone can find a spot. Or in Bangladesh, where it isnt hung, but instead laid out over the fields to dry. Or in New York, where someone has managed to string a line up between two buildings squashed together and you can see their knickers and sheets and t-shirts...
And so it goes.

Here via Michelles!

Anonymous said...

Best: Sharing new experiences with someone you love, relaxing in the sun, chillin

Worst: Paying for it all!

here from Michelles. :)

Kestrel

sage said...

seeing and doing new stuff is always great... flying is never great, I hate being trapped in those cigars. I really like taking the train on vacation and not worrying about the time, just enjoying the journey, I've flown enough in my life (and I fly home tomorrow!) I hope you have a wonderful vacation this summer!

Karen said...

Well, the best part of a vacation is doing something totally unexpected and fun. The worst part is when someone gets ill, like my poor daughter did in the Frankfurt airport. Still, it's a good story to tell today!

You always have great questions! Michele sent me and I'm glad!

Jana said...

The best part for me is no cooking and no cleaning for however long we're gone (unless we get a kitchenette, then I cook some). I love that I can leave the room a total disaster (well, not me, the boys), and someone else will clean it for me.

The worst part is that it has to end.

Anonymous said...

The best part of a vacation is usually the ocean. The worst part is the price of gas to get there. I'm beaming in from michele's today.

Anonymous said...

Vacation, the getting away to land of new. It's all about the adventure, the excitement of discovery and the art of just enjoying experience. The downside however, is always unpacking. Cleaning it all and putting it back. I wish vacation clothes were disposable! Haven't been visiting your blog in a bit, it's nice to be back. Cheers!
Maryanne

RainbowCatcher said...

Like you, I enjoy seeing new places, so the best part of vacation is to boldly go where I've never gone before.

The worst part is being somewhere, such as the Midwest USA, where there is no public transportation and I am totally dependent on others to take me where I want to go.

merlyn said...

The best feature is getting out of my comfort zone, my home, my stuff my internet... seingsomething new, meeting new people eating differnet food etc....

the worst feature us not being at home with my stuff, my bath tub, my internet etc....my comfort...
my bed...

vanx said...

Pyramids? Red Square? I thought you hung out where no man has gone before.

That's my favorite part--hanging where no man has gone before. The worst part is airport waiting.~,:^)

Renee said...

The best part of vacation is going to places i've never been and exploring them. The worst part about vacation is that i'm the only female in this house and it's become my responsibility to pack and unpack for these "helpless" (yeah right!) males.

FRIDAY'S CHILD said...

The best part of a vacation is that you get to get away from all the stresses you have, you get to see new places and faces. The worst part of a vacation is the going home. Not that I don't want to see home (Home Sweet Home) it's just that after a vacation you're back again to start with a new stress.

craziequeen said...

When the cons outweighed the pros, I stopped going to exotic places on holiday.......

Cons:
Stress
Cost
Allergies (becoming more numerous!)
Strangers (no-brainer or what?)
Homesickness

Pros:
Somewhere new

[shrug]

[smiles at J-L]

cq

Ciera said...

I love seeing new places...seeing how different cultures can be even in the same country. I don't like heavy traffic, which you can run into a lot...especially around the cities...I enjoy traveling by car in the early morning hours...I've never been flying, but hope to someday...

Karen said...

the worse part of a vacation is packing before leaving, always wondering if you forgot something. i've perfected a *check list* o'er the years that works pretty well.

the best part is the vacation, of course!

btw, thanks for stoppin' by my place for the first time. :-)

Douglas V. Gibbs said...

The best part of vacation is escaping the chaos of everyday life, and exploring new surroundings. The worst part, of course, is the day you return, and you realize that it was only temporary. Hope flows eternal, however, when you realize that another vacation lies somewhere beyond the horizon, only waiting for you to discover it.

Professor Xavier said...

Best - Getting out of the same old routine.

Worst - Breaking up the regular routine.

Jen said...

I agree, the best part is all the neat stuff you don't normally get to see! Plus, I like having the schedule rocked for a few days, and being OUT OF MY HOUSE!

My least favorite part is how exhausted we all get. I think we vacation rarely enough that we try to pack too much in.

Miss Cellania said...

The best part is not having to cook or clean up after yourself, or go to work. The worst part is the constant "Are we there yet?" from the backseat.

Daphne Wayne-Bough said...

I spent part of a holiday in Middlesbrough once, where I had never been before, and frankly never wish to see again. Next time I want to see a warzone I'll go to Kabul or Baghdad, at least there's sunshine. The best part of the vacation was seeing Middlesbrough getting smaller in the rearview mirror. I don't bother with holidays any more, they're too much like hard work. I don't like to be too far from my own toilet.

Jean-Luc Picard said...

There seems to be an interesting similarity between many entries that I can empathise with. I like seeing new places. Merlyn's answer about sums it up. We are away from the old routine, but want to return to it when we are away. Another downer that I agree with is resenting returning to the office etc when I've enjoyed myself so much.

keda said...

ooh the worst might be packing... i take ages usually at the last minute so get very little sleep.
or it might then be having to pass through the airport alone with twins and too much stuff after having very little slepp due to disorganised packing the night before.

the best is not having any routine so having time to recover! that will always make it worth it. yum :)

kenju said...

The best part is seeing new places and not having to cook for days.

The worst part is having to pay for it all, and discovering you went over budget (which always happens!).

Michele sent me.

utenzi said...

For me, the best part of a vacation is the unregimented use of time. I hate schedules! I like to wake up when I feel like it, and not have to be anywhere at a certain time.

The worst aspect? How much more everything costs when you're on the road. It can blow your budget for a year just being out on a trip for a week. Ouch!

Michele sent me off into space to find you!

Bill said...

Best part of vacation? Not going to work, of course. Worst part? Realizing that this leave period was the last chance I'll have to spend time with my family before I deploy (again) for the 3rd time in 3 years.

carmilevy said...

Best: doing nothing more challenging that watching leaves blow in the wind, waves hit the shore, and children play without a care in the world - not necessarily in that order.

Worst: clearing the schedule to allow enough time to actually get to that point. Having to content with members of one's extended family when what you really wanted was to get away alone.

Florence Forrest said...

Once I went on holidays, it was called university. It took along time for me to realise that I wasn't on a holiday just because I had left home, I was supposed to be making a normal life. Haven't quite managed the normal part yet - I design toys, but I'm getting closer to it, much to my parents relief:)

Now, I don't have any holidays at all. I guess that's the balance of Karma for you.

-tnchick- said...

Good: getting away, seeing new places, new things... enjoy life.

bad: rude people, not enough time to do all you wanna do/see, cost

Clo said...

Ah ! Le meilleur moment des vacances après fait cette horrible corvée de faire les valises et conduit pendant plus de 1500 kilomètres sous la chaleur étouffante, et les nombreux embouteillages surtout à la douane, est d'arriver au "Col d'Envalira", pour enfin passer d'excellentes vacances dans ce merveilleux petit pays qu'est "L'Andorre". Qui n'y a jamais été ne connait pas le paradis.:)Se lever le matin et prendre son petit déjeuner devant la montagne, faire les magasins, et après midi partir faire de belles promenades dans la montagne, avec les lacs, des fleurs partout comme des tapis, des chutes d'eau, et revenir le soir vers 18h, prendre un bon et long bain dans le bel hotel choisi, se préparer doucement pour aller diner en amoureux à 21 h dans une gentille auberge romantique où la cuisine est délicieuse. 3 semaines comme ça et je vous garantis que vous ne le regretterez pas, même si vous ne parlez que l'anglais, hélas pour vous! Clo

anna-brooklynn-1351 said...

Helloooooooo world!