suze

<I'm more interested in why folks would travel to SF, then only be interested in seeing Fisherman's wharf etc. and not be at all interested in the rest of the city>

I think your assumptions that makes people cranky. Sure I love to visit San Francisco and go there annual but how do you know that is what I (or anyone else) does when we are there?

JJ5

I just went back and read this OP's opening post two or three times. And I did not get any feeling of superiority or even the least bit of attitude in it.

And I did get the sense of wonder about the "why" of so many of us picking the IN spots instead of the "original path" spots. Kind of like- "the road less traveled" poem.

There is absolutely nothing that made me cranky.

It's weird- because besides the attitude of the paragraph- it also seems like people took two or more meanings in its sense as well.

BTilke

bbqboy says that MOST folks here in Fodors land seem to be going to the SAME BORING glamour spots. JJ5, you don't see the even the teensiest, slightest bit of attitude in that?
bbqboy has only been a Fodorite for one single month; that's an awfully short time to make judgements about his fellow travelers. He then asks "are there NO explorers here? Why does EVERYONE want to go to SF, LV and the Grand Canyon?" (the emphasis is mine). JJ5, you don't see ANY attitude at all in that? I could scroll through the last month's posts and see HUNDREDS of posts here on Fodors that say NOTHING about SF, LV and Grand Canyon. bbqboy, those posts aren't chopped liver.

As for trying to see all these sights in one day, leaving aside the exaggerated putdown, that short time frame probably has more to do with the limited vacation time most working Americans have than any other reason. I would bet that most Fodorites would love to take long, leisurely vacations in their employers allowed them to have the time off.

In bbqboy's very first post, he says "big cities are vastly overrated." As someone who has lived in both tiny villages and world capitals, I think both cities and small towns have wonderful things about them and don't believe in being so dismissive. You can be as much an adventurer in a big city as you can in southern OR.

Sure, southern OR has beautiful views. We lived in Oregon ourselves (before it was on everyone's hit parade). But we know that there are beautiful views the world over, including big cities.

bbq, look around here a little and you'll find that Fodorites are plenty adventurous and you are far, far, far from being the ONLY explorer here.

asdaven

I like to discover new places. I like the grand canyon alot but San Franscisco and Las Vegas are alright. I do like small town places and am more into natural attractions than man-made/fake, take Las Vegas for example, except I did like seeing the Hoover Dam. I live on the east coast and I have to travel by plane to get somewhere. So, that means flying into a city, but usally right when I arrive, I high-tail it out of there and head for the country and basically do a fly/drive trip. Flying into a city, taking a 1-2 week roadtrip, return, and fly home. But, I always go somewhere different. If you go to the same place, you now what's there, and not much planning, what's the point? It another thing if you haven't been there in a long time and you forget what the place even looks like, but traveling to the same place every year gets boring. Just a little off-topic question for people, do you spend most of your time visiting other countries or is your travel confined to inside the U.S. I personally have been out of the country only once and that was when I went to Mexico, the rest of my travels is traveling around the U.S.

faithie

C'Mon , there's a bit of attitude ..... Perhaps he's sincere in the question , but words like " boring " etc. could have been left out to make it appear less abrasive ....Feel he was stirring the pot under the guise of a " deep " question .

JJ5

I don't want to argue but when I read this, I just didn't read it with those emphasis words as you have transcribed at all.

And I not on any happy pills or anything! People do seem to go to the marketed and "vouched for" places, and I do wonder why besides the obvious answers of time etc. all given above. Given the time that they also spend watching tv, for example- most don't tend to even explore the out of the way places within their own states where they wouldn't even need vacation time to wander.

I do really think it is odd that we are getting such different plays off the same thing.

And one other time I did a comparison that was facetious and a joke. Some laughed and some took it literally, despite the LOL. You, Btilke, thought I was saying Chicagoans were icons and society like the Daughters of the Revolution or something. It was exactly the opposite.

Maybe you're right, but I didn't get that vibe at all. Let newbies ask any questions, what does it matter?

And I also do think that the city lovers are far more represented on these boards, than the truly rural people are.

KT

I've been to small-town Oregon but not to Las Vegas.

There! I've disproved the theory that "everyone" does it the other way round.


BTW, Im not sure that going to Oregon is the mark of a real "adventurer." Not when there are people who go to Uzbekistan, Yemen, Sri Lanka, etc.

MikePinTucson

Gee bbqboy,

Bet you didn't expect to get blasted like that, did you?

One thing that crossed my mind is that, when people ask a lot of questions about a place, it is because they HAVEN'T been there before. After all, if they had already been there once, there would be no reason to ask all those bothersome questions, would there?

I suppose another reason many (maybe even most) people visit the "glamour spots" is because they ARE spending, usually, a lot of money going there. And if you were spending a lot of money, wouldn't you want to go someplace well known? I mean, there are lots of nice out of the way places, but am I going to book a flight from London or Madrid, or Berlin to go to some podunk, out of the way Oregon town that has nothing to distinguish it from the next podunk, out of the way town somewhere else? Not to disparage the podunk, out of the way town YOU live in, of course.

But you may be interested to learn that, even if people don't set OUT to visit some unknown places, they may actually visit more than you give them credit for. Whenever I go on vacation here in the US, I like to go exploring. The last one, visited my sister in Vermont, then struck out across NH and Maine, taking the most northerly route we could. No plans on when or where to stay for the night, so ended up in some places that are probably not on most, if any, tourists' lists. And last year, took a driving trip up through Cal and Nevada and ended up detouring up to Idaho to see Craters of the Moon National Park. Of course, if I had asked questions about places BEFORE I left on the trip, it would probably have been about San Jose, San Francisco, Reno, and the like, and not about places like Winnemucca, NV (where we did stop -- don't go there) or Soda Springs, Idaho. And we ended up spending time in Laramie, WY quite by accident.

BTW, bbqboy -- when you lived in Phoenix, were you a member of the AZBBQA?

suze

I think the premise of the original post overlooks many topics explored here. For instance...

Recently I was helped with the best flight itinerary to get from Seattle to Brattloboro Vermont. Just today I was able to answer a question for someone who was planning to stay at a particular hotel in La Paz Mexico to do a language course.

I'm not claiming these are any big adventures, but there is certainly more discussed on Fodors than the hit parade of tourist spots within the U.S.

Kal

Been to So Ore a lot during my formative years and spent a lot of time in the Sierras. I'm allergic to pine trees and fresh air.

I'm now a concrete Gorilla.

Although Branson and Big Cedar were nice.

So was Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry and Charlottesville.....as well as Ocean City MD and Rehobeth Beach.

But then again the Simsbury CT area was very peaceful, ditto Coloma CA.
But not as lush as the rolling hills around Bandera Texas or the triangle drive from Santa Fe NM to Tres Peidras and then Taos.

Gr Cayman on the other hand was nicer than Cozemel IMHO.

And there is nothing like a sunset from
the top of the Vatican over the 7 hills of Rome or standing directly under the Eiffel Tower around midnight in a light drizzle.

Yeah....can't wait to go back to SF again this weekend, even Fish/Wharf and then in 69 mo'days...

And we forgot how much fun it is in Chicago. 3 yrs is too long to stay away from Chi-Town.

Thank goodness for "diff strokes/diff folks" or imagine how crowded all the places would be?? >-

JRP

Well, well bbq. Bet you never thought your inquiry would flair such ire. Nontheless, thanks for asking. I will confess my love for the repetitiousness and predictability of familiarity. When you find comfort, why not exploit it. Yes, I've been to SF and LV more than once. I've been to The GC. But we do, often, develop attachments whether easthtic, romantic, climatic, instictive or for reasons unknown. If the same destinations continually arise, having offered those comforts for the masses, so be it. Not coincidental that SF, for instance, offers multiple stimulations that provide varieties of rewards, based on one's interests. It's so many things that it won't be denied it's lofty reputation. Or that the beauty of The GC is, literally in my case, breathtaking. I guess it can be a boring waste to others. Most human emotions are common and, thus, will be stimulated by like attractions. So you'll see the same names time after time- NY, Rome , Paris, Tokyo, SF, LV- can't be helped nor stopped. The point was made that time, for most, is limited so thus would be the destinations. I agree. I have my favorites and I have my dreams. I re-visit my favorites often and chip away at my dreams when possible. We should all be so lucky.
Oh, and Btilke, shut up and answer the question. Good Lord!

ilovetulips

I think one reason that people sometimes don't venture off the beaten path is convenience. So many people have limited time off so they want to go to the airport and fly to their destination and start their vacation. This is probably why places like Vegas, New York and Cancun are popular. Another reason may be expense. Metro areas are less expensive to fly to. I would love to go to Montreal one day, but from Austin it is so expensive and involves many connections. I love off the beaten path places like Blowing Rock North Carolina, but the bottom line is that it takes more time and work to get to them. So many of us spend so many hours per week on the freeways we sometimes like to get off the airplane and get to our destination.

BTilke

JRP, I'm supposed to shut up AND answer the question? Good Lord, yourself--that's quite a challenge. Make up your mind! But ok, just for you, JRP (despite your bad manners--while it is ok to disagree with a poster, it's rather rude to tell other posters to "shut up" just because you disagree with them), I'll answer bbqboy's specific questions (reread his post--there was more than one):
1. No, you are not out of sync. There are many people here on Fodors who don't stick to ONLY a few glamour spots. In fact there are many people here who who probably do far more exploring than you. You ARE out of sync, however, in assuming, after only a month here, that there are "no explorers out there anymore."
2. Why does "everyone" want to go to SF, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon? Simple. They don't. You're just jumping to broad, inaccurate conclusions. Even the people who DO vacation in those spots may have led far more adventurous lives than you know. My father, for example, liked to vacation in a few chosen spots (the Outer Banks, in particular), but worked and lived in the remote bush in Namibia, in the mountains of Liberia, the Andes in Chile, and the jungle in Brazil, dealing with armed rebels, dangerous, unstable mines and marauding wildlife. He got enough adventure at work; he liked things quiet and predictable on his vacation.
3. You wonder if there are any adventurers left. Wonder no more. Of course there are. FYI, moving to an American town rated the number one retirement destination by a leading business magazine is not really all that adventurous (although it sounds undeniably pleasant).

asdaven

I guess "boring" is the wrong word to use that I used in my post. A vacation is a vacation. But, if you go to the same place over and over again you might as well live there. But, I defintly agree with bbqboy 100%. I like to go to those out of the way places that people never normally see. I rather go hiking, mountain biking, white-water rafting, 4 wheeling, and outdoor stuff like that than spend some time in a city. Grand Canyon is not a city but rather a big tourist atraction (lots of people), but that is just the south rim. You go to the north rim, it is a total different story. There is no crowds and it is not so much commercialized. If I ever travel to a city, the maximum I ever spend there is a couple of days, not a week! That is just my opinion. I respect everybody elses opinion.

Stephanie

asd:

actually the greatest places someone can go are in their own backyards or only 3-4 hours away. but people will continue to believe they have to go cross country to find some unique spot.

asdaven

That is true. There are unique spots everywhere close and a far. Places like Shenandoah National Park is only 2 hours away from my house. I like to take mini-vacations to places 2-4 hours away. But, for a big vacation I have to go far, not cross-country, but 6-8 hours (300-600 miles) from my house. But, to experince a total different place, you have to travel cross-country like for example to the south-west. It is totally different out there then back here in the east. The color of everything is different, the climate is different, and the scenery is different. But, as far as unique places, they are right in your back yard. But, take this to a larger scale, some of the best places people can go is in the U.S., not other countries, in my opinion. But, for sure you can have a adventure in your own backyard.

iamq

BTilke,

Perfectly said.

Asdaven,

"if you go to the same place over and over again you might as well live there." Huh?

This thread is an excercise in GENERALIZATION.

-Bill

FainaAgain

I am happy to be able at least to visit the "glamour spots".

Aging, declining health, traveling alone - all this makes me join tours. And where do they go?

Yes, I've been to Vegas, and the Grand Canyon, and... Sequoia, Switzerland, Israel, Oregon... I just do what I can and feel safer with many other tourists around.

I don't feel bad about places visited. To each his own

emd

Faina has it right. To each his own. Why should you or anyone else care where someone chooses to go or not go?

One man's celing is another man's floor.

Or to put it in travel terms, one man's small Oregon town is another man's Las Vegas.

Just enjoy whichever you choose. I could care less which one anybody chooses. I'm too busy planning my second trip to Japan and my next-of-many trips to Sedona.

JRP

Well, BTilke, my apologies for the comment. Guess you never heard of the 3 stooges. And, in fact, the comment was not prompted by any disagreement with you. If you would note in my contribution, I actually did agree with you. Though I'm sure you're not a confrontational person, you're writing style might lead to a misperception. As your posting stated an assumption of bbq's tone, I also assumed yours. Sounds fair, eh? I just thought it was a little unfair to judge bbq as "looking down your nose" when all he did was pose a inquiry. Nonetheless, BTilke, I'll state again that I agree with some of your observations. No need to lash out. See you on the road, I hope.