Young, retired and bored. Where to go?
Oct 7th, 1999, 04:09 AM
#41
Guest
Posts: n/a
Well said, Brownie!!
Pat, you could have given basic details about what you're looking for -- without the bragging. You made it easy for me to draw the line between class and non-class.
Now how about a train trip?? Relaxing, scenic, time-consuming and could be great fun for the kid.
Pat, you could have given basic details about what you're looking for -- without the bragging. You made it easy for me to draw the line between class and non-class.
Now how about a train trip?? Relaxing, scenic, time-consuming and could be great fun for the kid.
Oct 7th, 1999, 05:14 AM
#42
Guest
Posts: n/a
A little advice from someone who lives nextdoor in Durham. First of all, I can understand somewhat how you feel. I am not going to try to give you any psychoanalysis or make judgements, but here are my thoughts: (1) Raleigh can be pretty boring, and that is hard to argue (although, I am sure some will), (2) You have had a lot of changes recently, and sometimes it takes a while to adjust. Believe me I know. We have a 6 1/2 month old. Until we had her we had been travelling a lot to different parts of the world, and it was just my wife and me for 13 years. Now our lives have abruptly changed. Yes, I do feel bored sometimes too because I don't do a lot of the things I was doing. Still, having her has made my life so much richer in so many ways than it was before. I can't wait to start travelling again, and I will very soon, but even better is the thought of showing the world to my daughter. She is pretty amazing. (3) You may need to find a hobby, if you don't already have one. I became seriously involved in photography a couple of years ago. Not only has it enabled me to take some very nice photos of my daughter, but it has helped me see everything in a different way. You learn to appreciate the little things you hadn't noticed before, such as how the light hits that tree in the backyard. Trips to more familiar places take on new meaning too. Art or music could probably do the same for you.
Well, after all that I am going to make a few suggestions for places that seem to fit your criteria:
Washington, D.C. as someone else suggested
New England - fall in Vermont is supposed to be fabulous; maybe Maine
Florida
Unless you have already been to Charleston, SC, that seems to fit most criteria; I think if you like history, you will really appreciate it. We are about to go for the first time.
French Canada. It is not real close, but I would think you could do it with one stop. Different food and culture and lots to see and do.
Cape Cod
It seems that you need to get out of this region, so maybe some of those northern locations could be a good change of pace.
Well, after all that I am going to make a few suggestions for places that seem to fit your criteria:
Washington, D.C. as someone else suggested
New England - fall in Vermont is supposed to be fabulous; maybe Maine
Florida
Unless you have already been to Charleston, SC, that seems to fit most criteria; I think if you like history, you will really appreciate it. We are about to go for the first time.
French Canada. It is not real close, but I would think you could do it with one stop. Different food and culture and lots to see and do.
Cape Cod
It seems that you need to get out of this region, so maybe some of those northern locations could be a good change of pace.
Oct 7th, 1999, 05:58 AM
#43
Guest
Posts: n/a
Pat,
You need to look into "Earplanes" (sold at Walgreens/Walmart/Kmart). They have adult and children's sizes. They are a one-time (RT, appx. $3.50 pr.) ear plug that slows down that affects of pressure on the e. tubes, pain, popping, etc. I just bought some for my husband who is very, very sensitive to pressure changes. We haven't tried them yet, but have heard good things. Also, you can go out on the web to do a little research, but any kind of antihistimine, (Benedryl, etc.), whether your child has a cold or not, is supposed to help alleviate pain in the ear. The only draw-back is sleepiness (not a bad idea for a 2 year old to get some extra sleep anyhow). Hope this helps.
You need to look into "Earplanes" (sold at Walgreens/Walmart/Kmart). They have adult and children's sizes. They are a one-time (RT, appx. $3.50 pr.) ear plug that slows down that affects of pressure on the e. tubes, pain, popping, etc. I just bought some for my husband who is very, very sensitive to pressure changes. We haven't tried them yet, but have heard good things. Also, you can go out on the web to do a little research, but any kind of antihistimine, (Benedryl, etc.), whether your child has a cold or not, is supposed to help alleviate pain in the ear. The only draw-back is sleepiness (not a bad idea for a 2 year old to get some extra sleep anyhow). Hope this helps.
Oct 7th, 1999, 06:40 AM
#44
Guest
Posts: n/a
Pat,
Definitely consider taking the train to New York City. Get a centrally located ultra-deluxe hotel with a great indoor pool (your child will love it!). NYC has any cuisine you'd ever want to try. There's incredible shopping. Try a carriage ride in Central Park. Perhaps there's a relative you could bring with you to watch your child while you take in a Broadway show. Or perhaps he'd like seeing "The Lion King" if it's still running.
You can do as much or as little as you want there and have a great time.
There's all kinds of possiblities.
If you're looking for stimulation, NYC is the place!
Definitely consider taking the train to New York City. Get a centrally located ultra-deluxe hotel with a great indoor pool (your child will love it!). NYC has any cuisine you'd ever want to try. There's incredible shopping. Try a carriage ride in Central Park. Perhaps there's a relative you could bring with you to watch your child while you take in a Broadway show. Or perhaps he'd like seeing "The Lion King" if it's still running.
You can do as much or as little as you want there and have a great time.
There's all kinds of possiblities.
If you're looking for stimulation, NYC is the place!
Oct 7th, 1999, 10:51 AM
#46
Guest
Posts: n/a
My goodness, go away on business for a few days, and 45 messages pile up under a provocative heading. What a fascinating world…
Pat, you sound like you need a good dose of Washington and New York. In Washington, check yourselves into a suite in the Willard and prepare to immerse yourselves in history and culture. In New York, make it the Four Seasons or the Peninsula (you may quickly find that “price is no object” has different meanings in North Carolina and New York). In Washington, treat yourselves to Citronelle or Vidalia; in New York, use the concierge to open the doors so that you can experience the best that city has to offer. Both hotels can readily arrange top-flight child care for those times when your son’s presence is inappropriate or the hour will be late.
Your work during the North Carolina floods tells me you would find the Holocaust Memorial and Museum a moving experience, and one that would provide the “education” that will tie to the entertainment you seek. Between them, the two cities contain the best art collections in the western hemisphere, and the new Egypt show that just opened at the Metropolitan is one that your son will grasp (there is something about Egyptian art’s attraction to young children that is inexplicable).
It is an ideal time of year to see both cities. The air is crisp and clear; the nights cool and nearly magical. While this trip will be primarily for you and your husband, your son will be sufficiently aware that he, too, will be caught up. Besides, there are carousels on the Mall (in front of the Smithsonian castle) and in Central Park that will provide the link between parent, city, and child.
If you are looking for more specific suggestions, please feel free to email me directly.
Pat, you sound like you need a good dose of Washington and New York. In Washington, check yourselves into a suite in the Willard and prepare to immerse yourselves in history and culture. In New York, make it the Four Seasons or the Peninsula (you may quickly find that “price is no object” has different meanings in North Carolina and New York). In Washington, treat yourselves to Citronelle or Vidalia; in New York, use the concierge to open the doors so that you can experience the best that city has to offer. Both hotels can readily arrange top-flight child care for those times when your son’s presence is inappropriate or the hour will be late.
Your work during the North Carolina floods tells me you would find the Holocaust Memorial and Museum a moving experience, and one that would provide the “education” that will tie to the entertainment you seek. Between them, the two cities contain the best art collections in the western hemisphere, and the new Egypt show that just opened at the Metropolitan is one that your son will grasp (there is something about Egyptian art’s attraction to young children that is inexplicable).
It is an ideal time of year to see both cities. The air is crisp and clear; the nights cool and nearly magical. While this trip will be primarily for you and your husband, your son will be sufficiently aware that he, too, will be caught up. Besides, there are carousels on the Mall (in front of the Smithsonian castle) and in Central Park that will provide the link between parent, city, and child.
If you are looking for more specific suggestions, please feel free to email me directly.
Oct 7th, 1999, 11:56 AM
#47
Guest
Posts: n/a
Pat-
Let me just say that if all you really desired was some serious travel advice your posting would not have been so emotionally loaded with negativity and evasiveness. It seems like you wanted others to judge and draw their own conclusions with comes along with posting in the first place. No one is judging your life and you shouldn'y defend it, but because you did it leads me to believe travel advice is the secondary reason you posted this ad in the first place. If you do not want to deal with people's subjective opinions then go to Triple A and get a travel book!! I am a 33 yearold, married, criminal attorney with a 3 yearold little girl. My husband owns a National Intenet Access Company which he sold last year leaving us in a position to retire permanently. I empathize with your boredom, however your life is what you make it. It is quite peculiar to me that you could possibly be bored or not know where to venture to when you have two yearold child accompanying you. A local street fair around the block with my child is a world of stimulation. Money can not buy you stimulation or alleviate boredom. A bit of advice if you want serious travel advice try a new approach with your posting-your crass heading (YOUNG, RETIRED, and Bored) will surely will not get you what your looking for, if it is in fact just travel advice. With a heading like that you should be posting on Webcrawler Single Ads. Do us all a favor and tone it down.
Let me just say that if all you really desired was some serious travel advice your posting would not have been so emotionally loaded with negativity and evasiveness. It seems like you wanted others to judge and draw their own conclusions with comes along with posting in the first place. No one is judging your life and you shouldn'y defend it, but because you did it leads me to believe travel advice is the secondary reason you posted this ad in the first place. If you do not want to deal with people's subjective opinions then go to Triple A and get a travel book!! I am a 33 yearold, married, criminal attorney with a 3 yearold little girl. My husband owns a National Intenet Access Company which he sold last year leaving us in a position to retire permanently. I empathize with your boredom, however your life is what you make it. It is quite peculiar to me that you could possibly be bored or not know where to venture to when you have two yearold child accompanying you. A local street fair around the block with my child is a world of stimulation. Money can not buy you stimulation or alleviate boredom. A bit of advice if you want serious travel advice try a new approach with your posting-your crass heading (YOUNG, RETIRED, and Bored) will surely will not get you what your looking for, if it is in fact just travel advice. With a heading like that you should be posting on Webcrawler Single Ads. Do us all a favor and tone it down.
Oct 7th, 1999, 12:59 PM
#48
Guest
Posts: n/a
Pat - Here is what I would (1) Find a 20-something year old to travel with you for two weeks. Pay him/her well, and outline precisely what the responsibilities are. (2) Arrange for an intensive travel/study program in an area of your interest. For instance, study cooking in Tuscany. Sign up for an archeological dig. Hire someone to get you scuba certified. Book a flight and reserve two rooms. (3) Work out the details so that your child can live with mom and dad, but not be with you during the day (just as if he were at daycare). 4) Go away, and do not limit yourself to what's within driving distance. If you fly, which you really should to see new scenery and ambiance, do this for your kid's ears (after checking with Doc and packing tylenol): Take along two new white washcloths and some plain white styrofoam coffee cups. If baby experiences ear pain, ask the flight attendance to wet and warm up the washcloths. Put them inside the cups, and place the cups over the baby's ears. This has worked for our kids on several occasions.
And finally, as others have said, quit with the attitude.
And finally, as others have said, quit with the attitude.
Oct 7th, 1999, 02:26 PM
#49
Guest
Posts: n/a
It's possible your boredom comes in part from having a 2 yr. old as major company (I'll leave the other comments about working or not or whatever to the others). I know the feeling of wanting to spend every minute with your dear child but also being ready to scream with the tedium of Barney, etc. You will not find anything that interests the 2 yr. that won't bore you, but the suggestions about sitters or companions are good ones if you really want to bring the child along. I assure you, they get to be more and more fun as travellers once they're school age (and then, all of a sudden, just when they're most interesting, they leave!).
Otherwise, there's just so much sightseeing one can do before all the passivity (walk, look, sit, look, walk, look, find a bathroom, find a restaurant) gets to you. I'm in favor of courses, classes, thematic tours, etc. But you have no time to find them, so do-it-yourself with a mission: e.g., head up to DC or Phila. (or even Boston) with a camera and create a photo essay about something like dog-walkers, fir hydrants, street people or reflections in windows. Your 2-yr. might be good at spotting, for that matter.
Meanwhile, the "attitude" did seem kind of much in your first post, but thank you thank you thank you for whatever you did for our eastern NC neighbors.
Otherwise, there's just so much sightseeing one can do before all the passivity (walk, look, sit, look, walk, look, find a bathroom, find a restaurant) gets to you. I'm in favor of courses, classes, thematic tours, etc. But you have no time to find them, so do-it-yourself with a mission: e.g., head up to DC or Phila. (or even Boston) with a camera and create a photo essay about something like dog-walkers, fir hydrants, street people or reflections in windows. Your 2-yr. might be good at spotting, for that matter.
Meanwhile, the "attitude" did seem kind of much in your first post, but thank you thank you thank you for whatever you did for our eastern NC neighbors.
Oct 8th, 1999, 10:21 AM
#50
Guest
Posts: n/a
All of you people with the smug responses should realize that other people read this forum to get answers on posts that closely resemble there own travel questions. We are not interested in your problems with how a question in a post is written. Who cares? If you don't have a good bit of advice on the question at hand shut up and move on. We don't care that you think that Pat sounds like she is bragging or boring or whatever. All of us are just as bad at times in our lives. Typically anybody who bashes other people like the likes of you have done have someone in their lives bashing them like husbands, wives, bosses, parents. Quit trying to get even by lambasting a stranger. Anyway, she seems to have her life in a better place right now than the majority of you. Jealous? Clean up your own backyard first and leave this travel forum for travel questions and answers. The truth hurts doesn't it?
Oct 8th, 1999, 07:05 PM
#51
Guest
Posts: n/a
Dearest Charity@home:
Do you know the definition of the word hypocrisy?
I didn't think so. Take a look at your own post:
"If you don't have a good bit of advice on the question at hand, shut up and move on".
And your good bit of advice for Pat was.....???
"All of us at times in our lives are JUST AS BAD". Hmmmm. If charity begins with your notes, please spare me any of yours. I don't know that Pat is a BAD person. Why must you sling mud at her like that???
"Anybody who bashes other people...has someone in their lives bashing them". So who is it that's bashing you, Charity? Given that you're venting a good deal of hostility in your post, I must assume that someone's treating you especially poorly. At least that's what the goofy logic in your post would indicate.
See how silly your note looks now?
The truth hurts doesn't it???!!!
Do you know the definition of the word hypocrisy?
I didn't think so. Take a look at your own post:
"If you don't have a good bit of advice on the question at hand, shut up and move on".
And your good bit of advice for Pat was.....???
"All of us at times in our lives are JUST AS BAD". Hmmmm. If charity begins with your notes, please spare me any of yours. I don't know that Pat is a BAD person. Why must you sling mud at her like that???
"Anybody who bashes other people...has someone in their lives bashing them". So who is it that's bashing you, Charity? Given that you're venting a good deal of hostility in your post, I must assume that someone's treating you especially poorly. At least that's what the goofy logic in your post would indicate.
See how silly your note looks now?
The truth hurts doesn't it???!!!
Oct 9th, 1999, 02:41 AM
#52
Guest
Posts: n/a
Young, retired and bored. Where to go?
Pat, In your own words....
don't work. (negative)
I am bored silly. (negative)
tired of the local sites. (negative) doesn't require...doesn't involve (negative)
Money is no object.(who cares)
seems kind of boring.(negative)
but was over it quickly. (negative)
I need some stimulation.(so do I by now because of this post)
mountains don't seem so exciting(negative)
Holy...er....caca. When I break it down and look at your ORIGINAL post...I copied it directly from yours....I'm ready to blow my freakin brains out!! Forget travel. Forget money no object. Forget slamming anyone for taking your question as anything less than whiny crapola.
Where to go?? Either go to hottoys.com (if there is such a thing) and order a mommies little helper, or go see a head shrinker, or both.
As for me...I'm off to take my medication. Good luck to you.
Pat, In your own words....
don't work. (negative)
I am bored silly. (negative)
tired of the local sites. (negative) doesn't require...doesn't involve (negative)
Money is no object.(who cares)
seems kind of boring.(negative)
but was over it quickly. (negative)
I need some stimulation.(so do I by now because of this post)
mountains don't seem so exciting(negative)
Holy...er....caca. When I break it down and look at your ORIGINAL post...I copied it directly from yours....I'm ready to blow my freakin brains out!! Forget travel. Forget money no object. Forget slamming anyone for taking your question as anything less than whiny crapola.
Where to go?? Either go to hottoys.com (if there is such a thing) and order a mommies little helper, or go see a head shrinker, or both.
As for me...I'm off to take my medication. Good luck to you.
Oct 9th, 1999, 06:04 AM
#53
Guest
Posts: n/a
Well....frankly, I would get a nanny for the two year old..since money is no object. It sounds like your life is centered around your child...of course your original post gave all of us the opinion that you were to be felt sorry for. Money does not make you happy, but it can provide some benefits. Having raised four children...we traveled with them, and WITHOUT! Now that my husband retired at 49 we find traveling alone is best! I'm sure you are a loving parent...but again, a two year old in most cases is the happiest at home in their own surroundings. I don't feel sorry for you....The "me" generation seems to be caught up in themselves too much...and maybe you had too much too soon. Find a travel agent
Jan 24th, 2008, 11:58 AM
#56
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fester and Lisa both nailed it. Negatives big time on that opening post and yes, travel does not seem to be something that will help with your "boredom". Bigger issues are going on here and Fodor's is not the place to address them.
Jan 24th, 2008, 12:05 PM
#58
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 931
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Vladdie 
Did you notice this thread is from 1999? I'll bet Pat, who is no longer quite so young 
has resolved these questions by now. Just thought I'd mention that, possibly before anyone else might do so in a more snarky way.
Did you notice this thread is from 1999? I'll bet Pat, who is no longer quite so young has resolved these questions by now. Just thought I'd mention that, possibly before anyone else might do so in a more snarky way.
