Survey: Active GT posters

[Onkel Neal]

Question for all you non-US guys. Have you been to the US? Please select a choice and it would be great if you could make a post with details about your time here (how long, when, what was interesting, etc) or why you are not interested in visiting America. All votes should be accompanied with a post, please.

Especially you guys who post here a lot, don't be shy.:O:

This is in conjunction with a tourism agency that contacted Subsim.

Many thanks, and happy Thanksgiving! :shucks:

Neal

[Dowly]

"No, but I would like to some day in the distant future"

Been wanting to visit the States since little kid, but has no money for a trip like that. :-?

[Onkel Neal]

Yep, but if you ever come to the Lone Star State, I can set you up with lodging :D

[OneToughHerring]

By tourist agency you mean...the CIA? :)

[Onkel Neal]

Haha, I hope not :o No, a commercial agency.

[HunterICX]

"No, but I would like to some day in the distant future"

It has crossed my mind a couple of times, exactly where and when is pretty much unknown.

HunterICX

[Sailor Steve]

Question for all you non-US guys.
OOPS! Signed on the dotted line before I read all the fine print! I'll admit I'm a sucker and buy that bridge, and then go hide my head in the sand for awhile.:oops:

[Raptor1]

"No, but I would like to some day in the distant future"

It has crossed my mind a couple of times, exactly where and when is pretty much unknown.

HunterICX

Same for me.

[mookiemookie]

Yep, but if you ever come to the Lone Star State, I can set you up with lodging :D

And I can certainly set him up with a trip to Treasures or The Men's Club :|\\

[Dowly]

And I can certainly set him up with a trip to Treasures or The Men's Club :|\\

Only if you want a lifetime ban to such places. :DL

[Randomizer]

Many times in the past for periods up to three months at a stretch. These days though, generally get down to Seattle once or twice a year for three or four days.

[Oberon]

Would love to, but would probably have to stay for a while to go to all the places I'd like to go to. Tis a rather big place...and that's just Texas! :haha:

[Schroeder]

Have been there in 2001 for two weeks. Mainly California but we were also in Utah and of course Nevada (Las Vegas).:shucks:

[Thomen]

Well, yes.. I did roughly 6 or 7 times before I permanently relocated to here. :D

To see my GF (now Wife) was the main purpose. Average stay ca 1 week.

[Fish]

I would like to some day but I think it will be a dream.
Perhaps I should have voted, in a distant future.

[Marcantilan]

I´ve been in the US four times.

First time to Disney World (1985 - hey, I was 10!)
Second time to Disney World & Epcot, and a Caribbean cruise (1991)
Third time, NY, West Coast and Hawaii (1994).
Fourth time with friends, mostly NY and Boston (1997).

Planning to go there in the next couple of years, I really loved NY!

[kiwi_2005]

Well, been to the states couple of times that was years ago back in early 1942 I was in command of a Type IXB U-187 we had receive orders from Bdu to make way to outside of New York & patrol the waters - silly buggers those Americans with their lights on and all! We could see the parties going on through the persicope don't they know there was a war going on! I remember fondly now it was our 11th week at sea & we were out of coffee! Any sailor would tell you thats a dangerous situation to be in. So I came up with the idea that we drop a few men off near the coast and see if they can steal some coffee from one of em houses, them Americans be all drunk and all they wouldn't even notice! When i asked for voluntares every-single-man was willing to go?. I suppose 11 weeks at sea got to them that they needed their feet on some dirt.
So i chose 10 good men. That was the last time we saw them. Presumed captured. strange thing is 3 other boats in the area had the same problem. We lost a lot of good men back in 42 :arrgh!:

Oh wait... have i been to USA. :D Nope :damn:

Hopefully one day i will, would love to go to New York or Los Angeles where my cousin lives she went there back in 1989

[Letum]

No & don't plan to.
American culture is widespread and clichéd in a way that most of the
different European, African and Asian cultures are not. I imagine that
takes away some of the exoticism of a trip to America.
I'm not saying I dislike the many things a trip to the US would offer,
just that I have had plenty of America piped down the TV and other
media and I am more lacking in experiences of other countries.

[Skybird]

No, and currently no plans to do so.

I consider myself to be attracted by what I call the Us as they once had been planned to be (constitution, bill of rights, the historic stuff). The US as I see it in the present, I see much more critical.

The ammount of highly personal, private data I would need to file for getting a visum, an airline ticket, is a big discouragement for me, and makes me angry. Being treated according to the principle "supposed to be guilty as long as not proven innocent", is not really inviting and does not make me feel welcomed. Even less so with privacy protection laws and data protection laws being far inferior, compared to European standards (on paper), and my data being stored and beyond my knowledge for ridiculously long times. I would not feel welcomed when needing to reveal more sensitive data on myself than I would need to do if a court sentences me to spend time in a german prison.

My main interest, if visiting North America, would be landscapes and nature, from the Canadian forest and Alaskian white wilderness over Yellowstone and Montana to various coast areas and the long wide open roads of Texas etc. The metropoles and typical tourist attractions I probably would avoid, big cities and me do not go well together. Tourist groups and organised sightseeing also is not my cup of tea. I probably would rent a car an drive from one coast to the other, and stay where ever I want to stay for some time. Organised holiday tours and visitor programs are hell, imo, and "must-see's" I do not accept to be "musts" at all.

The food is reason for concern. :D

[Letum]

You might want to add some poll options or things might get a little
distorted by people who live in the US.

[Jimbuna]

Just the once thus far.....last years SS Meet in Texas, 6 days in Oct.

I thought the trip was an excellent experience, mainly because of the opportunity to meet friends I had only ever spoken to on the phone or TS and exchanged photographs and modding work with.

All the above was helped in no small way by the fact every courtesy was afforded me during my stay (I'll never forget that banana pudding) and a comprehensive set of entertainment had been arranged in advance.

The perfect host....you know who you are http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

I wonder if you ever got around to taking that warning notice off the sliding rear door http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/ROFLMAO.gif

[Fincuan]

I was there with my parents for a few weeks when I was really small, less than 10 years old. We visited at least New York, Miami and San Juan in Puerto Rico(does that count as US?) and drove all around Florida in a car. This included the obligatory visits to Disney World and Universal Studios Florida :yeah:

I don't remember much, but at least everything was big from a child's perspective. The most lasting memory is probably meeting Santa Claus in a Miami shopping mall while it was baking hot outside :haha:

[Thomen]

No, and currently no plans to do so.

I consider myself to be attracted by what I call the Us as they once had been planned to be (constitution, bill of rights, the historic stuff). The US as I see it in the present, I see much more critical.

The ammount of highly personal, private data I would need to file for getting a visum, an airline ticket, is a big discouragement for me, and makes me angry. Being treated according to the principle "supposed to be guilty as long as not proven innocent", is not really inviting and does not make me feel welcomed. Even less so with privacy protection laws and data protection laws being far inferior, compared to European standards (on paper), and my data being stored and beyond my knowledge for ridiculously long times. I would not feel welcomed when needing to reveal more sensitive data on myself than I would need to do if a court sentences me to spend time in a german prison.

My main interest, if visiting North America, would be landscapes and nature, from the Canadian forest and Alaskian white wilderness over Yellowstone and Montana to various coast areas and the long wide open roads of Texas etc. The metropoles and typical tourist attractions I probably would avoid, big cities and me do not go well together. Tourist groups and organised sightseeing also is not my cup of tea. I probably would rent a car an drive from one coast to the other, and stay where ever I want to stay for some time. Organised holiday tours and visitor programs are hell, imo, and "must-see's" I do not accept to be "musts" at all.

The food is reason for concern. :D

Not 100% sure, but you can get most likely around the privacy thing and the stuff they want to know, if you enter via Canada. :D

Gonna have to ask at the border next time I am up in Canukia.

[karamazovnew]

No, but I plan to in the very distant future. I want to visit the Rothko Chapel in Houston, the USS Constitution and many other things. BTW, does Hawaii count as US? Because I plan visit it much sooner :haha:.

[nikimcbee]

Just the once thus far.....last years SS Meet in Texas, 6 days in Oct.

I thought the trip was an excellent experience, mainly because of the opportunity to meet friends I had only ever spoken to on the phone or TS and exchanged photographs and modding work with.

All the above was helped in no small way by the fact every courtesy was afforded me during my stay (I'll never forget that banana pudding) and a comprehensive set of entertainment had been arranged in advance.

The perfect host....you know who you are http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

I wonder if you ever got around to taking that warning notice off the sliding rear door http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/ROFLMAO.gif

Hey, if you ever make it out to the US again, come out to the West Coast. I'll take you to the sprucegoose museum and I'll even make some banana pudding, just for you.:yeah::woot:

Actually, I'd like to see England, do you have an hono(u)rary Geordie exchange program?

[nikimcbee]

No & don't plan to.
American culture is widespread and clichéd in a way that most of the
different European, African and Asian cultures are not. I imagine that
takes away some of the exoticism of a trip to America.
I'm not saying I dislike the many things a trip to the US would offer,
just that I have had plenty of America piped down the TV and other
media and I am more lacking in experiences of other countries.

So Detroit and the south side of Chicago don't count as exotic?:haha:

[Jimbuna]

Hey, if you ever make it out to the US again, come out to the West Coast. I'll take you to the sprucegoose museum and I'll even make some banana pudding, just for you.:yeah::woot:

Actually, I'd like to see England, do you have an hono(u)rary Geordie exchange program?

You'll always be welcome over here Jason.....I still use your lighthouse glass for my 'shots/chasers' http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

[NeonSamurai]

Yes many times, but the American border is only an hour away for me.

[Reece]

Well I'd love to go but finances don't permit!! that's life!:yep: I ticked "near future" as I'm getting a little long in the tooth!! (old fart), long service leave coming soon, hopefully we'll get the chance, never been out of Australia my whole life so would be awesome!!:up: Oh I have to go where there is a U-boat I can walk through!!:D

[antikristuseke]

"No, but I would like to some day in the distant future"

Been wanting to visit the States since little kid, but has no money for a trip like that. :-?

Same here, though a trip stateside would be fu at airport security, I would have to aswer yes to all questions like do you know how to handle explosives, make explosives etc :)

[onelifecrisis]

I spend, on average, about a month out of each year in the US. They always pick me for the "random" security check and baggage search.

[TarJak]

My last US visit was to the Subsim meet in Houston last year. It was really good even though I had to mix the pleasure with a bit of business in San Francisco on the way home.

I've also been on four other business trips to the US, visiting Boston, San Jose, LA and Salt Lake City.

[Torplexed]

If you can't make it to America, feel free to visit (and spend money) at one of our thousands of conveniently located embassies all over the world. :D *Burp!*

http://blog.kievukraine.info/4593.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

BTW, does Hawaii count as US? Because I plan visit it much sooner :haha:.
Yes and no. Yes, it is part of the U.S. of A. and you'll find much of it to be typically American. No, because not many non-Americans realize just how big the place is. Every state has its own individual identity, and the variety is endless. The northeast coast is full of cities, large and small, with some rivalling London or Tokyo for sheer size. On the other hand, my state of Utah has just two million people in the whole state, and one metropolitan area, Ogden-Salt Lake City-Provo, with 3/4 of the state's population living within 80 miles of each other. The next city of any size, Las Vegas, is 350 miles of desert away, and in a whole different state.

Hawaii is part of the United States, but it's also Hawaii.

[Onkel Neal]

The perfect host....you know who you are http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

I wonder if you ever got around to taking that warning notice off the sliding rear door http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/ROFLMAO.gif

We really enjoyed your visit, the perfect guest as well :up:

I took the sign down but am keeping it in case a guy we know shows up for a future SS Houston meeting :D

[Shearwater]

Since I'm studying English at the moment, it's almost sort of an informal requirement to have been to an English-speaking country at least once. I'm still unsure where to go - UK, US, or Canada (and if I'll go to the US, it has to be on some Northern coast - don't get this the wrong way, Texans, but your state is simply too friggin' hot, even in winter ;)).
I'd really love to go, but it's very much an issue of time and money (or rather both), and I hate all the paperwork and appointments that go with it. On the other hand, it probably won't get any easier than now to go abroad while I'm still at the university.
A lot of my friends (and my sister) have been to the US though. They really liked it and said there wasn't much of a cultural clash one would expect from a foreign country, so I think I really would enjoy it.

[d@rk51d3]

"No, but I would like to some day in the distant future"


While I initially had feelings similar to Letum's, I have found over the last few years, that I have developed an appreciation for the American heritage, and where it came from.

If you can look past all the BS you get spoon fed on TV, I'm sure there are plenty of gems to be discovered, and good times to be had.:salute:

[GoldenRivet]

I wonder if you ever got around to taking that warning notice off the sliding rear door http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/ROFLMAO.gif


:har:

I'll never forget that.

You, my wife and I all had very front row seats to that little show :up:

[Jimbuna]

:har:

I'll never forget that.

You, my wife and I all had very front row seats to that little show :up:



http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5926/thumbsupfs6.gif

http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/6942/popcorncowtx0.gif

[Jimbuna]

We really enjoyed your visit, the perfect guest as well :up:

I took the sign down but am keeping it in case a guy we know shows up for a future SS Houston meeting :D

Let's hope they undergo an eyesight test first in that case :DL


http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4535/animatedblindmanhgclr1.gif (http://img231.imageshack.us/i/animatedblindmanhgclr1.gif/)

[Skybird]

just curious - what is the purpose of this poll? Any running project you hide in the background, Neal?

[Onkel Neal]

No, no projects at present. One of my professors and I were discussing tourism and internet denizens, etc. and he networked with a tourism agency who asked me to grab a sample of diverse people. I told him I could not only get a diverse sample, but some pretty intellegent replies, too. So far, so good :salute:

[Skybird]

Damn, I knew this would happen one day - now I have been turned into a rat. A naked white rat in a laboratory, running a rat-maze. Tourism, eh? You are wrong. It's about a rat-race in a rat-maze. Feels like being back at university. :88)

You take lessons to prepare for work in the tourism branch?

[Tribesman]

Yes, lots of times.
Sometimes just for a weekend, other times on the 90 day. Was aiming for another visit before Christmas but may have to leave it till january.

[XabbaRus]

I lived in Houston, Texas for two years from 1989 to 1991.

I was 13 when we moved out with my dad due to his job.

I liked teh food, I liked Texans, weather was a little too hot.

I hated school. Awty International sucks.
several years down the line I visited Boston. That was cool especially as USS Constitution museum was free when I visited and the science museum was great. I soaked up the atmosphere. Made up for being dumped by my GF which was the reason I went over.

[Arclight]

"No, but I would like to some day in the distant future"

I'd like to see the natural beauty it has to offer, cities don't sit well with me. Everywhere you turn, just more bricks and asphalt. I'd like to do a bit of travelling, see as much of the world as possible, but getting the funds for such an adventure... well, let's keep it at "distant future". :lol:

[bookworm_020]

No, but I could say I have, as my mother was pregnant with me at the time of their visit.

[Prof]

I have visited the US twice; once with family in 1997 and once on my own in 2004.

The first trip was a 3-week driving holiday, starting in San Francisco and ending up in Los Angeles via Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, plus a few other places. I particularly liked San Francisco, and I persuaded my parents to visit the USS Pampanito, too!

The second trip was part of a 6-week holiday to New Zealand and Australia. I really wanted to visit the US Submarine Force Museum in Groton, so I flew to NZ (from the UK) via Boston (changing planes in LA). I stayed there for 3 days, and took the Amtrak down the coast to New London to visit the museum one morning. Unfortunately, the day I chose to visit, they closed at lunchtime for a private function, so I had to get in early! I think I might even have been the first one through the door that morning! Boston was a nice city, even though I did get soaked by the biggest thunderstorm I have ever experienced. Also managed to visit the USS Constitution and USS Cassin Young while I was there.

I'd love to go again at some point, and try to get as many warship visits in as possible!

[goldorak]

Question for all you non-US guys. Have you been to the US? Please select a choice and it would be great if you could make a post with details about your time here (how long, when, what was interesting, etc) or why you are not interested in visiting America. All votes should be accompanied with a post, please.

Especially you guys who post here a lot, don't be shy.:O:

This is in conjunction with a tourism agency that contacted Subsim.

Many thanks, and happy Thanksgiving! :shucks:

Neal


Sure, I visited the US in the early ninties.
It was a great vacation and I appreciated my staying in New York city for almost 3 weeks. :yeah:
Unfortunately seeing as how foreigners are treated when visting the US nowadays I don't plan on ever going back again. :nope:

[Fish]

I spend, on average, about a month out of each year in the US. They always pick me for the "random" security check and baggage search.
Visit a barber next time.;)

[JU_88]

:DI went to U.S once, 9 years ago in 2000 -but only for a few days,
It was an oppotunist thing really, I was in Uni and my girfriend at the time was Japanese and in the UK on a student Visa.
She had to renew her Visa for another year so she basically had to leave the country and come back. At the time my older Brother was living in NewYork so we figured we would pay him a visit. :)

We flew there with Lufthansa (German Airline) but it was connecting flight via Frankfurt... So we flew from London to Germany, then from germany (back over england ughhh) all the way to JFK, and we arrived late at night.
The funny part was that my Brother told me not to tell immgration about him, because he was working odd jobs but didnt have a green card and was only on a tourist visa :haha:
But the immagration officer I saw actually got suspicous, saything that I looked familiar - he though he had seen me before and that my name rang a bell, after I convinced him it was my first time, he joked with me and stamped my Passport for 3 months.
When I told my Brother this, he asked me if the imagration guy was; short, bald, Italian with a mostache (discribed him perfectly) ,So seems like the guy actually remembered my brother out of all the millions of faces he sees every week. Impressive - that man was clearly VERY good at his job :up:

We took a yellow cab to Brothers apart ment over in Williamburg in Brooklyn. The cab driver has a huge fat balck guy with shades (at night)
and giant afro :D, He didnt speak much accept to curse other driver on the road, and occassionally pulled out a big afro comb he kept tucked under the sun sheild to bush his hair. LOL

First time I saw the the Manhatten Skyline all lit up - from the cab I was blown away :yeah:
I always though it looked awesome in photos and on TV, but it was really something to see it for real, just the scale of it seemed incredible.
I say 'was' because the WTC towers where still up in 2000, :oops: Im glad I got to see them before their destruction, they were were really beautiful buildings.

My brother place was on street in Williamsburg that was home to Peurtericans, had their flags everywhere, old pople playing chess on the sidewalk. Gang of teenagers hanging around listening to music, nothing too intimidating though :DL
My borther said that in his 2 years of living there the most greif he every got was the occasional ... nod accompanied with a harmless "hey Greengo!"

Most New yorkers seemed pretty friendly, we spent our first night drinking in a Brooklyn bar, where Brother was regular. I never tried to drink in Manhatten as I was told they were more strict with ID checks, I was 20 - so under the legal age to drink by 1 year, (though in the UK, I was 2 years over - as it was 18 back then)
We spent the next three days just wondering around Manhatten really. My girlfreind wanted to check out the shops (obviously)
I was impressed with the NYC subway and the way its flat rate $1.50 to go any place you want, nice and simple. London underground pricing goes by all these stupid Zones that make no sense at all.

Although NYC streets are one big grid, it sometime tricky to get your bearings. because everyhting is so symetrical, if your following a map it somtimes takes 15 mins to walk one block, but which point you realise you are heading the wrong way..
In the end used the Empire State Building as reference for North and the Twin towers for south.
But I wished i had a compass at the time :haha:
We wondered aound Central Park and Metropoliatn Museum (briefly) we went around China town (10x the size of the one in London)
ALOt of walking, one time we were a few blocks from the WTC and i wanted to go up the South tower, but it was getting dark and cloudy, so we figured we wouldt see much.
(And now I'll never get the chance, bleedin' Terrorists :nope:)

What else can i say? I loved New york (manhatten & Brooklyn), it had really awesome feel to it, a really great Athmosphere and loads of character. I could see why my Brother liked to live there.
It was really a mixed up place too (much like London is), like you can find just about anything there.
What was really intresting to me was that every area or street I saw reminded me of a british counterpart in London - only a little different, It was like a beefed up London in many respects.. kinda weird but the two cities seemed to have ALOT in common so it almost felt like home...

I definately want to go back again there someday, but everyone should go at least once.....:up:

[JScones]

I've done California and Hawaii. I was meant to do Texas last year, but business requirements changed. Fort Worth is still on the cards for some point though.

I may go and do the East Coast one day (at least Maine through Maryland), but not before I've gone back to the UK, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada and New Zealand. TBH I've simply had better "people" experiences in these other places.

[Cohaagen]

Hey Neal, I used to do marketing research on behalf of a US company here in the UK (temp job only). What's their name? I might know them.

[jumpy]

I said 'no & do not plan to' - largely to do with the ridiculous formality of having my fingerprints and such like taken in order to enter the country as an international traveller/tourist.
It's not something I support here in the UK and it does not sit well with me for various reasons, not least of which is being regarded with deep-set suspicion and mistrust as a citizen of a close ally (or so it could seem).
Closest I've got is the Canadian side of Niagara falls.

So, really more to do with my principals than any statement about the country or its people.

[Méo]

Yes but it was more than 20 years ago when i was 6 or 7.

Will probably make a trip to Europe first.

A trip to New York is something i always wanted to do.

If you guys know anything cool near your northern border, let me know. :DL (i could probably afford some cheap trip in the meantime).