For the last couple of years we’ve been going to Southern Germany and Austrian lake areas instead of the usual Med places you go if you live in Europe for summer holiday. I only realised after talking with friends and colleagues how weird most people in my circle think this is.

Basically the Med is insanely hot now, to the point where you just end up inside for most of the day hiding from the heat. We love it in Bavaria. It’s not anymore expensive than Spain or Italy. Temperatures a hot during the day but cool at night. Everything is clean and tidy and not at all stressful. No car needed.

We’ve been staying in super cheap Airbnb’s. One was just a family’s home while they were on holiday themselves. It was really nice, and they just left it with some tape on a few draws and a “please feed our cats and bunnies” note

Do other people have spots they go that aren’t the usual?

For Americans just assume people in Europe think of here like one big country. Going to Spain is not really different to going to Florida etc.

None of this needs to be fancy. A friend’s cabin or an aunts house…

I was in Vermont a couple of months ago, camping and staying at a friend’s A-frame out in the woods near Brattleboro. No crowds. No traffic. The Green Mountains are gorgeous. I had no idea I’d like Vermont so much, but I could easily imagine myself living there, even with the harsh winters.

The campgrounds weren’t crowded, nor were the swimming holes I visited. Quaint and lovely. No commercial blight. I enjoyed walking around Montpelier. Can’t wait to go back.

I am not too much of an expert in unearthing awesome, uncrowded places, but I have a recent experience to share:

There was NO ONE at Redwood National Park (in Northern California) at 7 AM on a Monday.

It was GLORIOUS.

We just spent two weeks in Newfoundland, and it was a heavenly. The island felt at times like one gigantic national park, with zero crowds. Just loved it.

The Kintyre Peninsula. Best whisky in the world, great beaches, good fishing, lovely people.

You euros and your "holidays" and "travel."

Psssh. You think capitalism's going to destroy the world without us? Here in the USA we have to protect our FREEDOM by WORKING ALL THE TIME.

dontfeartheringo wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 10:56 am You euros and your "holidays" and "travel."

Psssh. You think capitalism's going to destroy the world without us? Here in the USA we have to protect our FREEDOM by WORKING ALL THE TIME.

Pfffff. My public servant wife gets 4 weeks holiday a year. In fact she gets so much holiday she has to take our girls away by herself with her sister for a couple of weeks in the summer.

But are we free? I don’t think so.

Damn, I work in a state-level government organization in Minnesota, and we get 24 days (PTO though) right off the bat. None of this, "Every five years employed here grants you a meager bump over your meager starting allotment of time off" bullshit.