Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with adventure

Which video game classics did I miss the last three years?

wolfr — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:05:31 -0800

I intend to make this weekend a gaming weekend. I haven't played video games in a long time. At least not as seriously as I used to. Do you have any suggestions? I have a brand new iMac and an Xbox 360. I do not have a copy of Windows on my Mac yet but could theoretically use Boot Camp to install Windows XP on a partition of the hard drive. So don't feel limited to Mac only games svp.

In the past my favorite games have been Baldurs Gate II, Arcanum, Battlefield 1942, Deus Ex and Tony Hawk II.

I was addicted to World of a Warcraft for a while. I like stories and character progression. I like games with original themes (e.g. Psychonauts).

It seems like the only games I've played the last year or two years have been: Grand Theft Auto IV, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Skate, Soul Calibur IV. All on the Xbox. All of them very casually, although I did end up finishing all except Bioshock (which was good, but not relaxing, with all the dark rooms and scary things).

I am downloading the free 2 week trial of Eve Online right now, but I'd rather not get crazy about an MMORPG anymore. While my time in the World of Warcraft was wonderful, the whole game remains a slot machine with a nice interface.

No racing and sports please with the exception of snowboard/skateboard.

Who has suggestions for me?

One-Night Dungeon

The otter lady — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:26:01 -0800

I need a good idea for a one-night D&D game! I would like to be able to run a fun, well-plotted, and varied, but short, D&D scenario, that could be played start-to-finish in one session of several hours. Something I could use to introduce new people to the concept of RPGs, or just run as a pick-up game some evening. Ideally it would be a scenario even playable by just one person.

It should have a mixture of things; talking to NPCs, doing some problem-solving, some skill use, and some combat. And it would be great if there were several different ways to play through it; a stealthy character could sneak around through things, a brute could bash his way along, etc. A clever 'twist' is always good! Something more interesting than "Go into this cave and kill the kobolds" I can adapt other rules systems, it doesn't have to be D&D. A published module, with maps and stuff, would be great, but if you remember playing something like this and just give me a summary of the story and the unfolding plot, I can add the paperwork! Thanks for any help!

Cotton or synthetic fibres

lahersedor — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:52:08 -0800

Should one wear cotton or synthetic fibres in a tropical country ? I'm visiting guyana and the tourism website advises "Bring clothes made of cotton (avoid synthetic fibers) ". What is the justification for this ? I prefer synthetic fibers in hot & humid weather.

Short but action-packed films?

np312 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:51:24 -0800

Please help me find short films (animated or live action) that I can watch online. Difficulty: only looking for action/adventure-themed shorts. I'm trying to find short films online (10 minutes and under) that involve fight scenes, heists, explosions, car chases, etc-- all the tropes of action/adventure movies. If it happens to be set in a sci-fi world = extra awesome. I know this is rare since short films usually have low budgets.

I'm NOT interested in excerpts from feature length films.

I've already watched the Aeon Flux shorts from Liquid Television, and the BMW short films. What else can you recommend that I'd be able to watch online? Thanks in advance!

Forget about a vacation, I want to challenge my worldview!

hasna — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:09:03 -0800

Help me spend 5 non-traditional days in Egypt! I'm going to Egypt for 5 (3 full, plus 2 mostly full) days at the end of next week. I have no idea what to spend my time doing.

I'm a 24yo single female, well traveled (but don't speak Arabic), and currently living in Istanbul. I have no intentions of visiting the pyramids (et al.) beyond a quick drive-by photo. I don't like most museums, either. Tour groups (unless to some uber-dangerous, hecka cool part of middle earth) are out the question. And I do not want to pay to see anything. What do I like, you ask? Well, a lot. I'd be happy to sit journalling in a small tea shop in some back alley somewhere. Or to while away an afternoon praying in a mosque. Or play football with kids on the street. Or help some women prepare meals for a few days. Or visit a refugee camp. Or...

I'm open to (and would maybe prefer?) getting away from Cairo, although I understand this might be difficult in such a short time. I will not be packing luggage, but carrying everything in a day-pack type backpack, so I'll be fully mobile. I have a specific interest in (semi-professional) photography, but for the right experience/opportunity, I'd leave my camera gear home. I'm willing to get dirty, and I'm not afraid of much. (I'm full of common sense and travel sense, but I've been to some shady places, and I know where my "line" is). I have (almost) zero interest in anything archeology/ruins related. I'm much more interested in experiencing life and culture as lived by lower class Egypt.

I'm also strongly considering heading up to Al 'Arish, and edging as close as possible to the Gaza border, to see how life is lived there, and what impacts the closed border have on life there. I'd also love to volunteer someplace (not one of those "pay to volunteer" scams), maybe the Egyptian equivalent of a soup kitchen.

Finance-wise, I'm not too concerned, mostly because the things that usually cost the most money (hotels, entry fees, guides...) aren't the kind of things I want to spend my time on. In any case, I'd rather spend less money, than more.

As you can see, there's a lot I could do, I just haven't quite gathered my thoughts on this enough yet. Before you mention it, I have been checking out CouchSurfing, but I'd rather have some sort of a plan before I contact anyone.

Any thoughts, advice, personal experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

More Quirk and Less Cork

Admiral Haddock — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:12:31 -0800

Looking for off the beaten track destinations/activities in Sonoma/Napa (and/or Monterey). My GF and I will be in Northern California from October 9 until the 18th. We will surely spend a day or so in SF, and the last couple of days will be in Berkeley for a wedding. The rest is up for grabs. We will have a car.

Broadly speaking, we know we are more "Sonoma people" than "Napa people." All the same, while we lurve a tasty wine, neither of us is an oenophile and we don't intend to go crazy with wineries--though if someone can recommend a really didactic tasting, that would be great.

Instead, we'd love to hear about any hidden gems that the real Napa crowd may avoid: the great taco stand; the pretty good used bookstore; the spice shop where the CIA kids go to get interesting stuff on the cheap; the guy who sells his kind-of-odd-but-also-charming drawings in the park; the museum of spoons, etc.

Our inclination is to make it a leisurely trip, rather than driving all the time. Can you recommend a central staging area? We're happy with getting a cheap room at a Marriott somewhere and splurging on meals/activities. Is it worth it to try to squeeze in Monterey, or would those in the know just dally in Sonoma?

Anything we can't miss? We like art/culture/food, taking photographs and having hijinks. A great hike and picnic would be awesome, but we're city mice and a 15-mile excursion is likely not on our shortlist of things to do this trip.

(Feel free to MeFi mail me your hidden gems... we will be reverent and promise not to spoil them and we shan't tell a soul! It will be our little secret.)

Single female traveling alone and staying in a youth hostel in Shanghai: fun adventure or catastrophically bad idea?

aquafortis — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:52:12 -0800

Single female traveling alone and staying in a youth hostel in Shanghai: fun adventure or catastrophically bad idea? Do any women out there have any experience traveling alone to Shanghai and staying in a youth hostel? I've been thinking this would be fun, but don't know if I'd be better off waiting until my friends can join me some other time. Would Bejing be a safer choice?

All thoughts, ideas, and suggestions welcome-- thanks!

The Regretful Adventurer?

The otter lady — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:10:50 -0800

Any stories, published or personal, about those who've taken the road less traveled... and regretted it? So I'm looking to undergo a large life change; I'm planning to sell or give away everything I own, and go off in search of adventure and self-discovery.

While I'm looking forward to it, and I can find any number of books or stories where people who have done something like this have described it as the best experience of their lives, I can't help but think there must be quite a lot of people who've "dropped out" and then been desperate to drop back in again. Realizing that they'd rather be in a cubicle than in the Peace Corps, finding that going to Tibet to become a monk was really NOT what they wanted, etc.

Are there any books or stories like this, or does anyone have any personal anecdotes to give me?

(I've read "Into the Wild", but McCandless apparently didn't actually -regret- what he'd done until he was pretty clearly dying)

Tell us everything you know about the San Juans!

amanda — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:47:54 -0800

The Mister and I are planning to head to the San Juan Islands in Washington for an extended outdoor adventure in September. Tell us what you know about visiting the San Juans! We are pretty avid hikers and campers and bikers. We'd like to get on the water, too, though we've only been on a kayak once or twice. We're considering doing a multi-day guided kayak tour. This seems a little namby-pamby for diy backpackers but, well, it is open water and there may be whales and they do all the bivouacking and cooking for you. Has anyone done a kayak tour either with or without a guide? Any recommendations on a company -- there's at least 6 to choose from.

Also, we're torn between camping and lodging and may try to do a bit of both. I love the idea of waking up in the early morning and being able to wander out of my tent, make some coffee on my little stove and look out to sea. The lodging there is very expensive so we may do one or two nights lodging as a splurge and camping the rest -- any advice on either of those options. Right now, we're thinking of staying on either San Juan or Orcas island.

Lastly, we're having a bit of a conundrum as to whether to bring our own bikes, rent bikes and/or bring our car with us. The upside to the car is simply hauling our gear around and if we get a crazy ass rainstorm (crossing my fingers that this does not happen) it would be nice to decamp and head to the car. September is usually glorious here in Oregon -- total paradise -- but the coast is something else. If we were just planning to stay at a hotel the whole time, I'd totally bring my bike and leave the car because we could just ditch our stuff at the hotel, take a cab or two as necessary and head out. But, because we're thinking of mixing it up, a car just sounds so much... easier.

Oh, lastly lastly, should we bike on Shaw Island? Is it awesome or would we be better off hiking around somewhere else?

Name That Outer Space 80s Black & White Adventure Game

Nelsormensch — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:51:35 -0800

Name-That-Game Filter: Trying to remember the name of a late 80s/early 90s black & white "adventure" game. Involved outer space. In grade 2 or 3 ('89-'90 ish), I remember playing a black & white "adventure" game on my school's Macs. I say "adventure" because it didn't have dialog, inventory or anything like that. Very much a Hypercard adventure, a la Myst.

It was in black & white, took place in outer space (sort of). I vaguely remember friendly, sorta cutesy aliens. Interaction was mainly going around a small planet with a house on it and other things of that nature. I don't remember there being any real kind of plot or goal, it was just roaming around from screen to screen.

This is kind of a weird longshot, but I'm hoping someone will remember the title (or at least have better Google Fu than me). My memory of it is pretty vague, but I might be able to remember other details if prompted. Thanks!

recreational amphibianism: where to go?

compound eye — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:41:34 -0800

I want to go on a grand adventure, a multi day hike/swim - eg Hike half a day, swim across lake, hike a bit more, swim out to an island, hike and repeat..etc. warm water, health environment, lots of short length water crossing (say 200m) and some longer (1 km) are good. sharks, crocodiles, parasites and icebergs are not. Where in the world is it possible to do this? I want to go on a grand adventure.

I am imagining a long multi day hike,
with sections where I pack everything into a waterproof bag on a tether and swim - perhaps across a lake, perhaps to an island, then walk for a while, then swim , repeat, repeat

warm water, health environment, lots of short length water crossing (say 200m) and some longer (1 km) are good.

sharks, crocodiles, parasites and icebergs are not.

Where in the world is it possible to do this?

The ideal swimming distance would be about 1 km, i don't want to have to swim too far on my own with luggage in tow.

I have been combing the globe with google earth, but I can't find anywhere to do this.

I found some possible islands in japan, but they a bit far out to sea and sharky to swim without a cage and support crew
I found some lakes in northern australian, but the local water authority thinks they might be a bit crocodiley.
There are some good lakes north of Winnipeg, but that sounds really cold. is it?

its a big planet, there must be somewhere,
relatively warm, and relatively free of large predators, tropical parasites, pollution and heavy industry and busy commercial shipping lanes, maybe a river delta?
Walking with lots of river crossings might be an option if there was actual swimming, not just wading.

island hopping in a freshwater system free of crocs and bullsharks would be perfect, does this happy place exist?

any suggestions?

Seeking stories of men and women who -- either by way of adventure or by circumstance -- succumbed to the elements after a protracted attempt at survival...

cadastral — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:57:30 -0800

I've read and loved the histories of Sir Robert Falcon Scott, James Kim, George Mallory, S. A. Andrée, et cetera, and now I would like to be pointed towards more stories of men and women who -- either by way of adventure or by circumstance -- succumbed to the elements after a protracted attempt at survival... preferably leaving a rich and well-written-about story.

Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority... but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past. We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of providence, determined still to do our best to the last ... Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale...-Robert Falcon Scott, 1912

This kind of stuff really tugs at me and gets me on some gut-level. I read Scott's journals a couple of years ago, and lately have been devouring everything I can get my hands on regarding James Kim. Which other stories have been documented (either first-hand, or by others) in similar ways. They need not be famous or well-known... just compellingly documented

Despite a past personal interest in dead alpinists and mountaineers, I feel like I've read everything printed on the subject, and it's not my chief interest at the moment... though I can't really see a reason to not include them, past my own personal preference.

Lastly, here are some wikipedia categories I've consulted that may give you an idea of what I've found, so far. Thanks for your help.

Category:Antarctic expedition deaths
Deaths from hypothermia
Mountaineering deaths
Mountaineering deaths on Mount Everest
Accidental human deaths in the United States

How to expat myself and my family?

gm2007 — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:06:51 -0800

I'm 35, an attorney, and married with 3 children, and want to move myself and my family to Europe (preferably Germany) for the experience. My preference is to work for the U.S. Government overseas, as that seems the easiest transition, but positions are not easy to come by. Any ideas?

Mythical and mysterious places of the Northwest?

anonymisc — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:58:26 -0800

Have car, seek roadtrip and adventure! What are some secret/mythical/mysterious/epic places in WA state (or nearby states), that would be a destination fit for pilgrimage? Centralia / Silent Hill is in PA. The Abyss is in SC, Area51 is in NV, Mesa Verde is in CO, Barringer Crater is in AZ, etc etc. What mysterious secret places can be pried from the Northwest? I'm fit and able, so the destination doesn't need a road right up to the front porch (and is perhaps better if some element of challenge is involved), but the vehicle is a (very) low street-car, so the first challenge is not being able to use offroad/rough/4x4 routes. (Of course, if 4x4 is required but the destination is mysterious enough, then it will be appreciatively filed away for future adventure)

Go west, young man!

gushn — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:43:21 -0800

What are adventures I can do at 25 which I won't be able to do when I'm older? I am 3 months from the quarter century mark, and am looking for the most exciting journeys and exotic travels that I should plan on doing sooner rather than later. Adventures requiring young legs, a keen spirit, and youthful recklessness, that sort of thing; not interested in museums or art exhibits, which I can do at any age.

Fairly regular guy, ambitious plans: I want to to take a whole bunch of trips (2 or 3 a year) for the next few years, figuring that my travel frequency will taper off once I have children. I'm lucky enough to have a fair bit of disposable income, but can only get away from work for 1-2 (3, max) weeks at a time. I have a girlfriend who would certainly want to be included, but trips I can do with 4-5 friends are cool as well. (And bonus points if I can capture the activity on video somehow)

Fun examples I've done recently include:
- skydiving in the cornfields of Illinois
- hiking the Inca Trail in Peru
- cliff diving in Jamaica

I'm currently based in New York City.

Obviously Deus Ex 2 and 3 are out...

Artw — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:50:11 -0800

What recent(ish) games offer a Deus Ex like experience?

Sailing rite of passage

mjewkes — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:16:04 -0800

I need to prove myself a man. Help me plan a sailing rite-of-passage/adventure. I would like to have a sailing adventure this summer. This is 1/4 for fun/travel, 1/4 for sailing experience, and 1/2 as a personal rite-of-passage.

My main criterion is that I want to feel challenged, tested, and (hopefully), accomplished by the completion of the trip. To that end, I would like to travel somewhere by boat, not pleasure cruise about a pleasant area.

I have extensive small boat sailing experience, have done a couple of two week live-aboard cruises, but have no blue water sailing experience. I've been studying the blue-book through the winter, and have a reasonable amount of theoretical knowledge.

I am open to crewing with an experienced yachtsman, buying a small coastal sloop (there is some family interest in acquiring a yacht), running a coast, and selling it near the end, or (pay) crewing on a larger-length boat delivery.

I have roughly from May-September, a fair sized travel budget (though not enough to say, buy a ticket on the Picton Castle), and am currently on the east coast of North America, though I can travel. I imagine this being more solitary than group-trip, but am flexible in that regard.

Does anyone have any advice or experience they could offer to help me plan this? Is this idea complete bunk?

No, HERE's my shopping list: amazing thing, amazing thing, amazing thing, amazing thing.

seiryuu — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:23:54 -0800

What sort of things do you do to make individual days worth remembering? I think it'd be awesome if every day had at least one thing take place which was somehow memorable. Not huge things like flying to China or climbing the space needle but even just "hey I remember that day, it is when I climbed a tree."

Turn my Christmas from bummer to summer!

ZackTM — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:06:51 -0800

Can you help me figure out how to use my 8 day Christmas Vacation to get somewhere warm and have a ton of fun? Hey, sorry about how open ended this question is! I'm just wide open to suggestions, and I need to do something!

Short Version:
I am an outgoing single 26 year old male and I have December 20-28th to go on a crazy adventure. I live in Raleigh, NC. I want to go somewhere warm. Budget is $500 (not including gas). My priorities are to meet new people, build new memories, and have a lot of fun. If you were me, where would you go?

Long Version:
So... I try to go on random trips and have adventures whenever possible. Well, this Christmas I have 8 days off work and no where to be. Originally I was going to visit some friends in California but that fell through-- so I've got the time to myself and I want to have some fun!

My ideal trip would be road tripping down the Florida coast and maybe ending up in Key West, visiting awesome cities along the way. I like camping out and I've never minded sleeping in my car. I'd love to attend any special events where there are lots of 21-30 year olds. I'm all about meeting new people, going out and having fun, maybe doing something good for society along the way, and creating as many memories as possible.

An alternate idea would be to fly to the Bahamas or St. Thomas if there was anything special going on that wasn't quite so family/older folk oriented. A cheap cruise would be really fun... if it actually had lots of twenty-somethings on it as opposed to retirees/families...

The whole holiday aspect of this trip is kind of a bummer but I gotta work with what I've got.

Does anyone have any suggestions for stops, events, etc along the way?

Flipping with Flipper

Xurando — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:57:13 -0800

NaNoWriMo Novel filter: What's it actually like to swim with dolphins in the wild in non-contrived encounters. Not interested in pros or cons of swimming with these mammals, just in what the experience is like. (previously)

Name this author/adventurer/fearmonger

kaydo — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:02:28 -0800

Looking for an adventurer and author who was noted for confronting specific fears and paying people to ensure he had no option but to follow through. I may be remembering this completely incorrectly, when I was half way up a mountain and considering turning back my guide told me a story of an adventurer he greatly admired.

He said that this dude would identify a specific fear (e.g. being on boats) and then he would find something epic that would force him to dive right in (e.g. major ocean voyage). He'd then pay folks to ensure he followed through with it, it was never going to be about his personal drive to confront it, but it would be about his inability to avoid it. So he had folks on the boat that he would have paid in advance to make sure he wouldnt bail out.

End of adventure, he writes it all down for people like me to enjoy.

Naturally I just wanted the talking and climbing to stop, so I either ignored the name or just forgot it in a cloud of exhaustion.

Any ideas for the author name?

What's a fun lunch in LA?

snowjoe — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:14:40 -0800

Los Angeles Adventure Lunch? Coed coworkers seeking adventurous and / or interesting and / or secret neighborhood and /or back alley fun lunch today, Friday, October 17th, 2008. Starting in Burbank. We should be able to eek out 2 hours plus if needed. Romance is not the idea here in case you were wondering, just a fun get to know you lunch. Anything goes but as an example, noodles in San Gabriel would be preferable to Universal City Walk. I know I can check Chow Hound for the food part but the fun part is more important to us. Think "field trip". Suggestions please!

Where to go with the girlie?

patla — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:09:41 -0800

Hive mind, I'm need of your help. My friend's birthday is coming up soon and I was hoping to plan a trip for her in the upcoming year. Help me choose where we should go. This September, her birthday will be coming up and I was hoping to surprise her and perhaps pull her away from the mild depression she is going through.

She is turning 19 this September (yes, she is quite young. I, myself am 20) so I figured, maybe planning a trip out somewhere might do her some good and maybe cheer her up.

Recently, I started browsing the AskMeFi's threads on cruises and such, and I found that perhaps these cruises might be lacking on adventures that we seek. Not to mention that alot of people mention that cruises aren't for the younger crowd. I did question her about cruises and she seemed entirely too excited while talking about it. Thus, it isn't necessarily out of my list of options yet.

Alternatively, I was hoping maybe somewhere in the Caribbean sounds nice. She did mention that someday, she planned to visit Costa Rica or Venice or Florence. On the odd, geeky side, she mentioned she wanted to go to CERN labs in Switzerland. I'm not opposed to any of these and sometimes find myself fantasizing about them.

As for the girlie, well she is very adventurous, incredibly smart and hard-working. We used to date a little while ago, and things were progressing a little to quickly and we chose to put it on hold and attend to other matters. I do, however, talk to her regularly and she is a very dear friend of mine. Alot of her fantasies are derived from books that she's read and her list of books she has read and wants to read possibly soon, is very long. For example, the moment I mentioned about cruises, she gives me such a detailed explanation of what goes on onboard, that I was floored. She provided me with references from different kinds of novels and how the main characters spent their time on these 'wicked boats'... Perhaps maybe her imagine runs wild a little too much. Regardless, I love her all the same.

On a side note, travel costs don't mean much to me. I'm 20 and working right now and have managed to save up money for my university tuition. The cost of this trip is going to be coming out of my pocket. I do however, not want it to be too pricey. I still have to pay the bills. Lets just say I'm willing to spend about 2000-3000. The length of the trip would be from a week to two weeks.

Hive-Mind, help me find alternatives to my plans. Or if you find what I'm planning is worthwhile, then please spill your experiences on these kinds of adventures and such you've been in.

P.S Mefite's this is my first post so please don't rip it apart

Get me from Thailand to Cairo in 3 1/2 weeks.

mrunderhill — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:51:31 -0800

I'll arrive in Bangkok on September 18th and need to be in Cairo on October 15th.. Inspire an adventure:

Get me OUT of here

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:42:42 -0800

Help me have an adventure! Ok, so I have nine days and $1200 bucks to spend. I was trying to get some friends together but couldn't arrange anything, and I kind of just want to go off on my own anyway. I'm 31, female, and just recently came out of a long-term relationship. I'm in a rut, I'm bored, and I'm sick of feeling like this so I want to just GO somewhere- somewhere exciting and different where I'll do crazy things and meet awesome new people. And possibly meet some sort of guy I can have a fling with, but that's not required. So as you can see, my expectations are low :) .

This'll be happening pretty soon- the second to last week of August- so I'm looking for last minute ideas. I'd love to go somewhere exotic, but money is a factor and long travel time will cut into actual vacation time. I'm asking you guys because I'd love to get some ideas that aren't things I'd come up with myself.

Oh, and I did see this thread, but it was really UK-centric and the parameters are different from what I'm looking for. I'm in NYC.

Thanks in advance!