More vacation time than I can shake a stick at

August 3, 2005 8:52 AM

I need to use 5+ weeks of vacation before the end of the year. What should I do?

My company was bought last year and I was able to carry over the three weeks of PTO I had at that time and I've earned four additional weeks. I've managed to squander a week, leaving me with six. I can only carry over one week this year. I'm determined to use my vacation time and have some fond memories/cool stories to show for it.

I'm open to flying or driving, possibly even a train trip. I'm thinking of renting a car and taking off like I did when I was 22 (was that really 13 years ago??). The PNW via AZ, NV, CA sounds like it could be fun.

But I'm curious, are there things going on this late summer/fall that I might want to do instead? Bonus points for queer friendly locales/events.

posted by FlamingBore to Travel & Transportation (25 answers total)

I'm jealous. If it were me, and this is a bit different than what you propose, I'd go to an intensive language course somewhere in South or Central America. But that's cause I really want to learn Spanish, and that seems like the best way to do it. Take a month long course, and then maybe travel a bit.
posted by OmieWise at 9:10 AM on August 3, 2005

You could head up to BumberShoot for a few days. I bet you could easily find a way to then spend a few weeks in Canada.
posted by cmonkey at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2005

Bumbershoot (a huge arts and music festival) in Seattle is always a good time.
posted by Staggering Jack at 9:14 AM on August 3, 2005

D'oh!
posted by Staggering Jack at 9:15 AM on August 3, 2005

Drive to Alaska and back. That will eat up the time... plus it is amazing up there...

Or take a tour of a bunch of the National Parks. Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, Yosemite, etc...
posted by kashmir772 at 9:17 AM on August 3, 2005

Go to Burning Man and/or leave the damn country! Spring in New Zealand, Australia, or Buenos Aires? Maybe some tropical SE Asian adventures. A month is just enough time to get yourself into the right kind of trouble. I wish you luck!
posted by redteam at 9:23 AM on August 3, 2005

Yes. Go to Burning Man. Then spend a week in San Francisco afterwards, hanging out with the new friends you made on the playa. It may change your life.

Then, either rent a car and drive up to Vancouver, or fly out to Hawaii, or go overseas.

On the other hand, if heat and dust and naked hippies/punks/hipsters/goths/geeks and explosions and all sorts of crazy sparkly arty stuff in the desert isn't your thing, you could even just nip over to Europe and bum around there for a month. Stay in hostels, catch public transport everywhere. You'll meet a lot of fun people and have experiences you'll carry with you for a lifetime. Not too expensive, either.

Or go to Central or South America. Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile ... wherever.
posted by 5MeoCMP at 9:29 AM on August 3, 2005

Or you could have 4 to 3 day workweeks for the rest of the year. Use the extra day to work on a hobby, take a class, or just relax.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:31 AM on August 3, 2005

if you're a cyclist, take a bicycle tour either solo or with some friends, in the northwest, southwest, or somewhere in central america. you will never, ever forget it.
posted by yonation at 9:38 AM on August 3, 2005

South East Asia, go in October at the end of rainy season and come back in November, just before all the holiday tourists show up.
posted by furtive at 9:42 AM on August 3, 2005

Response by poster: Keep the ideas flowing everyone!

I've considered Burning Man as an experience, but have more or less concluded that it's not for me. At least not solo.

robocop is bleeding: I've noted that and decided against that just because I haven't had a *real* vacation in years.

Also, I'm interested in staying domestic at this time.
posted by FlamingBore at 9:46 AM on August 3, 2005

This is way out in left field, but all Benedictine monasteries are required to host travelers (IIRC). You can contact the Guest Master for St. John's in Minnesota for a short stay (say 3-5 days) for a nominal fee ($15/day or so). This will get you a room, board, and several days of monastic contemplation of life.
posted by unixrat at 9:59 AM on August 3, 2005

Even after previewing, I forgot to include the email address and link:
[e-mail]
and Small explanation of retreat.

This has been highly recommended by friends of mine.
posted by unixrat at 10:01 AM on August 3, 2005

Domestic meaning just continental US, all 50 states and/or territories, and/or Canada? I know we Canadians seem foreign, but you usually fly out of domestic terminals to get here, so I'm wondering where you draw the line, so to speak. I have lots of ideas but many of them include cross-border trips, so let me know if you're interested in them!
posted by fionab at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2005

Roadtrip, roadtrip, roadtrip. I think your NM/NV/CA/PNW idea sounds great, personally - I've driven cross-country a couple of times and loved that portion. And very gay-friendly, of course. Make sure to get Vancouver in there, it's beautiful.

If you like national parks, you could hit Red Rocks, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Yellowstone etc on the way. Since you're based in NM, I assume you've already been to the Grand Canyon and Santa Fe, other favorites of mine.

I'm very jealous - would love to have that much time off...
posted by widdershins at 10:17 AM on August 3, 2005

(yes, I know Yellowstone is in MT)
posted by widdershins at 10:18 AM on August 3, 2005

Give it to me?

If you can take it all at once, five weeks is a great (rare) opportunity to travel far away. If I had the chance I'd head for South Asia.

As another tack, my brother has seven weeks holiday time per annum, and usually uses a week or two straight just to garden or work on my grandmother's house or volunteer for some shore-cleaning crews or something, and get tons of it done. Those are things most of us in the States with our crummy 15 days can't commit our precious weeks off to.
posted by jamesonandwater at 10:20 AM on August 3, 2005

Yeah, I'm with jamesonandwater. Five weeks, all at once, is an amazing opportunity to really get away. Not that you can't do that in the US of A, but really shaking up your day-to-day experiences (new language, smells, tastes, people, spaces, choices) is far too infrequent, and is almost impossible in your own country. Do you want to stay in the US because of financial or logistical reasons?
posted by fionab at 11:10 AM on August 3, 2005

Go to San Francisco for Love Parade San Francisco (September 23rd-25th), and catch the Folsom Street Fair on the tail end (September 25th).
And seeing as you're in the tech field, I highly recommend the Accelerating Change Conference in Palo Alto, Sept. 16th-18th, just before. It's not a do-your-job-better conference, it's a meet-brilliant-technologists-and-authors conference. Vernor Vinge, Esther Dyson, Jamais Cascio, Ray Kurzweil, etc. (See here for a discount on the conference.)
posted by mistersix at 11:48 AM on August 3, 2005

Let me suggest that you not write off Burning Man without some more investigation. If the primary thing that's holding you back (and I totally understand this) is going solo, you could get in touch with the New Mexico Regional Burning Man Network and you may discover lots of opportunities to join others from your area who are headed to the Burn. This is the 20th anniversary and there promises to be some extra amazing stuff happening this year. Followed by a trip, as suggested, to San Francisco and then points further north (Portland, Seattle, Vancouver) you'll have lots to do.
posted by donovan at 12:16 PM on August 3, 2005

Burning Man's not for everyone, and you definitely want to be there with people who are sympatico. If your gut tells you it's not for you, listen to your gut, not the Burning Bores. FlamingBore. Heh.

God (and by that I mean Epona, Celtic horse deity) knows that if I had five weeks going begging, I'd spend them on horseback. A cattle drive would be a hell of a way to see Arizona and Utah, for example, while Ricochet Ridge Ranch has some of the best endurance racers in the country, and will let you gallop them on the beach. All very spendy and not everyone's cup of tea, but since you asked...
posted by rdc at 2:07 PM on August 3, 2005

If this were me -- and I really, really wish it were -- I'd make a list of every person I'd ever thought I'd like to give a visit to in the nebulous "one of these days": favorite cousins, old friends from school, people I'd only corresponded with but never seen. Half the fun of a trip like this is planning it, so you could do so with the help of some of the many gay travel guides online and with word of mouth recommendations. You may even want to do a string of meetups along the way if you're overnighting places where you don't know anyone!

Also, like widdershins suggested, I personally loved doing a western/southwestern tour of national parks -- including Mesa Verde, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon, among others -- and considering you have such a rare wealth of time, it may be worth it. Whatever you decide, have a wonderful adventure, and be sure to keep a diary!
posted by melissa may at 7:08 PM on August 3, 2005

Yeah, cos everyone who goes to Burning Man is a bore.

Bryce, Grand Canyon, Zion are all lovely -- Capitol Reef too, which is close by; Moab, Death Valley. Lots of very impressive desert landscapes. Assuming you're a camping-type person; you may not be.

How about a musical tour? New Orleans for Jazz (and food), Chicago for Blues, New York for ... everything.

Where's the first place that rolls off your brain when you wake up and think "ooh, I want to be *there*"? Beaches? Mountains? Desert? Flowing meadows with wildflowers?

Do you have family that you'd like to catch up with? Long-lost college friends (don't stay more than a few days, they've changed and had kids).

I wish I had 5 weeks to spend again, but I think I'd have just as much trouble working out what to do with it ;)
posted by 5MeoCMP at 8:06 PM on August 3, 2005

If you like national parks

...be sure to get a pass if you will be visiting more than a few.
posted by kindall at 11:31 PM on August 3, 2005

If it were me, and I were travelling alone - as it sounds like you will be - I'd either take a month-long massage course in Thailand, a Spanish-language course in Central or South America, or go WWOOFing.
posted by hazyjane at 12:20 PM on August 4, 2005