Wikivoyage:Arrivals lounge/Archives/2023/November

Unusual Travel Quandary

For the past four years I've been stuck at home. There are two major reasons for this; surgery recovery periods and pandemic related. My itch to travel is strong and I'm now able to do so. However, I don't know where to go or what to do. Part of the problem is not knowing what is going on. The usual lists, listings, event calendars, web directories cater to demographic segments of the population who are interested in traditional vacations and standard tourism.

I enjoy meeting people and interacting while learning new knowledge. I'm a very active mature male who has a lot of interests, curiosities, thirst for new knowledge, etc. My wife flatly does not want to travel for various reasons. Both of us are very independent and, in the past, often traveled for business out of town for as long as three weeks.

I have a strong preference for travel by auto and I drive a Prius. Air travel is far too complicated, crowded, costly, etc. so I prefer taking my time driving and listening to audio books along the way. I live in South Carolina, USA and there's really not much to do in this area unless your into traditional travel, vacations, camping, etc.

Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, David. Davidvinemba (talk) 00:24, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It depends what you want. Driving from SC the first routes I'd think of would be south toward Texas & Mexico (for food & history) or North to Washington, New York & perhaps Boston (museums, Broadway, ...) Pashley (talk) 00:39, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

How much time do you have? My first thought was that there are a lot of events in DC, but DC sucks to drive to or in. I've never visited Atlanta, but it seems to be a more and more happening place, so maybe you could hang out there and go to different events and performances. What part of South Carolina are you in? Asheville is nice and has stuff going on, too, though of course it's way smaller than either of the other places I mentioned. I guess another question is how fit are you now? Do you need to drive everywhere, or could you drive to a place like DC, park your car for the duration and get everywhere via public transit, walking, and maybe an occasional taxi? Ikan Kekek (talk) 01:23, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Pashley and Ikan Kekek's suggestions. A handful of other ideas: I've found Louisville and Birmingham to be less-touristed places where I could talk to people and learn about parts of US culture and history that were new to me. The diversity of major cities (DC, Atlanta, Miami) would allow you to meet people and learn about faraway cultures without needing to fly to other countries. Universities in towns like Chapel Hill or Athens sometimes have interesting educational events and seminars open to the public. Anywhere you go, small local newspapers might have information about upcoming events that aren't oriented toward traditional tourists. —Granger (talk · contribs) 03:06, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I was just reading yesterday about a diner in San Francisco that sounds right up your alley, but that's a lot further than I'd want to drive. The kind of small-town diner where you sit at the bar for breakfast or lunch and chat with the regulars aren't as common as they used to be. They'll probably be easier to find if you drive along smaller state highways than the interstates, though.

Would you be open to making more than one trip? Try a short one, overnight but not too far from home, see how it goes, and then use what you learned on that to make your plans for a bigger trip.

Also, since you like meeting people, have you considered a train trip? You could take Amtrak's Palmetto from SC to Philadelphia, meet people on board all day (about 9AM to 10PM), and then spend a night or two seeing the historical sites before coming back. WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:47, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

New Orleans has a reputation as an interesting city & if you like country music, Nashville should be fascinating. Are there conventions that would interest you? Anything from Comic Con to a professional association meeting could be a fine place to meet people. Pashley (talk) 02:45, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Car insurance

we are looking at driving overland from Australia to the UK taking about 1 year to complete the trip.

We are unsure of,

1. what kind of car vehicle insurance we need,

2. Where to buy the insurance,

3. If there are any other suggestions regarding insurance, and

4.any suggestion on what types of road maps we should use for the journey.

Thank you.

Brad. 149.167.132.40 21:48, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Are you taking a vehicle that you already own with you (e.g., via a boat), or will you fly to Asia and rent or buy one there? What's the first country you expect to drive in, once you leave Australia?

You might be interested in reading the memoir "Herman the German: Just Lucky I Guess" by Gerhard Neumann, who did a similar drive at the end of World War II. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:38, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Your first step would be to talk to your Australian insurance agent. If that's where your car is registered, that would get where your insurance should start. Ground Zero (talk) 01:44, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Take a look at travel advises by Australian Government: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations and you will see many countries you would probably pass that have warning level Exercise a high degree of caution. This might rise your insurance costs. Even worse are levels Reconsider your need to travel and Do not travel. I couldn't find a map with colors for the warning levels but the one at the Dutch government website give a good impression (there are some small differences); the map has the following color scheme: green for Exercise normal safety precautions, yellow for Exercise a high degree of caution, orange for Reconsider your need to travel and red for Do not travel.--FredTC (talk) 05:56, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

You will likely also need a Carnet de Passages. See also Istanbul to New Delhi overland. Pashley (talk) 09:47, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]