We visit Saint Martin/Sint Maarten every winter. My gf does a trip or two with woman friends who also have husbands that stay behind. If I took another week or two I’d prefer another trip to my favorite place rather than “exploring” Europe.
Like your girlfriend, i do both. I have a week long vacation I’ve taken in the same place for 50 years, but i also enjoy vacations to new places, and do one of those most years, too. (This year i retired, and took several of those.) But my “new place” vacations are mostly with groups that I’ve been traveling with for years. A group of gay square dancers and a group of mechanical puzzle collectors. So those vacations have an element of seeing a new place, but also an element of seeing old friends.
Two of the new places i went to this year were with new-to-me-groups, though, and i enjoyed them enough that I’m considering whether to make them “do this most years” events. And I’m contemplating whether I’d enjoy one of those “see new places” cruises or organized trips.
I’ve done the Nielsen ratings twice, once at my parents house in the 80s where we had to fill out a “viewer diary,” and again a few years ago at my own house where they sent my wife and I a little pager that recorded our viewing habits.
I remember having a conversation with the Nielsen rep, who called me just to get some basic info, about how the devices worked. Apparently there’s actually an inaudible code with the show’s metadata embedded in the audio that the Nielsen device picks up and records.
There was $2 cash in the initial letter, promising another $5 each if we participated.
Most years I don’t get a “vacation”, in the sense of taking a week to go somewhere else in the world for the fun of it. (Maybe I used up my allotment taking an entire year to travel around the USA in my 20’s? and used up any remaining by settling somewhere where other people go to take vacations?)
But if I had the money and the housesitters, I’d probably go a different place each year; so I voted that way. There are so many fascinating places to go to!
On the Nielsen I chose “never had the opportunity”; but most of my life I also haven’t had a functioning TV in the house. Though an online computer turns out to have most of the disadvantages for me that caused me not to do so (if I have one, I stare at it); except that for other reasons I pretty much have to have an online computer.
I was contacted, pocketed the initial cash and replied that we do not watch tv.
We did the Nielsens with a people meter, and I answered accordingly. But rather than them sending it and us installing it, they sent someone out to hook it up.
Oh, if the initial letter came with cash, we did the same thing. I remember being contacted, and that we didn’t watch enough TV to participate, but that’s all i remember.
I’m short. If I’m at the front of the upper deck, I can see over the people below me. If I’m at the back of the lower deck, unless it’s got much more than the ordinary rise, there’s a pretty good chance that I can’t see over the people in front of me.
(I might also show up with binoculars. Which also can’t see through people.)
I did the paper Nielsen diary and supported shows I liked even if I didn’t watch them that week.
I voted for upper upper deck, but I haven’t been to an arena show since I was a teenager. I don’t listen to pop or legacy rock, at least not to the point where I’d pay hundreds of dollars to see a tiny show.
The biggest place I’ll go here is the Anthem, which holds about 6000 people. I’ve seen both Opeth and Liz Phair there. (Not at the same time!) The last couple of shows I’ve been to, I talked to the bands after and got photos with the singers.
I would love to travel to many places I’ve never been and revisit places I haven’t been to in decades. I also want to go down to the shore and sit on a familiar beach and go to my favorite restaurants that I haven’t had a chance to go to for a year. Both would be ideal.
For the vacation, I went with the same place, but that’s not 100% accurate. When I vacation (very rarely) it’s to see people not places. Yeah, I know, kind of old fashioned in a world where I can talk to friends across the nation with a full video chat on a device I keep in my pocket as the impulse takes me, but that’s how it is.
I would like to see the world, and agree, there’s an excluded middle (alternating years?) but didn’t feel unmotivated to vote.
For the record as well, we try to do cheap trips - I suspect if it was a once a year, and several thousand dollar trips which may be the implication, my answer might be different… but probably not - though the reason would change. If I’m spending a huge amount of money (for values of huge) I’m kind of conservative, and would probably want to go for a “sure thing” than something new, and find that year is the one where, as a NOT random example, the area I want to visit is a live-fire zone.
Yes, we did that one year and twice for radio.
Regarding the question of where to sit at a concert: I go to a lot of concerts, maybe 30 a year, so I have a lot of experience with this. Even though it’s the most expensive, floor seats are horrible, unless you’re in one of the first few rows. You pretty much cannot see anything. Give me the balcony every time.
I rarely go to a show, but when I do I always look at the lower/closer seats and think there is a reason for them to be more expensive, but never purchased them. Thanks for validating what I suspected!
Also the best place to watch a baseball game. First row of the second deck.
I have neither a partner nor children; and I’m sure the cats would prefer to stay home. I’m not sure whether the dog would prefer to stay home or to go, but I am sure he’d be a real hassle to deal with if I brought him, so I wouldn’t.
I took the cat on a week-long holiday last week. We drove about a thousand kilometres to a national park, and spent most days with family at the beach or hiking in the forest. She seemed to like it. Apparently she had enough outdoors time to last her a while, since she hasn’t asked to go outside since we got back.
She was with you. To an animal, a couple of weeks their person is away can seem like several months. Not being separated from you is what she liked most.
If I’m going to be sitting at a concert, I want to be able to see and hear, so front row of the balcony is best.
If I’m going to be standing, then I want to be at the very front of the venue. The sound may not be as good, but there’s the benefit of being close to the band.
When we lived in NJ, we used PATH quite often. I think I still have some tokens from both the PATH and the NY subway. Or we finally threw them out since they were useless pieces of metal.
I’ll be in Boston in September, so maybe I can add that public transit as well.
Cats vary a good deal.
One of mine could, possibly, be persuaded to like travelling, with a little practice. The other three, not so much.
I have ridden the subway in New York City a number of times, and in Washington DC once (or maybe more than once on the same trip, I can’t remember.) But I haven’t been on a subway anyplace in well over 20 years.
I’m afraid of subways; though not so much so that I can’t make myself take one if necessary.