# What I learned on my most recent European vacation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212 "2022-07-19T18:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/141 "2022-07-31T00:58:15Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > One day I hope to embark on a grand American tour and try to understand what it is all about. I would compare it to the Grand European tour of the past, a la _If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium_. You could hit the highlights (NYC, Washington, New Orleans, SF, Miami, Grand Canyon) but not see much of the actual country. That would be a few weeks time. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/142 "2022-07-31T01:12:17Z")
I’ve been trying to figure out what a European (or anybody else, for that matter) would need to see to “understand what it is all about” and the best I can do is 5 two-week trips. 1. New England/Atlantic states - base out of NYC and DC. Day trips and the odd overnight out of the city. 2. The South - base out of Charlotte and Atlanta. Great Smokey Mountains, Dollywood, Southern cooking. End with a couple of days in New Orleans. 3. The Southwest - base out of Houston and Los Angeles. Texas for food and sheer bigness. Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA, San Diego. 4. Whiplash - Hawaii, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Extend the trip a bit and do an Alaska cruise. Kayak with the orca. 5. Big Shoulders - Base out of Chicago and Denver. See what real mountains look like. See what a shitload of flat looks like. Eat Italian beef. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/143 "2022-07-31T01:17:49Z")
I wouldn’t include Los Angeles in The Southwest. If I was doing a partial tour including Los Angeles, I think a Pacific coast route up to the border…or even including BC… would be more of a logical grouping. Routing? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/144 "2022-07-31T01:18:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > See what a shitload of flat looks like. My mom’s Welsh cousins drove from Toronto to Vancouver, and then back. They made up a poem to summarise their experience: “A thousand miles of rock. A thousand miles of plain. A thousand miles of mountain. Then start over again.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/145 "2022-07-31T01:41:55Z")
Yeah, I considered that. Bounce around LA/SD, then up the 101 (PCH where possible) to SF. Redwoods, Portland beer, Seattle. But that screwed up the other groupings. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/146 "2022-07-31T05:42:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The Southwest - base out of Houston and Los Angeles. Texas for food and sheer bigness. Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA, San Diego. Earlier this year my coworker did the “German Tour” (her name for it). Even found a link to one - not sure if this is exactly what she did, but it’s probably close (there’s a picture of the route, just scroll down). > **[Wohnmobil Tour durch den Westen der USA - LandYachting](https://landyachting.de/usa_tour/?v=7516fd43adaa)** > > Einmal eine Tour durch den Westen der USA mit dem Wohnmobil zu machen, ist der Traum von vielen Mobil-Reisenden. Wir haben die Tour für Sie. She discussed this with another coworker who admitted that everything blurred together. It was mostly drive, visit a park, drive, sleep in the RV, repeat. Her visit was 4 weeks. I know a number of people who have done similar, or even bought a used car, drove it around for 6-8 weeks, and then sold the car afterwards. It was cheaper. And they all want to drive on Route 66. > [@silenus](#): > > See what real mountains look like. 😛 That’s what Nepal’s for. There’s lots of hiking oppourtunities outside of summitting Everest. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2022, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/147 "2022-07-31T10:34:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > “A thousand miles of rock. > A thousand miles of plain. > A thousand miles of mountain. > Then start over again.” I believe the Australian version is “MAMBA country” - Miles And Miles of B\*gger All. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/148 "2022-08-01T01:48:29Z")
Your best bet is probably to find some craft brewers who make German-style beers. Like say… [these guys in Fredericksburg](https://www.altstadtbeer.com/), or [these guys in McKinney](https://franconiabrewing.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/149 "2022-08-02T12:53:39Z")
What does the MOUSE in this post signify? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/150 "2022-08-02T14:41:15Z")
Not old enough to remember the Mickey Mouse Club, are we? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QNK5KzI48mM/hqdefault.jpg "Mickey Mouse Club: "Alma Mater"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNK5KzI48mM) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/151 "2022-08-02T17:21:08Z")
Woulda been clearer if it had been M-O-U-S-E. I’m old enough to remember Annette filling out and I had to think about it a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/152 "2022-08-02T17:30:36Z")
Want to spell it out for those of us who don’t want to watch a Youtube video then? What does MOUSE have to do with a DWI? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/153 "2022-08-02T17:32:18Z")
Nothing. It’s a play on the Mickey Mouse Club song and the acronyms DUI and DWI used in that sentence. M-I-C, see you real soon. K-E-Y, why, because we like you. M-O-U-S-E ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/154 "2022-08-02T17:33:02Z")
Shoulda coulda woulda. But then I would have had to use dashes in the other two TLAs, and they aren’t usually presented that way. It was a judgment call. WHY AM I BEING PERSECUTED? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/155 "2022-08-05T13:28:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I would compare it to the Grand European tour of the past, a la _If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium_. Ah, reminds me of my own personal ‘Grand Tour’ - as an 18 year old, taking the traditional [Interrailing](https://www.savethestudent.org/travel/a-guide-to-inter-railing-europe.html) trip around Europe, pre-University - one month, 7 countries, a lot of bread, cheese and cheap wine, and some very uncomfortable youth hostels. I’m not sure how much culture I actually soaked up, but I had a great time hanging out with other European students. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/156 "2022-08-05T16:29:33Z")
Yup! You start off in youth hostels and bed in an international snoring competition. Then, as you grow older, so does the number of stars you require on your hotel reservations. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212/157 "2022-08-06T19:58:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Not old enough to remember the Mickey Mouse Club, are we? ``` I was born too late for the original run, but saw repeats in the '70's, and knew the song before then. I just figured you were using an acronym I wasn't familiar with -- had you written M-O-U-S-E, I probably would have gotten the reference right away. ``` Edited to add: Hmmm, I didn’t intend for my response to be in that format. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-i-learned-on-my-most-recent-european-vacation/968212.md?page=7)