What would you do on a five-week vacation?

My friend's dad has a cousin, Carlo, who lives there. Maybe you can stay with him.

 

I'm not sure I could go five weeks. I like my job, I was off for a month when I moved out to LA and after about a week or so I was ready to go back.

 

As of right now, I'm a contractor. Which means when my contract's up in August, I have to take three months off before I can go back. Been socking away money. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do, but I won't go anywhere for more than a week at a time just because boarding a dog is expensive.

 

I took three weeks at a time a few years ago, when my wife and I went to Puerto Rico.

Now, if I had five weeks off at once, I'd probably spend it doing all the fix-it jobs at my house that have piled up over the years.

If I chose to take that time for a vacation, I'd like to take a leisurely drive through the Appalachian/Blue Ridge/Poconos, with side trips to D.C. and NYC, up through upstate New York and maybe into New England. Closest I've ever come to that part of the country are the Smokys.

Ireland for five weeks would also be nice.

 

Ireland for five weeks would be overkill.

You can easily do the Republic in 10 days, probably the North, too.

It's my favorite place, by a long shot, but that much time there would be limiting.

Mine would be a true cross country road trip. Maybe you include Canada there. I did a cross country and back drive in 10 days years ago, and even though I didn't get to soak in a lot, it was awesome.

 

This is funny. I'm on one right now. I've got about 10 days left in Brazil and Argentina...

 

Suit yourself. Southeast Asia has its nastier parts, but there's much more to like than not. The food alone is worth the trip.

If I had to take five weeks of vacation in one go, I'd almost rather spend it zeroed in on a certain location or region than racing around trying to squeeze in as many locales as possible (a mistake I've made in the past). Spain might be nice -- especially the northern part with Oviedo and Bilbao -- and I'd love the chance to linger in the Kyoto-Osaka-Nara triangle. I could sate my inner history nerd bouncing around the UK and Ireland. Then again, Hawaii would be nice to just lounge for five weeks. The Big Island is worth a week by itself.

 

If money was no object, I'd love to do a ballpark tour. Hit all the major league parks plus a few minor league ones along the way, spend a day or two in some of the cooler cities and eat lots of great food.
Or just go to Key West and spend a few days on the beach and in town with the wife.

Some years ago, I took two weeks off in one go. I needed some R&R after an extended period of pushing myself at work, and thought that would be awesome. Went back home and spent a full week with the family, plus a couple of days driving each way and doing some sightseeing.
It was too much.
Before the layoff I felt dialed in. It was the best run of work in my career. It was at the point I was finding things out on my beats before some of the primary people involved knew. Afterward, it took me a long time to get back into that groove. I just didn't feel as sharp. My mental reflexes were shot.
I swore I'd never do that again. I'll cram a few weeks into a 2 1/2-month span this summer, but never more than a week at a time.

 

The longest vacation I can remember was three weeks in 1999, a trip with the in-laws to France and England. It was really cool and I enjoyed most of it.
I came back and the next day showed up for work at the usual time, only to be told that I had to attend a meeting ... RIGHT NOW. We had very few meeting back then.
WTF, I hadn't seen the paper in 3 weeks and hadn't even logged on to the computer yet. But I followed the SE and a couple of others to this meeting.
It was the beginning of the internet stuff. I sat in this meeting keeping my mouth shut. Forty-five minutes later, I'm thinking: Why the hell am I here? I've listened for 45 minutes and I don't have a clue what these people are talking about.
Right then, the SE raises his hand and says, "I've been sitting here listening to you guys for 45 minutes and I don't have a clue what you're talking about."
I almost fell out of the chair. Wished I'd taken the fourth week of vacation.

 

If money was no object, of course, probably a cruise. Maybe one of those that starts in Florida and ends up in Anchorage.

Or just move to Hawaii for a month.

 

Moving somewhere for a short period of time? That's a thought.

My company has these things called TDY (temporary duty) where they put you in a hotel and pay for meals if you agree to work in a station for a designated amount of time. The only downside is you won't get overtime, which is the lifeblood of the airline employee.

Anyway, I think it'd be fun to put all my shit in storage for a year and just do four three-month TDY's at various places. Kinda like a vacation.

 

Guy I went to high school is a travel nurse and that's what he does. He keeps his shit at his parents house and will go from one job to the next. The company he works for provides housing, meals and a rental car.

He usually swings the Friday through Sunday shift at the hospital and that gives him Monday through Thursday off. So he goes adventuring where he's working on those days. He's, obviously, single and so he can make it work.