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Amazing Race style travel
No, this isn't a thread about the TV show. There's one in OMNI that I can read but not post on.
It's actually about travel. So I hope it's in the right spot. And a search on "Amazing Race" didn't turn up anything like my question. Anyway, on with the post:
Does anyone know if there's any "Amazing Race" style travel/tour available anywhere? In my 2009 travel plans I'm contemplating mileage runs to random places, and that made me think of the show. Rather than just flying there and back for no reason, I'd love to fly there and then follow some obscure clues to catch some of the local flavor or famous landmarks.
Sure, it'd be missing the cameras, and probably not a "race" without competition, but why not add on a random drive somewhere to the random flight?
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“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” -- Lao Tzu
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Imagine a travel experience that combines the the competitive element of 'Amazing Race' with doing impromptu and inventive mental challenges(not extreme physical stunts) iwith the impromptu flavor of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' fused with the current rage of videoblogging....and wrapped around a grand prize travel spree anywhere in the world for up to 40 nights, incl. air plus spending $$$.
Stay tuned, this is not a TV show, it will be YOUR vacation!
Some of my travel feels like an amazing race. Lots of flying. Little time on the ground and try to pack a lot in when I get a chance to leave the airports.
I actually participated in the Global Scavenger Hunt in 2004...finished in second place by .003% (not a typo!!!). It was an exhilerating travel experience, so much so that it inspired me to create my own team travel competition as a vacation concept....coming soon!
The Global Scavenger Hunt also had a team that was to be sponsores by Randy and FT in 2002, of which I was chosen to be one of the participants. Unfortunately, the Iraq War, then SARS conspired to cancel the trip. Did it on my own dime in 04!
Imagine a travel experience that combines the the competitive element of 'Amazing Race' with doing impromptu and inventive mental challenges(not extreme physical stunts)
Hmmm, is driving a car with a manual transmission (something the Amazing Race has actually had as a task) a mental or physical challenge? Or refueling the car with the correct fuel (i.e. noticing the "DIESEL FUEL ONLY" label on the fuel door)?
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mental= more about being creative, resourceful, interesting personality and perspectives, spontaniety as opposed to the brute speed (and strength) of the extreme 'stunts' on 'AR'.
Much more of a level playing field...anyone who has a zest for travel (and a vacation budget! )can play!
Hmmm, is driving a car with a manual transmission (something the Amazing Race has actually had as a task) a mental or physical challenge? Or refueling the car with the correct fuel (i.e. noticing the "DIESEL FUEL ONLY" label on the fuel door)?
I drive sticks (in fact I drove my first automatic car when I was around 28 years old).......then again at the exit of Edinburgh airport....I had a hard time figuring out how to engage the reverse (its the one where you have to push the stick inwards while shifting the gear)......I actually had to stop outside a security point and ask a very nice policeman ......"excuse me....I am not a total idiot BUT ........"
Second part.......PETROL ONLY (at this point 6 years of studying chemical engineering kick in ).....ok so petrol...petroleum.......both gas and diesel are part of the refined destilates from petroleum......is diesel ..petro?? ! crap! oh well......it says petrol at the gas pump....who knows wth this is........I will look it up in wikipedia later LOL
First trip to Europe had a few of those embassing-idiotic stories
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fimo
Google geocaching, I've heard of frequent travellers who take on that hobby to pass the time while on the road.
Yes, I used to do that quite a bit. (My Aquadyne handle is the same on geocaching.com). Unfortunately, it's hard to assess the quality of a hide beforehand other than by reading reviews, and when considering worldwide possibilities, that just gets overbearing.
I also used to play a similar game, "Geodashing", which involves visiting random (literally: they are computer generated) latitudes and longitudes worldwide. You never know what's at the destination.
It involved "tasks" and "challenges" and running around Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.
That looks fun! I'm actually going on a trip to WDW next week! I'll see if I can get my friends to play along. Thanks for the link!
Quote:
Originally Posted by beaubo
Imagine a travel experience that combines the the competitive element of 'Amazing Race' with doing impromptu and inventive mental challenges(not extreme physical stunts) iwith the impromptu flavor of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' fused with the current rage of videoblogging....and wrapped around a grand prize travel spree anywhere in the world for up to 40 nights, incl. air plus spending $$$.
Stay tuned, this is not a TV show, it will be YOUR vacation!
Having PM'd beaubo about what he's describing, and seeing a preview, I am beyond thrilled. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for when I posted.
__________________
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” -- Lao Tzu
I drive sticks (in fact I drove my first automatic car when I was around 28 years old).......then again at the exit of Edinburgh airport....I had a hard time figuring out how to engage the reverse (its the one where you have to push the stick inwards while shifting the gear)......I actually had to stop outside a security point and ask a very nice policeman ......"excuse me....I am not a total idiot BUT ........"
In fairness, reverse gear is the least consistent with respect to the user interface of a manual transmission these days. In some cars, you have to push down on the stick to shift to reverse; in others, you have to lift a collar to shift to reverse. Some cars with reverse below 5th let you just shift into reverse if you are coming from the left (from neutral), but not if you are pulling the stick back (from 5th).
But it seems that the "manual transmission car" task in Amazing Race is there to knock out some of the American contestants who never learned how to use a manual transmission.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfie_cr
Second part.......PETROL ONLY
Imagine someone from the US going to Italy, renting a car, and seeing pumps labeled "gasolio".
Coded crosswords, a taped message in Chinese, and a phone tip from Martin Scorsese were just a few of the clues in a European treasure hunt plotted by Richard Cohen.
BY RICHARD COHEN
The instructions I gave the kids were simple: pack light and bring your passports. They didn’t know where they were going, where they would end up, or if they would meet one another along the way. They knew only that they would need to solve a series of clues to complete a journey of eight days—with mishaps, even more.
Or refueling the car with the correct fuel (i.e. noticing the "DIESEL FUEL ONLY" label on the fuel door)?
)can play!
