collecting countries

[+The Jester]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2020 at 9:28 AM, terratin said:

Btw, any of you travelers worried about the coronavirus in combination with your plans? So far there's no travel warning/cancellation, but I might eventually have to cancel my trip to Tokyo. Anyone else in the same boat?

We just found out our May tour of Israel/Jordan has been postponed until 2021 due to the virus.  We were there in 2017 but were hoping to pickup a Palestine cache this time.  Travel insurance doesn't payout for "fear" so delaying was better than cancelling.

 

[+STNolan]

On 2/27/2020 at 12:28 PM, terratin said:

Btw, any of you travelers worried about the coronavirus in combination with your plans? So far there's no travel warning/cancellation, but I might eventually have to cancel my trip to Tokyo. Anyone else in the same boat?

 

Whelp our honeymoon (and my caching trip!) is basically kaput - UK, France and Italy were on the list... can't go anymore

#TravelBan

[+hzoi]

On 2/27/2020 at 6:28 PM, terratin said:

Btw, any of you travelers worried about the coronavirus in combination with your plans?

 

The nice part about my job is that I get 4-day weekends to travel.  The drawback is that my supervisors have the authority to kibosh travel in such cases.  Right now I'm only limited to traveling to specific areas, but that may change to limiting my ability to leave Germany if the CDC warning category for Germany is elevated.  It may even end up delaying our return move to the US.  So, yes, our plans are rather up in the air (or stuck on the ground, if you will) at the moment.

[+STNolan]

4 hours ago, hzoi said:

 

The nice part about my job is that I get 4-day weekends to travel.  The drawback is that my supervisors have the authority to kibosh travel in such cases.  Right now I'm only limited to traveling to specific areas, but that may change to limiting my ability to leave Germany if the CDC warning category for Germany is elevated.  It may even end up delaying our return move to the US.  So, yes, our plans are rather up in the air (or stuck on the ground, if you will) at the moment.

 

Same ship Hzoi; hope your PCS isn't delayed!

[+terratin]

On 3/11/2020 at 2:08 PM, hzoi said:

 

The nice part about my job is that I get 4-day weekends to travel.  The drawback is that my supervisors have the authority to kibosh travel in such cases.  Right now I'm only limited to traveling to specific areas, but that may change to limiting my ability to leave Germany if the CDC warning category for Germany is elevated.  It may even end up delaying our return move to the US.  So, yes, our plans are rather up in the air (or stuck on the ground, if you will) at the moment.

 

I had a chat with HR today. My Japan trip is private of course, and so far they recommend going if I feel like it as the travel warning for Japan here  is only level 1 on a scale of 0-3. We'll see how things develop. But I've pretty much decided to not go. Just hoping that the airline cancels the flight as I might get some money back then. Hotels is at least no problem. Haven't checked the trains to the airport yet. I might be able to cancel or rebook for something else. Or not.

[+colleda]

In three weeks I was due to leave for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. That's now on hold. And, a tour/cruise Canada/Alaska in June is cancelled. Time to do some work around the house for at least the next six months.

[+on4bam]

Our trip to Slovenia is "officially" still on but... Airline changed our return flight to one day later. That means adding an extra night accommodation and and extra day rental car.

However, since Belgium is almost at complete lock-down and it looks like Slovenia is a bit behind concerning the amount of infections, I guess the next few days they will take the same precautions. This will then force the airline to cancel our flights and return our money. Should we cancel ourselves now we'd probably have to forfeit our tickets. Hotel and rental car can still be cancelled at no cost. Looks we're good so far.

In any case, we're prepared. I'm sure our visit to Slovenia will not happen as planned but we'll reschedule until after this mess is over.

No risk for the two other "long weekends" away we have planned but those can also be cancelled without cancellation fee.

 

[+terratin]

I just cancelled my trip to Tokyo next week at just minor costs. Still undecided what to do. Rebook in autumn, cancel and do something else? Seen good deals to Seoul in october/november, or Philippines. There are likely more options as well. 

[+on4bam]

1 hour ago, terratin said:

I just cancelled my trip to Tokyo next week at just minor costs. Still undecided what to do. Rebook in autumn, cancel and do something else?

 

Rebook in autumn for Japan!!

Look up the autumn colors and plan accordingly . We were impressed by the scenery during our October trip (left end September for 4 weeks)

[+terratin]

26 minutes ago, on4bam said:

 

Rebook in autumn for Japan!!

Look up the autumn colors and plan accordingly . We were impressed by the scenery during our October trip (left end September for 4 weeks)

Yeah. Tbh, I could only do exactly the same trip, and that would be more expensive than e.g. flying to Seoul and see red foliage there. Still undecided

[+funkymunkyzone]

On 2/28/2020 at 1:32 AM, Vooruit! said:

 

Unfortunately, they're actually the same cache type. Look at GC2401K, the Lost & Found event you've attended. It actually says 'Community Celebration Event'.

 

But: come to think of it, I could implement some temporal logic based on the year the event was in.

 

No, the event I attended was a 10 Year Celebration, which has now been turned into a Community Celebration Event.  The Lost & Found events were a different cache type and are now the HQ Celebration event.  So there were and still are 2 different cache types, just that each one has changed name.

Edited March 16, 2020 by funkymunkyzone

[+psychpineapple]

I have a trip booked (group tour) in Italy set for July. I booked it in Dec. As of now, they are cancelling all Europe trips (Italy cancellation was a lot earlier) up to April 30th. I am reallyyyyy debating about what to do. I think the perfect scenario would be for me to re-book it for next summer. Sad but I think it is the best to do. One thing that worked out is that I haven't bought my plane ticket

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by psychpineapple

[+on4bam]

Chances are you're OK for July. Looking at the graphs and with drastic measures that are taken, things might be looking a lot better in 2 months time. As for plane tickets by then, prices may be low to get business going again or high to make up for the losses.

 

[+IceColdUK]

2 hours ago, funkymunkyzone said:

 

No, the event I attended was a 10 Year Celebration, which has now been turned into a Community Celebration Event.  The Lost & Found events were a different cache type and are now the HQ Celebration event.  So there were and still are 2 different cache types, just that each one has changed name.

 

 My recollection was that the 10 years event I attended was a 'Lost and Found Event'.  I checked an old 'My Finds' PQ, dating back to June 2019, and I see this:

<name>GC259VK</name>
<desc>10 Years! Woking, UK by Mr.Dewdrop &amp; Ten Miles Max, Lost and Found Event Cache (1/1)</desc>

The same cache in a current GPX file now shows:

<name>GC259VK</name>
<desc>10 Years! Woking, UK by Mr.Dewdrop &amp; Ten Miles Max, Community Celebration Event (1/1)</desc>

 

[+terratin]

Seoul booked for autumn. Glad I remembered there was a good deal a few days ago. Caching there looks great: just simple traditionals without masses of multies and mysteries. Nice.

[+terratin]

Btw, isn’t it time for a new country souvenir, or is this next week?

[+on4bam]

3 minutes ago, terratin said:

Btw, isn’t it time for a new country souvenir, or is this next week?

Coronia

[+colleda]

1 hour ago, on4bam said:

Coronia

Was due for release except there was a bug in it.

[+on4bam]

On 3/16/2020 at 9:34 AM, on4bam said:

Our trip to Slovenia is "officially" still on but... Airline changed our return flight to one day later.

 

It's off. Our airline cancelled all flights for the next 4 weeks. While we would only fly in 5 weeks time chances are these 4 weeks will be extended so rental car and hotel have been cancelled. Our planned itinerary file remains on the computer and if at all possible we'll make our trip later this year or around the same time next year.

Now let's hope the airline (part of Lufthansa) doesn't go belly up because of this, they were already having a hard time before this started.

 

 

[+terratin]

I’m waiting for my trip to Prague to be cancelled (the giga) but it’s still too far ahead. And at the moment I could not rebook to a good fare in September. 
 

edit: I just managed to change booking for free. Perfect.

Edited March 17, 2020 by terratin

[+NYPaddleCacher]

8 hours ago, terratin said:

I’m waiting for my trip to Prague to be cancelled (the giga) but it’s still too far ahead. And at the moment I could not rebook to a good fare in September. 
 

edit: I just managed to change booking for free. Perfect.

I have read that a few airlines are temporarily removing their rebooking fees.

[+terratin]

7 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

I have read that a few airlines are temporarily removing their rebooking fees.

exactly. That’s what I’ve been making use of for my trips in March to May. So far I’m only 30 Euro out of pocket as I accidentally booked a night in a cheap hotel without free cancellation option. Oh well, could be worse *shrugs*

[+Goldenwattle]

24 minutes ago, terratin said:

booked a night in a cheap hotel without free cancellation option

I booked an apartment for a week where it was free cancellation up to a month before. After that it became 50% of booking fee. The event I was to attend got cancelled a day into the 50% fee time. One day...bummer.

 

I went away last weekend and stayed one night in a motel. I suspect that will be my last away for some time. Found lots of caches though.

[+Viajero Perdido]

On 3/17/2020 at 1:49 AM, terratin said:

Seoul booked for autumn. Glad I remembered there was a good deal a few days ago. Caching there looks great: just simple traditionals without masses of multies and mysteries.

 

I hope you can make that trip work.  I love love love caching in the hills around Seoul.  Not to mention the food, OMG.

 

May I recommend the Insadong district to stay in.  It's very walkable, with more people than cars it seems, and great food everywhere.  And right below, the Jongno-3 station with 3 rail lines basically going everywhere.  Commuting to a hike is as easy as I've ever seen it, matched only by Hong Kong.

[+terratin]

2 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

 

I hope you can make that trip work.  I love love love caching in the hills around Seoul.  Not to mention the food, OMG.

 

May I recommend the Insadong district to stay in.  It's very walkable, with more people than cars it seems, and great food everywhere.  And right below, the Jongno-3 station with 3 rail lines basically going everywhere.  Commuting to a hike is as easy as I've ever seen it, matched only by Hong Kong.

 

Thanks a lot. This is fab info! I've not bought a travel guide yet, and neither looked at where to stay. This is the kind of info I was looking for. That district is also great for exploring Seoul, right?

 

So far my rough ideas: A day hiking in Bukhansan. Maybe a trip to Suwon (next to countries I collect UNESCO sites), or one of the gardens further north? Or the demilitarized zone? Phew.. there's so much to see, and so little time (7 full days). And food! Well, if things go wrong I'll get a full refund on the flight. That's why I was confident to book this.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Definitely, Insadong is very central for exploring; it's "temple & palace central".  Narrow streets, lots of walkers, and I'm not sure, but it seems walkers have right of way over the few vehicles.  I've stayed at Bibimbap Guesthouse (ondol style, futon + heated floors), also Top Hotel & Residence (standard but compact hotel room), both recommendable and right in the heart of it.  But there are tons of choices.

 

Bukhansan, yes, a wonderful hike with many caches, and cat, yes cats, on the summit.  Transportation might be tricky; it was lucky for me:

Quote

First of a beautiful morning for me, after walking up from the bus stop on the highway. I'd been prepared for a long wait for that bus at Gupabal Station (the internet had warnings), but it arrived the very same moment I did, and we took off immediately. I even got to sit. (For contrast, at the end of the day I caught the same bus just a bit farther north, and it was Indian-train packed; I barely squeezed in. Had I come back down to the same spot with all the other hikers, I'd have been left standing at the curb. Now what?

 

 

The highly-recommendable JSA tours are unfortunately off for the foreseeable future, something to do with a swine flu outbreak, and they can't go rounding up wildlife in minefields.  Tours called "DMZ", all that's on offer just now, only go to the edge of the DMZ and peer in, a distant second choice.  Maybe not worth the bother.

 

I'm excited for you.  Already I'm aching to go back a third time.

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Viajero Perdido
Added cat

[+terratin]

22 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

Definitely, Insadong is very central for exploring; it's "temple & palace central".  Narrow streets, lots of walkers, and I'm not sure, but it seems walkers have right of way over the few vehicles.  I've stayed at Bibimbap Guesthouse (ondol style, futon + heated floors), also Top Hotel & Residence (standard but compact hotel room), both recommendable and right in the heart of it.  But there are tons of choices.

 

Bukhansan, yes, a wonderful hike with many caches, and cat, yes cats, on the summit.  Transportation might be tricky; it was lucky for me:

 

 

 

The highly-recommendable JSA tours are unfortunately off for the foreseeable future, something to do with a swine flu outbreak, and they can't go rounding up wildlife in minefields.  Tours called "DMZ", all that's on offer just now, only go to the edge of the DMZ and peer in, a distant second choice.  Maybe not worth the bother.

 

I'm excited for you.  Already I'm aching to go back a third time.

 

Thanks a lot again I'll see what's possible with Bukhansan in due time. Cats on the summit though? Wow, I love cats!

It's still so far in the future, and I'll have to see what CV does until then anyway. But yes, I'm super excited. So odd: I was looking forward to Tokyo, but wasn't quite so excited. I also didn't have so many ideas on what to do. I've never considered going to Korea before for some reason. It just wasn't on my radar.

[+colleda]

Received an email this morning from Azerbaijan government stating that my E-Visa has been "annulled".

Our prime minister yesterday has announced a Do Not Travel advice to all Australians, which to me means international travel as we are an island.

[+bflentje]

Thank God all of the bragging about country hopping will slow for a while. ;-)

[+Gill & Tony]

My round Australia cruise was cut short and we are now back home.  We were supposed to go right round Australia for 28 nights, but we went Sydney - Melbourne - Burnie (where we were told the bad news) - Hobart and back to Sydney.  So, I didn't get the two missing Australian states (WA & SA) and I didn't get to PNG.

 

The good news is that we get a very generous compensation package which will go some way to bringing my fantasy of a 2023 full world cruise into reality.

[+Goldenwattle]

37 minutes ago, Gill & Tony said:

My round Australia cruise was cut short and we are now back home.  We were supposed to go right round Australia for 28 nights, but we went Sydney - Melbourne - Burnie (where we were told the bad news) - Hobart and back to Sydney.  So, I didn't get the two missing Australian states (WA & SA) and I didn't get to PNG.

 

The good news is that we get a very generous compensation package which will go some way to bringing my fantasy of a 2023 full world cruise into reality.

Sorry to hear that. I got my cruise over just in time. Australia and PNG. We got to land at all ports except Rabaul, where we weren't allowed ashore. We landed in three other PNG ports though.

[+colleda]

4 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Sorry to hear that. I got my cruise over just in time. Australia and PNG. We got to land at all ports except Rabaul, where we weren't allowed ashore. We landed in three other PNG ports though.

I got lucky with my cruise/tour of New Zealand in February. New Zealand has hunkered down and Oz has now followed suit, even our island state of Tasmania has cut itself off from the mainland. Anyone going there MUST self isolate for two weeks or face the law.

Gill & Tony, you can look forward to rebooking when all gets back to normal, whatever that normal will be. I've done 1.5 circumnavigations and I've run out of Oz cruise destinations.

Good luck y'all up north. From what we're seeing in our media methinks you have a rough road ahead. Washy, washy, washy.

[+terratin]

6 hours ago, bflentje said:

Thank God all of the bragging about country hopping will slow for a while. ;-)

oh come on! I would have changed the name of this thread if I could, but let everyone play as they like. Some ‘brag’ about climbing caches or doing 24h powertrail caching, others combine their hobby of travelling with caching. Why not.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

6 hours ago, terratin said:

13 hours ago, bflentje said:

Thank God all of the bragging about country hopping will slow for a while. ;-)

oh come on! I would have changed the name of this thread if I could, but let everyone play as they like. Some ‘brag’ about climbing caches or doing 24h powertrail caching, others combine their hobby of travelling with caching. Why not.

 

I've been participating in this thread since it was created and have read all 39 pages of posts.  I've never thought of any posts here as bragging even though I'm envious of those that are able to travel more frequently than I (especially those that live in Europe).  

[+terratin]

5 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

 

I've been participating in this thread since it was created and have read all 39 pages of posts.  I've never thought of any posts here as bragging even though I'm envious of those that are able to travel more frequently than I (especially those that live in Europe).  

 

Yes, I know You're one of the regulars here.

Anyway, no traveling at the moment. Movement is not yet restricted here (just a note to keep a distance to people) but there's only so much I can do. So .. I guess it's time to get into puzzle solving again

[+on4bam]

Belgium today closed it's borders. Police is stopping people driving to the coast even if they have a second home there.

No non-essential movements. No new countries for a while.

[+Crazedllama]

On 3/17/2020 at 4:49 PM, terratin said:

Seoul booked for autumn. Glad I remembered there was a good deal a few days ago. Caching there looks great: just simple traditionals without masses of multies and mysteries. Nice.

Seoul has great caching. Hopefully things with the virus clear up and borders start opening up again. Before you come, if you want to send me a message I can give you recommendations on some of the best caches in the area. 

Namsan in the center of the city and following the path of the three virtuals is what most tourists do. I've set up the first Adventure Lab in the city in a nice historic district too. There's so much in Seoul to enjoy. Seven years in and I'm still finding new and amazing places.  

[+Crazedllama]

On 3/19/2020 at 4:17 AM, Viajero Perdido said:

Definitely, Insadong is very central for exploring; it's "temple & palace central".  Narrow streets, lots of walkers, and I'm not sure, but it seems walkers have right of way over the few vehicles.  I've stayed at Bibimbap Guesthouse (ondol style, futon + heated floors), also Top Hotel & Residence (standard but compact hotel room), both recommendable and right in the heart of it.  But there are tons of choices.

 

Bukhansan, yes, a wonderful hike with many caches, and cat, yes cats, on the summit.  Transportation might be tricky; it was lucky for me:

 

I'm excited for you.  Already I'm aching to go back a third time.

 

Agreed, Insadong has a great cache too with all the touristy stuff anyone would want. Most of the area is off limits to cars, not sure why anyone would want to drive through there anyway. 

 

I know you hiked Gwanaksan too, did you see the cats there? Actually, cats are on most mountains in Korea. I always found that interesting too. 

 

Next time you come back let one of the locals know and we can try showing you some more remote mountains or regions in the country. 

[+terratin]

2 hours ago, Crazedllama said:

Seoul has great caching. Hopefully things with the virus clear up and borders start opening up again. Before you come, if you want to send me a message I can give you recommendations on some of the best caches in the area. 

Namsan in the center of the city and following the path of the three virtuals is what most tourists do. I've set up the first Adventure Lab in the city in a nice historic district too. There's so much in Seoul to enjoy. Seven years in and I'm still finding new and amazing places.  

thanks a lot  s. Korea seems to be on the right path at the moment, but Europe is nowhere near that. 
 

@on4bam I don’t understand that the Dutch authorities have such issues restricting movement like other countries. Yes, it’s not good for the economy, but it even took a while until they said that keeping a distance is good.

[+Goldenwattle]

12 minutes ago, on4bam said:

On a different note, we now see the advantage of (almost) never caching close to home, lots to find on foot  and by bike as "non essential" travel is forbidden but walking/biking and other "exercise" is encouraged.

I have been checking out that myself locally. I have found most near me, but if I limited myself to a walk or cycle to one a day, I might be able to manage a cache a day for a couple of weeks. And get exercise.

 

[+terratin]

1 hour ago, Goldenwattle said:

I have been checking out that myself locally. I have found most near me, but if I limited myself to a walk or cycle to one a day, I might be able to manage a cache a day for a couple of weeks. And get exercise.

 

I’ve not cached much in my immediate area, and there’s a fair bit of varied (for Dutch) nature around, 2km max get cycling out of town. That’s not too bad if I get desperate.

[+Goldenwattle]

1 hour ago, on4bam said:

That's what you get living where you are

This is a 5Km radius (almost) centered om my location. On Wednesday we biked to the area on the right edge (40Km tour) and last Sunday we walked the area just outside the circle along the river (16Km).

 

Here is a 5km one where I live. As can be seen I have been busy, but there are still a few caches to find. Mind you, there a horrible hill to get over to go south.

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by Goldenwattle

[+barefootjeff]

41 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Here is a 5km one where I live. As can be seen I have been busy, but there are still a few caches to find. Mind you, there a horrible hill to get over to go south.

 

This is my 5km circle, excluding my own caches.

 

 

There used to be a lot more in the built-up areas but one by one they disappeared. Some good memories from my early days of caching.

[+terratin]

Well... this is just inside of town. Lots to do ?

i just came back from a 20km hilly forest hike with a 21 stage multi and 4 other caches. Might have been a new community as well.

[+colleda]

I was watching Al Jazeera news this morning and they were reporting that Qatar has closed its borders. I was due to fly (in two weeks) to Azerbaijan via Doha, Qatar, on a Qatar Airways flight. The planets definitely weren't lining up.

[+Viajero Perdido]

22 hours ago, Crazedllama said:

I know you hiked Gwanaksan too, did you see the cats there? Actually, cats are on most mountains in Korea. I always found that interesting too. 

 

Yes, on various mountains including Gwanaksan.  (Hard to believe I've been up that one three times!)  I followed one cat into its bunker (as I'm sure you know, Korean mountains have pillboxes in good repair) and found a dish each of water and cat food.  Ah good, I figured people were looking after them.

 

22 hours ago, Crazedllama said:

Next time you come back let one of the locals know and we can try showing you some more remote mountains or regions in the country. 

 

Thank you!  Invitation tucked away somewhere safe.  Hmm, I wonder if it'll be safe to travel, say November?  Great month to be in Korea.  Already I have some geo-friends interested in joining me, whenever it might happen.

[+terratin]

5 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

 

Yes, on various mountains including Gwanaksan.  (Hard to believe I've been up that one three times!)  I followed one cat into its bunker (as I'm sure you know, Korean mountains have pillboxes in good repair) and found a dish each of water and cat food.  Ah good, I figured people were looking after them.

 

 

Thank you!  Invitation tucked away somewhere safe.  Hmm, I wonder if it'll be safe to travel, say November?  Great month to be in Korea.  Already I have some geo-friends interested in joining me, whenever it might happen.

 

My trip is also booked for end of October/ early November. I can fortunately change or cancel the flight if needed. Lets see what happens until then, right?

[+terratin]

I have one small trip coming up this week, to Helgoland in Germany. Not a new country, but at least a new federal country and up to three new counties. And up to 11 EarthCaches and the chance to see some lovely red sandstone.

[Darwin473]

Nice! One of the advantages of living in Europe.

 

Here in Australia it's a bit harder to get to other countries since there aren't any you can just drive to. It's pretty much flights to get anywhere, or get on a cruise. Unless you buy your own boat, but I don't think I can justify spending that kind of money for Geocaching.

 

Or maybe...  

[+terratin]

43 minutes ago, Unit473L said:

Nice! One of the advantages of living in Europe.

 

Here in Australia it's a bit harder to get to other countries since there aren't any you can just drive to. It's pretty much flights to get anywhere, or get on a cruise. Unless you buy your own boat, but I don't think I can justify spending that kind of money for Geocaching.

 

Or maybe...  

 

I totally get you! I'd not want to live in a huge country where you have to fly to get anywhere. I looked at this from various angles, and figured I can do this trip despite covid. I'd not want to get on a plane at the moment though.