Extended travel without "toys"

[jjquantz]

Hey all, we just got back from a month away from home, including three weeks in Hawaii. The thing that struck me was just how much I missed engaging in two of my hobbies that require sizable "toys". It just isn't practical to drag a harpsichord and a telescope along on an airplane. How do those of you with equipment intensive hobbies deal with longer term travel? I'm especially thinking about "slow travel" types who might spend 3 months or more at a distant location. It would seem to me that a 6 month stay would be a bare minimum to make shipping/renting/buying hobby stuff worthwhile. Any thoughts?

 

[NW-Bound]

My longest time away from home is on cross-country RV treks of up to 2 months. I do not see myself bringing along all the stuff for my electronics hobby (it takes up an entire room).

My RV does not provide enough room, but more importantly I do not take RV treks to play with electronics. That's for when I am home. Obviously, other hobbies may be more amenable to being taken on the road.

 

[LOL!]

I go canoeing and backpacking for extended trips, so I bring my canoe and tent (my toys) with me.

 

[Meadbh]

This is particularly a problem when travelling by air, for obvious reasons. I would like to bring my golf clubs and my Instant Pot, but that is not practical for most trips. I will be travelling with my golf clubs later this year, though.

 

[jjquantz]

This is particularly a problem when travelling by air, for obvious reasons. I would like to bring my golf clubs and my Instant Pot, but that is not practical for most trips. I will be travelling with my golf clubs later this year, though.

That's another point (or two). Golf clubs are portable - a pain, but portable.
We have taken to renting via AirBnB and/or VRBO so we can do a significant amount of cooking for ourselves. However, even when a kitchen is advertised as "well-equipped" it doesn't have the same quality pots, pans, knives, slow cooker, etc. as we have at home. Nor is it possible/practical to take our entire collection of herbs/spices/seasonings along with us.

Oh well, gotta focus on the positives of travel!

 

[Elbata]

This is particularly a problem when travelling by air, for obvious reasons. I would like to bring my golf clubs and my Instant Pot, but that is not practical for most trips. I will be travelling with my golf clubs later this year, though.

I'll travel with my "mini instapot". I wrote the company and suggested even a smaller instapot. That would easily be doable for travel.

 

[Senator]

Go with an RV and bring it with you.

 

[brett]

We only do carry on. Longest trip has been seven months. Now we do two month trips.

No room for very many gadgets, let alone anything else. We are fine with this mode of travel. It makes travel very easy.

 

[Meadbh]

Go with an RV and bring it with you.

It’s hard to drive to Europe.

 

[MRG]

It’s hard to drive to Europe.

From where?

 

[nash031]

Bike rentals, spin classes...or I just run instead!

 

[jjquantz]

Bike rentals, spin classes...or I just run instead!

Bike rentals work, I've used them - piano rental - try that for a 3 week vacation!

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

Outdoor Soprano uklulele - can take it anywhere!

 

[NW-Bound]

Come to think of it, one should have new things to keep himself occupied during a trip, even if extended. Even with an RV which I can bring along more "stuff", I found myself not having time to read many books or watch the DVDs that I take along. I am out and about during the day, and at night I sleep like a log.

The above is even more true for foreign trips. I think if I start to miss my toys, it's time to go home.

 

[Souschef]

Nor is it possible/practical to take our entire collection of herbs/spices/seasonings along with us.

Oh well, gotta focus on the positives of travel!

Google travel spices. There is a small kit of 24 most used you can buy. We have been threatening to take it on cruises because the food is bland.

 

[Meadbh]

From where?

Canada.

 

[MRG]

Canadians are resourceful, maybe you could drive to Europe? A very strong memory when I was a kid, 11-13?

My DF and I fished off Wolfe Island, Ontario. At that time there was a ferry to Cape Vincent, NY(still there), and the big one to Kingston, Ontario. Kingston had all the traffic. It was the lifeline to the island, and at that time it only ran in ice free season!

This was about 1970(?) and I was really in awe of how the island people adapted their lives to the ferry schedule.

I remember talking to a kid my age, he was excited they were going to try an icebreaker that year so people would not be driving across the St. Lawrence river. He told me that a few vehicles were lost each year and the ferry being open would be great.

Yeah, you can drive to Europe!

Canada.

 

[Ronstar]

For me, extended travel without toys is not an option. I always have my cameras and iPad with me. I have a bicycle, mini workbench, and books at the snowbird place.

The key for us is the ability to drive on extended travel, making it possible to bring toys along.

 

[Amethyst]

Buy them along the way. We just returned from an extended trip to Florida and there were adult toy stores everywhere.

 

[Danmar]

I can see the issue. I guess we got around this to some extent by have multiple homes (obviously not a solution for most people). Each place is equipped with the stuff we like. Autos, clothes, furniture, etc. Kind of like travel without really travelling? Still do several trips outside North America but these are usually only 2-3 weeks at a time.

 

[Bir48die]

When I go south for a month I don't take my golf clubs nor play golf. All my friends think I'm crazy but I enjoy doing other things or just sitting on my hind end doing nothing

 

[jjquantz]

Travel spices, I'll look into that. As far as finding alternate activities, that works well for the daytime hours, but in the winter, early sunset leaves a lot of time in the evening. So I am actually comfortable not taking golf clubs because I know that I can find a lot of other activities to replace golf. But when I have 2 or 3 hours in the evening, that's when I miss the toys. TV is not the answer, we just don't enjoy it. I did bring the Chromecast along so we could listen to our music. And I did read 10 books over 3 weeks, but even I got tired of reading after a while.

 

[steadystate]

OP mentioned his telescope. Well, there are lots of great portable scopes perfect for air travel on the market. I built my own 8" reflector that breaks down and fits in a small suitcase.

 

[Huston55]

Some astronomical societies have loaner telescopes; don’t know about Hawaii.

Would music groups do the same? Or, have you checked out musical instrument stores that might rent you a demo harpsichord?

Just spit balling here...I know nothing about telescopes or musical instruments.

 

[bhoferp]

We just rent different houses in different towns in the same area. We have a small rental storage and we just keep our toys in there from year to year. Won't work if you wish to travel hither and yon, though.