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What is the strangest thing you have ever brought on vacation......

shorep

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Overpriced timeshare from developers who use very questionable selling tactics.!!
 

dioxide45

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Overpriced timeshare from developers who use very questionable selling tactics.!!
You brought that with you on vacation?
 

Icc5

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My wife decided on buying this specific heavy duty Dutch Oven on one of the trips when we were flying home from somewhere. We ended up having to carry it on and it was a pain to deal with. Even though you can buy a Dutch Oven anywhere she had to have this particular one. It was a cast iron Dutch Oven. I think it was 10-15 years ago and still never used. She says it was more heavy duty then she could find where we live in Cupertino,California. She wanted to use it on a BBQ pit her Father had build which now has several planters in it.
Bart
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
I love reading local newspapers wherever I go as well. I find it really gives you a sense for a place.

I also compulsively check real estate listings wherever I travel.
I no longer bother with newspapers, but I do check the local Craig's List musical instruments section for French horns -- snagged a few nice ones that way.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

nerodog

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By me, nothing is strange or unusual about French horns. But in the timeshare context, I'm sure a French horn belongs high up in the unusual category.

Sometimes when we drove to Florida for timeshare vacations in Orlando & Kissimmee, I used to bring along a French horn so I could sit in with a community concert band in Lakeland FL not far away. (I skipped it when we traveled to Florida by airline -- although I have taken horns along on flights to or from other destinations.)

Last time we drove to Orlando, I picked up an eBay French horn along the way (by arrangement with the eBay seller, to save shipping the cost). While I was at the eBay seller's location, I bought another horn he offered at a price I couldn't turn down, so during the rest of the trip I was schlepping 2 horns around with me. Most of the time, that was OK. It became problematic while we were driving around with all our stuff (The Chief Of Staff's & mine), plus our 2 granddaughters & their backpacks, plus our granddaughters' 2 friends & their backpacks, plus 2 French horns, one in a carrying case & the other just bare naked out in the air. The car was jam-packed for sure, but it all worked out OK.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
I used to play French Horn also!! As a kid it traveled everywhere with me. Beautiful instrument.
 

clifffaith

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DH collects and reads all the real estate papers and magazines where ever we go. If I loose him at the grocery store I know he'll be at the big display of the real estate papers near the exit. We even have to bring some of the 'best' ones home so he can show the house prices to our family or the guys at the firehall. :shrug:


~Diane

We also collect real estate magazines when we travel. I especially like the glossy ones for high end homes, particularly in southwestern states, where there are interior pictures too. We will stop and look at pictures displayed on real estate offices in touristy spots as well, and visit with realtors who come out to chat. When Cliff gets to bemoaning our lack of moving to the old folks home, I remind him that the realtor who saw us looking at her window display in Carlsbad told us she'd just had dinner at the OFH the previous week and her friend's father waited ten years for the view he wanted to become available. So we aren't doing so bad coming up on four years on the wait list.
 

SandyPGravel

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I shipped myself a waffle maker to Hawai'i. I left it for housekeeping. Front desk personnel were lobbying for it.

I always take a cooler full of frozen food to the Bahamas and St John USVI. My kitchen bag includes spices, knives, silicone baking mat & a digital meat thermometer that has a bottle opener(for the one who does the grilling. Not sure what's more important the bottle opener or the thermometer? ;))
 

Ty1on

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I shipped myself a waffle maker to Hawai'i. I left it for housekeeping. Front desk personnel were lobbying for it.

I always take a cooler full of frozen food to the Bahamas and St John USVI. My kitchen bag includes spices, knives, silicone baking mat & a digital meat thermometer that has a bottle opener(for the one who does the grilling. Not sure what's more important the bottle opener or the thermometer? ;))

From one who does the grilling, the bottle opener. Raw, burnt, you can eat that steak, but I gotta get that beer open.
 

mchct

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Hmm, strangest thing that we brought on vacation was a lithium rechargeable battery weed whacker. And we were flying international from Los Angeles to Asia. Yes, lithium battery removed and hand carried. The weed whacker box went into checked luggage.

Well, we weren't using the weed whacker on the actual timeshare vacation. The weed whacker was for a small house in Japan that my husband and his two brothers had inherited; unfortunately the older brother is somewhat useless/clueless for any maintenance and upkeep and even though he lived in the house full time, he was unable to maintain the small garden so the weeds were almost shoulder high and the shrubs and plants all needed to be trimmed down.

When we go for our Phuket Thailand timeshare week we usually include a couple of days in Bangkok, as well as two weeks in Japan to visit relatives there since it takes so much time and $$ to fly out anyways.

Unfortunately for this trip, it was cheaper to route and stop first in Thailand instead of Japan. So we were spending 5 days in Bangkok, then flying to Phuket for a week, flying back into Bangkok for a couple more days, then flying out to Japan for a couple of weeks, a 16 hour stop in Honolulu to shop/meet friends, and then the redeye back home to LA.

We actually stayed at three different hotels in Bangkok and we probably got funny looks when we were moving to the next hotel, carrying this 4-5 ft long box. We usually travel with only 21" carry on rollaboards and personal backpack/bag but whenever we go to Japan, there's the customary Japanese "omiyage gift" exchange with the relatives and those darn gifts can easily fill up one or two 29" checked bags! And the relatives give us and my family gifts to bring back, so most of the space is taken up although there's enough space if I want to shop and buy other interesting Japanese gadgets and cookware.

So my husband "trolleyed" our bags so that he was able to pull all the bags and I ended up carrying the weed whacker since it wasn't heavy, but the box was long!

From our second hotel, we took the BTS skyway for the short distance from the Westin to the Athenee. I remember the expression of the Athenee's doormen when they saw us walking up and me with the long cardboard box slung on top of my shoulder! They were probably wondering why my husband was making me carry the large box but when they took the box they realized it wasn't that heavy and laughed with us about it. We were returning to the Athenee for a couple more days after our Phuket week, so the Athenee kindly held our two large checked bags and the long weed whacker box so at least we didn't have to schlep and haul those onto the Bangkok-Phuket and return flights!

On another trip, we went to Oahu for a week at the Ko Olina but we've got friends there and they missed Tommy's chili. So we bought a quart and froze it and took Tommy's Chili on that trip.

And we've brought our "Alexa" echo dot on trips, as we find "her" useful but I know some people find it intrusive. We also pack a UV Steripen water filter and Nalgene bottle for emergencies, but haven't had to use it and usually just use our large insulated stainless steel Thermos type bottles for everyday use. And of course some duct tape for emergency repairs!

I think if we were doing a driving trip, I'd bring a portable induction cooker and compatible pans, utensils if our room didn't have cooking facilities.

So I guess other Tuggers have brought more strange things!
 

moonstone

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I think if we were doing a driving trip, I'd bring a portable induction cooker and compatible pans, utensils if our room didn't have cooking facilities.

We did just that when we visited Washington DC several years ago. I couldn't get a timeshare so we booked a hotel room. I packed our induction burner, a pot and a frypan that were compatible with it, as well as my crockpot and an electric kettle. I also packed a few cooking utensils, a teapot, 2 Corelle plates, bowls and mugs, some cutlery and a few spices all in a tote box. The days I left dinner cooking in the crockpot we put it in the bathroom with the fan going so the smell of our dinner wouldn't waft into the halls.

On the few timeshare stays where we've only been able to book a partial or mini kitchen I have packed my electric fry pan and my crock pot. DH thinks it is strange that I lug all this kitchen stuff on vacation, but then he doesn't complain about all the money we save by eating in our unit instead of eating out all the time!

I guess the strangest thing we ever took was 24 pieces of my grandparent's crystal when we were going to Florida not long after they had passed away. My uncle/their son, lives in California and really wanted it. Since neither of us were going to drive all that way and shipping is so much cheaper within the US rather than from Canada to the US we took the box of it to Florida to ship it from there. The box took up half the back seat and we even seat belted it in but it was worth the trouble as it all arrived safely.


~Diane
 

rapmarks

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We did just that when we visited Washington DC several years ago. I couldn't get a timeshare so we booked a hotel room. I packed our induction burner, a pot and a frypan that were compatible with it, as well as my crockpot and an electric kettle. I also packed a few cooking utensils, a teapot, 2 Corelle plates, bowls and mugs, some cutlery and a few spices all in a tote box. The days I left dinner cooking in the crockpot we put it in the bathroom with the fan going so the smell of our dinner wouldn't waft into the halls.

On the few timeshare stays where we've only been able to book a partial or mini kitchen I have packed my electric fry pan and my crock pot. DH thinks it is strange that I lug all this kitchen stuff on vacation, but then he doesn't complain about all the money we save by eating in our unit instead of eating out all the time!

I guess the strangest thing we ever took was 24 pieces of my grandparent's crystal when we were going to Florida not long after they had passed away. My uncle/their son, lives in California and really wanted it. Since neither of us were going to drive all that way and shipping is so much cheaper within the US rather than from Canada to the US we took the box of it to Florida to ship it from there. The box took up half the back seat and we even seat belted it in but it was worth the trouble as it all arrived safely.


~Diane
The crystal is the winner so far
 

VegasBella

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I now bring a large HEPA air purifier with me on vacation when I stay in a timeshare or hotel.
 

b2bailey

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I no longer bother with newspapers, but I do check the local Craig's List musical instruments section for French horns -- snagged a few nice ones that way.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
Just wondering how many of those you own -- and where do you keep them?
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Just wondering how many of those you own -- and where do you keep them?
Four keepers & a variable number of flippers, plus a few bent horns lined up for repairs so they'll become flippers.

The keepers are a Lawson 804, a Lawson-modified Alexander 103, a Lanstro-modified Conn 6D, & Yamaha YHR-666N.

The flippers currently include a Conn 6D, 4 copies of Conn 6D by other makers, a Conn 8D, 2 Yamaha YHR-668Ns, a King Eroica, a Yamaha YHR-322, & I don't know what-all.

The keepers are in my music room upstairs. The flippers & bent horns are in an open hallway right outside the music room. The Chief Of Staff does not fuss about the horns or their location. In fact, she's supportive & semi-enthusiastic about them. Maybe that's because she's grateful I'm not into something even weirder, or engaged in some other hobby that doesn't pay for itself.

The bent horns include a silver plated Conn 6D with ruined bell flare (to be replaced with screw-on Yamaha flare); a near-pristine but neglected Conn 8D with stuck slides, stuck valves, & 3 small dents; and a Reynolds Contempora with stuck slides & valves & 2 broken solder joints.

Some bent horns are also at the workshop of a professional horn fixer (former member of the U.S. Marine Band) who's currently away at a music festival, returning next month.

The pace of flipping horns has slowed because of the coronavirus shutdown -- not stopped, but slowed way down. With luck, it will pick up again once schools reopen & school band gets up to speed once again. We'll see.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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b2bailey

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Four keepers & a variable number of flippers, plus a few bent horns lined up for repairs so they'll become flippers.

The keepers are a Lawson 804, a Lawson-modified Alexander 103, a Lanstro-modified Conn 6D, & Yamaha YHR-666N.

The flippers currently include a Conn 6D, 4 copies of Conn 6D by other makers, a Conn 8D, 2 Yamaha YHR-668Ns, a King Eroica, a Yamaha YHR-322, & I don't know what-all.

The keepers are in my music room upstairs. The flippers & bent horns are in an open hallway right outside the music room. The Chief Of Staff does not fuss about the horns or their location. In fact, she's supportive & semi-enthusiastic about them. Maybe that's because she's grateful I'm not into something even weirder, or engaged in some other hobby that doesn't pay for itself.

The bent horns include a silver plated Conn 6D with ruined bell flare (to be replaced with screw-on Yamaha flare); a near-pristine but neglected Conn 8D with stuck slides, stuck valves, & 3 small dents; and a Reynolds Contempora with stuck slides & valves & 2 broken solder joints.

Some bent horns are also at the workshop of a professional horn fixer (former member of the U.S. Marine Band) who's currently away at a music festival, returning next month.

The pace of flipping horns has slowed because of the coronavirus shutdown -- not stopped, but slowed way down. With luck, it will pick up again once schools reopen & school band gets up to speed once again. We'll see.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
Sounds like a wonderful, self supporting hobby.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Sounds like a wonderful, self supporting hobby.
If I were 25 years younger, I would learn how to do at least some horn repairs myself.

Best I can do is minor repairs on instrument carrying cases -- latch & hinge & handle replacement, etc.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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