Hi Everyone. I just found this site and thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself. I've had the pleasure of visiting Scotland, Wales, England, France, Amsterdam and Norway. I'm not sure what our plans are for this summer yet but we're thinking of visiting Maine for a week. I'm looking forward to learning more from this site.

Tracey

Welcome Tracey! Half the fun of travelling is trying to decide where to go next! Lots of advise & ideas can be gained from this site.

Enjoy, Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Jetbuny1: I'm looking forward to learning more from this site.
Tracey

As are we looking forward to learning from your travel experience. Welcome to Slow Travel, Tracey. We hope to meet you often here.

Another Tracey.....and spelled right too Welcome to Slow Travel, there's so much wonderful information here!!

quote:

Originally posted by Jetbuny1:
Hi Everyone. I just found this site and thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself. I've had the pleasure of visiting Scotland, Wales, England, France, Amsterdam and Norway. I'm not sure what our plans are for this summer yet but we're thinking of visiting Maine for a week. I'm looking forward to learning more from this site.

Tracey

Hey I live in Maine!!! You are always welcome!

Hello Tracey and welcome to Slow Travel.

My folks lived up in Maine before I was born and I've always been interested in it. Summer sounds like a good time to go. I'll be interested in hearing more of your plans.

Welcome, always nice to see another SoCal person in the group.

Marcia

Welcome. I was a newcomer last year, and finding this board made all the difference to us in planning our trip to Italy. This May, we're going to France. And, like FriendsofFiesole, we live in Maine. We have a summer home in the midcoast area, and also inherited my grandmother's cottage in Boothbay, which we rent out. If you want any advice about good places to go and see in Maine, post on the board that covers North America, and I'm sure several of us will be glad to chime in. Or, if you would like to communicate diectly with me, just post on the baord and I'll send you my e-mail address.

Thank You everyone for the warm welcome!!

Marcia B. I drive through Pasadena everyday on the 210. We're neighbors.

As for Maine, I have a reservation at The Maine Idyll near Freeport. (any comments on this place?) We have reserved cottage 13 and will arrive on August 13 and we plan to stay there for one week. (i subscribe to a cat listserv and several of us are meeting here for the weekend.)

I'm thinking of driving to Nova Scotia for a few days or??? I'm not sure of our final plans yet. Except for airports, I've never been to the east coast so I welcome the opportunity to do some exploring.

Another thought we have is to enjoy our week in Maine and spend the next two weeks driving cross country back to So. Cal. We've also thought about visiting other states near Maine and flying back home. At least I have some time to make plans.

Tracey (spelled the right way!)

Freeport is a major shopping outlet town,as well as the home of LL Bean. It's not all that pretty or typical of Maine, but you'll have plenty of other nearby towns to explore.

I'd recommend going to some of the nearby areas such as Bath (great maritime museum and nice old downtown), Popham Beach State Park, Reid State Park, and the city of Portland, which has a wonderful old down town area, with nice shops, restaurants, etc. Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, and the Pemaquid peninsula are other really nice dstinations to explore that aren't far from Freeport. South of Portland are a lot more beaches too.

If you only have a week, Nova Scotia is quite a long drive from Freeport, which is in the southern part of the state. There is a high speed ferry that leaves from both Portland and Bar Harbor. You might take the ferry from Portland on the way up, then to Bar Harbor on the way back, which would allow you to perhaps spend a day or so seeing Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, and then drive back down from there.

The interior parts of the state (lakes, mountains) are also lovely, and perhaps not as visited by summer tourists. We ourselves live in Bangor (middle part of the state, closer to Bar Harbor), but have a summer home in the Pemaquid area, and have lots of family all around the state, including in and around Portland.

Maine is great!!!! I'm a mountain girl!

Thanks for the response, pemquid. I have many outlets nearby my home so I don't plan to do all that much shopping while in Maine. I'm going to Freeport to meet people I've been corresponding with, for years, on-line.

Thank you for suggesting other places to visit. This is the information I'm seeking.

As for Nova Scotia, we would possibly visit there after our week in Maine. We will have 3 weeks total so we have time to explore other places. I wasn't thinking of a day trip from Freeport to Nova Scotia. The ferry sounds like something to look into as I've enjoyed ferry travel in the past.

Regards,
Tracey

Thanks FriendofFiesole,

I'll be staying in Freeport for a week. What places would you recommend for a visit that are near (within one hour or so) of Freeport.

Regards,
Tracey

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quote:

Originally posted by FriendofFiesole:
Maine is great!!!! I'm a mountain girl!

New and rude

Hi Doru,
I am a newby, but I did not know I was supposed to introduce myself first before joining in some of the discussions.
I feel very rude, as though I had crashed a party and squeezed myself in the dinner table, all without saying hello !
I should introduce myself: I am new. Live in Paris. Love the idea of Slow Travel. In fact, have been practising it all myself without knowing it. (Proudly,) have never joined an organized tour. Which brings me to my first question: Is this the slowtrav forum really? Seems so many messages are about ligtningfastwhistlestoptrav. Did I sign on to the wrong forum?
Another thing that confuses me is the "ranking". What is the difference between the titles "Traveler" and "Slow Traveler"?
If I am not in the wrong forum, I look forward to sharing info in the future with others re all the slow trav possibilities - short driving days, trains, boats, elephants, etc.
I like ST travel reports very much, and have often verified certain addresses according to your reports, and have referred friends to them.
Again, sorriest about my rudeness.

Best, N

quote:

Originally posted by Americana in Parigi:
I am a newby, but I did not know I was supposed to introduce myself first before joining in some of the discussions.

Dear N, we are glad to see you a Slow Travel member regardless of the forum in which you make your debut. It seems you are already a convert, so the rest is going to be easy: love your keyboard and be present often in the forums!

To your questions:

Slow vs Fast: Indeed, we do think that the slow travel is the best travel. But we don't close the door on any other option. Some fast travellers become slower once they have seen that there are better options. Some fast travellers have really no other option for a specific trip. But all are entitled, in the civil spirit of our community, to ask and to be answered to the best of our ability, and they are entitled to answer where their own travel experience can help others. It is really a member's choice to participate in those discussions which have interest for the member or where the member can contribute. Ergo, you signed up with the right people. With some luck you may even find somebody with whom to share views on Slow Elephants !

Rankings:
A New Member becomes a Traveler after 10 posts, a Slow Traveler after 100 posts and starts accumulating stars after 500 posts (one star), 1000 posts (two stars) and after 1500 posts (three stars).

There is also the option of Premium Membership.

If you haven't done so yet, it might be a good idea to read here and here.

Helo frenda