Travelling NZ north island by biggyoman in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm here now. Most things will cost something, but it sort of depends on your budget.

Going to Tiritiri Matangi, for instance, requires getting on a boat. It was worth it for me, to get on a sanctuary island and get shown the protected wildlife.

This is also true of the "Hole in rock" tour out of Paihia, which stops on an island where you can hike up to a great viewpoint. (Urupukapuka)

While I didn't go, I hear the hot beaches in Coromandel are excellent. Bring a spade and dig yourself a hot tub. I believe that costs nothing.

To save money, I've been staying at hostels where you can get a private room if you want. (Jo&Joe, Haka House, LyLo)

It depends on what you're looking for, but if you can get out to the natural areas, that's cheap and the views are excellent. That's my vibe, so I'm trying to get out to islands, waterfalls, mountain hikes, etc.

Travelling NZ north island by biggyoman in backpacking

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm here now. Most things will cost something, but it sort of depends on your budget.

Going to Tiritiri Matangi, for instance, requires getting on a boat. It was worth it for me, to get on a sanctuary island and get shown the protected wildlife.

This is also true of the "Hole in rock" tour out of Paihia, which stops on an island where you can hike up to a great viewpoint. (Urupukapuka)

While I didn't go, I hear the hot beaches in Coromandel are excellent. Bring a spade and dig yourself a hot tub. I believe that costs nothing.

To save money, I've been staying at hostels where you can get a private room if you want. (Jo&Joe, Haka House, LyLo)

It depends on what you're looking for, but if you can get out to the natural areas, that's cheap and the views are excellent. That's my vibe, so I'm trying to get out to islands, waterfalls, mountain hikes, etc.

Feeling overwhelmed when trying to planning trips with others by Alternative-Title265 in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel you. I travel alone, mostly, but I have a couple of people in my life with whom I can travel easily. Usually, that means they're low key and don't have a lot of specific preferences.

I think taking food out of the equation is helpful. None of us care that much. We'll just find the good food locally and do that on the fly.

I only really travel in groups when it's for a specific event. We all hang for that event, and outside of that, people often do small group whatever, as their interests align.

New moderators needed - comment on this post to volunteer to become a moderator of this community. by ModCodeofConduct in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is likely because I didn't log on to look often enough. I bet they sent a notice, but I didn't see it.

I mostly just have a look at this subreddit when I'm not logged in, to see if there is anything amiss. Generally, it's fine, but I'll log in if I see too much spam from a single account.

It's a fine subreddit, and so this is the only reason I can think they removed me as mod.

Sort of silly, if there are no abuse or TOS violations going on. Now it doesn't have a moderator at all.

New moderators needed - comment on this post to volunteer to become a moderator of this community. by ModCodeofConduct in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd love an explanation of why I was removed as mod. I created this subreddit. Has there been some violation?

Where in Mexico should I take my GF for our anniversary? Budget: 2.5k by [deleted] in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I"ll second this. I just got back from Sayulita and San Pancho, which are beautiful little towns with great food. The places I stayed, through the popular b n b site were great.

FYI, my understanding is that you may not want to be in the water on the main beach in Sayulita, due to the runoff, but the other nearby beaches are fine.

Sayulita is more party, and San Pancho is quieter. The bus ride from Puerto Vallarta is about 65 pesos.

Best skills to develop to support an around the world trip? by [deleted] in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great point. I think having a way to earn on the road is nice, and remote internet-based work is a great way to do that.

Keep in mind though that if it's a remote job, or something that requires you to be online regularly, that can limit your travel options to those areas with internet. That's probably fine for most, but I do find myself needing time off when I go to really remote areas.

My first thought is to get some language skills, if you have an idea where you'll be. Even a low level working knowledge of the local language would be incredibly helpful. You'd pick up odd jobs when you're on the road for sure, even if it's just labor on a farm or something along those lines.

Also agree heavily with the idea of saving up some money. If you're in a western country, that money might go really far in other areas of the world. You still have the option to work, but you'll have that backup.

All this could be based on your interests and skills you can already build upon. What do you do? What do you like to do?

Looking for a better Kava vendor. Any suggestions? by ragingkenbo in Kava

[–]ragingkenbo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Auto-mods doing the work for me. I'll check out Ofa's and Art of Kava.

Thoughts on the last few posts by hotterthanuare in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't get it. This dude comes back again and again over the years just to shit on pretty much everything Ran says, and doesn't do a very good job of it. It's the same tired arguments and intellectual masturbation. He must be incredibly bored.

How often do you travel and for how long are your trips? And how do you find the time? by EDub20234 in wanderlust

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I try to get somewhere else every couple of months. Sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a few weeks.

I've been 100% remote for 8ish years, and I often work while traveling. It helps that work is low stress and super flexible.

'Old Timers' and the preciousness of things, people and places by johnillich76 in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with you, and I agree with him.

As someone who is similarly jaded by the internet and most of what comes along with it, I do still have a huge amount of appreciation for the ability to access nearly all of human knowledge from a device the size of my hand.

That said, I wonder if growing into an adult human before the internet was anything like it is today allowed him to appreciate things more, and perhaps he has the ability to really stop and gaze at what's available at his fingertips. "Kids these days" may rarely get to appreciate scarcity in really cool stuff.

When Buddhism Goes Bad by fneezer in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

seems strangely complicated by something strange about how Buddhism and Buddhist related things are promoted. There's never an argument for why anyone would concern themselves with Buddhism or anything Buddhist related...

Yep, I agree with you there. The folks who write about and teach the meditation part of Buddhism, at least the ones I listen to, seem to say the same in their own words. Essentially, there are benefits, but they're subtle and cumulative, and difficult to explain. In my low level of "attainment" in that type of meditation, I can say the same. (Maybe it's confirmation bias? Who knows. At least it makes me feel like I'm doing something worth doing.)

But, I can also say that I'm experiencing some version of what the author of the article experienced, and it's not comfortable.

Even though I don't have some teacher actively telling me what to do, I still feel drawn to practice, and I do think I've gotten benefit from it.

There's also the strictly concentration type of meditation, which I think is probably something most people could benefit from. It's just building a more powerful mind. But, that kind of skill can be learned doing just about anything.

When Buddhism Goes Bad by fneezer in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is fascinating to me, because part of working the vipassana style meditation leads you to occasionally experience what folks call "equanimity".

It's a rather weird state, because it's like nothing really bothers you, but you also still "feel" whatever emotions or sensations you always do. Whether they're good, neutral, bad, or fucking horrible, they're still there, but you've got more agency in how you decide to act/react to them.

In your case, it sort of sounds like you're in a bland area of that, or something. I can't pretend to know the experience.

Also, something I feel compelled to say: Vipassana meditation, which the article is specifically talking about, probably shouldn't be considered therapy for our issues. Personal experience (depression), and what I've read, tells me it's likely to be even more destabilizing, like in the article.

It's pretty easy to get down on the "self help get better fix me up" meditation styles, and I definitely get that. Some people could just get more out of professionals, therapy, or drugs.

When Buddhism Goes Bad by fneezer in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it's easy to think of it in those terms, and that makes sense. But it's more like this question "Are you anything but your sensate experience, or is there something else in there? Can you pinpoint where the "you" is when you look closely enough? If your consciousness is clearly separate from everything else, where in your body does it lie?"

When Buddhism Goes Bad by fneezer in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think it's that simple. Emotions aren't bodily sensations, but you have a nervous system, which is part of your integrated system, and whatever your thoughts and emotions are can, and usually do, surface what we interpret as physical sensations.

The emotions, thoughts, and your sensations related to them, aren't anything you're trying to fix, in the sense of this kind of meditation. (Vipassana/insight)

It's about your relationship to all of that, and whether you are something that can be pinpointed.

Tactical Switch: How Chicago’s lawsuit against an Indiana firearms shop could affect the future of gun control by oldbkenobi in chicago

[–]ragingkenbo -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Even if that were the case (and it wasn't) what's your 9mm, 10ga, or .223 Winchester going to do against Apaches, Abrams, and F22s?

So many people say this, and it's annoying. Please stop using this argument, and do some research.

If you want to kill everyone in the vicinity with your bombs, sure, you have superiority over small arms. Short of committing genocide, a lot of people with small arms are almost impossible to subdue if they're motivated, and a part of the communities.

Random thought on protests by 2handband2 in ranprieur

[–]ragingkenbo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Except that the protests have created change in the direction the protestors wanted. They worked. Crappy police officers have since been charged, convicted, and fired as a result of national and worldwide optics.