Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Stand up, dammit!

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road After Dark / On The Road After Dark – Where To Next

On The Road After Dark – Where To Next

by | 70 Comments

This post is in: 

I would hate to take away from the start of the Chile After Dark series by discussing where to go next after Paris in that post.  So I’d like to do that here, in a separate post.

On The Road After Dark - Dextrous - Paris, Christmas 2018
I had to show this photo by Dextrous one last time.

Ideas for Series

  • Pick a specific city or place, like we did with Paris?
  • Have a “Favorite City” series?
  • Have a “Favorite Places” series?
  • Our own communities?
  • Have a “Place Where I Grew Up” series?
  • A “Then and Now” series?
  • Seasonal Photos? (photos that people think epitomize a season for them or a location for them)
  • Islands?
  • Food photos?
  • Famous beaches?
  • National Parks?
  • State Parks?
  • Dramatic parks like Yellowstone or Tetons?
  • Fall Color?
  • Tropics?
  • “Where We Live?”
  • View from Our Windows
  • ‘Theme’ weeks: waterfalls, beaches, bridges, wildflowers, food, etc.?
  • Capital City one week, then anywhere in that country the following week?

Specific Places

  • Possible Cities in the U.S.: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans, Palm Springs, Lake Tahoe, Seattle (including Skagit Valley Tulip Festival)
  • Possible Cities, non-US: Amsterdam, Budapest, London, Tokyo, London, Rome, Sydney, Beijing, Johannesburg, Madrid, New Delhi, Barcelona, Tuscany, and Provence
  • Possible Places: the Alps, Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), The Berkshires, Block Island, RI, Mohonk Mountain House grounds in New Paltz NY, Victoria Falls, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Olympic Peninsula, Eastern Sierra (all seasons but especially fall color), New England Fall Foliage, Texas Hill-Country Wildflowers
  • Possible Countries: Japan, Australia, Russia, Italy, Vietnam/Cambodia
  • Possible Continents: Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand (sort of a continent)

My Thoughts after Seeing All the Suggestions

I think the best decisions are made after everybody throws their ideas out on the table, so first thing I would like to do is to thank everybody for all the ideas.

Paris is clearly a very special place that a lot of people love.  Which makes Paris a hard act to follow, like having to give your speech right after Michelle Obama has just given hers.

Whatever we do next, we want it to be open to a lot of people, I think, not just folks who have been able to do a lot of world travel.  Something really different might be a nice change of pace – so maybe we shouldn’t jump straight to another city?

I wonder if national and state parks might be a great place to go next.  Maybe 4 or 5 weeks of parks at the most, and if there are more submissions than that, we can always have a week or two of parks as a palate cleanser at the end of the current series and before the next one.  If we don’t have that many, we can play it by ear.

Speaking of ears, my ears really perked up at the New Orleans suggestion last night, and I noticed similar reactions in the comments.  Maybe New Orleans is the Paris of the US?  We could head to New Orleans after we see some national and state parks.

Somewhere around Nov 3 we will either want to celebrate, or have a wonderful distraction if things are still uncertain for awhile, or have a place where we can mourn if the worst happens.  It feels like New Orleans is a city that could be perfect for all of those things.

So what do you guys think?  Good plan?  Great plan?  Terrible plan?

I’m not sure it would work to try to vote on this, but there is a definite OTR community, and this isn’t set in stone until / unless you guys think this is a pretty good plan.

So it’s not exactly voting, and you won’t get a sticker, but please share your thoughts in the comments.

 

Reader Interactions

70Comments

  1. 1.

    Gin & Tonic

    Scandinavia? I’ve got a few photos..

    ETA: Just saw that I won’t get a sticker, so fuck it, forget I said anything. This place sucks.

  3. 3.

    Lapassionara

    I will enjoy seeing the photos from wherever you decide. I do think that picking a specific place is better than a general place. In other words, Budapest would be better than European capitals, and New Orleans would be better than picturesque US cities. We have On the Road for the general places, where travelers find themselves.

    I am hopelessly enchanted with Paris, but I have also enjoyed being in Barcelona, Madrid, Prague, Budapest, Amsterdam, London, Edinburgh, and Berlin. So let’s get started on the new place. You choose, WG.

  4. 4.

    Albatrossity

    National AND state parks would give us some familiar places, as well as some places that look like they might be worth a visit when we can travel again.

    And N’Orleans, of course, but only if we can get take-out gumbo, po-boys, and drive-through daiquiris every night :-)

  5. 5.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I have some pics of Italy I’ve been thinking of submitting, so if Italy comes up I can play. Otherwise I don’t see anything on that list I’ve got pictures of. As much as we visit New York, I don’t tend to take pictures there, and our trip to New Orleans was a long time ago, before photography was invented.

    It’s cool you mention Mohonk. I didn’t realize it was that well known. We went there a couple times years ago, before it got quite so expensive. One time was in the middle of a blizzard, and they were very surprised to see anyone actually come up the road in that storm. But again, alas, this was in prehistorical times and I don’t have any pics.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    @Lapassionara: Your specificity idea is interesting.

    Does that also apply to things like national parks, or state parks?

    If so, you wouldn’t want the generic “national or state parks?”  You would want a whole week or two fo the same park?  I wonder if that would get boring seeing Yellowstone 10 different ways in 2 weeks.

    Or do you feel that would be better than seeing Yosemite one day and Yellowstone the next?

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    I WISH I still had my pictures from Germany! There were some wonderful pictures from the cathedral in Ulm (is there a cathedral that doesn’t look stunning? Asking for a friend…) and a bunch of shots from my favourite city in Europe: Berlin. If anyone has some pictures from there, sharing would be kind.

    I can’t bring up Berlin without bring up die Eisbärn and the greatest hockey anthem ever written. Don’t even begin to at me about it.

    @Jay:

    Or with the onset of fall, and Covid, fall colours or tropics?

    I love this idea!

  14. 14.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @WaterGirl: (Italy) I have actually been meaning to, as I said. Just haven’t got around to it.

    (Parks) Yes, I’m thinking it would be more interesting as two different series but that’s just my vote. It depends on what photos people have I guess.

  17. 17.

    Yutsano

    @WaterGirl:  Lost in SO MANY moves between me and college (this was in 1995) and my parents in two house moves since. I’m sure they got packed up and left behind…somewhere…

  19. 19.

    Lapassionara

    @WaterGirl: I think I would like a series of Yellowstone photos, and also a series of Yosemite photos. I don’t think we have to have rigid rules. Some of my favorite Paris After Dark photos were from Albitrossy, of the birds and the caves. I think the nice thing of the After Dark series is that there is some kind of theme to them, for several weeks or so. Just me, one voice.

  20. 20.

    Jay

    @Yutsano:

    grew up in the Maritimes, amazing fall colours,

    family moved to BC in the fall, so Quebec, Ontario, the Lake Superior shore, in the fall, in the back of a Pontiac Vista Wagon, with a grey tick mattress, sleeping bags, and a wet dog.

    Mostly lived in BC since then,  where fall colours are yellow, brown, grey rain and the red of the salmon, but the salmon are now gone.

  23. 23.

    Gin & Tonic

    @WaterGirl: Mohonk is a wonderful 19th century style mountain resort in New York State. For people not from the area I can say Catskills, for people who know the area I can say Shawangunks. Think a luxury cruise without being on the water. There are hiking trails, there’s a lake, there are huge old stone buildings. It’s grand; unfortunately, it is very expensive to stay there.

  28. 28.

    Librarian

    Are you still accepting Paris pictures? I took some when I was there in 2017 that some might like. Sorry to be late.

  31. 31.

    frosty

    I’ll say again, I thought what worked for Paris was the number of submitters and the variety of places. So my recommendation is to stick with that theme: one place instead of “where you grew up”.

    NOLA and Yellowstone fit the bill and don’t require world travel.

    PS i have Chile pictures I’ll  go through, scan, and send if they’re any good.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @Librarian: Sure, you can still submit your Paris pictures!

    There’s already one set where someone had already sent in a first set.  We’ll run any Paris pics that come in as part of the morning On The Road, along with all the other pics.

  34. 34.

    frosty

    Fall colors as a theme would work too. I like Yellowstone because there’s so much there. Different entrances/ places, different seasons, lots of different critters.

  39. 39.

    frosty

    @WaterGirl: 62 of them! We’re trying to collect the set. I think we’ll miss most of Alaska and American Samoa unfortunately. We’ve got 10 more planned for 2021 though (COVID willing)!

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    I will check back for comments in the morning.

    I have to get up early – it’s the first day of early voting here, and I want to be first in so I can avoid crowds.  If it’s crowded or there’s a wait, I may switch to mail-in.

  50. 50.

    DaveInOz

    I’d like to see some photos of local communities – I think that would cover most of your list as the community contains people all over the world. I’d like to see where other people live and what the local sights are. I’d certainly send in some from around Melbourne.

  52. 52.

    Emma

    I like pictures of anywhere, I wouldn’t want to unconsciously signal to those who can’t travel beyond their neighborhood that they don’t “travel.” Hell, if somebody makes a trip from their bed to their kitchen and they take pics along the way because it’s that big of an accomplishment for them, hell yeah, that counts as OTR to me.

    In that vein, I’m not really a fan of country- and city-specific OTRs, because it tends to emphasize (privilege?) Eurocentricity and American tourist hotspots. So unless OTR prioritizes series on countries like Indonesia or cities like Lagos… or US cities that the media ignores, like Jackson, MS… then I’m in the “nah” camp. Edit: I didn’t think much about the natural / environmental side of things, but you know what, we need all the documentation we can get before wildfires and/or Republicans demolish them.

  53. 53.

    J R in WV

    I’ve got photos from all around. I’ll submit some whenever they look appropriate.

    I’ve been scanning old family photos — how about some WW I photos I think my grandfather took?

    Monument Valley?

    Chaco Canyon?  Canyon de Chelle? let me know…

  54. 54.

    CatFacts

    New Orleans works for me. Also just South Louisiana in general, which is rapidly disappearing to sea level rise. It’s an odd and beautiful part of the world. Never took any pictures, but I was entranced years ago when I first drove across the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge about 100 miles west of New Orleans.

  58. 58.

    BigJimSlade

    I love that photo for how it reminds me of being on the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland – it looks like you’re indoors with the night sky painted on a curved ceiling.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: You’re a Disney expert, do you see what I’m seeing?

  59. 59.

    SectionH

    Well I love lots of cities but have few photos of any.

    I don’t have many photos of towns and countryside either, come to think of it, but I would prefer some less-travelled roads and/or people’s home or current place themes.

  60. 60.

    Cathie from Canada

    Try out this website — window-swap.com/

    Its just a bunch of photos and videos that people have taken of the view outside their window or doorway.  Its because nobody can travel right now, so its a way of seeing the world anyway.

    You just click randomly and another view comes up. Very relaxing.

    Occasionally a cat or dog or bird comes into view, too.

  61. 61.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    Well, if we’re talking about interesting places, there’s a place off the southern coast of Australia called Kangaroo Island and there is an amazing place there called the Remarkable Rocks. They really are remarkable. I first saw them in the movie December Boys with Daniel Ratcliffe (Harry Potter) and was amazed. The coast along the island is similar to the California coast but then suddenly there are these HUGE sculpted rocks that are just amazing. Remarkable Rocks are really well named and I think would make an interesting On the Road.

  63. 63.

    Origuy

    I have more pictures of Moscow and quite a few of Scotland. I wish I knew where my pictures of Yellowstone and some other parks are. Probably on prints that I would have to scan.

    I made the mistake years ago of putting a lot of prints in those “magnetic” albums. The colors are all washed out.

  64. 64.

    donatellonerd

    i vote fall colors, and national parks. maybe each of the really big ones individually. (i gather we could spend a year at Yosemite, which would be fine with me).

  65. 65.

    Spanish Moss

    I would prefer we pick an entire country rather than a specific city in it. It would be nice to have some countryside and small town life mixed in with the big city and landmark shots.

  67. 67.

    Dagaetch

    I like the parks idea, however it comes out. Re cities…fine with me, but I also like seeing countryside, so maybe it could be something like a capital city one week, then anywhere in that country the following week? Just to allow a broader bit of photography. I’ll always support fall photography. And maybe we could do ‘themed’ weeks: waterfalls, bridges, food, etc.?

     

    and view-from-the-window reminds me (in both good and bad ways) of mid-aughts Sullivan. Can’t hate too much, it’s how I got here, but…

  69. 69.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Here’s what I have that I’d be happy to share:

    Vietnam/Cambodia
    New England Fall Foliage
    Eastern Sierra (all seasons but especially fall color)
    Olympic Peninsula
    Seattle (including Skagit Valley Tulip Festival)
    Texas Hill-Country Wildflowers
    Lassen, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Joshua Tree NP’s
    Northern CA Coast

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