It took me a minute to find this topic. I searched on “travel” and it didn’t pop up.
Anyway, headed to San Diego for 5 days in November. There are 9 brewpubs and distillery/distillo-pubs within 5 blocks of the hotel. That’s not really a complaint. Maybe a lamentation.
Like, how do you schedule the panels you want to see around your pub crawl? 
If there are too many cool panels, will you have time to fit in all the pubs?
I love San Diego, but I’m pretty sure I’m still hungover from the last time I was there.
I refuse to start a career in an indusrty that doesn’t have it’s panels at pubs/wineries. /s
Let’s start a new profession that is only about cool panels on cool shit at cool pubs/wineries…
I’ve attended this one a few times, as a historian, and it is absolutely fatiguing.
I got the wrong subfield, man!
I like Ballast Point in Little Italy. If you feel like a bit of a short drive then the Stone Brewing world gardens in Escondido is worth a stop. Excellent beers at bith places. There’s a Stone Brewing at Liberty station thats great too.
We usually head out to Stone, as it’s not too far from my Aunt’s house. Not a huge fan of Ballast, especially given all the great micros around. Coronado Brewing on West Morena is near an old friend’s house, and Dan Diego’s and Harland is up the street. I’ll probably spend free time up that way.
Would love some restaurant suggestions, especially near Petco. That who area is so different now.
Getting a taste of the desert might be fun. Some people fall in love with the big empty spaces, some are overwhelmed and need to leave. Years ago, I met a guy who did 4wd tours of the desert, and said he’d given up guessing which people would fall into the “love it” or “gotta leave now” categories.
Broken Hill is an amazing town. Plenty of artists have set up there over the years because of the desert light. And if you stay a few km out of town and sit under the stars, it’s pretty breath-taking.
Uluru - Kata Tjuta is awesome, and I’ve heard good things about King’s Canyon.
And if you can time it right (and actually get tickets), and you like singing, going to the Big Sing in the Desert is on my bucket list.
Even their wait list is full this year, but that’s definitely something to put on the bucket list!
If you find yourself in Perth, with decent weather (overcast but not rainy is best), this is also pretty amazing. The dirt road portion can be rough; ride is smoothest in a 4WD. I went there on a dual-sport motorbike, which I can also recommend.
And Kalgoorlie is just as weird as you imagine. The mining museum was pretty good when I was there.
ETA: Definitely check the weather. February is the southern hemisphere equivalent of August, and if the weather wants to be “frying eggs on the dashboard” hot, it’ll do exactly that.
Will be in Northern Europe with Kiddo (young teen) end of May. The only fixed “appointment” is Stockholm on 31 May, everything else is wide open.
Most trips have focused either on visiting the Verwandschaft in the greater Hamburg area or, back in the day, were work-related in the Stuttgart/Sindelfingen area. This time we are going for ourselves, and my brain is seizing up—I don’t know how to tourist.
Vague ideas so far:
Help?
I don’t know if it’s too far out of your way, but I really loved Prague, and unlike Berlin, as you note, you can get a really good feel for the place in a day or two.
But I’m also a huge fan of Berlin. If you go, and it’s been a while, it might be worth checking out the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauerstr. They added some really compelling exhibits and features a few years ago. And the Opera House restorations would’ve been completed since your last visit. It’s beautiful!
2nd query re: my upcoming trip. I asked a while ago, but I hadn’t much of an idea where we’d be. I have a better sense now. Looking for any and all tips (fun memories also count) about these Western European spots and anywhere along the way:
Lisbon
Porto
Rec’s on anywhere to stay for a few days in the Basque region on our way from Porto to France
La Rochelle
Le Havre
Ferries from France to England (we’re thinking we’ll go from Le Havre, but it’s still uncertain)
Where to get the best kidney and steak pudding in Southampton, England.
Lisbon & Porto: do not bring wheeled luggage. DO bring shoes with very good arch support and wide stability.
The cobblestones EVERYWHERE are beautiful, but deadly.
And slippery! I think I still have bruises on my ass!
Friends who recently traveled to Lisbon quite liked Cerveja Canil. Here:
https://bier-traveller.com/portugal/lisboa/cerveja-canil-lisboa/
Good food, good beer and wine. They were in there when Portugal was knocked out of the World Cup, and if you’ve got to be somewhere, that was fun, they said.
Oh, I thought of something else about Portugal:
Not only is the wine excellent, for pennies (until recently, they didn’t export much, just keeping it all for their own use), and of course the port, but the traditional aperitif is actually quite tasty and worth trying as well:
