HACKER Q&A
📣 hicallmeal

What do you do when vacationing abroad?


I'm currently vacationing/visiting family in central Europe and have a week left. Trouble is, I'm finding myself struggling to come up with things to do to take advantage of this opportunity I have.

I've visited all there is to visit in the country since I've lived here before and I've been sightseeing in most major European countries. I initially thought I'd visit some local tech companies or even try to visit ETH Zurich (that's the closest I'd be to a prestige university), however, the questions that always come up are "how" and "then what?". Do companies and universities even do that?

If I go anywhere I'd like to at least talk to people or get something out of it but I can't imagine how that would happen/work.

In the end it feels like the most productive thing to do is work on my computer but I can do that at home.

What do you normally do?


  👤 matt_s Accepted Answer ✓
If you've done sightseeing in most major EU countries, go back to your favorites or dive deeper into something of interest. Maybe do/see something related to a hobby?

For example I've gotten into woodworking recently but on a previous vaca to England years ago it wasn't a hobby. If I were to go back, I might look at things in museums or just old structures/furniture/architecture differently and get a different level of enjoyment out of it.


👤 tony-allan
https://www.atlasobscura.com/ is sometimes a useful source of quirky idea's.

👤 jpl56
I often travel to the same opera houses, then I always have at least two days to visit the city again.

There are new surroundings to discover, walks along the river because previous time was in winter, restaurants to visit again and have people recognize you ... and there are always new temporary exhibits in museums.


👤 inatreecrown2
I try to enjoy/experience the different aspects of the local culture, as they are different from the culture of the country I live in usually.

👤 Glawen
Relax, do some sports, read a book. It is holidays, it is meant to not do work.