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My TAM7 Experience

arthwollipot

Observer of Phenomena, Pronouns: he/him
arthwollipot
Joined
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So I'm starting to plan my trip to the US for TAM7. I figure it'll be good to start now, considering I'm really hopeless at planning stuff. I'll need some advice/help from folks already vaguely in the area.

Pardon me if I think out loud here.

I've never travelled much, and every time I have it's been organised by someone else. This time I'll be on my own.

Flights from Australia generally come in to Los Angeles. From there I can go straight to Vegas, or I can stop over in San Diego. If I'm going to San Diego, I'll regret it forevermore if I don't spend a day at the zoo. I can go through either before TAM or after. This is important because I'll need to know when I need to arrive and when I'll need to leave. It's a long way to go for a weekend trip.

Hopefully I'll be able to do the flights on points, and I'll be applying for the scholarship for the conference itself. That'll leave only accomodation and incidental expenses - you know, food and stuff. That's what I'm giving up smoking for.

There's also the possibility of the trip out to the Grand Canyon, which would be nice. And there's also Legoland near San Diego, apparently. There's quite a bit of stuff in the area.

Let me just say this - I've never wanted to go to the States for any particular reason. But if I'm going anyway, there are things that I wouldn't mind seeing.

I'll be checking up on visa requirements at work tomorrow. Getting a visa shouldn't be a problem - I currently work for the Australian Department of Immigration, which is a pretty paranoid organisation. They should have plenty of records that the US can get access to. But if I start the process now, there should be enough time to get me cleared on a tourist visa by next year.

Anyway, I thought that now would be a good time to start planning for the trip. Any input on any of these subjects from people who are in the area or have been to previous TAMs would be very welcome.
 
arthwollipot said:
So I'm starting to plan my trip to the US for TAM7. I figure it'll be good to start now, considering I'm really hopeless at planning stuff. I'll need some advice/help from folks already vaguely in the area.
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Whatever you do, avoid planning anything for after the conference. You'll be exhausted, drenched. There's something about Vegas's distances, dryness and partying that does that to people. Trust me on this! This year after Vegas I went to NY and it took me two days to recover.

Make your side trips before the conference, have the photos and stories ready to show people, and then travel back home as soon as TAM is over.

Do plan many many months earlier, because then you can find cheaper flights.
 
If you want to get the maximum part out of the TAM part of your trip, I would try to get to LV Wednesday night or THursday morning. That's the day for hanging with JREF people and seeing local sites.

Around San Diego there are also some Spanish missions, which are beautiful and interesting if you're into history. I've never heard of Legoland, I assume that is a theme park?
 
Arthwollipot, there's LOTS to do in Los Angeles (and San Diego is only an hour and a half drive from LA). But I agree, plan now.

I'm also hoping to attend TAM7, but I don't know yet if it's going to be possible. However, since I don't need a visa, it's not quite such a planning process for me...

Geek Goddess said:
<snip>I've never heard of Legoland, I assume that is a theme park?
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It's probably against some sort of rule to post these, since they're not my pictures, but I know the photo owner will give permission...

Legoland:
 

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As has been said, Vegas by itself can wear you out. We always wind up spending two nights just walking the strip, going into each place to score a few drinks and just checking out the glitz and glitter. One of my cheapo hints, (I shouldn’t post this because it is usually not crowded) but get to the Stratosphere before sunset (bring a flask if desired). Watching the sunset from the top is beautiful. Wife says its romantic but what do I know.
 
Keep in mind the distances involved.
There are tours from Las Vegas to the North Rim (a lot of dirt road!)--but schedul a couple of days for that sort of thing...
 
Don't worry much about food and drink. Continental breakfast and a lunch is provided by JREF, and there are many of us willing to pay for your drinks, even if it is only to get you in photographic situations you may regret later on. :stone028:

If by chance you find a cheaper flight that arrives in San Francisco, let us know. Plenty to see and do in the bay area. And there's a cookie shop in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco that makes chocolate-covered coconut macaroons on a stick that were a hit at TAM5.
 
Talk with a good and trusted travel agent. Going to Vegas through San Diego might be less of a pain than LAX. Los Angeles International is so big and congested it can be quite intimidating.
 
grayman said:
there's a cookie shop in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco that makes chocolate-covered coconut macaroons on a stick that were a hit at TAM5.
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....not that there's anything wrong with that! [/TAMInsideJoke]


I'm not sure what the visa requirements/complications would be for an Australian, but if you're in San Diego for a few days, a trip into Mexico to see Tijuana is fun. I did that as a Canadian the last time I was in SD, and had no problems crossing the border, in either direction.

Come to think of it, I think there were some Aussies at that conference who did this as well, so you probably won't have any problem....
 
Hey, it turns out that I probably won't need a visa at all. Under the Visa Waiver Program, so long as I have a machine-readable Australian passport (I do) and I'm not a terrorist (I'm not), I should be able to visit the US for less than 90 days for tourism purposes without a visa. Cool.
 
Art, you might be trying to cram too much into too few days.

San Diego is a great city to visit. The San Diego Zoo takes an entire day (at least).

I didn't know there was a Lego thingy there. I still have bucket-loads of Lego blocks from my childhood. Mine are of the old-school variety-- thousands of actual bricks that one can build virtually anything from. These days, the Lego parts seem so highly specialized that you can only build what is pictured on the box.

The Grand Canyon is awesome.

My advice is to narrow the scope. If I absolutely had to sightsee beyond Vegas, I'd pick the Grand Canyon over San Diego any day.
 
After seeing the Grand Canyon, I share Grandpap's opinion:

 
Well, both options are on the table at this time. I'd love to spend a day at the zoo, but I'd also love to hit the Canyon. And since this is probably going to be the only trip to the States I can afford for quite some time, I don't want to regret having not seen something. That said, there's no way I can get to (say) Niagara Falls on this trip, so I'm resigned to the fact that I won't get to see a lot of things that I would otherwise like to see. I'm thinking that I may be able to arrange most of a week, depending on accomodation.l
 
If you fly into Los Angeles, and I still live where I'm living now, you could stay here for a night or two while you do local-ish day trips, and save yourself food and lodging money.

Day trips from here would include San Diego Zoo and Legoland, although you might have to put up with me tagging along.

ETA: I hereby grant HBS permission to use any Legoland photos taken by me in any way she sees fit.
 
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hcmom said:
If you fly into Los Angeles, and I still live where I'm living now, you could stay here for a night or two while you do local-ish day trips, and save yourself food and lodging money.

Day trips from here would include San Diego Zoo and Legoland, although you might have to put up with me tagging along.

ETA: I hereby grant HBS permission to use any Legoland photos taken by me in any way she sees fit.
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Actually, I'm told that flights from Australia do not go to San Diego, so I'd be flying into LA regardless.

And if you're willing to put me up for a couple of nights, the least I could do is let you tag along while I do the tourist thing! Thanks for the offer!
 
arthwollipot said:
Hey, it turns out that I probably won't need a visa at all. Under the Visa Waiver Program, so long as I have a machine-readable Australian passport (I do) and I'm not a terrorist (I'm not), I should be able to visit the US for less than 90 days for tourism purposes without a visa. Cool.
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You beat me to it. we went to NYC last year on a passport only.
 
Yes it was, but we only renewed ours recently, and IIRC, it came equipped with a computer chip embedded in the passport. If yours is more than five years old you may need a new one.
 
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