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How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

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    How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

    I'm looking for somewhere to spend June 14-July 15, 2018. No TV, no internet access. I was browsing lakeside cabins in Finland, but they all seem indecently well-equipped, no matter how far away they are from civilisation. I suppose few places think they can offer holiday accommodation any more without providing bloody wi-fi.

    So, does anyone have any ideas? I don't want a fucking yoga retreat or a monastery, I just want somewhere quiet and spartan where I can sit and read and cogitate, and go cycling, running or hiking nearby. Anywhere in the world considered, but preferably northern Europe, next to water.

    Frau imp asked where she fit into this plan. I said she was welcome to come along. "But I want to watch the football," she said. Yeah, well the idea is that we don't do that. It's a strange turnaround, right enough.

    #2
    How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

    Slovak mountains? Tatras are too touristy, but Fatras are lovely. Even if Slovakia qualify, or the Czechs (who account for half the hikers in ths area at any given time) I think you'd be able to keep clear of the football.

    This is my favourite cottage of many :

    http://www.chatapodsuchym.sk/

    There are bears round here though. I don't think they're much into football, but they might disturb your peace in their own little way.

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      #3
      How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

      Once upon a time I might've said USA! USA! USA!, but with Trump as president...

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        #4
        How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

        If it was me, I'd be going for a bunkhouse just off Snowdon.

        Bloody basic, just cooking facilities.

        I've used this one before at teh foot of Tryfan , perfectly fine as a base for any outdoor stuff.

        http://www.tryfanwales.co.uk/

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          #5
          How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

          You can come and stay at ours. We have a barn which we have converted into a house. It doesn't have TV and the WiFi signal doesn't go that far. Plus we have bikes and it's a great place for hiking. There's a stream out the back if that would satisfy the "near water" thing, otherwise that's the main drawback. There are a couple of nice lakes about an hours drive away, but that aside it's not really convenient for anything. Plus it would be stretching it a bit to call it Northern Europe. I reckon you could make a good case for mitteleuropa.

          I can't promise a completely football free conversation from the host, but I could be prevailed upon to not mention the world cup.

          (serious by the way, you'd be more than welcome)

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            #6
            How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

            Ukraine/Georgia would probably be the safest places to be for those few weeks and if neither qualify, coverage will probably be minimal...

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              #7
              How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

              A canoeing holiday in the Scottish Highlands. You can do organised trips with camping. Admittedly if you venture out to a pub or speak to any locals your plan may be scuppered but it will be active, outdoors and I doubt tents have wi-fi. You could follow the first week of the 2018 TdF.

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                #8
                How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                Good start - the mountains and backwaters of Mitteleuropa sound like a good alternative worth considering. Ad hoc - thank you sincerely for your offer, and you may live to regret me getting in touch with you about it at some point. I often get yearnings to come down your way when you describe Rumanian rural life on your blog (especially when it involves imbibing huge amounts of home-made plum head-fuck), and I read a piece in The Idler recently about a Transylvanian-based company run by a Brit doing slow cycle holidays there (and now apparently in Rwanda and Georgia too). Definitely a part of the world I want to explore at some point.

                The Slovak location looks very nice. The Welsh mountain hut looks a bit too basic for a month's stay - I'd need something to lounge on besides a bunk bed, and am too grumpy to share facilities. I'd actually thought of Scotland too - after all, not much chance of them being involved in the football. I'm not co-ordinated enough to canoe, though. Maybe a month's wandering through the Cairngorms...

                I remember when we lived in the US there were mountain huts in the Appalachian you could rent that didn't even have water or electricity - like a bothy, I suppose, but not there specifically for travellers. We always meant to try one out for a long weekend, but like so many other destinations (Canada, Pacific NW), we never made it. As Guy points up, though, I'm not inclined to head in that direction right now. Though if the US qualifying campaign keeps its current course, it might be an option, and by summer 2018 Trump will either have brought about his own inevitable downfall, or doomsday will have rendered this thread moot.

                Please keep the suggestions rolling.

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                  #9
                  How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                  This year's plum head fuck is a particularly good vintage.

                  Any time, whether summer '18 or before (possibly not the depths of winter as getting the pipes to work in the barn is a challenge when the outside temperature is below - 20). Bring Frau Imp too. I'd say the impettes too but while in my head they are still the age they were when I last saw them, I have to accept that they must in reality be young women now who are unlikely to want to spend time in a barn far from the madding (or indeed any form of) crowd

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                    #10
                    How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                    If you're prepared to flex on the 'N Europe/water' bit, how about walking in Ladakh?

                    It's one of the most beautiful parts of the world, really cheap (if you're looking to manage the whole month, that's a consideration?) and you can be pretty sure that any TVs you accidentally encounter will be completely free of football.

                    As you've got plenty of time, you can do it the right way, overland via Srinagar and Kargil plus a couple of days acclimatising in Leh before you start trekking.

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                      #11
                      How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                      I don't know about near your stated location of Hessen, Imp, but in the UK...

                      I once stayed at this place, which is here. Not only no wifi, but no mobile signal, no TV signal, no radio signal and the only phone for guests was an old grey coin-fed payphone in the hallway. The only electronic entertainment was a TV in the loung which was solely connected to a VHS player, plus a pile of old cassettes of that format!

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                        #12
                        How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                        I didn't know Ad Hoc has a blog.

                        You're welcome to stay at my place. I don't have a TV. It would be a decent jumping off point for some adventures into the woods. You could hike the Mid-State trail or canoe the Pine Creek Gorge or go down to Ohiopyle for some whitewater.

                        It's not hard to find places around here where there's no cell service.

                        I also recommend the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota/southwestern Ontario. No signal there.

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                          #13
                          How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                          Hot Pepsi wrote: I didn't know Ad Hoc has a blog.
                          I don't really. I did, and obviously it's still there, but it's been basically dormant for about 5 years now

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                            #14
                            How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                            This thread is a spoof, right? He'll be sunning in Sochi, lairy in Leningrad and vodkamaxing in Vladivostok with therest of us.

                            Though if it is serious, the Beltway/ Bielefeld Bruiser may not even have to leave the Vaterland. I have a recurring dream that Yogurt Lover's boys will implode in the run-in, with NI sneaking first place then Greece whopping them in a bad-tempered play-off

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                              #15
                              How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                              Try doing a long distance path. This year I'm looking at doing the Cape Wrath Trail from Fort William to Cape Wrath. I'm planning it at the moment and it looks like it's going to be 205 miles in 14 days with the shortest day at 10 miles and the longest at 23 miles. I've got a couple of wild camps planned, a couple of bothies and some B&B's and hotels thrown in as well. Let me know if you're interested and I can send you the route!

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                                #16
                                How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                                Yes, the more I think about it the more I like the idea of a hiking odyssey. Another thing I always wanted to do while in the US was hike the Appalachian Trail. Ladakh, the Lake District and southern Ontario all sound enticing too. Instead of being depressed at the idea of missing the World Cup as I was initially, it's completely liberating - like I've been given an opportunity to spend a random month any way I choose, anywhere in the world, within certain cost limits.

                                @Paul - probably won't spend it in Britain, though, as it'd be too hard to avoid football and family obligations, but when it's done send me the route anyway as we're looking at UK hiking routes right now for non-World Cup holidays. @DG - I haven't watched a single second of the qualifiers so far, but judging by the table standings and the match reports your hope of a Teutonic collapse are more in the realms of spoofery than this thread.

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                                  #17
                                  How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                                  I've no real experience of Scandiwegian destinations to offer, but if you did decide on a UK break then one of the Hebridean islands like Mull might be worth considering?

                                  This place has mobile phone signal, but no wifi or telly. Plenty of good walking in the area, and if you stay out of Tobermory and the pubs I'm sure you can avoid the football with relative ease.

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                                    #18
                                    How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                                    ad hoc wrote:
                                    Originally posted by Hot Pepsi
                                    I didn't know Ad Hoc has a blog.
                                    I don't really. I did, and obviously it's still there, but it's been basically dormant for about 5 years now
                                    I remember that. I thought maybe he was referring to a new blog.

                                    Do people have blogs any more or does everyone just do facebook and twitter.

                                    I've made the break with facebook and am trying to break with twitter. I have to keep an account for work. And my anxiety makes it impossible for me to avoid checking up on various horrible things happening in the world, which then just feeds the anxiety.

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                                      #19
                                      How to avoid Russia 2018 - advice welcome

                                      I still blog. Internet trends move so fast that there's sure to be a blogging revival soon.

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                                        #20
                                        All the excitement of the World Cup draw has reminded me that I still haven't decided where I'm going to retreat to next summer. After reading Sea Room by Adam Nicolson I quite fancy the Hebrides - long summer nights, with tons of bird- and sea-life and plenty of remoteness. Have been browsing isolated Scottish cottages online and weeping at the prices. No one seems to do basic any more. 'Bothy' means 500 quid a week.

                                        A hiking trail has slipped down the scale of desirable breaks since a freak jogging accident in late July buggered my knees. I only just got around to having them scanned, and although the prognosis isn't too gloomy it's going to take a while to fix them. In the long term, I'm unlikely to be covering 15-20 miles a day over a whole month. I'm thinking now more in terms of writing, reading, strolling and bird-watching.

                                        I keep mentioning this plan to various people in the hope that someone might be loaded enough to say, "Oh, we have a cottage in xxx miles away for anywhere that we never use, and we'd be jolly glad if you could occupy it for a month. Just remember to sweep up before before you leave, empty the bins and turn the water off." The nearest I came is an old friend from Switzerland who now lives in Hong Kong, has become utterly minted, and who offered me the use of his flat in Malaysia. It's not really what I have in mind, but apparently it has a pool and a tennis court. And it's free.

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                                          #21
                                          You could come stay at my house and then do some hikes around here. I don't have a TV.

                                          Really. Think about it.

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                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                                            You could come stay at my house and then do some hikes around here. I don't have a TV.

                                            Really. Think about it.
                                            I will, seriously, and thank you very much for the offer, although I kind of vowed not to go to the US until you‘ve hung Trump by his balls from a lamp-post with his knob stuck in his fat fascist gob. There‘s also the problem of being in the US and having lots of people I‘d want to see, but nearly all of them will also be watching the fecking football.

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