Goafer Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 I was thinking the other day about the greatest experience I've had so far. I used to be a member of a retro car forum (it shant be named for it was shit) and people in the european car community always talk about the Nurburgring and a trip there is almost like a pilgrimmage. So one year, someone was going and made a thread asking if anyone wanted to join him. So I thought "sod it" and joined up. I had never been on a holiday without someone else I knew personally. I had "plans" to stay at the tracks campsite, which was a case of show up and pay. No booking. So not really a plan as such. The other chap and his dad stayed in a local hotel. So there was pretty much no planning on my part other than booking the tunnel. The day came (my birthday oddly enough) and I set off to meet them. Met them without a hitch (god bless satnav) and we set off. The trip was pretty uneventful up to Folkstone/Dover. When we got to France we pulled into the first petrol station. There were sports cars and bikes everywhere. It was obvious where they were going. The rest of the journey was the strangest car journey I had ever had. Everywhere I went we saw cars and bikes that were obviously going to the Nurburgring as well. The feeling of being part of a community was immense. Every stop we made was shared by another group of car nuts. As we got nearer to the 'ring, I noticed some smoke coming out of the back of my car. My gearbox was leaking oil onto the exhaust and making some nice black smoke. Not a massive issue, but enough to be scary in the middle of Germany, 500 miles from home. The leak eventually stopped anyway. I think the oil had been heated so much from the journey that it had thinned a lot. Either that or the oil level had dropped below the leak. So I went to the campsite to get a space. Luckily the people on the gate spoke English. There was a truck festival on though, so I was alone, surrounded by noisy, truck driving Germans. Then I went to the 'ring and met up with my friend and his Dad. It was awesome. A racetrack in the middle of a load of forest and hills. Plus a whole tonne of exotic cars. Due to my leaky car, I only did one lap, but it was awesome. Very hard to recognise it from games since it's different in the concrete. I managed to get home safely too, which was a bonus. The weather at one point was so rainy that I could only see the lights of the cars in front. Couldn't even see the road markings. It was god damn scary, but I couldn't pull over since I needed to keep up with the other guy since he knew the way home and I didn't. My satnav only had so much battery too and i needed to save that for back in England. Other than the leaky gearbox, the car didn't even hiccup. Which was good for a 20 year old car covering 1000 miles in a weekend. I would consider that pretty epic by my standards. I'm pretty shy and had just spent a weekend alone, 500 miles from home and surrounded by people who spoke a different language. Luckily they were amazingly friendly. The ones I actually met at least. Plus I didn't mention the war, which was a plus. Pictures 1 Pictures 2 So what's your greatest experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris the great Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 i beat audry hepburn to death with a chess set. it dosent sound that good but it was liquid joy. seriosuly though, some of the biggest thrils ive had have been from exercise. breaking that physical and mental barrier and just doing the run/weight set that you never thought you could do, real transition from man to boy moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 seriosuly though, some of the biggest thrils ive had have been from exercise. breaking that physical and mental barrier and just doing the run/weight set that you never thought you could do, real transition from man to boy moment. So you're backwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Passing out of phase one training. Band of the royal marines playing heart of oak. Parents dead proud mums crying etc good times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris the great Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 So you're backwards? it appears so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paj! Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 I don't really have one...I'm still at school so yeah. Though I am going interrailing this summer with a group of friends who are the sort to get raped and murdered in Hostel-esque situations, led astray by the mention of whores/drugs/booze. So we'll just see. I might end up being the hero of a horror film-like situation. I could finally put all the hours of re-enacting scenes from Alien/Terminator to good use. (shaking, crying, looking around corners while klaxons deafen me and I have epileptic seizures due to the lights going crazy etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razz Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Best thing I ever did was go to Japan, just me and a friend. I made it half way across the world, and back again, without losing anything, hurting myself or just generally getting myself killed. This is usually hard to avoid in just a normal day for my clumsy clumsy self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodleman Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Quit my job in September and went traveling for 8 months. Would go again in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 i sign on here and post lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayseven Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Once down the Lagoon we had a bunch of pringles, peanuts and alcohol. We were throwing peanuts into the pringle pots and I said "watch this" and threw a peanut - it hit one pot, broke in two, and each part landed in another pringle pot. It was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Your trip sounds ace, goaferboy. What car did you do the trip in? It's something I'm hoping to do either this summer or next in the Lotus, something I've always always wanted to do but never had a car worth doing it in until now. I'm not sure what I would say is the best thing I've ever done, I'll have to have a good think about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somme Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Move to Australia, on my own, aged 19, for a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellmeister Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Once down the Lagoon we had a bunch of pringles, peanuts and alcohol. We were throwing peanuts into the pringle pots and I said "watch this" and threw a peanut - it hit one pot, broke in two, and each part landed in another pringle pot. It was awesome. Epic. Wish I could remember something amazing that I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Dare Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Probably horse back safari in South Africa. Gorgeous day of ambling through the hills and planes with the natural splendor of one of the most beautiful countries in the world all around us. Absolutely incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I don't know if it's the best thing I've ever done (can't really decide if I have one truly special event that qualifies), but climbing Vesuvius was really a rewarding experience. It was tough, it was steep, it was hot like hell, but when I got to the top it was amazing. Really felt like I had conquered the mountain. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksnowman Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 i sign on here and post lot You and I, Mr. Craven, we rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goafer Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 (edited) Your trip sounds ace' date=' goaferboy. What car did you do the trip in? It's something I'm hoping to do either this summer or next in the Lotus, something I've always always wanted to do but never had a car worth doing it in until now.[/quote'] I did it in a Mazda RX7 (the one on the left). As far as I know the car is still on the road and working fine. All it needed after the trip was a new exhaust (it had been leaking for a while) and the gearbox looking at. Really was a superb car, but it cost too much to keep on the road (fuel and oil mainly) so I didn't have any spare money to repair it. Definately do the trip. It's worth it. Plus it's not like it's hard to organise. Just book a ticket on the tunnel on a weekend when the track is open to the public and go there. There's no need to book at the campsite, just show up and pay. It took about 10 hours each way I think, with stops/waiting for the tunnel. It was epic fun. I spent my 22nd birthday in 4 different countries. England, France, Belgium and Germany. I think we stayed on the same motorway from Calais to near the Nurburgring. Edited June 4, 2009 by Goafer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I've done many great things in life since I'm that awesome (ahum =P ), but one of them was meeting up with a stranger last summer and going on a trip with them. A three day trip to Paris and Disneylanddddd. Which actually turned into a one week thing because the Eurostar got cancelled due to fire. =P Also, that stranger ended up turning into my boyfriend. X3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluey Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 teaching in japan ^_^ my kids lessons in particular. that moment when you realise they're getting it - you're teaching them something - it's amazing. and the reason that i'm going to pursue a career in teaching in this country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaggle64 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I once told a member of a neo-spiritualist cult that I was a deaf mute. My finest hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 teaching in japan ^_^ my kids lessons in particular.that moment when you realise they're getting it - you're teaching them something - it's amazing. and the reason that i'm going to pursue a career in teaching in this country. ... And this describes exactly why I want to become a teacher. The amazing feeling of passing on knowledge and understanding. I once told a member of a neo-spiritualist cult that I was a deaf mute. My finest hour. Genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluey Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 ... And this describes exactly why I want to become a teacher. The amazing feeling of passing on knowledge and understanding. was teaching shapes to my little genius class of 5 year olds, they got all the circle, triangle square stuff really easily so i moved on to octagon etc... drew the octagon on the board and got them to repeat it... they looked all so i drew an octopus next to is.... them: "oct-opus!!" me (pointing to octopus then octagon " oct-opus.......oct-agon!!" them "...AAAAHHHHHHHHHH SO-KA!" me "NO JAPANESE!!! ONE POINT FOR BECKY!!!" them "NOOOOOO!!!!" the mild torture over the points system was a pretty fun part of the job too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 was teaching shapes to my little genius class of 5 year olds, they got all the circle, triangle square stuff really easily so i moved on to octagon etc... drew the octagon on the board and got them to repeat it... they looked all so i drew an octopus next to is.... them: "oct-opus!!" me (pointing to octopus then octagon " oct-opus.......oct-agon!!" them "...AAAAHHHHHHHHHH SO-KA!" me "NO JAPANESE!!! ONE POINT FOR BECKY!!!" them "NOOOOOO!!!!" the mild torture over the points system was a pretty fun part of the job too.... Haha! Well, I'm aiming at some older students. Probably about high school or university level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluey Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Haha! Well, I'm aiming at some older students. Probably about high school or university level. betcha they'd still go all "battle-royale" over a points system. 'specially if there was a pokemon toy in it for the winner at the end of term *nods* hoo-boy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganepark32 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Was trying to think of something meaningful to put in here but to be honest, I haven't led much of a memorable life. Yet. Best moment for me, though, would probably be taking charge in art and telling my art teacher and the head of the department they were useless and lazy twats and that they should fuck off. Such a liberating feeling that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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