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How far would you go to fly a kite


Syruss
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12 members have voted

  1. 1. Have you ever gone to a kiting event outside of your own country?

    • Yes
      6
    • No
      3
    • My spouse won't let me (sigh)
      2


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Hey there,

I try to fly in as many places as possible. I am a field tech, so I drive hundreds of miles a week. Always have some kites stashed in my car. I know it's not very exotic, but here are some shots from all over the NY area...

~Rob.

By the way, if you squint, you can see NYC in the KAP picture...

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I know a lot of you on here have been kiting addicts for a long time. Tell us your stories about the furthest trip you have gone on to fly a kite? That would be cool.

I'll bet some of you have gone to some pretty cool places to fly kites.

When I was competing in dual line we went to Malaysia for the weekend! Seemed like a good idea at the time.

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Was it worth the trip? We almost went. Almost went to Japan twice. Almost went to London, I turned that one down. Almost...

Well, I have been on a few Columbian tours.. Very kewl. Flown in Mexicao and Canada. I have to get out more. :huh: BB Penny

I think you have started a new question here. What was the best festival you nearly went to?

As for Columbia, i have seen some of the photo's and that has got to rank high on the list of "largest crowd" and "worst possible place to fly kites".

Malaysia was worth the trip 'cause we won, but I got food poisoning on the plane on the way home! I felt a little churlish to complain too much. What is the best festival in Canada?

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In 1990 I was minding my own business flying my kite at Seaport Village in San Diego and a couple (Middle aged) started asking me kiting questions. They told me they were from New Zealand and were traveling the US looking for an attraction for their regional fair. They asked me if I was interested and I said "Sure" (Not thinking I'd EVER hear from them again)

I gave them my card (Hyperkites had them back then) and I didn't hear from them till about 4 months later!

They asked me if I could come to Nelson New Zealand in November. They wanted to know how much I'd CHARGE!!!

Hell, I wrote back saying "Just pay my airfare and hotel" and I sweetened the deal by asking if Randy (Tom) could also go so we could do a proper demo and ballet/pairs routine.

Well, mailing turned to calling and we both went!

My wife and I turned it into a vacation (I flew in Aukland, Rotorua, Christchurch and I spent Thanksgiving day (Here) with Peter Lynn fling his "New" (Back then) Peel/buggy and touring his fathers woodworking shop, and then a great goose dinner.

The fly in Nelson was TOO PERFECT!! The fair commity asked us if we could if we could fly three 20 minute routines a day for two days..... Randy and I laughed and flew near non stop both days in the center of a horse race track.

The poeple down there are the best and we were treated like rockstars.

We were invited to stay at farms and given homemade treats while flying.

I've been around the world a few times in the Navy and flown everywhere I gone, but New Zealand was just to fly.

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I was approached by members of the Smithsonian kite festival advisory board back in November about doing a festival in Tobago.

Apparently the event is 8 or 10 years old and one of the sponsors has seen some guy in wacky clothing chasing folks at the washington monuments in '99 flying a four stringed kite that looked like a crushed bow-tie. The board members said the sponsors didn't know the guy's name, but the description certainly fit me perfectly, . . . so if I was interested, they'd pay my airfare and hotel for a few days to fly on the island (it's only 7 x 26 miles) for a one day event the 30th of December.

I work for the federal government of the USA so I couldn't accept the offer directly (Ethics Approval denied), neither could the misses, Barbara. The coordinator said she'd handle the government scenes and give me cash, so I booked the flights. We're going from the 27th of Dec until the 4th of January for a one day gig. SWEET!

I'll try to take some pixs and do an article for AKA Magazine afterwards.

I also went to the Dieppe festival in Canada this year with my bride. We paid our own way and worked so hard the sponsors are covering me to come back in 2009. We gave Jake kind of a warranty, if you're unhappy with us it won't cost you a thing! The treated us like rock stars. We hung-out with some of the best kiters in the world, half of 'em "no speaka-united states" either. They furnished excellent meals, adult beverages and ground transportation, all I had to do was chase people with my kites! Heck I've got years of practical experience doing that from our 1st Sunday Flys downtown DC on the mall grounds. I must have tapped a hundred heads/hats during the 6-7 days we were up there.

I've flown in South America too, but that was a trip my wife specifically stated as "NOT a kiting vacation"

HA, sure dear!

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Pretty cool stories, I was hoping you guys would add some. So far I haven't been invited to anything, but then again I can just barely fly. But I am getting better. In just 20 more years if John stops practicing I'll be as good as he was 10 years ago.

(Sounds like one of those math questions, if two trains are heading for each other at 50 miles per hour . . . . )

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Hope you have a wonderful time in Tobago REVflier.

Spent a few weeks there some time ago. The folks were so friendly.

If you get a chance go to Sunday School. It is nothing to do with Church. More about drinking and Goat raceing.

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