Travel Suggestions

So I am out for the 2017 paintball season. Only played once. However for the same reason I will be able to freely travel for the first time in years in 2018.

On July 1st (Dominion Day) I very suddenly and very unexpectedly received a kidney transplant. Just got out of the hospital today. Full recovery will take months but at least I am home. No paintballing until next season, but without dialysis holding me home I can actually travel.

So I am looking for suggestions of special games that people think I should try. Big size is nifty but not a requirement in any way. Also, I work at an airport and one of our partner airlines changed their rules so I am eligible for discounts.

Thanks.

Wow! That's a bit of story! Glad to hear that everything is going well with the transplant for you. That must be a big relief.

I always really enjoy Fulda Gap in November. It's big, but not too big, and has a great atmosphere around the camp. And the field itself is probably the best field I have ever played at.

Jack

Agreed, quite a bit of issues all at one !

I was thinking about going to that game this year.

Whats the weather usually like ?

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Originally Posted by going_home

Agreed, quite a bit of issues all at one !

I was thinking about going to that game this year.

Whats the weather usually like ?

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Perfect weather! Mid 70's during the day but can fall close to freezing at night. Not had any rain the last two years I've been either. Just been literally the most perfect paintball experience. The paint has been out of this world the last two years as well!

WOW on the Kidney. Life changing. That is awesome.

Fulda Gap is a great event. I will be there also. We could have a meet up. If you fly into Charlotte you can ride with us on the way up, we are based 10 minutes from the airport and a bit over an hour from the game. We normally get a cheap motel because it can get cold at night there.

Congrats on the new lease on life. Dialysis is not fun.

While i was thinking more of a life enriching experience, outside paintball. Though going to a game, and not playing can be enjoyable, i would find it too much unreachable pleasure (for the next year) to be quite enjoyable. I would think more of life changing places that you read or dreamed about. Like going to see ths ocean, if you lived in a land locked area. Seeing the mountains, if you live on flat land. Even going to someplace like London, Paris, Berlin; where you have so much to do, now not being tied to anything.

The choice ia yours. Ultimately, your money, your choice. I would just widen the horizons a bit.

Glad the transplant went well and you are home.

Great events to consider are

Supergame in Oregon
Living Legends
I haven't been to Fulda Gap yet but plan to this year.

Those are the best that I have experienced but there are many others that are supposed to be fun also. There is almost a big game every weekend nowadays.

Thanks for the good wishes guys. They said I was a very difficult match and not to expect it, then boom, it happen. All of a sudden. Turns out the donor had syphilis so they have me on extra antibiotics just in case. If I ever run into you in person ask me about my syphilis story. It is actually funny and has two parts now.

Nobody, I meant in 2018, when I can play. In the meantime I, and beyond, I would be doing the sorts of things you mention.

Jack, yes. The recovery is hard but the doctors are amazed at how well the new kidney is working, how my blood test numbers are getting close to normal and I am making lots of urine. It would have sucked to go through all the pain for nothing, so relieved. Must live with the reality that it will not last forever but they are good at managing these things and getting more than 10 years out of it is common.

It is not a cure, just a treatment, but a life bettering, most excellent treatment. Nobody, you understated it. Always kept it in perspective seeing all those people worse off than I at the hospital, but it is true, dialysis is not fun.

Thanks for these suggestions guys. Not sure why but this discussion is making think Fulda Gap 2018 sounds pretty good.

do you want to go to big events, or play good paintball?

There is an appeal to big events because living in a small area they have their own appeal as being different for me. However, unique fields, gametypes, etc appeals even more. So both, but good paintball wins out a little bit.

there are a lot of big events, that are actually pretty boring paintball events. something to keep in mind.

My father had dialysis 3 times a week. C-def destroyed his kidneys. He passed away to an unrelated, thing. He was also diabetic, which played havoc with everything. So yeah, i do understand.

Anyway, i was thinking short time. I hate to echo gordon, but yeah places like Living Legends, i had a better experience not playing than i did playing the game. My expectations were askewed when i played first, but the 2nd time (this past game) it was much better, though the rain destroyed my knee. Sucks getting over 40.

So pick the game that has everything you want to see. Vendors, people, places, fields and go crazy. Live life to the fullest. To me, this is a position of no regrets. If you can do it (monetarily and logistically), then do it.

Nobody, sympathy for your loss. Most people with kidney disease have diabetes as well and I always considered myself very lucky to not be one of them. The renal diet was bad enough, throw the diabetic diet in there and you kind of cut off food.

I was 41 when the kidneys failed. Then soon after I got a bunch of other ailments that were treatable and went away, including an ultra rare, near harmless, throat condition called Esophagitis dessicans superficialis. All as I hit 40.

Cockerpunk, that does make sense, and I suppose I knew it somewhere in my brain, but thanks for explicitly saying it to make sure I think about it. We had a game here that everyone was blown away and happy that it had 3 times the most number we ever had at a game. The very next year they capped it to half the number of players because our fields around here were not large enough to handle it. Everyone complained that there was no movement and nothing could be done with it being so crowded.

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Originally Posted by pbjosh

WOW on the Kidney. Life changing. That is awesome.

Fulda Gap is a great event. I will be there also. We could have a meet up. If you fly into Charlotte you can ride with us on the way up, we are based 10 minutes from the airport and a bit over an hour from the game. We normally get a cheap motel because it can get cold at night there.

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Pretty sure I'm going to go to Fulda Gap.
Not going to Tunaball this year.
Thanks for the info, I will fly into Charlotte, and definitely not camping.


;)

Normally Fulda comes at a bad time of year for me to make the game. In fact, I've only had that weekend open once in the past five years, when someone talked me into playing local instead (btw, every local field is dead the weekend of Fulda Gap). I'd love to make it happen and get my daughters up there this year, though.

SUPERGAME in Oregon is awesome! I'd highly recommend it to any paintball player!

I went for my first time this year and I will definitely be back, and bringing plenty more friends with me! :P
The Field is amazing! (40 acres of Oregon Forrest)
The Player/Vendor Atmosphere was awesome. The camaraderie with other paintball players is better than any I've seen. Amazing how everyone is so willing to help each other out and also share their awesome war stories.
Also, they do a raffle and give away ludacris amounts of prizes. (You could just win a gearbag filled with stuff, gun, mask, etc, etc.) Pretty Crazy. I will definitely have to try my luck in the raffle next year.

Also, you should check out SPEW and Dead Legends.

Living Legends is on my Bucket List. :)

Never heard of SPEW before so I looked it up after reading your post. Looks great. Thanks for the suggestion.