To be livid that the US government shutdown has ruined my holiday?!

[Primadonnagirl]

...I haven't had a two week holiday in two years ( first world problem I know!) but I have been working really really hard lately in a very stressful environment and absolutely need a break...we have spent a fortune and a lot of time planning our dream holiday..but now we can't do half the things we want to do because the enational parks are closed..which means finding new accommodation etc...that in itself is annoying enough but we are tied into connecting flights so basically have to spend time and Money hanging around..which IS NOT how I wanted to spend my holiday!!!!!!I could scream!!!!!

[QueenStromba]

Ouch. Let me guess - Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone? Are you there now? Maybe they'll sort it out so you don't lose out on too much.

[Primadonnagirl]

We go Monday..and you are right about Grand canyon!! Yes I'm hoping there's still time but we need a plan b and it's difficult cos we have to be in a certain place for flights etc...it's not a disaster I know but I'm just sooooo disappointed!

[KatyTheCleaningLady]

I was in Hawaii the last time this happened. We were unable to visit the volcano because it is a national park, so we chartered a helicopter ride. You may be able to see the canyon in some other way.

[Bumpotato]

Livid? I wonder how the workers who are losing their pay are feeling.

I'm sure you'll still have fab hols, you've waited long enough.

[Monty27]

No, I'm not buying this. Unreal.

[BrokenSunglasses]

That's shit, but you can't change it so you just have to make the best of it. Try and enjoy searching out little things you could do to fill any dead time, and you may end up discovering something brilliant that you would never have found if you had done plan A.

[sweetestcup]

Yes I'm sure the workers are suffering bump but if I had saved years for a dream holiday based on certain things - which I have just did actually, I think I would be pretty upset at not being able to do and see certain things. We are just back from a dream Californian road trip and I would have been really upset if we couldn't have visited Alcatraz for example, so I can understand prima, you have my sympathies.

[iklboo]

Monty:

As the US government shutdown continues with no end in sight, there will be much discussion of furloughs and continuing resolutions. Here are some quick explanations of those terms and others that are central to the budget debate.

Shutdown: The US Constitution requires Congress to regularly pass laws funding the government. On the relatively rare occasions that Congress fails to do so on time, a government shutdown begins. This does not mean that the US currently has no government. Services vital to law and order, such as prison security or border patrol, will continue to function as normal. Most other departments will remain open, but only a minority of their staff will report to work and they will perform only their most basic functions. Some government institutions, such as national parks, museums, and memorials, are closed entirely.

Furlough: Some 800,000 government employees have been placed on furlough due to the shutdown, meaning that they will not report to work, and will not be paid. Following the last government shutdown in 1996, however, all furloughed employees were paid retroactively.

[ILikeBirds]

Can you do things like go to Havasupai which is still the grand canyon but just not the national park?

[ukatlast]

Fingerscrossed Primadonna....YANBU....it is yet another disgrace to 'the land of the free'.

[Doris80]

It's riduculous that the government can just "close" a national park! Surely they should be open to all, they belong to the people, not the government.

[CakeBotherer]

My best friend is out there right now and just today was complaining about the Grand Canyon and a few other places being shut.

Forgive me if this sounds daft, but can you not still drive beside the Grand Canyon and look at it? Or do they shut the whole road (that image makes my mind boggle!)

[Talkinpeace]

The parks are open, but all of the facilities are government buildings.
Interesting that the Senators and Congressmen still get paid during the chaos they have caused

[TheSporkforeatingkyriarchy]

National Parks are considered a "non-essential service" and it would be unsafe since all the safety staff are not there (likely only security staff to hold things until whenever).

Non-essential is also extended in many states to low-income benefits.

The real smack to the face is that the same part that allows this also allows Congress to be paid while this tantrum over affordable health care is going on.

[Talkinpeace]

Cake
No roads near the rim outside the restricted areas - to protect them and earn money on parking fees : think Lands End with bells on

[ILikeBirds]

The 'road' that follows the south rim is just a road inside the park, it's not a highway. You don't drive through the grand canyon np, you drive into it and have to return the way you came so it's logistically possible to close it fairly easily.

[Monty27]

Ikboo, are you patronising me, do you think I don't read papers/listen to news?

[CakeBotherer]

Okay that makes sense, though my mind still boggles at it a bit!

[YoureBeingADick]

Ive never had a two week holiday- i win

[ErrolTheDragon]

I work for a US company, we got this travel advisory:

• Federal air traffic controllers and TSA airport screeners will remain on the job. However, some airports have warned of delays at security checkpoints, as some employees may be furloughed.
• The U.S. State Department has some funds outside the annual congressional appropriation and will continue to process passport applications and foreign visa applications for the time being. However, delays may occur if the shutdown continues.
• National Parks will close, and people currently camping in those parks will have a couple of days to pack up and leave.
• Most Washington, D.C. museums, plus most presidential libraries will be closed.
• All federally funded tourist sites will be closed, including the Smithsonian museums, Great Smoky Mountains, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island in New York, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
• Amtrak will still be in service.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection will remain in operation; borders will be open.


We lived in the US early 90s when there was a shutdown - it really is a bizzare thing, closing down museums and national parks and not too much other obvious effect.


I don't know what exactly Monty didn't buy but 'Interesting that the Senators and Congressmen still get paid during the chaos they have caused' - that's unbelievable! Are they paid by their States not from federal funds, is that how they manage it?

[Monty27]

I don't 'buy' why someone would start a thread about being hard done by over a holiday, when the US is in meltdown.

'Tis all.

[ErrolTheDragon]

AIBU threads started late at night are often vents for frustrations - I'd be pretty fed up in the OPs place.

Not sure whether the US is in 'meltdown' - I haven't detected any signs of it from my US colleagues. These shutdowns are usually phony wars (nasty for the government employees affected, to be sure)/

[ouryve]

Monty, I can understand when someone has shoved a huge amount of their own money at something, probably making other sacrifices along the way, that finding out that they can't do the things they had wanted with that money, plus they have to find other accommodation, that anxiety levels may be running a bit high.

Good for you if you can afford to write off potentially several months' salary, just like that, because the US economy is in meltdown.

[Monty27]

Errol I'd be fed up to, still go and make the most of it, I am aware that 'meltdown' might be a strong word, but then we're talking about the US . I have a bit of a grip that it's politicing.

Ouryve I wish. I haven't had a two week holiday probably for about 6 years (I have had a week but not for the last two years) and I work very hard but that's neither here nor there.

I would imagine OP that the facilities that are still running will try their utter best to compensate tourists, in terms of entertaining them as well as they can. Take heart. And I do wish you a good break.