I voted Europe, even though I hopefully won't  be here next summer.
Actually I think I should change it.  Imagine how gutted I'd be if you all met up in Europe just a few months after I left!

easy answer: vote for NEW ZEALAND : )  How awesome would THAT be?  ; )

Yea I vote Wellington. But If I'm going to have to miss out because you are all such crappy friends you won't spend a pitiful few thousand dollars to come visit me ( :P ), I'll vote Portland just because I've always wanted to go there and I can live vicariously.

eta: oww, Shell, Heli - we should have our own vw meetup next year! Shell, you're aiming to live in Wellington right? I should be moving back there...if we book early we could get ultra cheap flights for oww up north and Heli down south, and meet in the middle!

I would totally save up and fly over for this...I love to travel!

We have a "Santa Monica" option because it's a surreptitious way of saying "Los Angeles" without the SF people getting their panties in a bunch. ;)

There's loads of veg-friendliness in L.A.; just look at the huge amount of vegan restaurants on Happy Cow. But, I can see why we might skip over California this time, for fairness... still, I'm selfish!

I have no idea which way I should vote :/ someone persuade me with a witty argument?

Actually, I'm with you on this Faunablues. Santa Monica has a beautiful beach and promenade, not to mention a stretch of restaurants and shops. Great vegan-friendly restaurants there, or within driving distance throughout L.A., Hollywood.

I'm beginning the L.A. faction:
vegan/vegetarian type places just in L.A. city (none of the separate cities within L.A., of which there are many): 68. 68, people. I'm sure Portland has more per capita, but 68. Srsly. Santa Monica, a small coastal city within L.A. county and bordering Los Angeles, has 13, including 2 raw places. In West L.A., there are 2 bakery cafes (RFD in Santa Monica, Casa de Tree in Palms ), plus Zen Bakery on Pico Blvd (near Westwood) who makes all those vegan muffins/cinnamon rolls at Trader Joe's. And you know what? Screw the white people vegan food. We've got Ethiopian vegan food, Indian vegan food, Mexican vegan food, a plethora of Thai vegan food, and if you go inland, some vegetarian (mainly vegan) authentic Chinese restaurants who have over 100 items. And vegan soul food! We ALSO have Scoops, an ice cream/gelato place in Hollywood ish area, who makes 4-6 different flavors of vegan ice cream every day, from red velvet to maple oreo to cinnamon peanut butter to pistachio rosewater to chocolate stout to thai tea to green tea to black sesame to pumpkin banana to... you can tell i've been there a lot. As far as non-eats (why is anyone interested in that?) we gots beaches and the Pier (as Saskia said) and the Griffith Observatory/Griffith Park and Little Osaka and Little Tokyo and the Venice boardwalk and the Promenade and the Grove and Beverly Hills (screw Beverly Hills) and all those silly famous places and Six Flags Magic Mountain and Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm (it's an amusement park, not a farm...) and Koreatown and Chinatown and the *actual* Chinese area (Rowland Heights) and Thai town and... oh yeah, Hollywood. And Universal Studios/their theme park. We are also the land of farmer's markets, for the urban hippies out there.
And we're not as self-absorbed/glamorous/plastic as we're made out to be, though this post doesn't help the "self-absorbed" part :D

Don't forget Madeleine Bistro and the Follow Your Heart restaurant.

Yeah, FYH is cool, but hard to get to from where I was (West L.A.), so I only went once. I've never been to Madeleine's, but heard it's amazing. True?

I voted Europe, even though I hopefully won't  be here next summer.
Actually I think I should change it.  Imagine how gutted I'd be if you all met up in Europe just a few months after I left!

easy answer: vote for NEW ZEALAND : )  How awesome would THAT be?  ; )

Yea I vote Wellington. But If I'm going to have to miss out because you are all such crappy friends you won't spend a pitiful few thousand dollars to come visit me ( :P ), I'll vote Portland just because I've always wanted to go there and I can live vicariously.

eta: oww, Shell, Heli - we should have our own vw meetup next year! Shell, you're aiming to live in Wellington right? I should be moving back there...if we book early we could get ultra cheap flights for oww up north and Heli down south, and meet in the middle!

sorry to hijack the threadd, but I thought that it was a given that we'd be having a NZ meet up when I get there.

WAIT....Theo you're moving back to Wellington?  Really?  When?  We can totally be irl bff!!!

yeah....looking at my current money situation, and at the coming year's expenses....I already have some expen$ive activities that I need to do (like continuing spiritual training/growth/education....I'm being told it is time for me to move on to the next level) which will sap any possible funds at that current moment I may have and will more than likely be unable to afford traveling anywhere. Which is why I voted for Portland!!

sorry to hijack the threadd, but I thought that it was a given that we'd be having a NZ meet up when I get there.

WAIT....Theo you're moving back to Wellington?  Really?  When?  We can totally be irl bff!!!

haha, Shell, we definitely will. You'll be flying through Auckland on the way to Wellington, so, assuming Theo's still here you should book a couple of days in Auckland and we can do something then, and theeen organise the 'big' Wellington party for a little while down the track...
Theo's hoping to move to Welly and I've got family/mates there so as long as Heli gets on board, it'll be easy peasy to organise...woooooo : )

I voted for Asheville because I've been wanting to check it out for a while now and it sounds like it's really vegan friendly and pretty and it's on the east coast. Portland is awesome but it's just really far for the east coasters to travel that way again. Chicago would be a great compromise and it does have lots to offer.

Yeah, FYH is cool, but hard to get to from where I was (West L.A.), so I only went once. I've never been to Madeleine's, but heard it's amazing. True?

Madeleine's is definitely amazing.  A little pricier than most vegan places out here, but totally worth it for special occasions.  They make donuts.  Vegan donuts.  I'm actually going there tomorrow night.  Yay!  =)

I voted Europe, even though I hopefully won't  be here next summer.
Actually I think I should change it.  Imagine how gutted I'd be if you all met up in Europe just a few months after I left!

easy answer: vote for NEW ZEALAND : )  How awesome would THAT be?  ; )

Yea I vote Wellington. But If I'm going to have to miss out because you are all such crappy friends you won't spend a pitiful few thousand dollars to come visit me ( :P ), I'll vote Portland just because I've always wanted to go there and I can live vicariously.

eta: oww, Shell, Heli - we should have our own vw meetup next year! Shell, you're aiming to live in Wellington right? I should be moving back there...if we book early we could get ultra cheap flights for oww up north and Heli down south, and meet in the middle!

I would totally save up and fly over for this...I love to travel!

DO IT!!!!!!! OMG YES!

I voted Europe, even though I hopefully won't  be here next summer.
Actually I think I should change it.  Imagine how gutted I'd be if you all met up in Europe just a few months after I left!

easy answer: vote for NEW ZEALAND : )  How awesome would THAT be?  ; )

Yea I vote Wellington. But If I'm going to have to miss out because you are all such crappy friends you won't spend a pitiful few thousand dollars to come visit me ( :P ), I'll vote Portland just because I've always wanted to go there and I can live vicariously.

eta: oww, Shell, Heli - we should have our own vw meetup next year! Shell, you're aiming to live in Wellington right? I should be moving back there...if we book early we could get ultra cheap flights for oww up north and Heli down south, and meet in the middle!

sorry to hijack the threadd, but I thought that it was a given that we'd be having a NZ meet up when I get there.

WAIT....Theo you're moving back to Wellington?  Really?  When?  We can totally be irl bff!!!

Yes!! Start of next year, all going to plan :D :D We totally can, it will be so awesome!

And like oww said, you will definitely fly into Aucks to enter the country so book some time up here with oww (and me if I'm still here, depends when you come) and have a series of parties down the country!