Are you sitting at home reading this blog, looking at all the super cool mancation ideas and wondering where to start or how to plan the perfect mancation?

Don’t worry, these tips should help!

Ticket prices for the 2008 Detroit Red Bull Air Race are now available! As we predicted earlier, tickets are $30 USD for the first two days for the American side and $25 CAD for the two day air race ticket in Canada.

This is a unique event because I think this is probably the first time where the Red Bull Air Race has actually been international - at the same event! For those of you not familiar with Detroit, the city is located directly across the river from the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario.

UPDATE 2009 - Red Bull Air Race will be held on the Windsor side of the river this year - June 13-14, 2009.

Last night I was thinking to myself about what it means to take a mancation and this morning I decided to look around at the different places online that have attempted to define the subject. What I saw left me a bit distressed because for some reason "mancation" is often synonymous with the worst aspects of being a guy... or at least the more primal.

One of the biggest areas that I didn't see any coverage was Mancations for Geeks. Actually this subject came to me from a PR person for the upcoming ZERO1 festival in San Jose and made me (a proud card-carrying geek myself!) wonder what other Geek Mancation ideas I could find.

Are you sitting at home reading this blog, looking at all the super cool mancation ideas and wondering where to start or how to plan the perfect mancation? Don’t worry, these tips should help!

Remember when you were a kid?

Did your dad take you to the ballpark and you wondered what it would look like if you could explore the whole thing and see the areas only the players could see? Well, you don’t need to be a kid, you just need to visit Chicago’s Wrigley Field!

Father and son trips don’t have to be about nostalgia, but on some level that is what being a father is all about – passing down knowledge and experiences to the next generation.

That’s why a visit to your local railroad museum would make a great father son trip. Luckily for me, (and others of you in Chicago) there are several great ways to see trains in the Chicago area. One such place is the Fox River Trolley Museum.

What could be more exciting than watching some of the best pilots in the world fly as fast as they can, less than 20 meters from the ground at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour!

For you non-racing geeks, that is even FASTER than NASCAR! (NASCAR usually averages about 200 mph) While the Red Bull Air Race is truly an international event, this year the US stops include San Diego (May 3-4) and is in Detroit , May 31-June 1. Tickets for the San Diego Red Bull Air Race are on sale now, Detroit Red Bull Air Race tickets go on sale, April 15.

Tickets are Now Available for the Red Bull Air Race in Windsor / Detroit .

As the San Diego Red Bull Air Race approaches there is still time to grab a great hotel for the event! While several of the hotels right next to the air races are already booked, our super sleuths have done some research to find some great hotels that are still available.

Unfortunately, San Diego is a very expensive city, and especially downtown, so if you are looking for a fantastic hotel to use as your basecamp during the Red Bull Air Races then the Manchester Grand Hyatt can't be beat, but if you don't mind a little walking the Holiday Inn San Diego - On the Bay is still a great option.

While I like to focus most of our articles on the great guys weekends and mancation ideas right here at home, there are of course plenty of super cool places to go and things to do outside of the US as well.

One of our readers, Roger LaPlante of Leesburg, Virginia sent this awesome account of his father and son (Joshua LaPlante) mancation trip to Bunol Spain for the Valencia region's annual "tomato party" known as the La Tomatina Festival.

Yeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!

Saw this interesting story over at Puget Sound Business Journal that Westin Hotels are now beginning to feature Wii Fitness in their hotel rooms in New York City and Bellevue Washington.

While it isn't quite as cool as having a full game setup like the Hotel Sax in Chicago, it is nice to see that us video gameaholics can still have fun on the road :)

This article was written by a friend of ManTripping - Steele Luxury Travel: THE GYM—it is our savior.

The gym or any other form of exercise creates a separation between work and play. It makes us feel masculine and allows us to look optimum. It also increases our various mental and physical appetites. Some of us lift weights, some of us run with a buddy, or even ride bikes through town with a group of dudes. Some boys seriously get into yoga or Pilates.

As I mentioned previously, mancations and guys weekends don’t have to be about going off in the woods or roughing it, there are some great things to do for us geeks and art people too. One idea that came across my desk recently is the 01SJ festival in San Jose (one of my favorite cities btw!)

The festival describes itself as a “global festival of art on the edge” and starts this week, June 4-8 at various venues around San Jose.

Are you ready for the ultimate outdoors mancation? Does hiking and fishing sound like fun? Well, if you are like me, stuck in hot and humid Chicago right now, then maybe it might be time to think about heading off to western Wyoming for a visit to the Grand Teton National park.

Is your idea of a perfect mancation to spend time golfing with your buddies on some of the greatest golf courses in the world, then come back to a luxurious hotel where you can spend time spoking cigars and drinking premium bourbon?

While certainly drinking and smoking isn't for everyone, if this is your cup of tea then you ought to enjoy it while you can since smoking bans are clearly creeping across the country and this icon of men smoking cigars, sipping bourbon, and sharing stories and tall tales with other guys is sure to disappear at some point in the near future.

Our mission of not just talking about great mancation ideas, but actually showcasing some great mancations from our readers continues!

This mancation story was submitted by John from California. Since 2005, a group of friends and I travel to one's Buffalo Bills away game per year, Tampa in 2005, Houston in 2006, Pittsburgh in 2007 and this year will be headed to Arizona in October.  We have nicknamed our group the 'Wandering Herd' and are very recognizable given the hats that we wear.

Unless you are stuck in Lapland, Northern Canada or Siberia, you probably don't think of visiting a ski resort as a great summertime destination for your next mancation. However, these winter playgrounds can also be fantastic year-round mancation destinations offering hiking, biking, art, music, spas, and tons of other great things to do for a mancation. One of these areas that looks like a great destination for guys is the Taos Ski Valley, in Taos, New Mexico.

Hotel Sax Chicago is now "Hotel Chicago Downtown"... Are you looking for the ultimate mancation hotel in the Windy City? Well Hotel Sax Chicago should top your list of choices! Imagine a luxury hotel that combines pretty much everything that us guys could want for a mancation... awesome electronics, including Xbox 360's, wide screen HDTV's, super chic rock and roll styled decor, and depending on your room they might even give you a Microsoft Zune to borrow during your stay.

Chicago in January is always pretty cold and icy and to be honest the concept of sitting in Wrigley Field in the winter isn't high on my list of things to do. However, this could be just the excuse you need to plan a Chicago mancation to see the Hawks and Wings at Wrigley. Assuming you can get tickets!