I so get you on the socialising being harder work than work-work. But there are people who actually prefer that to other work, so I guess these coachsurfing and other things are perfect for them.
Fully agree. I've met people who really enjoy homestays, and would always prefer it over motels or hotels. It's the same sort of thing as preferring small B&Bs where the host lives on-site... People like to chatter with the owner, they like to have some kind of connection. That's part of the holiday to them. I'm glad that that's there for them, i just sometimes feel like books and articles talk up these sorts of accommodations as "solutions" for the great expense of hotels, motels and even campsites (!) when that's not really the case at all.
Good post. I’m sorry you had a tough day, tho. I think you’re absolutely right about the uncounted social work of what passes for a barter system now-i see that in the whole Airbnb thing too. In fact, I think it’s all over the place, uncounted obligations. But in the harshness of your experience right now you’re seeing social trades with stark clarity.
“watery Texas without any tacos” <- lol. When you’re done with this trip you could do a summary map of all the places you’ve been and your punchy declarations, and it would be hilarious.
Yes, some Airbnbs definitely have a similar issue, i assume any of the ones where you only get a room in a person's house. Although nowadays i associate Airbnb more with those places where you just get a door code and never see the owner, which sounds great for the introverted traveler, but i try to avoid it too because it is a sort of gentrification, since the Airbnb cost is more than the local rent.
Although, thinking about it, i might be shooting myself in the foot by avoiding a lot of these "disruptive" accommodation solutions out of principle.
Having traveled across a good chunk of the US now (slowly) i do have a new appreciation for those maps that create amusing names for different regions of the country. It's fun to identify the cultural commonalities and differences between places and imagine what it would look like if it were a whole country, or if the state borders followed the cultural "borders". I think a summary is a great idea!
The crawly antenna creatures are crawdads, or crayfish if you prefer, and they're like small freshwater lobsters. Some regions of the US call them "mud bugs" which is probably a good clue as to what they taste like.
Ick! I have to say that i have never really understood the appeal of seafood. It seems difficult to eat, ugly to look at, there's hardly any meat on it, and what is there doesn't taste that good anyway. I've tried, but i don't get it. Someone in China explained to me that part of the pleasure of eating stuff like a chicken foot is exactly the fact that it's fiddly to eat, so it's more like a surprise or a treasure that you appreciate more when you finally get to the meat. I guess the same could be said of seafood. But i'm too lazy for all that!
The "Super Expensive Hotel In The Middle Of Nowhere" was something I experienced in one of my long roadtrips across the US West. It was a massive hotel in the little town of Andrews. But it wasn't for the locals or for tourists. It was for the Oil Company execs visiting the fields in the area.
In this tiny little town, only hotel I could get, I spent something like $150 a night for this INCREDIBLY overblown hotel in podunk Texas.
It was nice, given that I tend to stay at low budget Super 8s most of the time, but holy wow, that was expensive, swanky and just incredibly out of place.
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“watery Texas without any tacos” <- lol. When you’re done with this trip you could do a summary map of all the places you’ve been and your punchy declarations, and it would be hilarious.
Reply
Although, thinking about it, i might be shooting myself in the foot by avoiding a lot of these "disruptive" accommodation solutions out of principle.
Having traveled across a good chunk of the US now (slowly) i do have a new appreciation for those maps that create amusing names for different regions of the country. It's fun to identify the cultural commonalities and differences between places and imagine what it would look like if it were a whole country, or if the state borders followed the cultural "borders". I think a summary is a great idea!
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In this tiny little town, only hotel I could get, I spent something like $150 a night for this INCREDIBLY overblown hotel in podunk Texas.
It was nice, given that I tend to stay at low budget Super 8s most of the time, but holy wow, that was expensive, swanky and just incredibly out of place.
Reply
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