Thread: Ever notice.....

Mmmm....try living abroad for a few years, come back and see the ignorance bloom. Traveling is no big deal. We as non-revs get on a plane, come back and talk about our trips. Try living in an island with constant power outages, try taking baths using a pan to water yourself down and try using buckets to flush a toilet. How about boiling water so you don't come down with dysentary? How about dodging Pacific typhoons that knock out power for weeks even months and living with mosquitos, since you have to open the windows, because there is no airconditioning because there is no power? See what kind of a good rest you can get. For many days, weeks months. Then come back to the states and face a winter after being gone five years in the tropics. Then explain to your piers where you been. Do you think they even give two fks? Saipan? Where is that? They couldn't even point it to you on a map. I've heard it all. "I aint leaving this USA for nothin". "I aint lost nuthin in them countries". The truth of the matter is that most people don't want to leave their comfort zone. Language, fear, too much effort. Fox news has everyone here scared, they think they'll lose their head going down to even close by Mexico. After listening to the news media that constantly bombards us day and night, its a wonder people are afraid to travel. I know a guy that all he does is work on cars. A real motor head. Never been outside the USA. Couldn't care less. Most wouldn't know anything about money exchange, getting around in public transportation, or even renting a car in another U.S. city. They just haven't been exposed, and don't care to leave their comfort zone. But like a previous poster mentioned. That's good for us non-rev serious types. Keeps them away from the standby list and that is a good thing for me. Leave the travel to the non-revers that have a pair. That's my take.

Here is a good one. Just ask your co-workers how many of them have passports. Aint this a joke?

Then there is the fact that some people have large families, and makes traveling that much more complicated. I guess it depends on your situation and what you're in to. Maybe some feel that renting an RV camper and staying in the woods is a better bet. Nothing wrong with that. To each his own.

We can afford to GET there, but can't always afford to STAY there!

It's taken us a year to save up for our trip to France next month...

Sure you can. It depends where you go and where you stay. I stayed in a 15 dollar a night room in Antigua Guatemala with my wife, clean bed, sheets. Just no TV nor bar lounge. In Europe, bed and breakfast is the way to go. Hotels run an arm and a leg. The airlines gives good rates for airline employees. Food in some of these countries run very cheap especially in Philippines, China, Costa Rica for instance. I can agree that a Hawaiian vacation, New York City, San Francisco can run you a few bucks. Here is a tip. What I do is whenever I check into a hotel, I take a back pack and do some local shopping for water, beer and snacks so if you wake up in the middle of the night hungry, you don't use the hotel mini bar or restaurants. I usually eat away from the hotels. Some hotels in these countries a breakfast is included especially around Latin America. I use public transportation alot. Much cheaper to take public transportation than renting a car or taking cabs. Some countries, the cabs are very inexpensive like China, Philippines, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala....and one last biggie for me. The wife works in the hotel industry, so we stay from FREE to VERY LOW rates. But we planned it that way. I do the airline work, she does the hotel work. It has worked for us for ten years and we hit mega joints.

There ya go!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by vulindlela:
You can find inexpensive hotels if you try.
Here are the hotel rates of our last three International trips:
Warsaw-$35 a night.
Mexico City- Free, stayed with friends.
Cozumel-$30 a night.
We've had rooms under $50 a night in Amsterdam, the UK, and Paris.
Thanks to Priceline, we have not paid more than $50 a night in the USA for sometime now.
Our best hotel yet was a suite in Vegas for $40 a night.
We only use public transportation. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>