January 16, 2009

Back in the US


Back from my trip after 27 consecutive hours of travel yesterday. I gotta say, if you enjoy outdoor activities and don't mind a little bit of cold, Patagonia is a true paradise. I did a lot of hiking, including some ice-trekking and -climbing on top of a glacier near El Chalten in Glacier National Park. I got to kayak right next to a penguin colony in Ushuaia as well. Above is a picture taken in Ushuaia of Beagle Channel near sunset.

Since I was traveling solo, I decided to stay in hostel dorm beds throughout the trip, for two reasons: 1) Even though I could afford to stay in a hotel, the price difference between a single room and a dorm bed is just ridiculous. Dorm beds range from $12-15, whereas single rooms start around $50-60. That adds up pretty fast over a 2 week trip. 2) If I had a nice hotel room, I'd have more incentive to stay in it. Having a crappy dorm bed motivates me to get out and do more stuff, which is really what I'd like to be doing on a vacation like this one.

However one thing I saw a couple of times that I just do not understand is couples who go on vacation and stay in hostel dorm beds. I mean, seriously, WTF? First of all, if you're a couple, the price difference between a dorm bed and a single room is cut in half. Second of all, you go to a beautiful location with your special someone, you want to spend the night romantically and privately, then sleeping next to them. Not sleeping on top of them...as in on the top bunk while they're in the bottom bed, in a smelly room full of bunk beds and their snoring inhabitants. One of the couples made the big decision to share a tiny bed for one of the nights...maybe they got in some hot dry-humping after everybody else went to bed. Bottom line, I understand wanting to save money but...either save up until you have enough to get a private room on your trip, or go somewhere closer and put the saved airfare towards decent lodging.

Anyway, the trip was lots of fun but I'm glad to be back home, getting back to research, spending time w/ my rady friend, and hopefully pwning the game.

-BRUECHIPS

2 comments:

Memphis MOJO said...

Well, welcome back. Sounds like a fantastic trip and I'm very jealous. Did you take the photo?

spritpot said...

Yap, I took the photo. Unfortunately it's about the only photo I took that I still have. I lost my camera halfway through, so I lost all the pictures I had from Glacier National Park. This photo I took on my iPhone and turned out surprisingly well.