Travel Addicts/Advice Thread

Sundry Chitchat
3759

Not sure why CS04 is getting push back on this—the availability of single-person hospitality is barebones at very best across the US. Hostels also barely exist; some big cities have none at all. Makes it quite a bit harder to be a solo budget traveler.

It took a long time of traveling for me to realize that the US has a strong aversion to anything that could be considered basic public accommodations, causing it to be exclusively lower-status as a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s a really weird hangup that shapes our society in fundamental ways: government services, housing, transportation, etc.

2 Likes
3760

I don’t think it’s really pushback. We fundamentally agree on most of it.

3761

It’s more the obsession with privacy than that though. Many people in Europe have no problem sharing a room or general close quarters with others if it costs them less. But having your own land/home is baked into how cities in America are designed. To so many, you haven’t made it in America if you haven’t bought your own house.

And given that travel is centered around relaxation for so many, why would you want to live (even temporarily) in a place that’s worse than the place you currently live?

3762

Don’t forget Japanese capsule hotels. Definitely “rooms” made for one person and one person only.

3763

Do they have explicit rules to prevent hooking up in those, or do they just rely on social/cultural norms?

3764

If you want to hook up, find a love hotel.

3765

Men’s and women’s capsules are separated, and there’s barely enough room for one in there anyway.

3766

I’m sure there are some horny teenagers with no better options who are up for the challenge.

Edit: I’m unaware of this love hotel thing NBZ is talking about, but if it’s similar price, then I guess there is no need.

3767

The horny teenagers instead head for the manga cafes where there are similarly tiny private rooms available for hourly or nightly rent. These are another great overnight option if you’re a lone traveler on a budget.

Hotels adorned with kinky-themed interiors available for an hourly or nightly rate specifically for the purpose suggested by the name.

1 Like
3768

Well, looks like we’ve got that covered. No need for anyone to bang in a capsule.

3769

Only been a couple days in Krakow and everyone seems to love it here and hate Warsaw, but my initial impressions are that Warsaw is way underrated and Krakow a bit overrated. Like I was expecting Krakow to be a 9/10 coming in and Warsaw a 5, but I’d say they’re like an 8 and 7.5.

One thing that harms Krakow in my eyes is that they’ve got this massive central plaza, one of the largest in Europe, but it seems like it was designed by a 10 year old (and not a talented one) in some city building game. It’s just a hodgepodge of buildings strewn about, and not very visually pleasing in the way that Warsaw’s castle plaza is just really nice to look at from many angles.

Beyond that, I really like that Warsaw is more of an actual city. I loved using the bikeshare to explore and there on tons of bike paths (Krakow has no bikeshare and looks tough to bike anyway), and I kinda like the contrast of the newly built central district with modern skyscrapers in Warsaw. Also, people talk up Kazimierz in Krakow, and yah it seems like it has a lot of cool bars/restaurants, but it kinda seems ugly to me. We stayed in Warsaw’s new town and it was more aesthetically pleasing.

We visited Gdansk for a day and a half, and that also seems like a solid city. Amsterdam vibes and a very nicely rebuilt center, albeit possibly a bit small, and the climate is terrible, so I’d imagine it just gets brutally packed when it’s finally nice out. Gdansk has 2 absolutely incredible museums and I’d go so far to say that if you even have a passing interest in WW2, then their museum is a must visit.

In general, I think Poland is quite slept on. It’s a great representation of “Europe” at a fraction of the cost of the popular cities and Polish cities are generally quite walkable and pleasant. They are much prettier than I thought they’d be. Main downsides will be that the climate seems like complete shit (it was still a bit cold up to mid May and I’d imagine Winters are just gray and brutal, not to mention polluted) and the politics, with the far right PiS Party in power. Also 99.5% white and hugely Catholic population. Although, to be fair, I thought my wife might catch a bit of flack for being darker skinned, but so far the people have been pleasant enough. I’m sure that would change if we ventured into some less touristic towns.

2 Likes
3770

Do you have a list of cities at each spot from 1 to 10? Trying to think of some myself and having difficulty in some spots, but you’ve been to many more places than I have.

3771

Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip for April 28, 1986

5 Likes
3772

You mean like a top 10 list? Or at each spot on a scale of 1 to 10?

3773

The second one.

3774

I tend to love ranking things. I think I annoy my wife by constantly asking her what her Top 5 x are. For cities, I tend to think in terms of which are just overall the most interesting, and which would be most interesting to live in long term (based on my salary which is relatively modest, roughly an ave. American salary).

For example, on the 2nd list, pretty much any American city would score a 0-3 b/c there are thousands of cities across the globe that are just far better to live in than the USA provided you earn an average American salary (and can benefit from earning in dollars with a decent exchange in many places). But even most Euro cities would score better than almost all American cities on that scale imo.

However, there are some cool cities: SF (back in 2010, not sure how it is now), NOLA is kinda cool, NYC, Chicago, etc. Those would score higher on the first list, but still wouldn’t approach the top quarter cities in Europe. I tend to highly value historical architecture, walkability, city design that invites people to congregate into plazas and parks, bike paths, public transport, etc. and if it’s at a non-ridiculous cost of living, even better.

Also note that I tend to love mega cities. The type where you feel like in a week long stay you’re just barely scratching the surface and you could live there a lifetime and still be discovering new things to do. So it’s also very difficult for a city that doesn’t at least have 2-3 million people to rank highly. One of the few exceptions would be Strasbourg. It’s fairly small, but I just love the vibe there so much (and in nearby Colmar).

As it stands now, I’d say my 3 current fave cities would be Paris, Rio, and Istanbul. Those would all get a 10. Next tier (9.5/10), very close to those top ones would be Amsterdam and London. 3rd tier (9/10) would be Prague, CDMX, Madrid, Barcelona. Probably forgeting a couple cities too.

Examples of 5/10, would be Marseille, Tbilisi, Bogotá

So from that perspective, I think I’d give Krakow an 8/10 and Warsaw a 7.5/10 in the overall city rankings.

1 Like
3775

And giving an example of each #, I’d probably go:

10 - Paris
9 - Barcelona
8 - Sydney
7 - Montreal
6 - Medellín
5 - Bogotá
4 - Fortaleza
3 - Barranquilla
2 - Omaha
1 - Saltillo

Also note I’ve never been to Asia (excluding Georgia and Turkey), never been to Africa, so my list is pretty Euro/LatAm heavy. And I haven’t really traveled USA/Canada much for 10 years.

I haven’t really visited many cities that I didn’t like over the last 15 years either b/c usually I research fairly well and as such rarely pass through cities I don’t like. Barranquilla I only passed through b/c I was going from Cartagena to Santa Marta and figured why not? b/c Shakira is from there. Omaha, my family lives there. Saltillo b/c I was staying in nearby Monterrey and it was quick to check out a capital city of a state I hadn’t been to in Mexico. I thought that it must be somewhat interesting if it’s a capital, but there is little there.

3776

My personal favorite place in Portland is Duckfat. You like Poutine? They make the best sandwich I’ve ever had - a brisket panini - but it’s not always on the menu. Everything there is good. There’ll likely be a wait unless you get there early.

I was in Portland a couple of weeks ago and we had dinner at Leeward which has gotten a ton of hype and was on the NYT’s top 50 restaurants list last year. I’m not a huge pasta guy but the creste di gallo with calabrian chile sausage was ridiculously good.

I agree with @sriracha regarding Bissell Brothers brewery. I like their beer the best, Allagash has a nice tour if you’re into that, and you get to do a tasting of a bunch of really small brew batches that you can’t buy in stores. Something like 85% of their sales are Allagash White, and then they use that profit to make a bunch of weird stuff.

One last food recommendation - if you want to get something between Boston and Portland while you drive - this place in Saco Maine - Quiero Cafe - has legitimately great empanadas. Looks like there’s one in Portland, too.

Portland has a legitimately nice art museum if you’re into that. Thompson Point is a fun concert venue, but it looks like they don’t have much in June. They have a big maker market that is open there sometimes, you can check to see if that’s on whatever day you’re going.

1 Like
3777

Last one - there’s a bakery named Norimoto Bakery that’s awesome. Not open on Sundays. It’s not near downtown, so you can’t really walk to it like the other Portland sights, but it’s worth it.

3778

Gonna be honest. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a city below 4.

To me, a 1 is like a war-torn place dealing with famine and disease.