The Dreisatz Rechner is a practical tool for solving proport...
The Dreisatz Rechner is a practical tool for solving proportional problems using the rule of three. It allows users to calcul...
My Holidays in the USA
Hosts travel, too! A digital detox is good for everyone, even me. Here I recount our observations and experiences during our trip to California in the second half of October 2022, first to the coast and then south to San Francisco to Monterey.
The city tour
One of the main cities in California is obviously San Francisco. The city has many special features: in addition to the typical topography where the streets are laid out in a square and go up or down continuously because of the many hills, cultural diversity is immediately striking. Immigrants and minority groups are integrated and have dedicated pubs, clubs and bookstores.
In the Castro neighborhood, for example, the crosswalks are rainbow-colored:
Compared to my last trip five years ago, however, I feel like the social climate has become heavier.
You can tell by the air in the air: usually Americans are known for their politeness (apologizing all the time, standing in line, saying phrases that are embarrassing to me ), this time I happened to be treated a bit badly (e.g. "get out of the way" as in line at the gas pump; "excuse me" now sounds more like "move over," etc.).
The social divide is widening:with affordability get out of large SUVs, while the homeless live on the sidewalks; only the better-off can afford a tent. It's not that there are more homeless people than in Stuttgart (about 1 in a thousand), but the overall look is different.
Another issue, especially in California, is the exorbitant increase in prices: It seems to me that many prices have even doubled since 2017, which is why we bought our Sushi at the supermarket.
(An example: 2017 beer was $4 USD, now $8 USD.)
(A Sushi Bento is a take-out sushi box).
Nutritionally, there is still room for improvement. Sugar is sacred. Normal European dress sizes are called Petite.
These reasonably priced German wines have been an absolute exception-otherwise prices tend to be around $15-20:
I like to use public transportation-I see it as a free tour of the city with an authentic look at society, as well as being my personal contribution to environmental sustainability. Public transportation also works well in San Francisco. While others stand on the street, returning from a restaurant, looking at their cell phones and waiting for the Uber they have booked, I like to get on the next bus or Cable Car. However, we also took advantage of the Uber offer. Cabs are hardly seen anymore and Uber's cost a lot. Unfortunately, the flexibility and, at times, friendliness of the drivers have also diminished: Uber drivers seem to be under constant pressure to optimize their rides.
By the way, we often met German immigrants or otherwise people with German ancestry. The owner of the liquor store not only sold us the delicious 805 beer, but also told us that he was born in Würzburg and studied in Stuttgart!
Travel experience No. 1: missing the last ferry.
Because we had not read the ferry schedule properly, we looked for and found our first Uber in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere and accidentally and put 100 USD in the driver's hand. Let's just say it ended up being a bit more expensive than the usual shuttle bus that had taken us around for an hour at a cost of 1.80 USD.
(Foto Busstation)
Travel experience No. 2: Seniors are appreciated.
Without being asked, at the park entrance we were given the senior citizen price. Rather, it is a symbolic discount of $1 off the normal price of $10:
(Point Lobos Senior Photo)
Travel Experience No. 3: Foreign license plates can give you problems.
In a California parking lot, apparently, we had trouble correctly typing in the Colorado license plate of our rental car: the "machine" that was supposed to validate our parking didn't work. As a result, I filed an online appeal against the parking ticket we received.
(Parking violation photo)
A break from hosting
We paused our announcement for the time we were away. We wanted to take a break for a while without always being reachable
There are international data packages (for example, Congstar USA: 1 GB 1 week for €30). If one does not overdo it, it is sufficient. However, differences emerged in terms of technical compatibility of the phones: While Jutta's Galaxy S20FE mostly connected to the 4G network, my Galaxy A40 mostly roamed the Edge network (yes, it still works in the US). And so I enjoyed my free time.
Travel experience #4: cancelled ad.
Here's a tip, don't try to pause the ad on your phone during jetlagged nights. A finger movement done wrong is enough to pause the ad. I noticed that "deactivate" has a different meaning on desktop than on mobile!
Fortunately for me, I was able to immediately pass the case to support and after 30 minutes our ad was restored. Since I always have a local copy of the content, I checked that everything was okay.
(Screenshot Support)
Da Host a Host
(Foto Good Neighbor)
Location and neighborhood
I admit, not all the accommodations we stayed in were Airbnb: we found a hotel and booked it last minute. text removed
It was very centrally located, within walking distance of Market Street and the subway/tram. Had it been on Airbnb I would certainly have considered the location on the map a five star.
The rooms were spacious, elegant and very clean. The staff at check-in was very helpful and friendly. Unfortunately, the hotel is in an unattractive neighborhood due to obvious social unrest, but Union Square is a very quick walk away."
In the shoes of the traveller
I think it is good and important to step into the shoes of the traveler from time to time. Simply to identify the pros and cons from the guest's point of view:
How important are the last few meters before you get to the door! Directions with the exact address are necessary, but not necessarily sufficient. We found it very positive that the host sent us photos of the entrance to the accommodation just before check-in with instructions for the key or lock code.
Speaking of codes: I really like it when the channel manager or whatever generates codes that actually work! Fortunately, in San Francisco, there was a doorbell to call the landlord, who lived in the same building and happened to be there and could see for himself that the code was wrong. This experience did not increase my enthusiasm for self-check-in done with codes....
I believe that these keypads have had their day by now....
We were very happy with the fact that this time we did not have to look for toilet paper-there was enough paper!
Also we always found something to eat: fruit, cereal, coffee, tea, water, milk. I cannot leave the house without having breakfast first. I admit that we had better service than we could have had in a Hotel!
However, we often found the lighting in the rooms to be lacking-we would have liked better lighting. Switching from incandescent lamps (still often used in the U.S.) to LEDs would also not be a bad idea.
We had air conditioners available, and the heating was quite light.
We found the American shower system annoying: you can continuously adjust the temperature, but not the amount of water! There is still potential for savings. Even the shower, installed immovably on the wall, has its inconveniences.
The high-tech toilet immediately reminded me of Veronica-and-Richard0. But I admit that instructions on how to use it for guests would have been helpful! It is strange when the toilet lid opens by itself every time I bathe you make a movement. I have to say the thing some how fits with Halloween.
I found it nice that small towels were often offered as an alternative to a whole shower when you just need to freshen up a bit. I will consider this idea for our guest bathroom as well.
Some accommodations were exemplarily equipped with power outlets in the right places, and USB connections for charging for phones. In other cases, I was happy to have my own extension cord and chargers. A word of advice: go to your guest rooms and think about where you would like to put your laptop to work or where you would like to charge your cell phone! There are such simple solutions!
Travel experience No. 5: earthquakes
What would California be without an earthquake! Of course, we had one!
(Earth Quake photo)
By the way, did you know that the wave-shaped roof of bus stop shelters symbolizes an outgoing seismic wave?
(Photo Dach Haltestellenhäuschen)
Halloween
Halloween is a very popular holiday in the United States. Supermarkets sell many products dedicated to this holiday (all very sweet, of course). Gardens and avenues are lavishly decorated.
Bountiful nature
What should probably impress most of all travellers to the United States is the generosity of nature! In this context, I find the amount of parks and the well-marked hiking trails very pleasant. But outside of San Francisco, it is necessary to rent a car.
Hi @Laurelle3 , the small washing towels – which are available also in my country – have a size of about 25 x 30 cm. The material differs. You are right: The thicker, the more comfortable, but needs more time to dry.
Two more things I found very useful, and copied the idea for our listing:
Ready-to-use charging cables. It’s very convenient, just to charge your phone when you are sitting at the breakfast table, without installing (and forgetting) your own.
As a consequence, we bought 5 sets (really not much money), red colored, so the guests know “they are the host’s and should be left here”:
A small set of “emergency food”. When you don’t know where the nearest supermarket is, or it’s already closed and you are tired and hungry, this is a great idea.
As – during the pandemic – our guests don’t use the shared kitchen but a separate kitchenette without cooking facility, we have chosen some instant food which can be prepared just with pouring boiling water over it and wait a couple of minutes. Until now, also this doesn’t cost a fortune, and our guests don’t consume very much – but they are happy!
Finally we found washing towels, matching the colour of our towels. Cost just 1 USD per towel:
BTW: As we had paid the parking fee in a proper way and I could proof it with my credit card invoice, I’ve raised an appeal – and the case has been closed after 4 weeks! NOT GUILTY:
I’m still waiting for the announced letter by mail – I’m sure it will never arrive.
