Amenity expectations in different geographic locations

[Laura2592]

The thread about air conditioning got me thinking. What are some amenities you expect as a matter of course? Are you ever surprised that when you travel this particular thing is hard to come by, called something totally different or completely unknown? 

So where we are (mid Atlantic east coast) we have hot humid summers. Air conditioning is expected, even some would say, required.  But friends in Northern California don't have AC at all (and are very much against it due to the environmental impact.)

Same with heat. We have central heat here. Further, heat is a requirement for a habitable property. But my husband who grew up in San Diego never had central heat (though weirdly they had a wood burning fireplace they used 3 total times in his memory.)

Traveling in Europe we not yet stayed in a space that had what I would call a "dryer" for clothes. We did get accustomed to the cute all-in-one washer dryer machines and bought one for our space in New Orleans. (They do take a lot longer...)

There was also no such thing as an "American sized" fridge in many parts of the world, which I truly didn't mind. I generally need a fridge only to store water, wine, fruit and last night's restaurant leftovers so a small one can handle those requirements.

Water glasses tend not to be pint sized. Waiters in Germany used to look askance at me when I would ask for a pitcher of water rather than have them make several trips to fill up what Americans generally think of as a juice glass.

And as I love to sleep with about 15,123 pillows, most places outside of my home nation ask me to be content with just one.

What has your experience been as a guest with amenities you think of as a given, that maybe aren't so much a given everywhere?

[Sarah977]

@Brian2036  Well, the first 3 on your list I can say I don't have at my place, but I had to rehome a taratula last night that found its way into the kitchen, and while I don't have land crabs, there are lots here closer to the beach. At one little place I rented for a year before I built my own place, I forgot to roll up my car windows one night and the crabs got in and ate all the upholstery. 

[Brian2036]

@Sarah977 :

Did you try to blame the crab attack on the host?

😉

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Brian2036  @Sarah977  😄 😄 😄 LOOOL

well, I am not picky when I travel ... I need heating in winter, electricity, wifi, cold/hot water, a fridge, a balcony or garden with natural shade for my coffee & cigarettes, and a clean, pet-friendly place so my dog can be with me 🙂

The size of the fridge, number of pillows and quilts, A/C, curtains, kitchen utensils...most of the things I see hosts are so proud to provide... I really don't care at all.  I've been camping for almost 15 years so I can survive without a rice cooker and fancy gadgets   😛

[Sarah977]

@Brian2036  It wasn't an str. I lived there for a year and a half. And I would never hold a host responsible for local wildlife, power outages, etc, if those things were normal in the area. 

Just as I finished posting that last night, we had a doozy of a storm and the power went out. I was planning on cooking a nice dinner, but had to assemble all my candle holders and candles, had a sandwich and went to bed 🙂

[Michelle53]

I don't really understand why people travel and expect everything to be just like home.  The whole point of travelling (imho)  is to experience the way people live in a place that is not like home. 

Before I came to live in the States, I'd be one of those people doing eye-rolls at American tourists, wanting to know where the nearest McDonald's was to get a burger, and needing to have everything supersized.

For entertainment, watch the movie "Super Size Me!". 

You could always pick out the Americans at the hiking lodge because everyone was dressed in REI/Patagonia/LL Bean, and some of the tags were even still on.  Performance clothing is everything. 

Having lived in the States, now, for 26 years, yes, everything in Europe now seems small, where it used to feel normal.   I still don't eat McDonald's burgers, and I hope I don't take my flat sheet and extra pillows to Europe, next time I go, and I hope I don't get upset when I visit my cousins in England with the older homes with the leaky radiators, and the "airing cupboard" for drying clothes. 

Having grown up in South Africa, where the supermarket only had a couple of different brands of an item, the thing which boggled my mind the most was walking into an American supermarket where there are 20 or more different brands of the same item. 

There's also a "sameness" when travelling inside the US. Every mall or shopping center has the same cookie-cutter chain stores with the same appearance, signage and interior layout, every chain hotel has the same menu,  and "downtown" is always a bunch of skyscrapers crammed together in a very small area. 

I used to travel a lot on business - I've probably been in 100 US cities in 30-some states.  If signs on highways and in airports didn't constantly remind you what city you were in, you'd often never be able to tell.  

[Laura2592]

@Michelle53  gently, the point of this thread was not to bash any place, nor the way anyone chooses to travel. Its merely to point out the differences, which do make travel fascinating. There are some things that people, including myself, take for granted or never even think about until they are presented with a place that doesn't offer them. And in those moments, you do question whether you really need those things or are just used to them. Often the alternative is just as comfortable. Sometimes its not, in the case of bedding for me 🙂 Many people are very specific about what they need to sleep comfortably and its pretty much impossible to please everyone. But that doesn't make US standards the best or the "right" ones (many people in the US don't use a top sheet.) It just makes for interesting conversation.

And FWIW, I own not one piece of performance clothing. Nor even a pair of jeans or sneakers. I wear dresses exclusively.  I was born and raised in the US. The stereotypes do not always apply!

[Michelle53]

@Laura2592   The intention may not to have been to "bash any place" but many people travelling don't question whether or not they "need" something, and they haven't stepped outside their personal comfort zone long enough to know what they take for granted. 

All they are aware of is that the destination doesn't apparently have something they have at home, that's as familiar as breathing recycled air. 

The "First World" , and I call it that, intentionally, so people won't think I'm singling out "America" has created a lot of expectations, based on advertising "wants" not "needs" and promoting a  consumer culture.   And, yes, America in the 1950's had a whole lot to do with that.  Bigger and bigger cars. More prepared foods in the grocery stores as more women entered the workforce after WW2,  and had their own disposable income, and the rise of the "convenience gadgets" - the dishwasher etc etc. , as women spent more time outside of the home.  The rise of the shopping mall, where you could do all your shopping in one location, or the super market, with all the products under one roof. 

It's worth really studying the 50's and 60's to understand how "bigger and better" became the "norm" and how the film industry and television helped to promote this idea across the globe.  Also, study the concept of "planned obsolescence".  Where things are designed to wear out quickly and not be repairable, so you have to go out and buy another one. 

I'd suggest the best way to determine what is a "need" vs what is a "want" would be to have the power out for a week. 

I say this with some frustration, after a recent guest posted a warning to others to "come prepared" because I don't have a coffee grinder in my not-a-kitchen.

[Brian2036]

@Laura2592 :

Back to the original question, which is a good one:

In the less-well traveled parts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other places in that neighborhood, the term “hot and cold running water,” is advertised but may not mean what you think.

 You will have cool water at dawn and rather warm water in late afternoon on a sunny day.

There are usually two taps but they are both directly connected to the same rooftop storage tank.

If electric service is out for an extended period of time the “running” part may consist of someone trotting a bucket of murky water to your door twice a day.

Then there are the toilets. . .    😞

[Laura2592]

@Brian2036 oh the toilets! The squat toilet was a new experience for me in Rome 🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Laura2592not just Roma, the whole of Italy 😄 And bidet... they have it everywhere, and they miss it while traveling abroad 🙂

[Pat271]

@Laura2592  Yes, it was new for me too! It was outside of Rome, but I was like, “Whaaat? You’re kidding, right?” 😂

[Sarah977]

@Michelle53 "You could always pick out the Americans at the hiking lodge because everyone was dressed in REI/Patagonia/LL Bean... "  🙂

When I go to pick up friends or relatives at the airport, there are often several flights that have landed at more or less the same time and there's no way of knowing how long it'll take for passengers to get through customs and immigration. I could be waiting 20 minutes past their arrival time or an hour and 15 minutes.

One of the ways I pass the time and figure out which flight the passengers streaming out the arrival gate have been on is to look at how they're dressed. 

The ones from Denver and British Columbia are easy to spot- outdoor LL Bean-type attire is ubiquitous, whether they've ever gone camping or hiking in their lives or not.

[Pat271]

@Sarah977  Haha!

That reminds me, when lamenting to my posh New York friend that I didn’t feel I had any style identity, she said “You most certainly do! It’s called “Colorado Mountain Girl”! 😏

[Inna22]

It is the safety features in the US that are a given I think. I am at an airbnb in remote Caucus mountains as I write this. On the outside there is a staircase with no railing and a gushing whole to the two floors below. At the edge of it there are lounge chairs. You move an inch in those chairs and you are gone. You have to jump from the top stair to the landing (with a suitcase of you just arrived). Inside it is brand new and super comfy. 41 reviews, nearly five stars and none mentioning it. No apology or watch your step from a very welcoming sweet host. 

At my airbnb  in Chicago I have a slightly loose railing ( it’s  not against code, no way of changing it, you have to shake it to notice). A number of people have complained about it being unsafe and neglected by me. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Inna22  I had to google to see where are you now and found out it's Russia, no wonder nobody is upset about the stairs :))) ... but how come you decided to travel there? 🙂