Eeee my hippie generation.... :P

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

If you are in your mid-50-70-es then you are, like me, a rock'n'roll generation. We grow up listening to Janice, Clapton, Santana, Stones... If we didn't spend 2 days at the Woodstock concert then at least we had an album. We were smoking, reading J. Kerouac's "On the road", camping with friends... we didn't care about material things. We didn't have a kitchen full of electric appliancies and  WIFI - we had HIFI and boxes full of vinyl albums and life was great 🙂

And now, a few decades later, you book my place via Airbnb and complain about the bed, shower, A/C ...and your weekend is ruined without THE proper toaster 😛 You had a 3-month-old beard and a hair up to your but and now you are disgusted if you find one single hair on the floor?!?! Jeez! What happened to you? 😄

Not everyone in the middle age category is a complainer ....but almost all complainers are middle-aged... or older .. and uh, the worst are old married couples 😛

Happy Valentine's day all of you grumpy old hippies, and remember - love is all you need (not a toaster)  🙂

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0  "Dirty hippie" was a myth- a way to belittle us. The people who used that term knew nothing about hippies- they just saw messy hair and layers of strange clothes and made the assumption we were dirty. In fact, I didn't know anyone back in the 60s and 70s who didn't bathe on a regular basis.

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Thank you for this post. Here's my theory- the people who "used to be hippies" never actually were. They were playing at being hippies- wearing the clothes, adopting the hairstyles and the attitudes, but essentially still straight, and reverted to type as soon as those exciting times to be alive were over.

The real hippies are still hippies- they may actually brush their hair now, and dress more upscale and prefer not to drive old beaters that constantly break down, but they still have the original hippie attitudes- peace, love, caring for the planet, and they don't complain about toasters or take hour-long hot showers or crank your AC to Arctic temperatures when it's 70° out. The ones who do complain about the most trivial things and expect to be catered to were fake hippies.

[J-Renato0]

Yes @Sarah977

There was myths to belittle hippies and also people (intellectual, professors, philosophers) that standed for the counter culture.

There was lots of political interests. After all, they were against the consumer society and establishmentin, mainly in the industrial societies. That was the main cause, I believe.

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0  Exactly. And the music! Songs like John Lennon's Imagine- the lyrics threatened the programs of war, religion, and consumerism. And we were all listening to that. Quite the threat to the establishment. ( little known fact- the guy who shot John Lennon, a so-called crazy lone gunman, was the son of an old CIA buddy of George Bush Sr.)

[Ben551]

I resent that! @J-Renato0... I shower at least once a week 😄

[J-Renato0]

.

[Lawrene0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0, here's a theory. Hippies did a lot of judging - of the man, of squares, of our parents. Now, all grown up, we have been given stars to wield.

Love your post!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Lawrene0

you know, you are right... I totally forgot the judging side of hippies 🙂

[Ben551]

@Branka-and-Silvia0@Rubén16@Lawrene0@Emily352@Ann72 Hey I love this this thread! Man, how’d I miss it?

I feel like I’m in the wrong generation most of the time. Vinyls and great Rock music... where do I sign up? I reckon my own generation would benefit from adopting some of the simpler things in life... what we all need, deep down, is a good ole fashioned magic carpet ride 🙂  - my ring tone hehe.

[Ann72]

@Ben551 Any place it goes is right!

[J-Renato0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Robin @Ann72 @Ben551 @Lawrene0 @Clara

Not hippies but in the mood of hippies!

I remember that before I joined Airbnb, I used to have (once in a while) some different guests, in
the sense that they were somewhat less demanding. They had something to do with true hippies, in
the sense that, all they wanted to have it was a place to sleep and basic comfort.

1- Once I hosted a group of Hells Angels from Germany. They booked 2 apartments, and I think it was
somewhat crowed if compared with Airbnb patterns. Anyway they were all happy. There was a world
meeting in my city.

2- Once a guy from South Africa who was travelling throughout the world contact me to book an
studio. He wanted to move in immediately, but I said that the studio had not been cleaned yet.
Then he told me - "Just change the bed linens and to me it is ok! If I think it is necessary to
clean it I will do it on my own!" 🙂 When I was showing the kitchen to him, he said - "Oh, it is
great" - He was looking to a half empity bottle of wine that the previous guest left there. - Then
I asked him - "Should we leave the wine in the kitchen?" - His unforgetable answer - "Wine is
always welcome!" 🙂 He was very happy and friendly!

3- I remember that, once a family that was all a motorcycle race team contact me. They were from
Sweden and wanted a place to stay, since they came to Brazil for a competition in another city, but
wanted to visit Rio. There was the father and about 4 sons, all adults. I said that the apartment
had a double bed and single bed. So, some of them would have to slep on the sofas in the living
room. They said - "It is fine to us" - I still remember how that old man and his sons were
friendly, easygoing and happy!

[Ann72]

@J-Renato0 I don't know why, but this post brought tears to my eyes!  That father and his four sons especially.  I know he was just completely happy because he was with his boys.  Nothing else mattered.

[Ann72]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @J-Renato0 @Ben551 @Lawrene0 @Rubén16  I'm far from a hippie - more like a cat who can always find the most comfortable spot.  But when I travel, I become another person.  My favorite recent travel experience was in, as luck would have it, Croatia.  My oldest daughter and I rented a car and drove from Dubrovnik to Split and then out to an island, staying at Airbnbs along the way.  In Jelsa we stayed at an Airbnb that had a retro kitchen (not new-retro, but original-retro) and two bedrooms.  It had a little balcony but not a grand view, there was nothing grand about it, and I honestly couldn't tell you if it was spotlessly clean or not.  And my daughter and I couldn't have been happier.  We walked across the street and down the road a bit and dove into the Adriatic.  After a long time we went home, took showers, and decided we were too tired to go out, so we made scrambled eggs and drank the sweet wine the hostess had left for us and watched "Brooklyn 99" on my daughter's computer.  We were both utterly content.

This is why we travel.  To experience new places, but also to experience ourselves as we are when we're not at home surrounded by all our wonderful things, all our wonderful identities.  We find the joy in simple pleasures, and that refreshes us.

[Ben551]

I adore this thread.. keep it coming! @Ann72 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @J-Renato0 @Lawrene0 @Rubén16

[J-Renato0]

@Ben551 

I have watched about 5 or more times a film named Zabriskie Point, directed by a famous italian director Michelangelo Antonioni. It was filmed in the US, and many people consider it the worst filme of Antonioni. To me, it was the best. It is about the counter culture. If you have not seen it, you may find it at YouTube.

It may be also interesting to @Sarah977, Branka and Silvia and all the ones that are interested and posting on this topic. It is an old movie, maybe most of the ones who are reading or posting in this topic might have watched it.

[Sarah977]

@J-Renato0   Yes, I've seen that movie, but probably 30 years or more ago. I don't remember too  much about it, will have to watch it again.