Technology and Traveling
What should you take when traveling?
First, you need to ask yourself are you going for work or pleasure? If you are going for your job then you need to obviously take whatever you need or require. If you are going for pleasure than you need to ask yourself- do I want to experience with my own eyes or spend time looking at some sort of screen? Let me clarify, I definitely would take a phone, not to do social media bullshit but for safety. I am talking about larger devices such as laptops or tablets etc... If you have a long flight you may decide you need this tech but, you may not. Remember, it is just more to carry, more to deal with and more that could get stolen or lost. It is irritating to me to see people visiting areas that are drop-dead gorgeous and never look up due to their inability to put the tech away!
We all want and love pictures. I more than most. I take a ton of pictures. However, I do not spend time editing them, looking through them and certainly don't publically post them until I return home. I don't post because it lets people know you are NOT home. In this day in age, it is sad to say but bad people are always watching. Great apps such as Google Photos exist that auto backup your shots so you never need to worry about space on your phone (as long as you connect to wifi and ensure they get backed up, and set the program up properly). Social media has become an addiction that many can not break. I see people glued to their devices seldom raising their heads. This is not just a traveling issue. Spend some time with your family, friends, new people just met, or even by yourself.
Stop...Stare... and RELISH! Experience is far better in person than through a screen.
Ben and Jennifer
When in Rome-
So many times I read reviews that state that the food at a certain location is not good. However, these same people are failing to say that they have no idea how to order in another country, for that matter I would bet that they can not order in their home country. What do I mean by this? If you go to a New York pizza joint and they specialize in PIZZA it would be really foolish to expect the fish too as good as a seafood restaurant. This seems quite obvious to me.
Recently, I went to Central America. The resort that we stayed at had wonderful reviews except for dinner. When looking closely at the complaints and after examining the menu myself it was easy to see why. People were complaining about the pasta sauce and what the sauce went over. Well, pasta sauce is NOT really native to the area, it is not Italy. However, the dishes native to the area were wonderful. I AM A FOOD SNOB and would not say otherwise if it were not true. The food was wonderful and I would definitely recommend it. I did not try the pasta sauce because that inherently seems fucking stupid based on my location.
Furthermore, if you are not an adventurous eater or do not appreciate food, in general, it is very inconsiderate to give a negative review of a place. It is bias and unfair to the establishment to attempt to please someone who truly could never be pleased. I personally would never take food advice from my father-in-law. He likes a certain food an that is it, never venturing far from that particular flavor or style. It would be ridiculous for us to compare likes or review that same restaurant because we are so different when it comes to food.
Moral of the story.
When in ROME DO as the Romans Do!
Ben and Jennifer~
Customs- Where you enter or exit one county to another.
Many times this requires a Passport and or Visa. All documentation that you do well in advance, that is verified by your government. You passport then is checked multiple times at the airport prior to you leaving your home country or entering another.
Sounds kinda simple? RIGHT? You are carrying an official document given to you by your country with all sorts of watermarks and holograms etc... So with all these people verifying who you are- WHAT THE FUCK is the deal?
You walk up to a customs agent and they all treat you like a criminal, where are you going, for how long, did you bring any cattle along with you this trip- are you cracked? Do I look like I am carrying cattle in my bag? OK, let's be fair there are lots of bad deceitful people out there. Yes, some try and do manage to get across the borders. But for the most part...
For the real reason, I am ranting. The last time I traveled I had no issues going through customs into or exiting a foreign county. They were relatively polite, separated all us visitors from the locals to expedite the process. Were efficient at getting us through the long line. Cool. OK, back to the United States of America the place my passport was issued, the place I was born and raised all my life, the place I pay my taxes to and have a home! Prior to the trip, I was advised to download the Passport App to expedite reentry. Very cool, technology, time-saving. ALL RIGHT! Wrong! First off, the app did help avoid one long line, but we were put into another, all mixed with travelers and citizens alike, really fucking stupid. Then we got to the point where they scan the app. Yup- the app would not scan, "we have problems sometimes with the scanner". Great! then they did not inform us that once we entered this smallish area to get our luggage we needed to scan app again? Of course, I had put my phone in my pocket to grab the luggage and guess what... they needed to scan the app again, all 100 feet away from the last scanner. YA- didn't work again, oh and an asshole TSA agent would not direct us when asked a question. THIS IS MY HOME COUNTRY RIGHT? Ok, so now we are good. NOPE- back through security again, checking all the same sit for the fourth time? It is like a bad dream. So, to recap- breeze through an customs booth in a foreign country with a foreign passport clerk with relatively helpful polite people just to come home to rude assholes, lumping us all together to check, recheck and check again the same information and we wonder why the satisfaction of travel is down and tax money is wasted on excessive.
Am I crazy~
Ben and Jennifer
