travel

To Recline or Not to Recline: The Airplane Seat Domino Dilemma

by Ekua on February 20, 2012 · 11 comments in etcetera,general travel

My row mate and I had the easy camaraderie that comes when you realize that boarding has closed and the third person in your row of three will not be joining you. I unbuckled my seat belt and slid into the window seat that I would have picked had I been able to check in earlier. We smiled at each other as we looked forward to a little extra room and two whole armrests each on our 10 hour flight.

We chatted as we prepared for take off. I learned that he was originally from Northwestern England, close to Wales. He had just finished a California vacation with his family of four. His wife and two teenage kids were seated in the row behind us. They had traveled up and down the state and inland to Yosemite National Park. I was glad to hear that they had thoroughly enjoyed their time in my home state.

I explained that I was stopping in London on my way to Berlin, a last minute trip sparked by acquiring enough frequent flyer miles for a free flight. We continued to talk about travel and life as our plane taxied.

We took off during a gorgeous sunset and I looked down at the misty coast of California taking in the blessedness of it all — where I was going, where I’ve been, where I live.

Then came the announcement that we had reached cruising altitude and a ding signaled that the seat belt sign was being turned off. A few people got up and many more decided to sit back, relax, and enjoy the quality selection of free movies. I could see the airplane seats start recline in domino effect form.

When it reached our row, I joined in. As usual, I was not thrilled with the seat in front of me going down, but like many others, I understand and partake in it because I am not willing to sit upright for 10 hours with my head unnaturally pushed forward by the airplane seat.

To say that my row mate was unhappy when the person in front of him started to recline his seat all the way back would be an understatement.

“I can’t see my telly!” he shouted as he pushed and pounded on the seat in front of him. My row mate was very tall, and I could see that the seat was pressed up against his already cramped knees. I could also imagine that because of his height, optimal viewing of the dinky little TV screens could be harder to achieve with the seat in front of him reclined. But still, his air rage was surprising to see. And the person in front of him was not having it.

I got a little nervous as I recalled an story my mom had shared with me just a couple months before. It was about a flight that had to return to the airport that it departed from because of an overheated argument about seat reclining. One of our family friends happened to be on that flight.

When I read the article, it was the first time I’d ever even given any thought to whether or not you should recline your seat. And I noticed that in the article and some of the comments, the sympathy seemed to lie with the man who was upset with the person in front of him for reclining his seat. Did I miss the you’re-not-supposed-to-recline-airplane-seats memo? After all, what is the purpose of having seats that recline a certain amount if it’s a faux pax to recline them the full amount?

I get it that some people are tall and probably shouldn’t have to pay extra for legroom. But at the the same time, why should the person in front of them feel like they are restricted? What if the person who wants to recline has a back problem or another health issue that would make it even more uncomfortable than it already is to sit upright throughout the flight?

Luckily, on my flight, my row mate and the man in front of him grudgingly reached compromise and no physical fight broke out. My row mate’s initial pleasant demeanor was eventually restored and throughout the flight, he helped me interpret the Welsh accent of our flight attendant.

There were no more arguments for the rest of the flight to London, but the incident at the beginning stayed on my mind. I’ve brought up this story with frequent fliers both short and tall and have gotten very mixed feedback. This includes some shorter travelers who feel that it’s rude to recline your seat all the way and some taller fliers who feel that fellow tall people need to deal with it or pay extra for a seat with more legroom.

What are your thoughts?

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A First Time Solo Traveler’s Guide to Hostels

by Ekua on February 11, 2012 · 4 comments in backpacking,d.i.y. travel,safe travels,solo travel

Hostel Kokopelli, a clean, colorful, and welcoming hostel in Lima where I kicked off my first big solo trip.

When I travel on my own, where I choose to stay can make a huge difference in my overall experience in a location. In my second post for my solo travel for beginners series, I suggested that hostels were excellent place to begin if you want to meet people while you’re traveling solo. I know that some people who are squeamish about hosteling will immediately start backing away at that suggestion.

But I think that everyone is more capable living differently or more simply than they are used to, especially when in the scheme of things, it’s such a brief period of time. With just a little bit of research, in many locations you can find a variety of hostels that appeal to a variety of travelers.

When I was planning my first big solo travel trip, I browsed some of the hostel websites and would often arbitrarily reserve rooms at hostels that had good ratings. While this might guarantee a decent bed to sleep in, I’ve found that if you’re traveling solo, it’s often better to look a little deeper into what a hostel is all about. Here are some of the things I consider before I book a hostel:

» Safety and Location

Sometimes I’ll see a hostel review that says something like, “This hostel is located in a dark, decrepit alley and it’s really hard to find… but it’s a good hostel!” Um, no thanks. Safety and location are first and foremost. If it’s a large city, I typically opt for places that are central to a neighborhood and in smaller cities, I prefer to stay in the center of town.  I also like to stay locations that have easy access to public transportation.

Another thing I look for is whether or not the hostel has lockers and if past visitors have given the impression that they felt that it was a secure environment. You can find shady people in any hostel or hotel, but some places do a better job of looking out for the safety and well being of their guests by doing things like providing lockers for everyone and by letting guests have access to reception 24 hours a day.

Casa Angel, my hostel of choice in Oaxaca. This toilet used to be in one of their bathrooms. When it stopped working, one of the hostel staff members brought it up to the roof and converted it into a flower pot.

» Size and Atmosphere

On my first big solo trip, I figured that large hostels with a party atmosphere were the best for meeting people. While I certainly did meet plenty of people at hostels like that, I’ve found over and over again that I make better connections with better people when I stay at smaller, cozier hostels. There is often a greater variety of people in the crowd at smaller places and people tend to congregate in the same areas so faces become familiar.

I also keep an eye out for hostels that put time and effort into making the hostel inviting by keeping it clean and giving it some kind of personality. Homey and decorative common areas filled with books, ideas on what to do in the area, and friendly faces can make you quickly feel at ease and they draw people out of their rooms to socialize.

» Hostel Events and Free Breakfast

Hostel events and outings are a good way to settle into the environment when you arrive in a new location. I always  prefer to stay in hostels that keep their guests in mind by organizing gatherings, nights out on the town, or trips to local events. I’ve found that if I first get to a new place and I’m not really feeling it, taking on these kind of opportunities always ends up enhancing my experience.

I’ve regularly found that the breakfast table is the best place to meet fellow hostelers. Hostels that offer free breakfast often do it in a small window of time and people traveling on a budget usually take advantage of this, even though it usually takes place earlier than they like to wake up. A number of my great travel friendships have begun this way, with a conversation struck up over coffee and toast.

Note: This post has been sponsored, but all thoughts expressed are my own.

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Thoughts on the Global Fluctuations of Access to the Elemental

by Ekua on January 28, 2012 · 12 comments in general travel,musings

Water is often on my mind when I travel. I’m not talking about beaches and waterfalls and pretty lakes, but about water in the everyday practical sense. Essentially, water is always more of an issue abroad than it is when I am at home in San Francisco.

There’s the fact that in so many places around the world, you cannot drink water from the tap. In Ghana, if we want to drink tap water, we have to boil it and then put it through a water filter. On other trips, my reusable water bottle that I fill up with tap water when I’m at home has to be replaced by day after day of bottled water from corner stores.

The hostel I stay at in Oaxaca, a city that has issues with water shortages, limits the time hot water is available to two hours in the morning and two hours at night to curb water usage. In Bolivia, so many of the low budget places I stayed at claimed to have 24 hour hot water but often really only had a trickle of lukewarm water that quickly went cold. As I was there in the middle of their winter in some of the highest altitude destinations in the world, this meant that I often skipped the cold showers because it wasn’t worth it.

When I was recently in Namibia, I stayed at a homestay for a couple nights and there was no hot water coming from the taps and the shower head didn’t work. To take warm showers, we boiled hot water and combined it with cold water in bucket and used that to rinse off.

Even in Western Europe, where clean and heated water is widely available, water comes to mind because of the prevalence of dual flush toilets. It demonstrates that there is generally more thought put into the wastefulness of using fresh water to flush waste down the toilet than where I live.

More and more, when I come home, I think about how the way we consume water in the U.S. differs from many other places around the world. It’s a kind of availability and usage that is largely taken for granted. And this is the case even where I live, a state that’s at a constant risk for drought.

As I write this, I am drinking a glass of fresh water from the tap made even tastier and cleaner by putting it through a filter. I have to walk only a few steps to refill my glass. I take a warm shower daily with plenty of water pressure and without having to wait very long for the water to heat up.

But last Friday, for a short period of time, this was not the case. I had come home from work, relaxed a little bit, and wanted to take a quick shower before meeting up with a friend later in the evening. In the bathroom, I turned on the shower and moments later, the water stopped.

I tried the sink faucet and just a little water came out before it stopped as well. I was frustrated. But couldn’t continue to be irritated as I thought about how the problem was likely to be very temporary and the whole issue I was facing could be stamped with the hashtag, #firstworldproblems. If I was in another part of the world, I’d have given up on the idea of taking a shower a lot more quickly.

It wasn’t too long until the water partially came back on. And it kept running through my mind how in some places, even the quick shower I took could be seen as something frivolous, even with just the tiny stream of water that was coming out. How crazy is it that on a global scale, something as fundamental as access to clean water can be considered a luxury?

This is the thing about travel, if you allow yourself to travel to certain places in a certain way, you will often be confronted with your position of privilege, even if you think you are doing things on the cheap. Perhaps especially if you are doing things cheaply. And it can make returning to your first world home more uncomfortable when things that once seemed commonplace now challenge you to acknowledge your prior ignorant bliss.

Maybe that’s reason enough for some people to avoid travel, but personally, I feel that I should take the opportunity to see the reality of the world when it presents itself. I want what I see to make me hold myself more accountable. I want it to push me to make changes in whatever little ways I can. And I know that the different realities of the world are always there, whether or not they’re right in front of me.

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