Lodging… where to stay in the USA?
On day 8 during the #USAchallenge I asked you what kind of lodging you prefer when you go on vacation. Some of you like to stay in comfortable 5-star hotels, some of you enjoy being close to nature and sleeping in a tent. Some of you said that it is not lodging that is important. It is the people you are surrounded with as well as the place you’re in.
I personally have lots of reflections when it comes to places to stay during vacation. I am going to focus on my trip to the USA which was full of surprises and extreme conditions at times…
During 30 days we slept in 12 different places. That was unforgettable experience which got pretty tiresome when we started moving to new places every 2 or 3 days. I love roadtrips, I don’t mind spending long hours in the car (believe it or not, my daughter loves to travel, too) but after 2 weeks of constant moving from one place to another and literally jumping from cars, tents, school buses to guesthouses and hotels I felt I desperately needed to take a break! 🙂
My daughter quickly adapted to new places, beds, people around… so I guess we were definitely more tired than she was 🙂
We stayed almost everywhere… in hotels, in a tent, in a guesthouse, in private rooms with local people, in the car, on the plane… and even… in an old school bus! We only tried very hard to avoid motels… it’s something that has always put me off… old carpets, tiny rooms, no kitchen equipment and exorbitant prices (in relation to poor quality).
And you know what?
No two ways about it, it is people that are the most important. Followed by the place itself. However, if I ever want to truly unwind and recharge my batteries I’ll need a clean, spacious and comfortable place with full access to kitchen and bathroom. Other options are an experience definitely worth giving a shot because you will remember them for a lifetime…
Hotels can be great as long as the room is actually the whole apartment at your disposal 😉 trust me, it’s possible to get one at a decent price!
In Las Vegas you’ve got to try very hard to find something different than a hotel. And when you’re choosing your hotel, you’ve got to have your eyes wide open. The prices on the Strip might look attractive (like 40$ per night in Stratosphere) but they usually do not include tax(12%), visitors’ tax (29$/night) and sometimes they even charge kids under 3 even if they’re sleeping on existing beds (30$/night).
We stayed in a great hotel not far from the Strip. We had a bedroom, living room, kitchen, balcony, laundry room and a closet which made a perfect spot to relax a little bit 🙂 Due to the fact that it was located a few miles away from the Strip, the price was significantly lower.
WORDS TO USE:
reflections – przemyślenia
full of surprises – pełen niespodzianek
pretty tiresome – dość nużący
adapt to sth – przystosować się do czegoś
put sb off – odpychać, zniechęcać
exorbitant prices – wygórowane ceny
no two ways about it – bez dwóch zdań
unwind – zrelaksować się
give it a shot – spróbować
at your disposal – do twojej dyspozycji
at a decent price – w przyzwoitej cenie
include tax – zawierać podatek
visitors’ tax – opłata za udogodnienia
existing beds – istniejące łóżka
laundry room – pralnia
closet – szafa wnękowa/garderoba
due to the fact that – ze względu na to, że
significantly lower – znacząco niższy
Sleeping in a tent is great FUN and at the same time a lot of WORK when you’re with a kid 🙂 You’ve got to pack and unpack a thousand times a day, plan how and where to organize yourstuff, find whatever you need (yeah, sometimes it took me ages to find a spoon, milk or a shoe!), prepare your meals, clear up your stuff so that wild animals are not too easily attracted… and watch out for your child who loves to run around without bothering to be careful!
Have you ever slept in a tent during a thunderstorm and a gusty wind? When your tent is pitched under a tree you are better off getting out of it asap. We had no choice but go into the car in the middle of the night and sleep under the scary, windy and stormy sky in Utah. Adventure! Hooray! 🙂
And you know what was the most demotivating?
Whenever I asked my daughter if she prefered to sleep on a bed or in a tent, she would always point to a „bed”.
What a comfort-loving child!
Still, I liked to have the amazing view of the red rocks all around, the beautiful stars at night and… a playground wih a slide! 🙂
I will never forget the fresh smell of the trees on the Grand Canyon campsite. The smell the trees gave off just after the hailstorm cannot be described in any words.
WORDS TO USE:
clear up your stuff – uporządkować swoje rzeczy
it took me ages – zajęło mi wieki
watch out for – uważać na
bother – zawracać sobie głowę czymś
thunderstorm – burza z piorunami
gusty wind – porywisty wiatr
pitch a tent – rozbijać namiot
you are better off – lepiej na tym wyjdziesz
asap – as soon as possible – tak szybko jak tylko to będzie możliwe
scary – przerażający
comfort-loving – wygodny
playground – plac zabaw
slide – zjeżdżalnia
give off – wydzielać
hailstorm – gradobicie
Sleeping on the plane was the least comfortable option. Of course, if you fly business class then you can recline your seat and just forget about the whole world 😉 But we used economy class and on our way back from San Francisco to London, during over 10-hour overnight flight (a verybumpy one!), we had to squeeze in very cosy (haha!) and extremely hot (air-conditioning seemed to be out of order) seats. Sorry, I was too exhausted to take photos!
The best part of the whole trip for my daughter was definitely one night in… the old school bus.To be more precise, it was a „cool” bus 🙂 She loves all cars and anything that has wheels… She was over the moon when she found out she’d actually sleep inside such a cool yellow bus 🙂 There was one more thing that kept her awake until 23 pm… the remote control LED lighting. She was switching between about 20 different colours and was literally jumping for joy when they changed the way she wanted to… 🙂
Another interesting part of this day (and night) was the house next to the bus in which we could take a shower, use the bathroom and… have breakfast 🙂 An extremely friendly yogi (aged 60+) made us feel comfortable and told us that we could eat anything that their kitchen had to offer. Yeah, the kitchen was big, like in a typical American house they had tons of food, unfortunately, much of that food left a lot to be desired. It simply wasn’t fresh… 🙂 But we managed to find some almond milk and hummus which looked quite fine. We also had a fresh coffee served by our yogi 🙂
This was the view from the kitchen table 🙂 every day at 6.00 they practised yoga here.
In the next article I’ll tell you what it’s like to stay in a private apartment with locals from New York City and San Francisco, in a guesthouse often visited by bears, on an old ranch without A/Cand running water…
WORDS TO USE:
the least comfortable – najmniej wygodny
recline your seat – rozłożyć fotel
overnight – nocny
bumpy (flight) – lot z turbulencjami
squeeze in – wcisnąć się
cosy – przytulny
be over the moon – nie posiadać się z radości
keep sb awake – nie dawać spać
remote control LED lighting – oświetlenie LED sterowane pilotem
jump for joy – skakać ze szczęścia
yogi – jogin
make sb feel comfortable – sprawić, że ktoś czuje się komfortowo
almond milk – mleko migdałowe
what it’s like – jak to jest
often visited by bears – często odwiedzany przez niedźwiedzie
old ranch – stare ranczo
running water – woda bieżąca
