I do not think I am going to do a whole lot of traveling to parts of Florida. 

I just saw an ad for a Red Roof Inn that was close to $300/night. Ain't gonna go there!

Hmmm... I always wondered when I see these hideous rates how far one has to drive to find something reasonable. In my experience it depends on a bunch of intangibles. There never has been any rhyme nor reason to it.

Of course, an event in the area does drive the rates up. When the Pope came to Philly there were not too many rooms available and the damned few that were available were insanely high. 

Yet about 25 or 30 minutes away everything was normally priced. It was like a simple 20 minute drive would save you over a hundred bucks.

What I did not understand was that there was no tapering off of things. You went 20-30 minutes away and BAM! You seemed to cross the invisible mark and everything was regular price.  

I am now watching a friend gear up for a long cross country trip. He's planning it out and figures on camping a lot and getting a motel room every few days. It's kind of funny to watch.

"Huh? $275 a night there? Twenty miles away it's $39.95? Change in course!"

I suppose the funny part of it is that I'm pretty much the same way. Maybe even worse.

Actually I AM worse when it comes to the camping part. He's looking for camp grounds. I generally look at the ground I am standing on when I get tired. I'm also not as picky in my choice of motel, either. I'll admit that it is a miracle that I have never wound up at the Bates Motel and been ground up to hamburger or sold into slavery in Arabia or someplace. I have crashed out in some real fleabags.

There are generally three modes of trip planning and they are usually determined by circumstances. If I am traveling with my wife things are a little more upbeat.

If I am traveling with another guy I generally let him set the level of convenience and expense so long as it is reasonable.

If I am traveling alone it is very basic and primal. To me traveling per se is usually only a means to an end. Sometimes the trip is for the trip's sake but usually it is simply to get somewhere.


To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY