Rant-People on vacation

Morgan3820

En-Route
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New Bern, NC
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El Conquistador
I live in an rural area that gets tourist and vacationers which is fine as I’ve been there myself. When on vacation, playing the tourist, remember that the locals are trying to get to work and driving around slowly wondering where things are, building up a train of cars behind you is frustrating to the rest of us who are just trying to get to where we need to go. if you’re lost pull over and figure it out.
 
I live in an rural area that gets tourist and vacationers which is fine as I’ve been there myself. When on vacation, playing the tourist, remember that the locals are trying to get to work and driving around slowly wondering where things are, building up a train of cars behind you is frustrating to the rest of us who are just trying to get to where we need to go. if you’re lost pull over and figure it out.

lol - as I read you post... locals are trying to get to work and driving around slowly wondering where things are.

I was wondering why locals didn't know where things were...

(or is this reply more appropriate in the things-not-worthy-of-a-thread thread?)

Does anyone remember that Florida used to give rental cars a license plate that started with Z? It's my understanding that part of the rationale was to let the locals know if they were probably dealing with a tourist.
 
For those in the DC area, it's not just the roads.... It's everything. Many locals call them Turistas.
 
I live in an are like that too. The population of just this town goes from 4,400 to like 70,000 in the summer. It just takes longer to get places so you leave earlier. But drivers seem more and more clueless now, probably not, I'm sure there have always been clueless people, but it sure seems like there are more now.
 
I always feel badly for locals in places like Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg TN and other places where the sheer volume of tourists coming in results not just in slow poke "rubber neckers" holding up traffic, but in traffic jams that prevent locals from getting anywhere at all on a timely basis.
 
I suspect they all know exactly where they are.
They are driving slowly because it's difficult to keep your eyes on that tiny phone screen with Google Maps and not run into something. ;)

Sort of the land based version of a VFR plane with two glass screens and a Foreflight iPad. :p
 
There are rural places in the northeastern states and parts of the midwest where it is some of the locals causing massive traffic pileups due to the speed of their horse drawn carriages.

In terms of rant quality, it could use some spicing up. I would throw in some road rage, and and maybe have a scandal involving Mrs. Jones spotted in the back of Toby's milk truck engaging in questionable antics. And of course you have to develop the characters. "There was that one tourist couple. They bore a striking resemblance to..." yada yada.
 
I live in a city that's a tourist trap. It's been nice without them!
 
lol - as I read you post... locals are trying to get to work and driving around slowly wondering where things are.

I was wondering why locals didn't know where things were...

(or is this reply more appropriate in the things-not-worthy-of-a-thread thread?)

Does anyone remember that Florida used to give rental cars a license plate that started with Z? It's my understanding that part of the rationale was to let the locals know if they were probably dealing with a tourist.

Hmm. Why Z? I’m going with someone at the DMV orwhatevertheycallitinflorida, was thinking Zombie and got it through
 
I live in an rural area that gets tourist and vacationers which is fine as I’ve been there myself. When on vacation, playing the tourist, remember that the locals are trying to get to work and driving around slowly wondering where things are, building up a train of cars behind you is frustrating to the rest of us who are just trying to get to where we need to go. if you’re lost pull over and figure it out.

“.... remember that the locals are trying to get to work and driving around slowly wondering where things are....” Some of them locals is probably screamin, get outta my way, I gotta get to work and sell ya some sheet
 
There are rural places in the northeastern states and parts of the midwest where it is some of the locals causing massive traffic pileups due to the speed of their horse drawn carriages.

In terms of rant quality, it could use some spicing up. I would throw in some road rage, and and maybe have a scandal involving Mrs. Jones spotted in the back of Toby's milk truck engaging in questionable antics. And of course you have to develop the characters. "There was that one tourist couple. They bore a striking resemblance to..." yada yada.
I will work on my technique. I appreciate the pointers.
 
In the ski towns, the only people the locals* hate more than out of state tourists are in-state people (especially from Denver). Cars with Texas plates are often ridiculed online for bad driving or parking.

* "Local" means someone who just moved to the town to be a ski bum and work at a resort or marijuana shop. After 3 weeks, you can start complaining about the tourists ruining "your" town.
 
For those in the DC area, it's not just the roads.... It's everything. Many locals call them Turistas.
In DC, the locals are in the way of the tourists.;) "Turista" is the Spanish word for "tourist."
 
When we go to places (and sad to say we are touristy people...) I feel the same as locals do. Just have a plan and go for it. There's always that weird intersection that you simply don't know what you need to do, but for the most part - just keep moving. As others have said - drivers seem to have less and less ability to drive these days. That's why we are all pilots right?
 
My kind of vacation takes me away from places that everyone else is going to. I never could figure out how being in a crowded place with thousands of other folks makes a vacation fun.
 
I live on the coast, the number of people driving the highway here and are shocked every time they see the ocean is too damn high. Just pull over and stare at it, don't try and do it while you're driving. Similarly when I was in a rural area: cow! hill! barn! tree!
 
When we go to places (and sad to say we are touristy people...) I feel the same as locals do. Just have a plan and go for it. There's always that weird intersection that you simply don't know what you need to do, but for the most part - just keep moving. As others have said - drivers seem to have less and less ability to drive these days. That's why we are all pilots right?

Pilots. Hmm. If you fly to Oshkosh, are you a tourist?
 
I lived in Cambridge (the original one) for 5 years. Lots of other students complained about all the tourists who'd be wandering around in the summer. The way I saw it, we'd chosen to go there knowing full well that it was a big tourist destination, and the money they brought in was a major contributor to the local economy.

Pretty dumb to complain, a bit like moving next to an airport and complaining about the noise of airplanes.
 
I live in a tourist trap too and couldn't agree with you guys more. It was nice while it lasted.
 
Pretty dumb to complain, a bit like moving next to an airport and complaining about the noise of airplanes.

Indeed. Guess the whole "i LivE wHeRe yOu vAcAtiOn" wasn't the pwn the people uttering that virtue signaling tripe think it was.

In fairness, there's not a place these days not jam-packing to the gills that isn't a disinvested de-industrialized wasteland, or a bona fide sacrifice zone. WFH absolutely broke the gate chain on the gentrification wagon and exported it to the 2nd-tier urban/suburban/exurban nooks and crannies of the Country people thought were immune from getting bumped off that cheap CoL respite. The Southeast is grappling with the resentment of that internal displacement the most, based on the just released Census.

I just remind myself that we don't have the population of places like India or China. So I thank my lucky stars my life value is only diluted by 330 million potential passports and not 2.2 billion; pinch my nose, undershoot my housing footprint (for my income bracket), and dream of a reverse snowbird/reverse commute living pattern lifestyle in .mil retirement. Even the typical expat options are getting crowded/non-starter on the cost front.
 
I’d rather live where there is something interesting to stop and look at, than zip back and forth in a place that’s boring and everyone is just trying to get away from it as fast as possible.
 
Tourons. Where I live, you can tell its a nice day by listening for the loud exhausts on the chrome parade floats letting everyone know "I'M ON A CRUISER".... Then there's the *******s that leave all their litter on the beach. Why clean it up? They don't live here, either the ocean will wash their dirty diapers and plastic bottles out to sea or someone else will pick them up. Flick your cigarette butts wherever you please....

And don't get me started on the tourons and massholes dropping in on you when there's surf on a warm day...
 
We have enough locals who meander around town going 20-25 mph in 35-mph zones. I can't imagine adding tourists to that equation.
 
I once again offer to you all to live here. But then @Rgbeard will post that Illinois meme.

No traffic here. No jobs either, but hey, no traffic! And cheap hangar rent.
 
Eh, it’s all relative. Very few true locals in those places anyway. Most moved there at some point in the past. Plus tourist dollars pump life into the local economy. I’m a true local born and raised in the city where I live, I’m basically a unicorn now. Everyone is a transplant and rock the local sports teams’ and small business’ hats and t-shirts. That’s fine, I’m happy they chose my town to settle(I’ll be the first to talk trash about it), but it is odd being the only person in the neighborhood that knew what the local business district looked like before the breweries move in.
 
We can freely travel to each other's cities and stimulate the economy while there. Leaving 10 minutes earlier for work seems like a small sacrifice to make. And unless you are a Native American, you aren't really a local either. It's all relative.
 
I lived in Cambridge (the original one) for 5 years. Lots of other students complained about all the tourists who'd be wandering around in the summer. The way I saw it, we'd chosen to go there knowing full well that it was a big tourist destination, and the money they brought in was a major contributor to the local economy.

Pretty dumb to complain, a bit like moving next to an airport and complaining about the noise of airplanes.
I am not complaining. I am ranting. Rants are not required to stand up to the scrutiny of logic. Ranting 101.
 
We can freely travel to each other's cities and stimulate the economy while there. Leaving 10 minutes earlier for work seems like a small sacrifice to make. And unless you are a Native American, you aren't really a local either. It's all relative.
I am a native American, I was born here.
 
A twist on this problem. Every now and then I get a call from Marriott offering me a "free" stay. Usually a live telemarketer. I usually stop them and say let me tell you the locations I've only gone to when someone paid me to go. Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Unless you are willing to pay me, strike those from your list. They then frequently thank me and hang up, or sometimes offer Myrtle Beach, to which I offer a polite no. What is there in those places that makes anyone want to put up with them. I get Vegas if gambling is a deal to you.
 
A twist on this problem. Every now and then I get a call from Marriott offering me a "free" stay. Usually a live telemarketer. I usually stop them and say let me tell you the locations I've only gone to when someone paid me to go. Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Unless you are willing to pay me, strike those from your list. They then frequently thank me and hang up, or sometimes offer Myrtle Beach, to which I offer a polite no. What is there in those places that makes anyone want to put up with them. I get Vegas if gambling is a deal to you.
It’s nice to say you been. Once. But to go back. I’m with you.
 
Not long ago I spent a great deal of time working in a place with a winter population of ~500 and a summer population of ~20x, a large portion of which are very inexperienced drivers. A coworker was late to work one summer morning but brought cellphone video of the town constable who had pulled over a van full of tourists and was explaining to them 'YOU HAVE TO DRIVE FASTER OR GET OUT OF THE WAY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

You should try living in Central Florida.
No, I don't believe I should.

Nauga,
who does like New Bern, though
 
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