I think that a lot of us go through certain points in our life when we question where we are in life in a sort of "what the hell am I doing here... I don't belong here" (thanks Radiohead), sort of way. I go through this every now and then with Da Nang because although it is lovely here, there are certain aspects of it that annoy me and make me question if I should continue to live here.
But I have recently, because of my recent trip to visit a friend in somewhat nearby Phuket, Thailand, come to realize that a "hate-cation" can often have a very positive effect on your life.
src
I recall reading about something of this sort on some reddit thread a long time ago and up until this moment I had no idea that it was a Simpsons episode until this very moment.
The thread had indicated that it can sometimes be beneficial to take a holiday or vacation to a place that you are relatively certain you are not going to enjoy or at the minimum it is going to have a lot of annoyances involved with it. The purpose of this is to one, make you become more patient, and also to renew your love for the place that you happen to be.
This kind of reminds me of the few times I have cheated on someone that I was in a romantic relationship with and realized because of that of how good I have it as far as my relationship is concerned. That's probably TMI so I'll try to keep things on topic henceforth.
src
You may recall that when I was writing about my trip to Phuket that I became very aware of how absolutely terrible the traffic situation there is. The roads are chaos and are extremely inadequate given the population of that medium-sized island. Everything you do that involves simply leaving your little neighborhood takes ages and will involve some leaps of faith as far as jutting out into oncoming traffic is concerned.
Also, because of the much higher levels of tourism there, you are constantly pestered by "sales rep" (I'm being kind with that term) to be constantly spending money. There are also ripoffs around every single corner, and the prices are higher for most things there based solely on tourism and because they CAN in fact, get that much for something like a beer. I was reminded about how extreme the tourist markup is when while me and my friend were walking on the beach we stopped to ask a woman with a cooler for a couple of beers that were priced at 150 THB each. She said "ok, moment, wait here" because she didn't even have the beers in stock. We could see that she was headed across the street to the 7-11 and stopped her, saying "mai pen rai, mai tong pai suu" which means, "don't worry about it, you don't need to go and buy anything." When we went to the next 7-11 we discovered and found that the 150 THB beers we were about to purchase are 38 THB at the 7. That's one hell of a markup!
You don't ever really see that happening in Da Nang. If a woman (or a man...but for whatever reason it is almost always women) on the beach is selling beers out of a cooler in Da Nang, the price is only marginally higher than it would be at a minimart. It is never 4-5 times the price.
We were also confronted and even followed constantly by taxi drivers with the "where you go?" tactic they have for pressuring you into getting into a taxi. I can mitigate this much better than most people because I speak Thai but these guys are pretty relentless. After one guy finally leaves you alone he is almost immediately replaced by the next one to the point where you can't even walk along the beach in peace.
This only ever happens in Da Nang if you happen to be somewhere that people often need taxis such outside department stores or at the airport.
So if you are keeping count, I am now annoyed by being constantly harassed, inflated prices, and horrible traffic conditions. NONE of these situations exist in Da Nang, the area that I have called home for 5 years now.
So while the idea of a hate-cation is probably not a great idea because of course it is stupid to spend money on something that you know you are not going to enjoy, I think that a bad vacation can actually be very beneficial to your overall quality of life. Since returning from Phuket I have a newfound appreciation not just for my city, but my condo and also my own bed. These are all things that I have been taking for granted for a while now.
So if you do find yourself on a bad vacation one day, take a step back, remove the Karen-batteries, and use it to your advantage. It has worked wonders for me in the past few weeks as I know look around where I live and genuinely appreciate the places that are part of my everyday life.... constant car honking and all :)
Heheh love this Radiohead hit (it brings me back to high school). On my part, I sometimes feel "hate-cation" happens when there's expectation vs reality or maybe when we step out from our comfort zone. Indeed, experience is the best teacher for us and we'll somehow get used to the changes until it doesn't annoy us that much anymore; not just the constant honking of cars but also loud neighbors and the crowing sound of chicken... heheh
what an amazing song "Creep" was huh?
Funny how it takes a trip to realise how good or how bad your every day life is. I think you tend to appreciate what you have far more after a hate holiday or a hate cation. Being ripped off so openly turns me off immediately as it is hard to justify the spend.
getting ripped off makes you suspicious of everyone. To this day I am probably a bit meaner to taxi drivers than I should be because prior to apps those guys were unapologetic scumbags all over SE Asia.
Yes if you know your prices it helps and it is unbelievable that they charge these prices because someone is buying .
too many people have the attitude of "it's still much cheaper than where I come from" and well, maybe they should be thinking that it is overpriced where they live as well rather than the other way around.
I've never heard of that before, but it definitely sounds like it could be a good thing. I know the few times I have visited the big city I am always happy to return to my little house outside the city limits. It's just a slower pace that I really enjoy. I don't think I could ever live in the big city. Fun to visit, but I like having my space!
yeah I think that as well. You can find empty spaces here but you have to walk pretty far to make it happen.
I guess sometimes we need a bad experience to remind us how good we actually have it. But hey, at least you got a fresh perspective on Da Nang. Sometimes, a little contrast is all it takes to appreciate home again
Thank God that sort of nonsense rarely happens in Samui too. We hear lots of reports of how busy and awful Phuket has become and sit back with smug, knowing smiles on our faces.
However, I'm sure pridencomes before a storm.
Best wishes and I hope you and the little fella are doing well :-)
A good friend of mine recently got here after spending 3 months in Samui and has said that while the traffic is pretty bad in the usual places, the island is still quiet and wonderful for the most part. You really can't find that at all in Phuket. Maybe next time I will fly there but it is my understanding that Bangkok Airways still charges rather extortionate prices for flying into their airport.
They do! I rarely fly in and out but when I do, I have a resident card which gives around a 30% discount. You still get the island vibe here, even more so when arriving by boat in my opinion. Many people fly into Surat on Air Asia and then get a bus/boat ticket for the ride over. Have a great weekend :-)
I guess that will be the plan then. I remember once flying out of a Samui to BKK years ago where I didn't consider the price, I just really needed to get out of there for some reason. I was on a tiny turbo-prop plane and the flight was something crazy like more than $300 for a one way. I guess they can charge whatever the hell they want since they have exclusive rights to the airport. While this sucks for people trying to fly there, perhaps it is a good thing because if any ol' airline could come in there, the island would quickly get overrun with tourists and just become another Phuket.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ