I just went on a 4-day Grand Canyon trip (Aug. 19-23, with 4
days of renting car) and we visited Las Vegas, ’we’ as in 3 people who met
through CouchSurfing website. The trip was a disappointment as one of the
people travelled completely different than me (and the girl, one of the
travellers, somewhat). He travels like an old person. And my uncle who is
50-something agrees with me! – We stayed at a hotel that is 3 hours away from
our last destination!!! Well, I didn’t want to pay so he paid for me J
Anyway, at Las Vegas, since one was playing poker and one
was shopping for all the time we were there (we got there at 1PM when we could
go there on the first day!!! And of course, we stayed at hotel that was only 4
hours from LV the first day when we could definitely gone to LV the first
day!!!), I went touring the city, the Strip. I have met 2 old men (in their
50-60s) – Well, they found me.
The first person whom I met was a ghost hunter whom claims
that he is a director of films regarding ghost tracking. He said he has home in
LV. He seems to be very rich, as he seems to be going to casino all the time. He
asked me what do I think what happens to people when they die. I answered that
people get reborn after death. He agreed with me. Well that is a good sign, as
I have thought about this topic, which I do wonder whether people my age think
the same thing. I sometimes think I am a little awkward thinking of these
things at this age…but I suppose not as I don’t ask people my age about these
things.
The second person, and last, I met was Joseph, who owns 5
restaurants and one being in Monterey, CA. He claims that he owns 5 houses in
LV, which sounds rich, but not so much, as houses in LV are really cheap
compared to major cities like San Francisco and Vancouver, BC. He studied
psychology in college and yes, he is very good at telling at what kind of
person people are. We only met for about only 4-5 hours and he understood me
well. When we finally separated at around 1AM, I simply thought that he knew me
well, but later (after the whole trip), I realized that he understood me too
well, perhaps even more than my own parents. He said that I am a peaceful
person, which I don’t really know what that means; as to me, the term
‘peaceful’ means something completely different. I would need to google up some
time. He saw that I am a sad person who is not good at getting along with
people her age when we first met. I was very surprised. I thought you don’t
need psychology to tell what people are; some people are just good at it and
some are just bad at telling so quickly. I think I am good at telling people
like that too, but I realized that I cannot tell how people are when I have just
met them, such as being very specific, like family relationships and
socialization skills. I basically told him everything about my life – family
stresses mainly. I was very amazed when he told me that arguing with parents is
a good thing! I now realize that this may be true but not true at same time.
Arguing makes my parents angry; yet, I also express my anger and feelings. I
can say this because my cousin does not express herself and her parents are
just making all the decisions and she follows them. She has no freedom. Because
of arguing and wanting to do my own things, I tend to force myself doing things
that my parents don’t approve (and things that I really shouldn’t follow as I
am risking something that may cause me negative results), such as going on a
4-day kayaking trip right before my final exam and going on a 5-day trip with
strangers. Well, I am not sure if I am patient or not, but I feel that it is
better to enjoy myself when I am young and when I have plenty of time.
August 25, 2013 12:55AM
I have recently started using Couchsurfing and I really like
the system. I have 2 days ago called to ask people if they are interested in
coming with you on a short trip (1-day or 2-day trip). Only one person has
contacted me and he said he has a car and is willing to go there – from San
Francisco to Monterey/Big Sur area that is 3.5 hours at most from San Fran. My
mother and brother are flying back to Vancouver in 2 days and I am going back
in 4 days, I am just trying to save some money for my trip as it is 2-stop
flight plus bus back to Van. I have plenty of time to travel before I leave
since it is Labour Day long weekend. However, my mother does not trust CS and
she does not let me go on the day before I go back or the day she goes back.
Those are actually the best days for me to go, especially Monday, since I have
nothing to do that day. Yet, my mother threatens me to go on Saturday; if I
disagree and threaten too to go on Monday or Sunday, she just goes berserk and
would not let me reason and have my own choice. Now I don’t even have the
strength to call this person and go on the trip. My self-esteem is just
gradually being destroyed by my mother. Whenever this kind of relationship
happens, I always cry and I always think why they are treating me like a kid,
telling me things that should be told to little kids, as well as my brother who
is mature than his age, and reminders reminded by my mother is always like told
to little kids, not someone who is my brother’s age, who is 13. My mother keeps
talking about this and doesn’t stop for a long time. I am always depressed and
sad, which is why I should have contact with the old man whom I met in Las
Vegas and discuss about my feeling towards my family and my relationship with
them, maybe my brother too, who is similar to my behaviour. Everyone these
days, whom may be younger than me, they stay at someone’s home and usually, it
is a girl staying at one man’s house, this is quite likely the case, as I have
recently met a Chinese girl going to a male host’s place and she is alone. My
mother trusts no one who she does not see or met, that is something that has to
be changed since we young people have very different way of travelling and
living. Thus, I am stuck in a prison with often no choice of freedom. I am
always forced to sleep at the same time as my mother, whatsoever, whilst my
uncle’s girlfriend’s son can sleep whenever he wants to and he seems to always
be having freedom and he can go back home quite late too, not that because he
has a car or something. I think he has this freedom because he is just
graduated from college last year and got a low-paid lab job and his mother is
no longer worried or something. I don’t know, this person is born America and
his mother is very independent too. My mother is definitely not like her.
August 29, 2013 9:27PM
