Jet Settah

I decided to give burgers another try since I'm in a new hotel that looks like it's nice enough to serve a decent burger. Judging a book by its cover has never produced better results. The burger was fantastic. Factor in that I hadn't eaten today and that I was a little frantic over finding a hotel, and you have the perfect dinner.

This hotel pretty much fell into the price range that we were looking for. It comes complete with three pools, three bars, very helpful front desk staff, sexy waterfall shower with views from all sides and full frontal (or whichever side you prefer) mirror view, mini bar, toilet and urinal, king sized bed, two mini balconies, which, in my case, happen to overlook one of the pools, spa, and several other amenities that I'd be listing all day if I went on too long. Yes, it's advertised as a 'gay boutique hotel', but if you haven't yet figured it out, "Gay" is just a short word for "better parties". ;)

As I headed back to my room from the restobar, food in hand, and my new companions already shouting our inside jokes behind me, I couldn't shake a certain feeling that reminded me of the look in Vanessa's eyes the day I was forced to skip one of our little adventures. It's a feeling that comes as a question: "Is an experience worth having if it isn't spent with those you love, or at least with those whom you'd love to have a great time with?"

I know that sometimes traveling with friends can be difficult and treating oneself to some one on one time is always deserved. We work hard. But how long does the fun really last when you're alone? How rich are the experiences? How many times do you think of those friends or family members who'd appreciate the thing you're doing at the moment, and say "Oh, I wish____ was here", or "Aww, I wish___could see this right now!", but the best you can do at that moment is to send them a picture, or maybe face time them, since we have that now. But even having a realtime video of a person's face doesn't quite substitute their warmth.

I'd never be the person to say not to have an experience just because you have to have it alone. I'm the last person you'll find waiting for anyone unwilling to be adventurous. But I can definitely back up the fact that it will not be the same type of experience. I think, as people, we have a need sometimes, to attach an experience to another person, because it validates the experience and makes it more special when someone else is there to have it too. And if for no other reason, we have someone to point cool things out to when we notice them. Vanessa showed me, later, the pictures from that day she went to the zoo alone. She looked happy enough, smiling in photos that she must've had to ask random people to take, and I think that overall, she was happy that she'd gone to that zoo, because it was somewhere she had really been wanting to go. But while she clicked through the pictures pointing out all the animals and going back to her favorites, I could tell that she was trying to say that there was more there than the picture could offer to explain, that the true beauty, I would've had to see for myself. And as I sit in my plush hotel right now ignoring the HD flat screen, I wish I were back in my cheap but familiar hostel, because all of these nice things don't matter right now, nor do they bring me any more comfort than a simple skype chat with my family.

Looking forward to those lifelong study abroad friends everyone talks about,

TB