Money Changes Everything

"Where you from Mister?"

Why should this matter? I thought.

"I`m United-Statesian". Because that`s how you say it in Spanish.

"Look, it`s 2 Dollars. That`s nothing to you. The difference you`re talking about is 20 cents."...long pause...

Dammit, he was right. I`d been on the phone with this guy trying to get him to lower a $2.10 hotel room to $1.90. All at once I came to the realization, This is ridiculous. What was more ridiculous was that I had been walking around LaPaz for the past 4 hours checking EVERY hostal, trying to find the cheapest possible lodging for me and my 2 Swiss travel buddies. It was exhausting and absolutely not worth the 20 or 30 cents per night we were trying to save. Irony`s swinging doors gave us a good thump on the ass; we ended up staying in the very first hostal we had checked and passed on as too expensive, 4 greuling hours earlier.

I think few would admit it, but one of the reasons people travel is to feel superior. And nothing does the trick like watching your dollar (euro, pound or yen) stretch like a romanian contortionist. What was once a 6 inch bill magically seems to be a mile long. And it`s a great feeling...but like most things that feel good, it can do tricks on your head. It messes with your perspective on things and their value.

At a 3 a.m. stopover en route to Machupichu, I met a large group of Israelis (more in another blog) that had let a bus leave them behind because it was charging 1 sol-30 cents- more than they wanted to pay. They opted to sit in the middle of nowhere, in a cold, dark night and wait to see if they could save those 30 cents. That`s crazy, I know, but those saved cents will buy a meal later, or a souvenier. It adds up, and being in a country for a while changes your point of view. It`s all about context. You get used to haggling everything... whether you`re israeli or not.

Thus, for someone with any kind of conscience, budget traveling in underdeveloped countries can be a constant battle of economic emotion. Yes, economic emotion. Am I appalled at the social injustice and cyclical poverty? Of course. Am I also elated that I can buy a 3 course meal for a dollar. Of course. I empathize with your inability to find work and put food on the table, but if I had to choose a direction for your currency, I`d choose devaluation. Sorry. It`s an internal struggle in which your social conscience battles with your traveler`s pragmatism. After all, if this country wasn`t so poor (also known as cheap) I wouldn`t have the chance to come here at all...Then you hit Chile.

Damn the Chileans and their smart fiscal policy, their judicious administration, their devotion to open markets and free trade, damn their strong peso. Their currency is strong, but to make matters worse everything is in thousands. An empanada could cost you $1,200 pesos. What?? To add to the confusion, they use the dollar sign $, to denote pesos in thousands. Come on guys, be practical, lop off a couple zeros will ya? After the initial shock of the new currency, I began to become indignant. I had crossed into Chile from poverty stricken and landlocked (thanks to the Chileans) Bolivia. In Bolivia, hostals were 2 dollars. In Chile, 9. I began to secretly hope for an Argentine-esque crisis to hit Chile. Hyperinflation -- Economic Meltdown -- Great Tourism. There was so much I wanted to see in Chile, but the buses...oh the prices of the buses!

You`re thinking. Wow, this doesn`t sound like the Joey I know. How Selfish, how insensitive. Well, don`t worry...it`s mostly tounge in cheek. Mostly. I`m happy that Chileans are paying 70 bucks for their jeans...and I`m crushed when I see Bolivian fathers eeking a living by selling menthol on a bus. But, I have to be honest, I do occassionally wish for some countries to stumble on hard times, just so I can travel there on a small budget. Maybe it stems from a subconscious desire to feel currency superiority. Yes, currency superiority. Or maybe I`m just cheap and want to travel a lot for a little. Who knows.

I heard in Thailand you can get a nice hut on the beach for a dollar a day....poor Thailand...I gotta get there sometime soon, before things get better for the Bot.