I finally chose a 12-hour bus ride over a $300 flight to get from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

It saved me $280 and I actually met some great people who shared their local food spots, so has anyone else found that the 'worse' transport option led to a better travel experience?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia3171mo ago

Took a slow local ferry and got invited to a family dinner on board.

walker.max1mo ago

Sounds like a nice story but makes me wonder if it's all a bit too perfect. Strangers on ferries don't usually hand out dinner invites without some kind of angle. Maybe they were just being friendly, or maybe they wanted to practice their English on a tourist. These things are rarely as deep as people make them out to be.

willow_morgan16d ago

Oh totally, walker.max I get being skeptical but patricia317's ferry story is so similar to what happened to me. I took a local minibus in Guatemala instead of a shuttle and ended up eating tamales with this woman's family while waiting for a tire change. They were just genuinely being nice, no English practice or anything since none of them spoke it. Sometimes taking the slow route really does force you into these random little moments that feel way more real than the polished stuff.