My Mental Vacation

10 Practically Free Things to Do

I keep asking myself... Is this a blog about marketing (to promote my company,) or is it about filling the need to escape from work? Hmmm... The mental escape is 100% necessary in order to be creative and productive. So, I guess this is going to be some strange combination of both. If I actually have any readers, I do hope they won't complain!

It is going to be a hot day today, and it is the first really gorgeous weekend of "summer." It would be a great time to get away, but we just paid income taxes, property taxes, and my subs, so we're pretty broke. I'd like to clear some work off my desk, but I just can't seem to get my head around it. So...

10 Practically Free Things to Do in SF Bay Area:

• Head over to Half Moon Bay. Take advantage of the fog-free days.
• Drive to the top of Mt. Diablo. (You may actually have to pay to enter the park.)
• Visit the new EB Regional Park at the the Meyers' Estate. Dry Creek Regional Park. Hit Garin Park next.
• Go to Mt. Tamalpais (Never been there. This is still on my list of things to do before I die.)
• Watch the ocean and a beautiful sunset. Baker Beach, Lands End, Marin Headlands.
• Wine tasting in the Livermore Valley. (Closer, and less expensive than Napa.)
• Read something that has no redeeeming social value. (Just fun and/or enjoyable.)
• Walk around Lake Elizabeth. (Don't feed the geese.)
• Hang out on Main St. in Pleasanton.
• Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

I could go on and on...

Voluntourism

I learned a new word this week - voluntourism. Apparently I'm not the only one who enjoys taking a trip for the purpose of volunteering. I've gone to Mexico three times to serve on Lions in Sight eye clinic teams. As a matter of fact, my husband and I go together, and it is such a rewarding experience.

I really enjoy meeting people on these trips. The hosts give you their best, and they treat us like family. We get to see life from their perspective, much more so than if we were tourists. We visit places that tourists are unlikely to see.

The first clinic I did was in Cabo San Lucas, but we never once set foot on the beach. Basically, go about a mile or so north of the tourist zone, and you will see extreme poverty. We set up a clinic in an empty warehouse. They brought people to us from the desert by the busload. The docs would do the exams, and the technicians (us) would dispense the eyeglasses.

The second one was in a place called Union de Tula, in Jalisco. This clinic was a little different... the patients had a little money. The local Lions had to charge about $5 US for each patient, to cover the expenses of the clinic. A great deal, by our standards... $5 and you get an eye exam and at least one pair of glasses. But for some people in Mexico, an extra $5 takes months to earn, and when the choice is to feed your family or to get glasses, guess where that $5 goes. Very sad.

The third clinic that we did in January was the best yet. We were in the Yucatan in a place called Valladolid, which is between Cancun and Merida. I actually worked without a translator, even though my Spanish is pretty awful. Customs would not let us bring in the doctor's bag with the examining equipment until late in the day, so finding the right pair of glasses involved a lot of trial and error. The Mayan people were so nice... very open and friendly. I made friends with one little girl. 

We were in Valladolid during a special festival, and at 10:00 PM, all the women put on their traditional Mayan dresses with their special brand of embroidery. They go out dancing, without the men... all generations of women. They seemed like they enjoy it, and look forward to it. I never did figure out what the festival was all about.

We Ship to Lake Tahoe

I was driving in Palo Alto / Menlo Park today, and spotted a funny sign in the window of a Mattress Discounters store. It was large, plain-text sign that said "We ship to Lake Tahoe" - at a very busy intersection on El Camino. Hmm... What does that say about the neighborhood market demographics? "We have tons of customers with second homes in Lake Tahoe who are shopping for beds. Advertising especially to them is the best way to increase our sales."

Or maybe the point is something else... if they ship to Lake Tahoe, they'll probably ship anywhere between Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe, or anywhere just as far as Lake Tahoe. Or maybe they ONLY ship to Lake Tahoe, so don't even bother asking if they ship anywhere else!

Enquiring minds want to know, so I went to this website to find out... Not helpful... apparently, they don't have a store in Palo Alto... or Menlo Park... or even CALIFORNIA! The directory came up empty. Or else the database is broken. Thinking there might be more than one chain of the same name, I Googled it. This led me to Yelp, and a review from jc c that said: "DO NOT SHOP HERE, unless you are feeling especially masochistic. You will 1. Deal with slimy salesfolks 2. Pay too much 3. Have poor service.  If I could give 20 negative stars, I would."

I wonder if the sign caught anyone's attention besides mine. Probably not... but it only takes one, and then you have a blog post, and it is probably going to automatically get posted on my Facebook page, and I'll bet somebody there tweets about it. If it wasn't for the intriguiging, oddball sign, I would have never looked them up, and would have never seen the Yelp review.

This demonstrates why companies need to monitor their online reputation diligently. Somebody please tell Mattress Discounters that they really need some marketing/web help. I'd be happy to provide a consultation.

More on Kauai Chickens and Tourism

I wrote something a while back about the chickens running loose all over the island of Kauai in Hawaii. I actually enjoyed them... they added some local color to the vacation, which I always enjoy. I thought they added to the charm of the island. Apparently, they are having a negative effect on the tourism industry. I actually liked waking up to the morning crowing. I guess I'm in the minority.

Today's Wall Street Journal has a story about the chicken problem on the island, which goes into much more depth than I did as a tourist. The article says, "Kauai, the oldest of the Hawaiian islands, is called the garden isle for its lush vegetation. Now people are calling it the chicken isle because it is overrun by roosters, hens and little chicks. Most of the birds are believed to be descendants of former fighting cocks unleashed during a devastating hurricane more than a decade ago. The birds now forage at outdoor food courts and ruin sugar cane and corn crops. They wake islanders -- and tourists -- with predawn crowing."

Read the whole thing here.