Confessions of the Euro-fluenced: What is The Turner "FLACH" Rating?

On the days that we travel to a new city, we spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for the bus. Waiting for the train. Waiting for the plane. Waiting for the subway. It can get quite boring. Especially when this happens every two or three days.

It's in these somewhat dull hours when Andrew and I, together,  channel our creative sides...

We spit on fish.
We sleep.
We quote our favorite movies.
We judge where people are from based on what they are wearing.
We dream about what may happen in the next city.
OR, we create our own 5-star rating system to help remember our trip.

Meet The Turner FLACH Rating System.

This is not unlike, but also very different from, the famous Zagat rating scale!

[maybe some day we can make a living off of The FLACH? eh?]

[psh, I'll keep dreaming]

So how does The FLACH work? Very simply put:

Food!
Location! 
Activities
Comfort!
Hostel/Hotel!

And so we judge on a five star rating scale. Each category can get a maximum of one star or a minimum of zero stars.

FOOD- Did it taste good? Bad? Was it worth the money? Was it supposed to be Mexican food but instead tasted like Chinese food?

LOCATION- Was the city worth traveling to? How many kilometers did we have to walk with our packs on? Was public transportation organized and work well? How many gallons of sweat did it take for us (me) to get to our destinations each day?

ACTIVITIES- Was there much to do in the city? Too much? Was it stuff that we wanted to do? Were the activites worth the price?

COMFORT- Mostly, how comfortable was I during this trip (Andrew could be comfortable sleeping on the grass in the middle of a barren field and he wouldn't complain). Did we get enough sleep? Or how little sleep did we get? Was the weather decent?

HOSTEL/HOTEL- Was it worth the money? Was it clean? Was the staff helpful? How was the decor? How was the shower? Did the toilet work? Most importantly, would we return?

Please understand that these ratings are quite subjective as to our experience there.

So for instance, if we decide to stay in a five-star hotel on a white sand beach and it rains the entire time, then it will probably score low on The FLACH. However, if the food was amazing and the five-star hotel had free lattes, then it would probably score high. Or, if we go to Italy and not partake in local food because we run out of money, then it would get a low rating even though it was Italy.

This is completely our experience. Not what we hoped it would be or what some guidebook said it should be.

And on a side note... We have had a blast so far. I hope that I can convey how much fun we are having, not just the negative. It's so easy to make fun when we find ourselves in not-so-happy scenarios (like not getting any sleep because we decided to sleep in dorm rooms with strangers instead of staying in a proper hotel).

We want to thank you for all of your support, prayers, thoughts, and pictures posted from home. Even though we are unable to reply to every single comment or question, know that we read and appreciate them.

I have some new readers (who have never met me) since this trip began and I'd like to make a disclaimer which won't be anything new to those of you who know me; however, I would like to explain it just the same. My writings are to be read with a sarcastic slant, with light-heartedness, and humor. I write to make myself, and hopefully others, laugh. So, say for instance someone steals our passports (which would never happen), know that we may not be laughing during the chaos but appreciate the entertaining story after.

Let's go get this FLACH on...

Love to all.
(m) and Andrew