Ever hide in your room?

It's happened to me three times. I got to a place and found it so unbearable, utterly disagreeable, or just so miserable that my formidable sense of adventure finally said "Meh." and instead of going through the pain and agony of trying to go out and do some touristing, I just stayed inside all day and hid in my room with a book or something.

For me they were:
Luxor, Egypt
Varanasi, India
Florence, Italy

Please tell me I'm not alone.... where was it for you?

reading all day in a room - yes

but in Florence?????????

I once 'hid' on Khao san road in Bangkok for days, and then only went out about 4 days of 12 from the road to see anything. I was on the tail end of a long trip, and wasn't ready for anything new for a while.

Then there were days in San Cristobal, where I stayed in the hostel. It all depends on my mood.

If you are bone tired to the soul of seeing new things and dealing with 'new' challenges, or just a little depressed, there is nothing wrong with a little recharge time.

I've hidden in a room in various places along the way while overlanding solo through Africa but more to escape being swarmed by locals all day every day and to get a bit of peace and quiet.

Pretty much stayed in my Bangkok apartment during Songkran a couple yrs ago & served a self-imposed 3 week exile on Boracay Island to unwind but didn't stay in my room there.

busman7 wrote:Pretty much stayed in my Bangkok apartment during Songkran a couple yrs ago

Ha! I almost forgot about that one! Me too! Freakin Songkran

Mama-to-many wrote:eading all day in a room - yes

but in Florence?????????

Eew. Shoulder to shoulder tourists dripping neon gelato all over everything within their reach, museums so crowded I couldn't even stand still and look at things, sub-standard pizza at inexcusable prices, dog poo smeared all over every sidewalk, and burned out locals who, lets face it, aren't exactly renowned hosts on a good day. Couldn't get out fast enough!

Bideshi wrote:

busman7 wrote:Pretty much stayed in my Bangkok apartment during Songkran a couple yrs ago

Ha! I almost forgot about that one! Me too! Freakin Songkran

I purposely planned a Thailand trip around songkran 4 years ago. Spent that week in Pattaya where it goes full-bore for 6 full days. The first day was kinda weird until I figured out that participation is not voluntary, but instead mandatory if you're outside anywhere during daytime. It was fine. Spent every day soaked and cool in shorts/light shirt/Tevas drinking beer or just hanging out at outside beer bars. After dark, shower and change into better clothes then out on the town. I wouldn't go out of my way to do it again, but it was fun and worthwhile. Accidentally was in Bangkok last year for 2 days during the 'event', and easily stayed dry. Completely different.

As far as hiding out in the room goes, usually it's weather related. I've spent many days from say 11am - 5pm in air conditioned comfort in my room in Bangkok before going out from 6pm - 2am or so. I don't think I've ever spent more than about 18 hrs. straight inside a room anywhere without at least coming out to eat.

Mama-to-many wrote:but in Florence?????????

^

It's happenned. The first day I arrived in Cairo I was too intimidated to really get out and see anything. The furthest I went was a block to a nice restaurant. Cairo was the first time I'd really been in a developing country, and - having been to several now - I'd have to say that it's not a pleasant introduction.

Again in Dahab, I kind of hid. Dahab had been bombed the night before I arrived, so the day I spent there was a hugely weird day where I hid in my room as much as possible, but still had to get out to use the internet in order to make onward travel arrangements. And the requirement to eat still made me get up and find food a couple of times.

Since Egypt, the only time I think I've really gone into hiding was in Quito. Again, it was more the situation than the place that sent me hiding. I'd already spent longer in Quito than I really wanted to, and my flight home got delayed, causing a missed connection and 3 more days. The combination of the stress of rearranging travel with two airlines that only theoretically speak to each other (one of them had just done a major computer system upgrade to, so they couldn't even keep things straight within their organisation), missing 3 days of work that weren't approved, and just being tired of Quito led to a lot of hours in my room watching tv. I don't think I did anything fun with my extra time...only left for food and to visit airline offices.

There's no doubt been plenty of other days when I haven't done any touristing. For me, half the fun of travel is being disconnected and not having any responsibilities. So a day on the hostel patio is just as much a part of the travel experience as a day of ancient ruins. It's not always about hiding.

Bideshi wrote:Florence, Italy

You were not alone. I felt the same way about Florence. I loved San Donato, Cellai, and Pisa just fine, but for some reason Florence and I just did not get along.

When I read your question, I actually said, "Someone else who had a problem with Florence! I'm not alone!"

For what it is worth, my smart phone which I was using as an eBook reader died in Florence, but I had my netbook so I sat in my room and read books on that.