Standby, day 5, 3 attempts

Right now I am getting annoyed by trying to catch a flight to Guatemala. A quick sum up of what happend the last couple of days.

My plan was to try to get to Guatemala friday. I tried and failed. So I got back to USAHostels with a expensive cab which cost me 15 dollars. Saterday I tried again and I was the last one standing there. One more seat and I would have been in Guatemala already. Because of the expensive cab ride, I was told I could get to Venice Beach. Much closer to the airport. Turns out it is more expensive, because USAHostels has a great deal for travelling from LAX to the hostel. The trip to the Venice Beach Hotel was 20 bucks, versus the 14 dollar deal between the cab and USAHostel.

I stayed 2 days in the VBH, which was terrible, it was a shitty hostel, don't go there. It also was 10 bucks more expensive then USAHostel and there is just litterly nothing to see there. 65 dollars for 2 nights.

Day 4 came to be, and so my third try (I skipped Sunday, remember). I was told 5 seats free, turned out to be 42 passengers without a seat, 45 seats free (that's 3 left \o/) and 27 people standby. TwentySeven!! I directly realised I didn't have any change on getting on this flight. The airport personnel is starting to recognize me, that's bad.

SO calculated the cost, and found t, the cheapest way of spending the night is USAHostels after all. Here I am again... I have been in room 111, 110 and now 112. I have been here 8 days now, seen people come and left, and spend 60 bucks on just travelling between hostels and LAX. Another thing is that I have to carry a laptop around now, which I bought for Martin. He asked me todo that. So the good thing is, I am typing this in Opera (no shitty IE for me anymore), on my own laptop, for free. No need to pay anymore for internet \o/. I decided I don't try tonight, because probably 20 people of those 27, which didn't get on, are going to try tonight too. Today I am going to put up a list of options.

What am I going todo? A quick list of idea's I came up with. Please comment for advice.

• I could keep trying and travelling between LAX and USAHostels until I catch a ride. But that one seems very, very bad. I don't think I get on before christmas. The personnel told me in Januari it's okey, but now is just no way I'm getting on. Disadvantage is I have to pay 14 bucks for a ride everytime, and the hostel is more expensive as you tend to walk-in and not make a reservation before hand. It's 24 dollars a night here. I also have to carry all my luggage around, now even a laptop. I have like 5 kg of stuff for Martin, which right now is just killing me. Those better be very very very very very good "stroopwafels". Last setback is that because of the flight being 11pm, I get to bed after 2pm. So I have no sleep at all in this busy hostel.
• I can spend 2 weeks here in this hostel, maybe work for a bed. That means I don't have to pay for food/washing/bed. In exchange I'll work from 9am to 1pm cleaning rooms. That is only an option though if they need help, and they might not need help, because there's a lot of backpackers trying to get a free bed in exchange for work. After 2 weeks I could try again to catch the flight, after christmas I'll have a far better change on getting to Guatemala standby.
• I could try to fly to Mexico/El Salvador, and take a bus to Martin from there. That's no such a bad idea. Major disadvantage is those flight are full too! And I'll have to be at the airport even more! I don't like this idea.
• I could get a bus to Mexico city, and then get a bus from Mexico City to Guatemala. That bus just practicly drives past Martin's house.
• I could just BOOK a flight from here to GUA. But that's like 300 dollars.

The thing is, trying and travelling cost my about 50 dollars a day. If I try another 5 times, I would be probably be off a lot better by just paying 300 dollars for the flight and stying for free @ Martins. I am going to figure out what a cheap bus trip would cost me and if it would be possible to work here for a bed, which saves me a lot of money.

On the other side, I have really seen LA, I know the sub-way/bus system/my way around right now. I have seen all the free stuff already, only more expensive DisneyLand/Universal Studios is free for me.

Please comment with idea's. Thank you.

jee wat een gedoe, balen voor je! ik zou zeggen neem de bus... Duurt vast heel lang, maar je bent wel alvast onderweg. Succes ermee!

oei olaf.. wie had verwacht dat dit zo tegen ging vallen.. t lijkt me idd frustrerend dat je gewoon elke dag verplicht een hoop geld uit moeten geven en geen meter opschiet. misschien is de hele reis met de bus gewoon wel een goed idee. wachten tot na kerstmis is ook weer zoiets.. dan heb je maar iets van 2 weken in guatamala :s ..gewoon een vlucht boeken voor 300 kán evt ook.. dan zouden we alleen mss de amazone moeten overslaan (dus geen airpass in brazilie). wat niet gaat dat gaat niet he..
maar hou ons op de hoogte en heel veel succes met je reis naar guatamala.. we duimen voor je..
groetjes!

I just checked that a flight will be 300 dollars and a busride to mexico city is 200. Probably 100 for mexico -> guatemala, so that doesn't make sense taking.

My english is really going forward, i have a hard time typing dutch right now :P.

Martin said it was also a option to fly to miami and take a flight from there?
Might be cheaper and faster? ( + offcourse you see another city )

well good luck anyway

gelukkig ben je niet "alleen op de wereld"! maak gebruik van je afstudeercadeau ! je liefhebbende ouders!

Tried bribing an LAX official with stroopwafels yet? :P
This is a wase of time and money that's for sure. Like you said 5 more failed attempts are just as expensive as booking tomorrow. Is $300 the cheapest option?

I need to find a bus from LA to GUA. If that would cost me like 50 bucks, i'll be off directly.

olaf ,
niet zeuren , gewoon een ticket kopen en vliegen , dit gaat veel te lang duren en naar elders verkassen
is ook geen optie . gewoon daar wegwezen . geld wordt bijgestort .weet jij hoe je bij martin moet komen ?

Buy ticket and fly away!
PS wel even een foto van LAX terminal a.u.b.!

hello Olaf!

I'm glad you keep us all so well-informed! We even know what you are spending, hour-to-hour! Well done lad, huhu. But seriously. It's greatly enjoyable reading your writing.
I thought a bus drive down through Mexico would be such a nice big adventure, and you would have actually SEEN Mexico, too! but if its the same price, you'll probably lose lots of hours in travelling.

Anyway. Hope everything will go well. Take care!! and look after Guido when he's there.
Giddy, i would like to come, too! shall i come with you 2?

byeeeeee good travelsss

Pauline

Well today is the first day that I could check your site. what a lot of trouble getting to GUA. well you see your money is flying out of your pocket. I think going by bus is a real good option. Offcourse it takes time, but you see a lot of Mexico. I think that is better then wasting your time and do nothing. I also think it is a very nice experience to do that. You know I went by train from Moscow to Beijing. And I liked every minute. And you see a lot of interesting people. I hope to here from you soon with good news. Anyway did you liked our postcard??? Have a good time and take care Roel

Hey Olaf....
Just wanted to say good luck, even though you haven't been that lucky yet.
If I were you, I would get the bus through Mexico, and as Pauline wrote actually see Mexico.
But it is up to you...
I hope we see in Hamburg(?) when your luck has changed...
And it is allways good to improve your language skills... How's your portoguies going?
Enjoy your time in independence... You never know..

he olaf niet met de bus gaan want dat duurd 7 dagen en je ziet echt niet veel van Mexico zoals word gezegd in een reactie, en trouwens het is nog behoorlijk duur ook. Dus gewoon vliegen. En Mexico doe je eens een andere keer.