[pct-l] Tipping

[Sevenon7th@yahoo.com]

Just a thought on tipping on the trail...

Maybe you could just charge a nominal "hostel" type
fee for a night at your place.... Say $10-20.  Which
would cover your gasoline costs at least.  I know that
when I was on the trail, I was often cared for by
others at no cost to me, and it often felt a bit
awkward, although it was greatly appreciated!

If I knew upfront that I should pay a set dollar
amount, then I would budget for it ahead of time. 
Like I would not buy the extra cocoa packets at the
grocery store for the next leg of the trip, but would
save the money for the lodging. When you are low on
fund toward the end of your hike, and people are
ambivalent about taking payment, it is just too easy
not to pay.  There, I said it.  In a normal world for
me, when I am receiving regular paychecks, I always go
out of my way to overtip and overcompensate those who
are generous to me.

When I was on the trail, and trying to stretch my
savings to make it the whole distance, and was hungry
all of the time, that line of personal generosity got
a little bit foggy for me.  I'm not proud of this, but
it is true.

Like the Hiker Hut in Etna charges $20 per night for
hikers in the bunkhouse.  I for one, was happy to pay,
and Dave and Vikki totally spoiled me while I was
there.  But, I knew ahead of time, that if I wanted to
stay there, I needed to make reservations, and I
needed to pay.

Just a suggestion...
Splash '05

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com