chapotraphouse

I am from a place where there's no train/subway or anything, but I was broke growing up so I did ride the city bus which is easy to use.

However, the first time I rode the subway in Boston was a terrifying, overwhelming and disorienting experience. Didn't help that it was rush hour and also everyone on the east coast just automatically fucking hates strangers or something so I had some trouble getting help to work the ticketing machine, one MBTA worker literally laughed at me. Once I was on the train there was nothing to hold on to because of was packed like sardines and I thought I was gonna fly into the people next to me.

Anyway my Midwestern ass wanted to avoid it after that. I buried that feeling and figured everything out for my next ride though (I discovered the MBTA app), but I think a lot of people take mass public transit for granted if you were blessed enough to have it all your life.

I at least tried unlike this lady though lmao

tbf the nyc subway is extremely convoluted and unintuitive to use compared to more civilized metros, lots of arcane rules like "only the first 3 cars can fit in this station so if you want to get off there you better remember where in the train you are" or "trains with prime numbers only stop at every other station during rush hour" which are never posted anywhere. It's like the least beginner-friendly metro of any on earth, even ones where the beginner doesn't speak the local language.

that said it's still not that hard, you buy a ticket, you try to get on the right train, and worst-case you end up 20 blocks away from your destination and try again

So she's a travel columnist and she doesn't do the thing the people do where she travels?

She seems very attached to normal human being life.

It's understandable to be confused by the strange commercialized transit scheme in New York. Probably not as understandable to be an adult and not know how to read a map but that's the education system's failure, not a moral failure.

Medieval peasant brain on full display.

What in the fuck publication is uploading this Instagram post + diary entry ass article?

I remember when I first left Florida I had no idea how to use transit either. I had to look it up and spent hours trying to figure it out. after doing so however, I know for sure it's a genuine goal of mine to see how long I can make it without owning a car even if I end up back in Florida just out of spite

Train

The NYC subway has a bit of a learning curve, but it really isn't that bad. People are pretty understanding about non-locals being confused and will answer questions readily, and pretty much the worst case scenario is that you accidentally catch an express train, miss the stop you were shooting for, and have to go across to the other platform to go a few stops back in the other direction. Being unwilling to even try is just baby brained, especially for a "travel journalist."

Oh she's a "travel journalist" who almost exclusively does cruises and Disney resorts. That makes more sense.

how do you travel 1/3rd of the year and not know how public transit works

You spend over 25% of the year traveling... And you've never gone somewhere with lots of public transit? Ok not NYC which is one of few transit systems in the US that's worth anything... But what never big cities in... Europe? Asia? Atleast to pass through em for a few days if most of your travel is rural (which I doubt).

Just going to Tokyo and only taking the taxi.

Or what she just goes to LA like 20 times a year?

I’ll bet in the million times she’s gone to Disney she hasn’t ridden the Fkn monorail either.

Isn't there just an app

Ilive in a part of Florida where public transit isn't really a thing, so learning how to ride

IN FLORIDA ONLY UNTOUCHABLES USE PUBLIC TRANSIT AND LEARNING HOW TO RIDE LIKE A POOR IS HARD

The subway was sooo much nicer than the buses in Wisconsin.

Motorcyclists have a point when they call carbrains cagers. It should be a more widely adopted term.