By the way, we've made two mistakes in the past week that I thought I'd record for posterity. These are lessons we already learned the hard way, why is it that we must re-take the course?
Lesson 1: If your guests are trying to finance their travels by selling homemade jewelry on the beach... you should probably have them paying in advance for the bed. Did it. Did it. Did it. Did it. Relaxed, trusting their integrity based on the previous behavior, then BAM! I honestly think they would have stuck around longer, but they woke one morning to find it wasn't ME in reception, saw the opportunity and figured they'd take it.
Lesson 2: And there's really no getting around this, it's kind of like a Law of Physics: if you are going to host nomadic, lifetime backpackers, you cannot allow them to accumulate a debt to you that is greater than the value of their possessions. Because the moment that happens, they will happily abandon their clothes, bags and even passport, knowing that they'll need less cash to replace them than they would to return and reclaim them. Saw this coming, saw this coming, saw this coming... anybody need a backpack? A Chileno passport? I'll give ya a good price...
Why travel when you can't afford to, you ask? Probably, for most of them, because its equally unaffordable to stay in one place, and a lot more difficult to be opportunistic. Why is it such a daunting challenge for us to hold them accountable on a daily basis, you inquire? Well, it's really only about 1% that generate grief, and they so desperately avoid me and fasttalk the others that it doesn't feel worth my time to spend all day, every day, hounding them. By prioritizing relaxation- along with the others like me in the other towns along the trail- we make it possible for them to keep existing, keep moving, keep scrapping and scrounging. It is a lifestyle.
