The Off Topic Topic

[crazy canuck]

I'm looking at taking a holiday next spring or so.
My gf pretty weirdly wants to go towards the hot weather rather than doing the sensible thing and going away from it.
Thinking of flying to Málaga and doing a mix of some beachy relaxing days somewhere non trashy (surley there must be somewhere) and some days visiting actual interesting places nearby.
Gibraltar seems a bit far and given the hills maybe needs to wait for another time.
So. Anyone know the area at all? Granada or Cordoba? Anywhere else round there?

Cordoba and Granada are the obvious ones you could do in a day trip. If you're using public transport do check out the timetables, when I went there was only one feasible train connection a day to Granada. Malaga was nice enough, too, in February, but I got the idea it might be less so once the warm weather tourists appear. Yes, I mean the Brits.

Ronda is nice but a bit touristy, and I thought Antequera was worth a visit too (some interesting prehistoric tombs there, too).
If you have a car exploring the limestone formations of El Torcal would be cool. Or walk the Camino del Rey, which is accessible by train as well.

Oh, and book the Alhambra well in advance. Visitor numbers are limited.

All good suggestions.

Also think of basing yourself away from Malaga.  It is overrun with Brits.  My advice is to pick some places you really want to see and find a nice small scale place nearby through something like VRBO.

[DGuller]

Found this really interesting - I'm surprised just giving money is so much more popular than debt cancellation

It's part of the sacralisation of debt. People prefer anonymous gift giving than what has long been portrayed as a failure of honor.

I think there could be a much simpler explanation.  Debt cancellation makes those who struggled to repay debts, but persevered at the expense of other sacrifices, feel like chumps.  They essentially get punished for doing the right thing, if repaying the debts meant foregoing some other investments.  Something rightfully feels wrong about that, and it's a bad precedent for future responsibility.  Free money goes to everyone:  you can extinguish your debt if you haven't paid it off yet, or you can invest it if you have.

[crazy canuck]

I think you and Oex are saying the same thing?

[Josquius]

Found this really interesting - I'm surprised just giving money is so much more popular than debt cancellation

It's part of the sacralisation of debt. People prefer anonymous gift giving than what has long been portrayed as a failure of honor.

I think there could be a much simpler explanation.  Debt cancellation makes those who struggled to repay debts, but persevered at the expense of other sacrifices, feel like chumps.  They essentially get punished for doing the right thing, if repaying the debts meant foregoing some other investments.  Something rightfully feels wrong about that, and it's a bad precedent for future responsibility.  Free money goes to everyone:  you can extinguish your debt if you haven't paid it off yet, or you can invest it if you have.

I get how this would really be annoying for those people. It sucks to miss out on something.
But to say they're punished sounds wrong.

[Josquius]

I'm looking at taking a holiday next spring or so.
My gf pretty weirdly wants to go towards the hot weather rather than doing the sensible thing and going away from it.
Thinking of flying to Málaga and doing a mix of some beachy relaxing days somewhere non trashy (surley there must be somewhere) and some days visiting actual interesting places nearby.
Gibraltar seems a bit far and given the hills maybe needs to wait for another time.
So. Anyone know the area at all? Granada or Cordoba? Anywhere else round there?

Cordoba and Granada are the obvious ones you could do in a day trip. If you're using public transport do check out the timetables, when I went there was only one feasible train connection a day to Granada. Malaga was nice enough, too, in February, but I got the idea it might be less so once the warm weather tourists appear. Yes, I mean the Brits.

Ronda is nice but a bit touristy, and I thought Antequera was worth a visit too (some interesting prehistoric tombs there, too).
If you have a car exploring the limestone formations of El Torcal would be cool. Or walk the Camino del Rey, which is accessible by train as well.

Oh, and book the Alhambra well in advance. Visitor numbers are limited.

All good suggestions.

Also think of basing yourself away from Malaga.  It is overrun with Brits.  My advice is to pick some places you really want to see and find a nice small scale place nearby through something like VRBO.

Thanks both.

Yes. No intention of staying in Málaga itself. That's purely where the flight goes.
A car is sadly likely to be impractical as we will have a 3 and 0.75 year old.

VRBO? This is unfamiliar.

[DGuller]

I get how this would really be annoying for those people. It sucks to miss out on something.
But to say they're punished sounds wrong.

They're punished because they come out worse off than those who had their debts forgiven.  Paying off the debts is not something that you just do, you have to give up on something else to get the money to pay off the debt.  Those who didn't pay off their debt and eventually had it forgiven come out ahead of those who did pay off their debt, so the ones who come out behind are punished for doing the right thing.

[Josquius]

I get how this would really be annoying for those people. It sucks to miss out on something.
But to say they're punished sounds wrong.

They're punished because they come out worse off than those who had their debts forgiven.  Paying off the debts is not something that you just do, you have to give up on something else to get the money to pay off the debt.  Those who didn't pay off their debt and eventually had it forgiven come out ahead of those who did pay off their debt, so the ones who come out behind are punished for doing the right thing.

Sure.
But if I give you £100 I'm not punishing the other folk here for not handing any money to them. I'm just giving something to you.
Likewise if somebody is earning more for me... That's not me being punished. It's just them doing better.

[crazy canuck]

I'm looking at taking a holiday next spring or so.
My gf pretty weirdly wants to go towards the hot weather rather than doing the sensible thing and going away from it.
Thinking of flying to Málaga and doing a mix of some beachy relaxing days somewhere non trashy (surley there must be somewhere) and some days visiting actual interesting places nearby.
Gibraltar seems a bit far and given the hills maybe needs to wait for another time.
So. Anyone know the area at all? Granada or Cordoba? Anywhere else round there?

Cordoba and Granada are the obvious ones you could do in a day trip. If you're using public transport do check out the timetables, when I went there was only one feasible train connection a day to Granada. Malaga was nice enough, too, in February, but I got the idea it might be less so once the warm weather tourists appear. Yes, I mean the Brits.

Ronda is nice but a bit touristy, and I thought Antequera was worth a visit too (some interesting prehistoric tombs there, too).
If you have a car exploring the limestone formations of El Torcal would be cool. Or walk the Camino del Rey, which is accessible by train as well.

Oh, and book the Alhambra well in advance. Visitor numbers are limited.

All good suggestions.

Also think of basing yourself away from Malaga.  It is overrun with Brits.  My advice is to pick some places you really want to see and find a nice small scale place nearby through something like VRBO.

Thanks both.

Yes. No intention of staying in Málaga itself. That's purely where the flight goes.
A car is sadly likely to be impractical as we will have a 3 and 0.75 year old.

VRBO? This is unfamiliar.

It is a website provider that a lot of people in Europe (and elsewhere) use to post their lodging for guests.  Its a bit like Air BnB but our experience for places like Spain and Crotia (where we have used it for European travel) is that the offerings are superior, but not necessarily more costly.

vrbo.com

[Grey Fox]

I get how this would really be annoying for those people. It sucks to miss out on something.
But to say they're punished sounds wrong.

They're punished because they come out worse off than those who had their debts forgiven.  Paying off the debts is not something that you just do, you have to give up on something else to get the money to pay off the debt.  Those who didn't pay off their debt and eventually had it forgiven come out ahead of those who did pay off their debt, so the ones who come out behind are punished for doing the right thing.

Sure.
But if I give you £100 I'm not punishing the other folk here for not handing any money to them. I'm just giving something to you.
Likewise if somebody is earning more for me... That's not me being punished. It's just them doing better.

You are, once again, demonstrating your misunderstanding of what debt is.

[Josquius]

You are, once again, demonstrating your misunderstanding of what debt is.

How?
Your debt is forgiven... This doesn't affect me. I've lost nothing.
That I missed out on this myself would be annoying for sure but no punishment involved.

[Grey Fox]

You are, once again, demonstrating your misunderstanding of what debt is.

How?
Your debt is forgiven... This doesn't affect me. I've lost nothing.
That I missed out on this myself would be annoying for sure but no punishment involved.

You lost the opportunity for investment while you were paying back your debt. You did the contractual thing while those that didn't profited from not doing it.

I'd be damn pissed off.

[crazy canuck]

You are, once again, demonstrating your misunderstanding of what debt is.

How?
Your debt is forgiven... This doesn't affect me. I've lost nothing.
That I missed out on this myself would be annoying for sure but no punishment involved.

I lost the money I used to pay down my debt.

[Josquius]

Which is already done.
Somebody else gaining something isn't you losing something. The world isn't zero sum.

[HVC]

Which is already done.
Somebody else gaining something isn't you losing something. The world isn't zero sum.

Because I like my bad analogies ( ), would you be upset if your colleague got a raise and you didn't based on the sole fact that they have more debt then you? You didn't "lose" anything.

[Admiral Yi]

Which is already done.
Somebody else gaining something isn't you losing something. The world isn't zero sum.

You lost opportunity cost.  You could have come out ahead with a different choice.