Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the new single-stock ETFs, more details on student loan forgiveness, check out some European castles, insane 2022 Burning Man festival pictures, choosing happiness, pros are still not beating the market, hope they arrest the Luna founder who ruined so many, always amazing photography, the latest on the war over in Ukraine, hundreds die each day from Covid still and nobody cares, the latest on long Covid, more on cryotherapy, most expensive colleges in each state, the latest action in the crazy frequent flier miles and hotel points world and a few comments and pics from my trip to Orange County, California I just returned from and lots more! Next post coming to you from Berlin!
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This blog publishes every Friday these days…
Best of Web articles are truly exceptional and MUST reads in their entirety, imho.
Welcome to all new blog readers from George, your diligent curator of the BEST web content I find and share with you. No ads, no clickbait, just amazing content I discover along with my sometimes witty and seldom incendiary commentary.
PERSONAL FINANCE
We go straight to the softer side of personal finance with Choosing Happiness. But what is it? Well, apparently there are two kinds, hedonic and eudaimonic. Some excerpts from it that jumped out at me are below. We are all different, going through life trying to figure it out…
hedonic happiness – Think of a wonderful party with delicious food, sparkling conversation and all your favorite people in attendance. There’s great momentary pleasure and—fingers crossed—scant pain involved.
eudaimonic happiness – It comes from leading a life filled with meaning and purpose.
It seems any boost in hedonic happiness tends to be fleeting, and we soon return to our personal set point—our base level of happiness. This is the idea behind the so-called hedonic treadmill, where we constantly strive for greater happiness, only to find ourselves running in place. Meanwhile, increases in eudaimonic happiness have the potential to be longer lasting, but such increases also take far more effort.
It strikes me that hedonic happiness usually comes with a higher price tag, while eudaimonic happiness involves a greater investment of time.
More details are coming out…and a lot more is coming in the next month or so. Student loan forgiveness: How those in college now could get a break, what’s ahead.
I continue to be amazed how they keep coming up with so many gimmicky reasons for yet another new ETF product(s)! Please avoid these: Single-stock ETFs take the field but many yellow flags are falling.
At the end of the day (how the hell this saying came about huh?), if Most Pros Can’t Beat the Market…what makes you think you can?
And this stat will blow your minds:
…only 22% of the stocks in the S&P 500 outperformed the index itself from 2000 to 2020. Over that measurement period, the S&P 500 gained 322%, while the median stock rose by just 63%.
I used to tell prospective clients that my investment style is extremely boring and if they are looking for excitement when it comes to their portfolios… I am definitely NOT the financial advisor to hire!
CRYPTO
Remember that jackass Luna developer whose genius crypto “products” blew up? Well, well…South Korea issues arrest warrant for developer of failed cryptocurrency Luna.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, investors in the two coins lost an estimated $42 billion. [LOCK HIM UP…or, you know, don’t give him more money, come on!]
TRAVEL
We can’t wait here in Michigan for the new bridge to Canada…and it looks fantastic, it will be so cool to bike there! Bike, pedestrian path to Canada coming to new international bridge.
I have never stayed in a castle, you? The 26 Most Beautiful Castles in Europe.
Amazing photography! See the Winners of the Washington Post’s 23rd Annual Travel Photo contest.
What a name and…what a shot, wow! Glowing ribbon in the sky scientists call STEVE is spotted in northern Michigan.
I want you to travel better so…here you go! 🙂 Where You Can & Can’t Flush Toilet Paper Around The World.
UKRAINE RUSSIA WAR
Best of Web: I am elated with the recent Ukrainian gains of their land, hope it continues and Putin goes down. Preferably…from a window! Anyway, this is a must read…as all articles with the Best of Web designation that appear in my blog: Ukraine Holds the Future.
At a time when democracy is in decline around the world and threatened in the United States, Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression provides a surprising (to many) affirmation of faith in democracy’s principles and its future. In this sense, Ukraine is a challenge to those in the West who have forgotten the ethical basis of democracy and thereby, wittingly or unwittingly, ceded the field to oligarchy and empire at home and abroad. Ukrainian resistance is a welcome challenge, and a needed one.
Best of Web: A Twitter thread about the war…and how we keep getting surprised!
With so much Russian military equipment left behind and recovered by the Ukrainians, I expect them to retaliate with attacks inside Russia itself with them…No NATO provided weapons are needed for this now. Even Xi met with Putin and all this guy gets is super cheap oil..but not much else support. Has there been such a colossal screw up by a world leader or what?
COVID-19
In my recent trip to Huntington Beach, CA…there were hardly anyone masked. Amazing really! Meanwhile, 400 Americans are dying each day. We cannot accept this reality. Well, actually, we can based on our actions smh.
Best of Web: Ed Yong’s latest: One of Long COVID’s Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood. I never understood why so many just do not give a shit anymore. Anyway, it is what it is I guess. Archived Link.
ODDZ & ENDZ
Very touching: Smithsonian Artifacts That Tell the Story of 9/11. From a Pentagon rescuer’s uniform to a Flight 93 crew log, these objects commemorate the 20th anniversary of a national tragedy.
More amazing photography: Zombie fly and fountains of lava — August’s best science images.
A few posts ago or so I posted an article about the history of cryotherapy and, well, let’s just say it left me with some kind of trauma lol. Anyway, there are many charlatan types out there who aim to separate gullible rich people from their money. Like this guy here in Canada: The Death Cheaters. The members of Longevity House are united by two things: a willingness to hand over $100,000 and a burning desire to live forever. Inside the weird world of cryotherapy, biocharging and fecal transplants. I lost count the times I screamed WTF reading this!
I must admit I was happy when my son was not accepted by the University of Southern California and instead went to the University of Michigan down the street, in-state tuition matters lol! The Most Expensive College or University in Each State.
I have never been to Burning Man. Being in the desert for a week does not sound too appealing to me because I am a beach type of person. But the stuff that goes down there I am sure it is a lot of fun and a wild experience! Burning Man 2022 Just Ended, And Here Are 45 Photos Proving It’s The Wildest Festival Ever. Wait, there is more: The Best Art From This Year’s Burning Man.
And THIS is what happens when they all leave at the same time, is this the world’s biggest traffic jam or what?
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 80k CITI Premier, 60k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 75k Capital One Venture X, 75k CHASE Ink Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 60k CHASE World of Hyatt Visa, 60k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 70k Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business Visa, 50k Bank of America Alaska Airlines Personal Visa, 20k CHASE Freedom Flex, up to 30k CHASE Freedom Unlimited, 140k IHG Rewards Premier AND 1 Free Night, 20k CITI Custom Cash, and many more, including many AmericanExpress cards, including Delta, Marriott and Hilton cards! Please check out my Affiliate links. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. If you do not see a credit card with my affiliate links, perhaps I could refer you?
This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! SKIP if you are not into it!
As of today, I have burned 828,851 miles/points year to date and have 4,823,059 miles/points in the bank. Some do drugs, I do miles lol!
BEGINNERS
BASICS: This travel hacking hobby is mostly about getting the fat Signup Bonus of travel rewards credit cards while of course NEVER EVER carrying a balance. Banks have a marketing budget and are willing to give us many THOUSANDS of miles/points to travel mostly for free hoping to hook us to charge 20%+ interest rates on our balances. The poor souls who fall for their marketing paying these ludicrous interest rates end up subsidizing us responsible consumers who enjoy taking advantage of, cough, such bank marketing budgets! Some of us have been doing this for thirty years creating amazing travel memories…Feel free to ask me questions or post them in the comments.
BASICS: Prefer credit cards from the proprietary points programs of banks, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Network, Capital One Rewards Miles because they are a lot more flexible and are not devalued as frequently. Over pure airline and hotel travel rewards credit cards. Pure cash back credit cards may work for you best and they are getting more valuable as airline and hotel loyalty programs keep getting devalued. Sometimes, a pure no annual fee 2% cash back card works best for simplicity!
If you wanted nothing to do with these miles and points churning related shenanigans and just wanted a no annual fee 2% cash back card, you can not go wrong with the Citi Double Cash Mastercard. And right now it has the highest Signup Bonus ever. Ok, it is only $200 but still it is the highest ever lol. It comes in the form of 20,000 ThankYou Points which you can cash out for $200 if you decide not to transfer them to any of the ThankYou airline and hotel transfer partners. Available here under CardIssuer/Citi.
Citi Double Cash now featuring $200 welcome bonus
TOP TRAVEL REWARDS SIGNUP BONUS CARDS
Master Guide to Credit Card Applications: All the Rules You Need to Know, Bank by Bank
Citibank increased the Signup Bonus for the Citi Premier card from 60,000 to 80,000 Thank You points. Annual fee is $95 and the minimum spend to score the Signup Bonus is $4k in the first three months. The Citi Premier card has a solid earning structure as it earns 3 points per dollar on gas/groceries/dining/travel and 1 point on everything else. Of course, you can transfer your points to mostly foreign airlines and JetBlue. Or you can cash out at one cent per point. Therefore, 80,000 points means $800 less $95 annual fee——-> BOOM, here is $705 in your pocket, you need this $$$ to pay for gas! Read the newbies paragraph above and always think…taking advantage of bank marketing budgets! Available HERE, thank you!
Citi Premier’s Incredible Sign-Up Bonus Is Worth 80,000 Miles Or $800 In Cash
Citi Premier Card Complete Guide
The Capital One Venture X card offers a 75,000 point Signup Bonus after a minimum spend of $4k in the first three months. If you like simplicity and are looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with a VERY easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its excellent travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait…there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add FOUR authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership. You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car elite status. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points. And lots more. Available with my Credit Card Links, thank you for your support!
Alaska Airlines miles can be very valuable. Right now, the Signup Bonus offer for the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Business card is 70,000 Alaska Airlines miles. The minimum annual spend to earn the 70k miles is $4k in the first three months. The annual fee comes to $75 and it is not waived in the first year. The card comes with a Companion Fare starting at $121 which could be extremely valuable in selected itineraries. No foreign transaction fees. The card earns 3x per dollar on Alaska Airlines purchases and 1x on everything else. Free bags for up to six people in the same reservation. Available HERE, thank you!
NEW: There is also a personal Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa card with a signup bonus of 50,000 Alaska Airlines miles after you spend $2k in the first three months. Obviously, the business card is a much better deal if you can swing it. Same Companion Fare deal as the Business card, see above. Annual fee is $75. The card earns 3 points on Alaska Airlines purchases and only 1 point on everything else which is horrible. I mean, you do not get this card for your regular spending! Don’t let other bloggers try to talk up every credit card they can sell to you. Go for it if you are a regular Alaska Airlines flyer, you need more of their pretty valuable miles that you know you can burn in a grand way. Available HERE.
If you are looking to stay in Hilton hotels for free…you can not go wrong with these two Limited-Time Welcome Offers Available for Select Hilton Honors Cards. The Hilton Honors No Annual Fee card gives you 100,000 Hilton Honors points AND a statement credit for $100 after spending only $1,000 in the first three months. THINK about it, stay in Hilton hotels for free, be a taker lol. And the Hilton Honors Surpass card gives you 130,000 Hilton points after spending $2,000 in the first three months. The annual fee is $95 but it is WAIVED in the first year. I wish I could get these cards again…Available HERE.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance if you ever get a credit card here!
NEWS/PROMOS/MY ACTION
I was away at a financial industry conference in Huntington Beach, CA this week. To recap, I flew direct Detroit – Orange County round trip for 27,500 Delta Skymiles. I stayed at the magnificent Huntington Beach Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa for four nights for 80,000 World of Hyatt points. I was upgraded to an excellent suite due to my World of Hyatt Globalist elite status. I also burned 3,000 Delta Skymiles to check a bag with all kinds of swag I picked up. I could have paid out of pocket but why pay when you have so many miles and points huh? Anyway, very light action this week here…Oh, I emailed my World of Hyatt Globalist Concierge and he helped me book the same hotel for the same conference in 2023 for four nights. Sadly, the rate went up to 100,000 World of Hyatt points for four nights.
World of Hyatt wants us to go to their hotels to eat: Dine Local 3X points on the menu. Make sure the property you want IS participating!
If you have a Chase Freedom Flex card, activate your 4th Quarter 5x Quarterly bonus HERE.
BUZZING
A section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life and anything else that just does not fit in another section above.
I had an excellent showing running in the beautiful Huntington Beach boardwalk. Berlin Marathon is in nine days, I am starting to…get a little nervous now! I missed traveling so much.
Just a few pics from my trip to Cali to end this post:
While at the conference I learned that my favorite college professor passed away. Without her I would not be here today. She made such a huge difference to many of her students and so sad we will not see her again at alumni events. RIP Mrs. Kruse, you were fierce and one of a kind! We remember the toughest teachers and never the easy ones…
Let me leave you with this…
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I’ve read that a disproportionately high share of return of a basket of stocks will come from a handful of winners, so it makes sense that only ~20% of stocks are above the median return. I guess the key is to let your winners ride.
So in addition to conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it looks like there’s shooting between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan now. Interesting times.
Good to remember a teacher!
That Hyatt upgrade looks spiffy! Good use for points.
Bronze! For the Pacific Northwest!! 9 days until Berlin? Sounds like a WW2 movie title!! Great stuff today and a nice picture of Steve! Thanks for all this and glad you had a good trip to Huntington Beach! Stay healthy, my friend!
I’m a prof at a Research 1 university. Michigan is a top research university so the difference with the university of southern california is very marginal. MSU is very good too.
However, if the choice was something like Central Michigan or Eastern Michigan and USC, then USC would be the better choice by a mile (I know you said that he wasn’t accepted there).
@ The attack on Armenia was pretty much expected. But the other one with the other two Stans was a surprise. Again. Yeah, letting winners ride is easier said than done! It really helps if people just stopped looking at their accounts so often.
@ DML: I did not use a confirmed suite upgrade cert. So, yeah, very pleased.That professor was unforgettable, I wanted to go to the service but…I was in CA 🙁
@ Carl: Thanks man…taking it day by day really trying hard not to injure myself these days lol.
@ Chris: I absolutely agree with everything you said. As I went to Eastern Michigan, I thought I turned out all right and was hurt when my kids did not even consider it. But I sure understand now. Other than that initial great job the resources of these schools enable…I am not sure kids should pay so much (and sadly get so many loans) to go to these bigger schools…but this is a much bigger debate that my blog has the luxury to get into.
Busy weekend here to get ready to fly out again on Monday. And everytime I leave the state the markets blow up….one day this trend will reverse lol.
I was surprised by the Tajik-Kyrgyz thing too but apparently something like this happened last year, with 55 people killed and 40,000 people displaced. All of that is news to me, maybe we’re just paying more attention to that part of the world now?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Kyrgyzstan%E2%80%93Tajikistan_clashes
Yeah!
“The initial clashes were fought with fists and thrown stones…”
Clearly…it escalated!
As a parent myself who will have to make these decisions in 10 years, it is really difficult and complicated. There are so many variable to consider and which may differ for people.
First, the cost of college is out of control. There are many reasons for that notably because states have substantially cut back on providing funding for public universities. These should no longer be called “public” universities. So the cost has shifted over time from the state taxpayer to the parents. Another reason is freaking bloated administration which happens at both public and private universities. Why are private universities so expensive? I don’t really know. I think they figured out that they can charge these crazy amounts and they will still find people willing to pay.
How to choose a university? I think that it really depends on the kid. A brilliant kid will thrive no matter whether it is an ivy league school or a public state flagship school.
An average or dumb kid might benefit from going to the most expensive and/or prestigious school. Look at one former president who infamously went to Yale and graduated with a C. Had he gone to a community college, I doubt that he would have been governor and president (although there is a huge family legacy in play as well).
It also depends on the kid’s personality as well. I hated on the small overpriced private liberal colleges for a while, but for some kids, the small environment might work for them. Also, at some of these private schools, just because tuition is 60-80k doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone has to pay that. I don’t really know the details but it seems that they have merit-based and needs scholarships that they provide for some students.
Unless your kid got rejected everywhere, I would not recommend anyone to go to Eastern Michigan as their first few choices… You would be at a huge disadvantage compared to the kids going to the likes of University of Michigan or Michigan State.
These are just my 2 cents
I agree with almost everything you said.
>>>>>>>>>Unless your kid got rejected everywhere, I would not recommend anyone to go to Eastern Michigan as their first few choices… You would be at a huge disadvantage compared to the kids going to the likes of University of Michigan or Michigan State.
“Huge disadvantage”…Well, you know, it depends on the kid! I went to Eastern Michigan because my brother went there and I could not probably be accepted at UofM and, more importantly, could not afford it! No one in my career has ever asked me where I went to school and I am sure that happens with everyone else. Is the education THAT much better in the more prestigious schools? I am not convinced, it depends on the professors and the students of course. What IS much better of course is the alumni connections and the much better recruiting opportunities. My son could not get the same entry lever job if he went to Eastern Michigan guaranteed. And my daughter it looks like will be the same. So, of course I am happy they went to UofM and really happy not USC lol.
Another disclosure: I still have a chip on my shoulder trying harder than everyone around me because I went to a “lower” prestige school. When I got to Deloitte I always felt a little bit inferior to the big school colleagues. Well, it did not take long to figure out my street smarts were eons ahead of them 🙂
I think we can both agree that the costs of college education here are way out of control and the admin structures in most colleges are very bloated. Not sure if you saw today that UofM finalized a deal to pay off about 1,000 abused people from a UofM doctor who terrorized them decades ago. $490 Million dollars…yikes! Guess who is going to be paying this. You? 🙂 I am out, less than two years to go!
Anyway, game tonight at 7 pm…no driving around the Big House!
I think the value of a name school, ignoring the actual educational difference, also depends of where you will be working and in what field. My lasst job was head of a family office and I doubt my boss could have recited where I got my degrees and what they were. The East coast of the US is much differebnt-there it matters a lot.
It is an East Coast thing then?
Or maybe it is a parent brag type of thing too 🙂 I know some fellow parents were more interested on where their geniuses kids will go than the kids themselves lol. I keep telling my kids to not do drugs, do their best and have some fun along the way and things will be fine.
Can we all move on from the Queen…I could care less!
Got to see the Queen on the way to Windsor as the coffin passed by the top of our road.
What people didn’t see what the ludicrous level of security. Our junction is one of literally hundreds which fed into the roads being used, and there were around 20 police officers there, with presumably after 20 on the other side. Ours were wearing Greater Manchester uniforms.
The other thing you didn’t see on TV was the spare hearse that followed the main one, just in case it broke down.
“Is the education THAT much better in the more prestigious schools? I am not convinced, it depends on the professors and the students of course. What IS much better of course is the alumni connections and the much better recruiting opportunities.”
Yes! For sure!
Another thing that is better at the research universities is the research. This may be completely irrelevant if you are only trying to get a degree or if you are in a field where it may not matter as much (I’m guessing accounting hasn’t changed that much)
One thing research universities have is top notch professors who do amazing cutting edge research and students who are able to work with them get huge opportunities and a big advantage. It is very common for these universities (especially Michigan) to have faculty who land large multimillion dollar grants from the NIH, DOD, NSF, etc. This will never happen at these other non-research universities.
Most if not all of these “research universities” are at medical centers. And since hospitals are non-profits, they funnel healthcare “profits” to research. And when you compare UMich research to it’s peers the school is pretty average (especially life science, publication impact and a lack of spin off companies). I would say it’s unique in the computer science field for the big companies to only recruit from a handful of universities. Maybe that’s one reason why there’s a lack of diversity in silicon valley?
Overall, your discussion is correct, the “big” universities with name recognition open doors for your first job. Go to the top private schools and you can see how much has been invested in the alumni network.
With the death of the Queen, this is a golden opportunity to retire the monarchy! Every commonwealth member should follow Barbados and become a republic (c’mon Canada!!). The colonial days are over, free yourselves!
I remember son’s classmates were mostly Asian and Indian so I am not sure about the lack of diversity thing 🙂
Enjoying Berlin so far. The Waldorf Astoria is underwhelming, maybe my expectations were too high. No Diamond suite upgrade,got a small room with a nice view instead. Hoped the breakfast will compensate but that was a superbly underwhelming spread wow! Can’t wait to move over to the Grand Hyatt you guys.
Saw Putin’s announcement. Expected. Russians will be best served if someone on the inside fired a bullet in this guy’s head before he marches Russia to oblivion, wow!
Oh shoot gotta find time to the Friday blog post!
Oh, about the monarchy, I remember in 1974 there was a referendum in Greece to keep the monarchy. It was Yes or No. The No votes won handily. Good riddance. I never figured out how in today’s age some can win the gene lottery and never have to worry about funding their college 529 plans lol.
Thanks Sam about the Kadewe suggestion, I am typing this from one of the cafes while wife is roaming all over the floors here lol.
Lack of diversity => very few women and blk. Yes lots of Asian and Indian men.
Check out the bond market’s performance this year:
https://twitter.com/biancoresearch/status/1572375356904017922?t=h-Cme8M80C79tcok5uKTWQ&s=19
30y mortgage rate will soon be 7%, up from 3ishh, earlier this year. House prices will continue to collapse, especially on the west coast. Fewer and fewer buyers will be able to afford a $1M house…. You can thank the Fed for this mess. Seriously, the Fed has to come clean about their inflation model. Also it was completely unnecessary to screw up the housing market this badly (No need for the Fed to buy MBS in 2022!. Biden may need to bail out those last minute buyers. They will be underwater soon (but With an amazing mortgage rate!) While you are at it, short Opendoor. Their algorithm wasn’t built for this.
BTW, tried to sell old washer/dryer on FB marketplace. So many scams… Zelle is currently the most popular scam. Watch out below.
Actually, I have a link to a video explaining it all about the Fed. So easy to take shots at them. What they do is NOT easy and hindsight is. I personally think that Powell has done a really good job overall…and his legacy will be tested when he lands that…soft landing
Home sales are lower…and that’s good! Should help lowering inflation for sure…Yeah, mortgage rates are not helping but maybe we all got too comfortable with ridiculously low rated for a while?
You say prices will continue to collapse and then say not many will be able to afford a $1M house. Well, you can’t have everything in life! Housing market has been a “little” off so it will be welcome to see the lower prices…at some point! And, you know, interest rates can come down!
My client has had great success in selling stuff from house at FB Marketplace he sold in early June at the very top 🙂
It is all confusing out there. We have all been dazed and confused since Covid changed our lives. We are all very slowly getting back to normal. Been telling kids and early 30s client that this bear market is the best thing that happened to them as they are vying stocks at much lower valuations to hold for decades.
Anyway, walking around Berlin in streets I last visited in 1987 is a bit surreal.
And the Berlin Grand Hyatt is lovely!
Sorry for typos!
I agree that we are in uncharted water. And I don’t think what past models (except Spanish flue) can be used. Overall I can understand the Fed’ approach during the pandemic. I just think buying MBS was idiotic. And the Fed has to be transparent about the inflation predictions, why did it get environment so wrong? Anyways, leaving Vegas. Berlin, go Visit to rave and techno clubs to contrast it with 1987. Only stayed at youth hostels in Berlin there back in the 90s and then the downtown Hilton. I have to say, youth hostels were more exciting. You could find drinking buddies and have a great night. Stayed at the youth hostel close to Reeperbahn in Hamburg and there were stories from the red light districts. I can understand why the Beatles had a crazy time there. Nowadays I’m limited to the lounge hours. Sad! Maybe your daughter should get an Interrail card for Europe and enjoy youth hostels instead of jet setting in business class (EU style) and Vendoming.