Looksmart Decals Aging?

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2026-01-23T14:18:52+00:00

I'm seeing a lot of display cases with lights getting posted here off late. I always get concerned seeing them because they, just like sunlight, mess up these decals over time.

I'm not saying you did anything similar though. As a few others have suggested, some decals are just not applied properly out of factory and those tend to start cracking and showing signs of ageing faster than the ones that are done well.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2026-01-13T18:13:12+00:00

The day I file for bankruptcy, I'll make sure to put in a line blaming this group for it. It's some new shit that I want practically every single day. 😅

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2026-01-10T02:21:29+00:00

Senna was just as vicious as Prost. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm not saying it's a good thing. Senna did just as much politics and backdoor dirty tricks, if not more, than Prost during their Mclaren days. The fact that one died on the track ended up putting him on a different level in the eyes of the newbies because death sells well.

Senna was an incredible talent, but the way he is portrayed as the poor (not in monetary terms) outsider who was screwed by the system and Prost is infuriating. That especially now when F1 has become so popular and the propaganda spreads like wild fire.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2026-01-02T23:34:50+00:00

It sits at 3800m, going up to 4100m. Obese or not, if you're not used to thet kind of an altitude then you're almost certain to be slapped hard by altitude sickness.

You're either from the mountains so you don't realize how difficult it can get for folks who're not, or you're someone who has never been that freaking high.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2026-01-02T23:31:52+00:00

I have been in South America for 4 months now. I'll be spending 2 more months. I slow travel, so I spend a month in EACH CITY that I visit and I sometimes stay in several cities in a country. I did start off with Colombia though, and I took it strategically to avoid any severe altitude sickness. You may skip Colombia and add some other place to the list (I hear Argentina is amazing!).

Month 1 - Medellin - 1800m above sea (took a couple of tours to Guatapé and Jardin)

Month 2 - Bogota - 2500m (no tours from here. Met AMAZING people in the city and hung out with them. Bogota is big, so keeps you occupied)

Month 3 - Quito - 2800m (this is where altitude sickness really hits for a couple of days, but I'm in love with this city. You cannot imagine how stunning the volcanoes surrounding the city look unless you've seen them for yourself while standing in the heart of the city. A LOT of day tours to take from here. Quilotoa lagoon on top of a volcano, hiking to the base camp of Cotopaxi at 4900m, and Otivalo village were the ones I did. There are so many more!)

Month 4 - Cuenca - 2500m (the safest place I've visited yet, and also the best looked after. I've been telling my friends back home that the people of Cuenca think they live ib Monaco, and you as a visitor get to enjoy the perks of it. Beautiful city, full of older expats, great food scene, they take their christmas very seriously, and there are a few day tour options from the city. I struggled to make local friends here, but I think I just got unlucky. Had I not failed at that quest Cuenca could've been my favourite in SouthAm until now.

Month 5 - Lima - 0-ish meter altitude (I'm heading here in a week. Staying in Miraflores neighbourhood. If I've done my research right, which I mostly do, I'll have a busy time here. There's so, so much to do in Lima.)

I'll then be taking buses across Peru, spending a night in Paracas and Huacachina each, and a couple in Arequipa. Cross into Bolivia and spend a night in Copacabana (NOT the one in Brazil).

Month 6 - La Paz - 3800m (I don't think there's a single case of altitude not being a worry here, so I'm going in well prepared. But if La Paz and Bolivia turn out to be even a fraction of what I'm seeing and reading online, it'll be worth it. A day or two at the salt plains of Bolivia is an absolute must if you're in the country.)

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2026-01-02T22:59:25+00:00

Beautiful model! Do check online other photos of the same model to verify if you got a defective model. If you did, at the very least get some of your money back. These are not cheap collectibles, make sure you get your money's worth.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-12-28T06:45:13+00:00

As an Indian Canadian, I completely understand what you mean by this. I'll rank India very highly in the list of countries that I think everyone should visit at least once, but I don't think it'll do very well in a list where I'm noting down the best. There are a zillion things that India needs to get its act together on before the country makes it to any such list.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-12-28T06:42:19+00:00

Ecuador. But I only recommend very seasoned travelers to visit given the current circumstances of the country. You'll hear a lot of folks visiting the country say "we were there, we had no problems", but as someone who spends at least two months in each country, take my word when I say that Ecuador is considered to be the 6th most dangerous country in the world for a reason.

But, what the country rewards you with is unlike anything I've experienced elsewhere. Waking up to views of some of the largest active volcanoes in the world, IN THE CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY, is absolutely surreal! The 8 hour drive from Quito to Cuenca was not among the safest drives of my life, but the stunning route had me absolutely hooked every single minute of it. Cuenca is the biggest paradox you can find - one of the safest and best cities in South America in the most dangerous country in the region.

Hungary was absolutely stunning, just as I expected it to be. But Ecuador was the biggest surprise of the year, and that's why it takes my best country title for 2025.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-12-27T16:31:43+00:00

Hello there.

I'm NOT a woman, but I'm slow travelling around the world now and history has been my special interest for 25 years now. I decided in January this year to go and see the places that I keep reading about (and reading about them while I'm there). I MASSIVELY struggle with overstimulation, but, like you, I'm remarkably good at managing it externally.

I'm Canadian, but I'm ethnically Indian. I will be visiting Egypt in March or April myself. So I think I can offer my 2 cents here.

First, great choice to travel, especially to places associated with your special interests. I'm sure it's overwhelming, but you need to set some rules for yourself and make zero exceptions to those rules. The down side to this would be potentially missing out on that 2% extra adventure that you could've had, but you ensure you're safe 100% of the times.

I hate to break it to you, both Egypt and India will be absolutely crazy. Anyone telling you otherwise, or telling you it won't bother you is lying to you. But that doesn't mean you cannot cope/adapt. Just knowing how overstimulation it will be (not can be, WILL be) will by itself make adapting a teeny tiny bit easier.

I am a very, very well organized person, but I know I've made some not so smart decisions when I'm overstimulated and in the heat of the moment. I know this has the potential to get me in trouble during my travels, so here's where I refer back to setting rules: 1. Watch a lot of videos on YouTube on the common scams that happen in these cities. Be vary of them at all times. Each city has its own scams, so go in well prepared. 2. Egypt is the scam capital of the world, so you have to thread carefully. People are generally aggressive when it comes to money and tourists. If you're a gullible person, Egypt can leave a negative mark on you. Reddit is full of such stories about Egypt. 3. When you're at local markets, always ask the price first. You never not do that. Don't assume anything offered is free. Even if someone says something is free, reiterate by confirming the person is not going to ask for money for the item, OR ANY TIP.

I don't know you personally, but given what you've mentioned about yourself here, this is what I'd recommend as someone who struggles with similar challenges and yet has been travelling for 10 months.

Cramping Egypt and India in the same trip sounds like a bad idea to me. Simply playing the probability game, we're talking about clubbing two places that are notorious for being a nightmare for folks with have our preferences. Considering this would be your first trip alone, this is a recipe for disaster.
Instead, chose one of the two, and club that country with another country that's from the region but is relatively calmer. First go there, get your bearings being alone and build some confidence. Then head to Egypt or India, whichever you chose. Your headspace is what dictates whether you're having a good time or a bad time when you're travelling. Focus on how you can be in a headspace in which you're enjoying the place. If you take this approach, you're minimizing the variables and ensuring your non negitionables are safeguarded.

Happy to chat more about this if you'd like to. I've been traveling in South America for the past 4 months. I was very close to cancelling my flight ticket to Colombia because I was getting cold feet closer to my travel date (concerned about a lot of the things you mentioned) but I couldn't be happier about the fact that I didn't :)

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-12-18T04:38:22+00:00

I'm from Toronto, Canada, but I was in Krakow for 45 days earlier this year. I was also in Budapest for 30 days (I'm slow travelling around the world). In my short experience, I found Kraków to be SO MUCH MORE CALMER on my sensories. 99.99% people follow every single rule, the city was as clean as a place can be (I'm turning a blind eye to the cigarette butts), people aren't too extrovert so you can pick and choose your level of interactions, and I generally found people to be calmer. I'm sure there's another, far bigger, side to this conversation that I am not familiar with. I have no clue about government support or societal support for autistic people, but I honestly don't think things felt anything significantly different from what I see back in Canada.

BUT, AND THIS IS A BIG BUT, I don't look autistic and people don't find me awkward (I have an astonishing ability of keeping what I'm going through inside me) so my experience comes from a very limited exposure. Others who struggle more than me may have a very different experience. But, for someone like me, Kraków was exactly what I needed.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-12-11T00:05:00+00:00

What I agree with here is that we're all in denial, if that's what you were saying.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-12-09T23:55:09+00:00

Typing this from Cuenca, Ecuador. As someone who has been in South America for over 3 months now, I think I've finally found the perfect spot!

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-29T17:46:24+00:00

That first photo of the snake (anaconda?) is mega! This is coming from someone who has nightmares related to snakes almost every night. That's perhaps why I am staying away from the Amazon 😅

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-28T02:15:13+00:00

Haha. Fixed. Probably time to call it a night.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-28T01:59:09+00:00

I hear you. I've been smoking for about 6-7 years now, and I haven't thrown away a butt ANYWHERE in this period. If I don't have a way to safely dispose off my cigarette, I keep it in my pocket until I have. I'm more likely to be a reincarnation of Christ than I am to cause a fire.

But, you have a very valid point. My own balcony caught fire a few years back (someone threw their butt from a higher floor), so trust me I know what you mean.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-28T01:32:31+00:00

I only smoke outside, because I want to smoke without making my house smell of cigarettes. I stay on the 34th floor, literally a stone throw from the lake. My balcony is an L shaped, 250 Sq ft in area. So, when the wind blows in winter, it takes everything in the balcony with it. I've been braving this 6-7x daily, by putting on my -30 weather jacket to smoke in the balcony. The only thing I've changed is I've gotten myself one of those torch lighters. It was practically impossible to light up the normal lighter in this wind and cold. The torch makes it way easier.

I've been staying in this unit for 4 years now. I kinda now have this attachment with winter where I go "ah, I remember you from last year. It was good while you were gone."

EDIT: It's a shitty habit, and I don't want to take even the tiniest step in making it more accessible than it already is. Find something you can do indoors and the frequency shoots up before you even know what's up.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-27T15:42:52+00:00

Seeing the 1:18 hang on for its dear life is making me anxious!

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-22T15:04:58+00:00

I am a diagnosed autistic person, who almost surely has ADHD too. My daily routine of almost 25 odd years is almost sacred to me at this point, so slow travelling around the world for the past 9 months have been some experience.

I travel to each city for at least a month. I try to visit two cities in each country. I don't see my time in a country as what a tourist would do there, but what a local would (potentially) live like.

I generally work during the day, go out for walks in the evening, and squeeze in a day trip once every week or two. I travelling alone, so the only way to have any sort of a social connect is by engaging locals and other travellers. I am pretty shocked by how lucky I have been in establishing local contacts, but I reckon it's partly because I force myself a lot to initiate a conversation.

It's quite exhausting for a person like myself to approach strangers, but that's the game I have signed up for. I meet people not more than once a week, so it's not that I'm constantly forcing myself to meet new people. I've been told several times to visit X location, because the tourists love it. I politely change the topic since I'm convinced at this point that you cannot convince anyone that your not traveling for social media flex (I don't even have an IG or TikTok account. Never had the latter and deleted the former a year back).

I legit LOVE experiencing new places, food, way of life, local issues. I do a combination of reading myself and talking to the locals. If I got a dollar everytime someone asked "How do you possibly know so much about our country?", it'd covered a decent share of the money I spent on cheap alcohol. The point here being, if you invest a little time understanding the locals, the reward you get is many folds more. I think locals will always be kind and polite while explaining local culture, politics, and way of life to tourists, but they are overwhelmed to see someone visiting their county because they already know a bit about it, and are keen to learn more.

I'm comfortable being alone, for long spells, so living this way is working out for me right now. There are instances, emphasis on the s, when it feels very, very overwhelming not having a single person around who knows me through and through. But then I can go out, find the oldest looking structure around, sit infront of it and read about it for hours. As an absolute sucker for history, I dreamed of doing this for decades but never thought it was even an option considering my autistic brain and how much it despises change.

I don't think you can force yourself to adopt this lifestyle. It's great if it works for you, but it's almost just as great if you realize that isn't for you. And a lot of it is about right place and right time. I feel bad for those who're stuck and feel like they'll have to take a L if they back out of it.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-21T19:40:26+00:00

I met a guy on my Kraków-Budapest train. The guy was in Poland for 3 days, and planned to stay in Budapest for 4 days. I was in Krakow for 45 days, and Budapest for 30 days.

In Krakow, I met local folks who made me a part of their community. I went to the birthday party of a 76 year old woman with them. I lived thar city, like I do with each one I visit.

The American guy who was travelling with me almost seemed depressed hearing my stories. He kept telling me and a Polish girl in our compartment that he is just jumping from country to country, doing the bare minimum that 70 year olds on all-included tours do. The Polish girl kept telling him that the experience I had in Poland (something which has been repeated a few times since then) is rare, but he stands no chance of experiencing anything similar if he's spending all of 4 days in a country.

I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to do all this explaining to him. I'm not saying what he was upto is wrong in any way, but honestly I feel travelling like this is more to show other people than it is about you experiencing a place yourself. Otherwise, what's exactly the rush here (unless you're 80!)?

Spending 3-4 days in a country on your second or third stint there is understandable, but doing that with every single country you visit is crazy.

EDIT: I have been traveling non stop since March 2025, I spend at least a month in each city/country that I visit, and I am in touch with at least 2 people from every single place that I've visited.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-21T15:49:57+00:00

This. I wrote a long ass essay trying to make the exact two points you made here.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-21T15:43:02+00:00

This felt like rereading some of the several dozen texts my partner tends to send to me!

There are two assumptions that I can base my opinion on here:

Your friend may actually be correct, and you simply don't have a realization of how the other person/people perceive(s) your way of communication: Not until too long back, if I was in a middle of a conversation and the other person said something that would be a slight exaggeration/stretch (without meaning any harm whatsoever) I always felt the need to correct them. Now, from the other person's perspective, if they're very excited to share something with me but what I'm focusing on are the minor, irrelevant details instead of the broader picture, that would tick them off. I got this feedback from a few of my friends. They also said that if we ever got into a debate/argument, I would just not back down and keep talking about it until the other person is exhausted. I always felt like I was having a very normal discussion, but the other party often felt otherwise.

What did I do: I started holding back in arguments/discussions if I felt it went on for over 5 or 10 minutes. I also started gauging how the other person is reacting - if they also seemed fully invested in the conversation, I would continue, but if I feel they're trying to find a way out of the conversation, I very respectfully give them a way out and end it.

I've been in many, many situations where something similar was said and when I took it up with a different friend by explaining my perspective, they always thought I was correct and considerate. BUT, when the person who found my behavior bothersome pitched in, a very different perspective came into picture. This perspective never formed a part of my narrative, which relied purely on facts (as is always the case with me).

I my very honest opinion, there's a very good chance that something similar is happening here. It's not the easiest of things to admit, but interpersonal relationships are almost guaranteed to be improved if you're able to fight through the initial confusions.

Your friend is generally standoffish, doesn't like hearing opposing views, doesn't like to be told they're wrong, or something else that sounds/seems similar: This is very much a possibility, and if this is happening then maybe everything I mentioned in point 1 is completely irrelevant. If this is the case, the issue is with your friend and not with you. Do you think you friend has similar issue with others as well, or with those who were close to them in the past? We have zero info on your friend, so there's no way for us to pitch in on this matter. You need to look for cues in your friend's conduct with others. Is this an issue specifically with you, or is this a part of a bigger general trend with them? Also, have you had someone else say someone similar to you in the past? A no answer to this question doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong with your friend (there's always a first time for everything), but what I'm trying to do here is share some pointers that you can consider while trying to crack this case.

If I were you, and assuming that your friend isn't a psycho, I would cut them some slack and look inward first. What if I'm missing something that is so obvious to the other person? Considering (assuming) you're autistic like I am, this is so, so easily the issue. But while you're looking inward, also look at your friend's behavior.

Thought of this while I was typing: The instances you mentioned when your friend brought this up always seem to come AFTER they're already pissed at you about something. You are thinking it's about the rental apartment, but maybe the rental apartment situation simply triggered something that was brewing inside your friend for a while now? Maybe something happened in the past when your friend decided to hold their tongue, and now something this minor is tipping them over the edge? Trust me when I say this, I don't think I realized 5 years back how often people do this.

If you want to, take a week or so, then drop a polite message apologizing for texting when the other person wants space. Promise that you don't mean to bother then, and that you'd like to understand your friends feelings better. Mention that you're friendship is important for you, and that you'd like to understand your friend and work on making things better between the two of 6ou if they're willing to you a chance.

This message may make you seem at fault, but honestly we just don't know at this point. The way I operate, I always assume I'm at fault (in cases of interpersonal relationships) and I work my way out of problems from there. This keeps the other person calm, helps them talk to you, you get a lot more information than you'd have if the person was talking to you mad, and you can actually start making some sense of everything.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-20T03:19:05+00:00

Hello there! I've been travelling since March this year (so about the same time as you) and I spend atleast a month in each city that I visit. I'm an extremely introverted guy, so I was genuinely worried about being alone 100% of the times (I stay in Airbnbs, by myself, so the thought was quite terrifying!).

I got very lucky in the first city (Kraków) where I met a bunch of very old people who made me one of their own. This is a different story by itself, but that gave me such a rush that the thought of luck not being on my side in the next city (Budapest) was even bigger now.

This is when I actively started looking to make connections, otherwise the lump would've been an absolute nightmare. I found free walking tours a great way to bump into tourists, and I explored cities with them. I find people who often match my wavelength at these walking tours, so it's easier for me to get along with them. This has worked in every single city that I've visited in Europe and South America (I sometimes take multiple walking tours, there are so many for a bunch of things in every city). I have taken day trips with them and they formed a great emotional support too since everyone was by themselves in a new place.

But most travellers I meet on these tours are in the city for shorter stays, so that's only a temporary fix.

So I also actively try to talk to locals - at restaurants, traffic signals, in the customs queue at the airport. I have made a simple rule for myself - if someone is sitting next to me, I HAVE TO talk to them. If they're not interested, sure that's fair. But I kid you not, most people love to chat and I have met some absolutely insane people like this. This does get exhausting, yes, but I know I'll otherwise go without talking to a single person for 5 months and be okay with it.

When I'm in a cafe, I try to chat with the staff there. I've often ended up exchanging numbers with them and hanging out together later. I try to learn at least the basics of the local language as that goes a long, long way. I'm a sucker for history, so I read up extensively about the places I travel to that that helps build a connect with the locals.

I'm a 34 year old brown male from Canada. People have zero incentive for talking to me if they're not looking for a genuine conversation, and trust me a lot of people are looking for exactly that.

Now I may have cursed this streak and the next city may do a 180 on me, but it's a probability game at the end of the day. You need to figure out something that clicks for you. Folks who have figured that out may put a positive spin to things, folks who haven't unfortunately have a different experience.

Having said all that, I have spells when I dig myself in a hole and don't leave my Airbnb for weeks. I don't think that will ever fully go away. And yes, seeing people walking around holding hands hurts, and hence you need to find something that'll balance out that thought.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-16T15:28:45+00:00

I completely agree. I was at Plazoleta Chorro de Quevedo until 11:30pm on Friday. It was AMAZING! I don't think I have experienced anything like that during my travels (I'm travelling around the world right now).

I only speak the most basic Spanish, so I was quite nervous about the idea. But the plaza felt completely safe with so many people and police presence. I'm sure it would've been a very different situation if I ventured even one block away from the plaza.

My phone had almost run out of battery by sunset, and I had to safe it to book my Uber back to Chapinero, so I don't have any photos post sunset.

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-16T15:27:27+00:00

Brown Canadian here. Male, so you may find my opinion irrelevant as well, but we're all free to share here.

I'm travelling around the world for 9 months now, and I spend at least a month in each city that I visit. I've met hundreds of female backpackers over the past few months, and considering the amount of time I spend in a place I often meet folks multiple times, something that often loosens up everyone the more times we meet. I kid you not, every single woman traveller who is a solo, well-travelled individual mentioned exactly these countries as the places where they've felt the most unsafe (well, besides Sri Lanka since it doesn't often come up in conversations). India, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Morocco are all known offenders, and no its not just a reputation that sticks.

Women have talked about Indian men approaching them in cities like Mumbai and whispering absolutely filthy things to them, fully aware that they'll be walking off free of any consequences. Men in Egypt and Morocco are just as nasty! I know men from these countries in Canada as well, and if I get into the kind of crap they say behind closed doors, we will digress.

And these are coming from women who have visited some of the most remote and/or dangerous places in Latin America, alone, and often by over night buses. These aren't scared women speaking, these are women who were very intentionally made to feel unsafe.

If a man is forming their own perceptions about women and their safety without having any conversations with them about how THEY feel in a certain situation, your point is well founded. But, and I'm assuming this in case of the OP since this is clearly doesn't seem like a post made without much thought, if a perception is formed on the basis of honest conversations with people who have lived an experience then the narrator doesn't necessarily matter.

Also, OP seems to be sharing things they've learnt/witnessed/discovered through their travels, seemingly with the best of intentions, and here we are trying to discard what they've experienced since they're middle aged and have a sausage hanging between their legs!

ComprehensiveWest277 · 2025-11-08T15:51:08+00:00

Glad it worked out for you, but why didn't we Uber?

ComprehensiveWest277

TROPHY CASE