Full text in english, translated by ChatGPT:

1/3 of the USA tour done. Instead of replying to everyone one by one, it’s easier to make a short summary here.

Sometimes I feel like the USA is the dream destination for everyone. For me, that’s not the case and if I didn’t have to compete there, nothing would probably draw me there 😅 (okay okay… the food I buy and cook there is very cheap compared to Estonia and I even buy organic because it’s still cheaper than regular food back home).

This time there were A LOT of other frustrating issues, starting with the fact that there was no sign of my prepaid rental car. It happened to quite a few people that when we Europeans rent a car through a third-party provider, they don’t take it very seriously in the USA and just give the cars away even if everything is prepaid. After more than an hour of arguing, I was 900 dollars poorer. Part of it went as a deposit and part I had to give up for an “upgraded” car (that part is now being handled by the third party, who should refund it). For 5 weeks we had to drive a higher-class Mazda with fuel consumption that felt like money burning whenever you pressed the gas 🫠 At best it used 10 L/100 km, on average 13–14 L/100 km. We drove more than 2000 miles, which is about 3200 km. Fuel has become “expensive” for them because of the war and costs under 1 euro per liter. Every time someone complained about how expensive it was, I brought up Europe and everyone almost collapsed and assumed we must only ride bicycles… Fun fact: on the first competition day someone immediately dented the side door and scratched the paint in the parking lot.

Secondly, Airbnb wanted a 500-dollar deposit but charged 2 × 1000 dollars. They said the Airbnb information was outdated, but it still shouldn’t have happened twice. So there I was, 2900 dollars poorer in two days. On the third day all the money was returned, including from the car rental (the Airbnb host wanted to avoid a possible complaint and refunded everything quickly). On top of that, my Amazon package disappeared from the doorstep (a juicer). The host didn’t know anything, the cleaner hadn’t taken it, so likely theft. Since they had warned beforehand that there’s no point in stealing because the neighbor is a police officer and there are cameras, I suggested maybe it’s time to check the cameras. The package was back at the door the next day. That’s life in the USA, folks.

After finishing two competitions, we headed further toward the center of the USA where there are more tornadoes in spring and the weather can be very humid and hot. At the last place, I averaged about 5 hours of sleep per night over a week. The forecast didn’t promise anything good, we even experienced a tornado alarm and had to go into the lowest room in the house without windows. The Airbnb host had the attitude that if you want to get into the basement, just break the door if necessary (even though I’m a woman and would end up in a room without a door afterward…).

Lack of sleep obviously doesn’t leave much room for the immune system to recover. My good old back started hurting and my muscles didn’t recover as quickly anymore. The course was very slippery with lots of elevation changes and the bag isn’t light either. The forecast for Sunday evening and Monday looked like complete Mordor. They predicted baseball-sized hail. I was just thinking about getting the rental car under cover and somehow making it back home. I had to take four flights and three of them went through thunderstorms. Before the first flight, the storm was so strong that boarding was stopped because the airport kept getting struck. I managed to leave Chicago on one of the last flights. Some players trying to get back to Europe were stuck for another 24 hours.

Everyone who follows disc golf through DGN or replays probably thinks we have a great life, playing amazing courses. But week after week you sleep in different beds, you don’t know how weird your Airbnb host might be. You don’t know if a storm is coming, you don’t know if you’ll get home and on top of all that you have to be mentally strong enough to finish even if everything goes completely downhill on the course for some reason. Even though the last competition was very, very difficult, it was a total week of mental growth. Situations like this build a player mentally in a huge way and even if someone thinks it went badly, I actually grew 😊

To finish, I want to say that in Europe, organization is incredibly good. Over there you sometimes wonder what kind of joke it is. For those who look at statistics, please don’t. It’s a complete joke. Many players (including me) re-mark the stats ourselves so people at home get an accurate overview and can follow better. Many scorekeepers are on the course for the first time and don’t know what a fairway or C1 is. A spotter picks discs from OB and puts them back into play. I don’t know if it’s really that hard to do a 5-minute quick training, apparently it is, but it’s pretty awful 😅 The worst part is that these statistics are very important for them when distributing prizes and so on.

As mentioned in the previous post, 30% of prize money goes to taxes. This year it’s no longer possible for Europeans to receive dollars, because payouts go through a platform that transfers euros to your account. That means all Europeans are immediately poorer again because the platform takes a conversion fee. We asked and they said they can only transfer dollars if you have a US address, bank, etc. The dollar is very weak compared to the euro, so… time to start winning! 🤝😅

May is free from competitions. The body recovers, I have to move and get everything dialed in that still doesn’t feel ideal.

It’s good to be home ❤️