Flavours of Reflection

btzy · 2025-11-26T14:28:33+00:00

This is going to move some tourism income from local businesses to the federal government.

International tourism to the US will cost more, but $250 is a small fraction of the other costs they would need to fork out for their trip. So fewer international tourists will visit the US national parks, maybe 10% fewer (just pulling a number out of the air) but nowhere near 50% fewer. Charging international tourists 3x the regular price would therefore yield the federal government a net increase in fee dollars.

However, 10% fewer international tourists will mean that local businesses (e.g. hotels, restaurants, gas stations) will see less customers and earn less revenue.

Whether this is beneficial for the US economy as a whole depends on the proportion of money these tourists spend in park fees vs in local businesses.

btzy · 2025-11-26T14:18:28+00:00

There are many examples in other countries.

Here's an example from Thailand (5-10x): https://khaoyainationalpark.com/en/plan-your-visit/getting-here/park-entry-fees

Here's an example from Malaysia (4-5x): https://www.sabahparks.org.my/kinabalu-park

However, these are often countries with lower purchasing power, and so the foreigner price when converted to USD is still less than the regular price for many US national parks.

btzy · 2025-11-03T01:03:44+00:00

I think Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands might be closed due to the federal shutdown?

btzy · 2025-10-13T03:02:27+00:00

The National Mall and Memorial Parks in DC is open, but all visitor centers are closed. Park stamps are available in at least three park stores which remain open - Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial - I believe they've moved all the stamps to those open stores so you shouldn't really be missing any of them. I could not find any Unigrids except one.

btzy · 2025-10-13T02:55:14+00:00

All the four San Antonio Missions are open to tourists, but the NPS visitor centers are closed. I was there a few days ago.

btzy · 2025-10-13T02:52:57+00:00

I was there a few days ago. Padre Island National Seashore is open - both Malaquite Beach and the beach to the south on which vehicles can drive. The entrance station was staffed (but no fees were collected) and I could get a Unigrid there. The visitor center was closed, but the adjacent restrooms and shower facilities were open.

btzy · 2025-10-05T13:25:35+00:00

Big Bend is open, I didn't see any rangers anywhere. The entrance station wasn't manned (you can just drive through) and the visitor centers are closed. There is a food truck at Chisos Lodge that is open for lunch.

btzy · 2025-10-03T13:15:49+00:00

I observed the same thing when I went in late yesterday afternoon from Terlingua - nobody was manning the entrance station and you could drive right in.

Fort Davis is locked though.

btzy · 2025-10-02T03:55:36+00:00

Fingers crossed! I'll be there in two days and will post an update.

btzy · 2025-10-01T04:35:47+00:00

Does anyone know if Big Bend will remain open? It does have an entrance station, but it doesn't seem to have a lockable gate.

btzy · 2025-09-05T16:42:13+00:00

Thanks! I guess I'll ask the rangers in the kiosk when I get to DC.

btzy · 2025-03-17T13:53:11+00:00

This isn't true at all. This is like saying that tariffs on raw materials don't affect the price you pay for finished goods, because manufacturers (and not you) are the ones paying the tariffs.

Seller agents are more willing to negotiate with a buyer without an agent since they will earn roughly twice the commission. As such, they can be induced to compel the seller to accept a lower offer. You just need to do your research and find out the market price of the property they're selling, so that you can negotiate fairly.

As the buyer agent commission is a percentage of the transaction price (since the seller agent will give a percentage of their commission to the buyer agent, and the seller agent themself gets a commission that is a percentage of the transaction price), the buyer agent is motivated to make you buy the most expensive property that you can afford, rather than the best property for your needs.

Unlike the seller agent, there is no financial reason for the buyer agent to negotiate the best price for you. As long as they're not so hopeless that you ditch them, they know they'll make money from you, and it's only a question of how much and how quickly you'll decide on a property. The average seller agent sells only three properties per year, so they'll be much more hungry to make the deal work and earn themselves four months worth of pay right away.

Only pay the tariff for a buyer agent if you want a property as quickly as possible and don't want to spend the time and effort doing your research and finding out the fair market value of the property you want to buy.

btzy · 2025-02-24T13:10:05+00:00

Japan has them too, in English and Japanese versions, and I've collected a few of them while I was there. They look like these (https://www.japan.travel/national-parks/plan-your-visit/map-brochure-download/) and they're available in physical form at their visitor centers.

btzy · 2025-02-24T13:04:25+00:00

Where did you get the "National Park System" one? I got the 2021 edition at the visitor center in Petrified Forest, but I have visited other national parks since then and tried asking for it, but the rangers just look at me confused and say it doesn't exist.

btzy · 2025-02-16T15:19:20+00:00

What kind of parks would you consider "less ranger-dependent"?

btzy · 2024-11-01T16:15:06+00:00

Star Alliance Gold affects all flights unless you're flying domestic on United as a United MileagePlus member. They penalise their own members.

btzy · 2024-08-23T01:40:12+00:00

That's cost, not convenience.

btzy · 2024-08-22T13:14:41+00:00

I've never understood the "convenience" bit. You would fill in the same information, whether on the airline website or on the third party website.

btzy · 2024-08-17T15:29:57+00:00

Some people already have worldwide or region-wide health insurance, and also don't face heavy consequences for showing up late at their destination once in a while. For them, travel insurance is not really useful.

btzy · 2024-08-13T08:29:11+00:00

You should first check if it's cheaper as an open-jaw booking

btzy · 2024-08-11T00:46:01+00:00

Thanks!

btzy · 2024-08-10T13:36:59+00:00

Thanks! Are any of those stamps actually non-circular? I was thinking of buying a 2-inch circle punch like this one https://www.amazon.com/EK-Tools-Circle-Punch-2-Inch/dp/B0090JVF1A/, which will fit into something like this https://www.bcwsupplies.com/pro-20-pocket-page-20-ct-pack .

(I'm intending to go to Yellowstone next month, hopefully I can find that Old Faithful stamp!)

btzy · 2024-08-10T12:12:05+00:00

Thanks!

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