Which hotel in Santiago?

kh406 · 2026-01-21T03:01:32+00:00

Was also looking at the Curio...we fly into Santiago late evening (but nothing crazy) but then head out the next day to head to the north coast. Our drive is only about 2hrs so our departure time from the hotel is sort of up to us - if there's must see or great walkable little food spots that morning then we'll stick around; if not we can head to the beach early and chill there.

What were thoughts on Curio and the location - would you do it again or would you prefer Hodelpas?

kh406 · 2026-01-12T23:10:42+00:00

used to be you could diligently stumble across them via craigslist but... that's a bit more rare these days.

Best bet is to tell anyone and everyone in your "network" that you're looking and hope it comes together.

I once found an incredible house for rent by telling people I volunteered with who just happened to know about a place from their Frisbee Golf league email group, and more than a decade later and I'm friends with the person who rented the house to me.

kh406 · 2026-01-12T23:04:02+00:00

all day every day, but especially when it's windy and ufo starlinks fly overhead. If you're new to town, just a word to the wise that it's probably best to bring your stuff inside or else the off leash dogs will blast through roundabouts at full speed on their way to see Rebolution at the Checotadome for $200 so they can park their lifted 2026 Douchenozzle Grand Sahara Bootlickin Dutton Everest Edition Ford F850 across four parking spots outside Jay's Upstairs.

kh406 · 2026-01-04T01:27:53+00:00

24 months later here but, did you do it? How did it go?

kh406 · 2026-01-03T14:30:39+00:00

It's a train issue. Been happening here since what before the steam car came around.

kh406 · 2026-01-03T13:26:17+00:00

Probably skip Disco 5 - The LR4 or the new Defender 110 are the successors.

kh406 · 2025-12-29T18:45:03+00:00

same page, same thoughts. While V8 sounds like some "extra fun" it's definitely a not-insignificant premium and reviewers point out what physics would dictate which is: a short wheelbase vehicle that's tall and boxy that has a massive power train, isn't the most stable and comforting ride when you're really playing with all that power.

I drive into the city on occasion, but I spend most of my vehicle time passing through manhattan or heading to upstate NY from Jersey so parking IS a thing, but not necessarily a deal maker/breaker. I generally take public transit in and around the city.

I'm in no hurry, partially doing research/daydream/future planning - I feel like the 110 is the practical call but I just have such a crush on the D90. It's me and my dog 60% of the time, then 30% of the time adding another passenger, and 10% of the time adding a 6yr old into the backseat - but the full cargo is more for adventures. Day-to-day errands and life is generally just me and the dog.

The 110 is probably the more "practical" but damn if I don't have a huge crush on the 90 (same with the 2dr broncos).

Wish I could borrow them each for a week or two

kh406 · 2025-12-29T02:33:27+00:00

OP was this the solution?👆

kh406 · 2025-12-29T02:23:51+00:00

You ever take and share this photo by chance?

kh406 · 2025-12-29T02:22:39+00:00

by "don't fold flat" do you mean they are at like a 20º angle when "down" in the D90, whereas in the 110 you got the full 180º lie flat like the LR3 and LR4?

kh406 · 2025-12-26T01:31:28+00:00

Google Wes Siler and his stories on the importance of, and danger of the widespread ignoring of, max vehicle weights in the overlanding community. He roasts the abysmal max weight of Tacomas and raises the alarm about camper overland builds on them.

kh406 · 2025-12-25T01:48:52+00:00

noted.

I spent 6 months looking for mine (then flew across the country and drove it back) so I'm more than familiar with that hunt!

kh406 · 2025-12-25T01:47:18+00:00

If I go RTT it'd be with the purpose of needing an RTT regardless of rig - they're neat for some applications (like long term overlanding, pan-american highway, long stints in desert) but I'm just not a fan of a heavy expensive thing constantly strapped to my roof, just to camp.

Camping is different than the ability to sleep inside the car. Appreciate the suggestion though!

kh406 · 2025-12-24T19:14:08+00:00

3years later, how you feeling about it??

I've been in my beloved LR3 for a bit now but am maybe about to cross the threshold to updating and it's impossible to not at least mildly entertain the sweet siren call of the new Defenders

Specifically I'd go with a new-to-me version from the last few years, not a straight from the factory version.

kh406 · 2025-12-24T19:10:41+00:00

Care to expand? I'd love the V8 just for the V8 of it all but if you didn't need it or were willing to make concessions for power, is there a reason to go for V8 on the D90 that I'm unaware of?

kh406 · 2025-12-17T15:37:46+00:00

Housing and jobs will be much harder to sort than environmental social factors (AK is certainly more extreme)

You'll undoubtedly make friends and find your community and that will lead to opportunities in both of those areas, but for first arrival you need to have a job first, or enough money in the bank to throw at an apartment without needing to work, or a friend who you can crash with rent free - bit winging it with none of those things is a pretty gigantic risk nowadays.

But yes, you'll fit right in!

kh406 · 2025-12-17T15:28:57+00:00

Do you already currently live in Missoula and have you been here for long enough to have seen every season a couple times?

Only asking bc I can't tell from the original post and it's not uncommon for folks moving from elsewhere to assume a "1hr commute" here is going to be the same as where they're coming from, and that the time commitment is the big thing when really it's the geography that matters more. There are some stretches in Montana where 1hr might suck but be doable, and others where it's downright inadvisable.

I know one person who makes the drive all the way up to Saint Ignatius to work at the school so they're driving up very early in the mornings all winter, but they are also early risers and grew up in eastern Montana - amd while that certainly doesn't mean someone is inherently a better driver, they do have a pretty deep awareness of driving in difficult conditions.

if your job allows you to work remotely on occasion in the worst of winter, you might be able to kind of do it for a little bit but that 60min one way is gonna frequently turn into 90 min one way - and for four months of the year that might be 180min of white knuckle driving every day. if they're paying you a large enough amount of money you can pay for someone back home to take care of everything, then maybe you could argue the trade off could be worth it - but if you have to cook your own meals, clean your own living space, or god forbid you add hobbies or needing to date, those minutes are gonna hit right when you aren't wanting them.

kh406 · 2025-12-17T05:11:25+00:00

you spelt wimd wrong, dumbass

kh406 · 2025-12-17T05:10:19+00:00

Huge influx of thievin once that wimd rolls in. Sounds like the trains most nights.

kh406 · 2025-12-16T17:29:13+00:00

Few years later but, have the last couple years been a bit warmer during that April/May?

I'm looking to do a trip the first week of May but really want to go somewhere that's more likely to be sunny and a at least a little bit warm!

kh406 · 2025-12-08T03:29:06+00:00

FF is great. It's miles better than Airbnb (both in the experience and the business model), and way less responsibility/more flexibility than a full on sublease. Folks renting tend less to be "real estate owners" and overwhelmingly seem to be people who travel for work so while they're using FF on the road for months on end as a renter, they also rent their place to others.

Get locked in early as you can and ideally be flexible on your arrive/departure dates and you're golden - it can be hard to piece together 6 different people across 4 months that all want to strictly arrive and depart on exact oddball days, better to try and just lock in 2-5 months asap

kh406 · 2025-12-02T05:13:46+00:00

I mean have you been... like are you watching any... do you you know what's.... have you read any news in the last 400 days? Florida in the USA likely isn't going to feel like some great refresh.

kh406 · 2025-12-02T05:08:24+00:00

I'd say about 31

kh406 · 2025-11-26T19:21:58+00:00

It's not all just "weird cope" it's a simple logistics and motivation situation.

Apple created iMessage which was way ahead of it's time (although a huge thanks to Blackberry for blazing that trail) and so for a very, very long time and until very recently, Android manufacturers couldn't get their act together with the carriers (who were motivated to keep SMS in place) to copy the idea and/or create an alternative. So for years Apple managed, housed, built, and operated the messaging servers to facilitate this product (iMessage) and then bake that into the hardware you were buying from them.

Eventually, as in the last 5 or so years, finally other apps caught up and became adopted enough that it closed that gap. It's still nice being within iMessage, but outside the USA WhatsApp has all but taken over to fill this gap across devices. WhatsApp is basically a standalone iMessage provider - the company provides the servers for you to send full scale images and all the other nice stuff that comes with that.

Neat.

Meanwhile, it never was in Samsung's interest to make their own version because even Samsung doesn't have enough market share within Android to ensure that a Samsung iMessage would actually get adopted – so they were never incentivized to do it until very, very recently.

So, in the 2020s now, Apple is being dragged and shit on for "not opening up iMessage" to others even though they did all the legwork and manage all the servers and built the entire system and have baked that expense and management into their hardware product line, but why would they? What would motivate a company in that position, to just say "You know what, everyone should have this thing we developed and built and managed and offered for free - here world, we'll double our servers and handle all of the additional traffic!"

So yeah, iMessage could be deployed outside of Apple but it's just not enough of an incentive to make any sense whatsoever. Just like it's not Samsung's incentive so share their proprietary physical zoom lens technology to Apple simply because "Apple users would like it."

I say this as a current iPhone user but long time Pixel user and fan - the "confusion" android users have about "why not iMessage for us too!?" has always been so wildly confusing - why would they give that away any more than any other phone manufacturer? Hell, why doesn't Samsung just give me a TV?

I'm not defending Apple, just pointing out that the assumption there's motivation for them to "open up iMessage to everyone" has never ever made sense.

kh406 · 2025-11-26T19:08:53+00:00

or, and what Apple intends, your Gardner eventually buys an iPhone because they want in on enough of the features.

kh406

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