My lesson learned in Miami: Have money for Uber.

Huge, posh, and not my cup of tea

One of my three least favourite cities in the United States is Miami. It doesn't come in last place, however, so I can somewhat tolerate it when I go there to visit. The other two on my list are New York and Los Angeles. Ironically, these three cities are usually the top sought-out destinations for most foreigners. Little do they know that Boston is really the best city to visit in the US (except during snow storms). I have the least tolerance for LA because it is the largest and probably most air-polluted of the three.

Compared with my home city of Boston, these three cities are too big, too busy, too spread out, but most of all, I feel discomfort from the pretentiousness that fills the air of these cities. Sure, there is a lot of diversity in LA, New York and Miami, but the degree and length that people go to in order to feel that they have to be the best and impress others- whether it’s how dark their tan is, what kind of clothes they’re wearing, what car they drive, what apartment building and location they live in, what restaurants they eat in and what clubs they dance in- just makes me feel sick and annoyed.

The size of these three cities overwhelms me so much. It can take up to an hour to drive from one part of LA or Miami to the other part of the city because they are so big. Boston, on the other hand, is nicely contained so that it only would take about thirty minutes to drive from one part of the city to the other side.

LA is a city of constant traffic and Miami has its hours of terrible congestion, which makes driving all the more inconvenient. The sad part is that neither Miami nor LA have an efficient public transportation system, and usually the oppressive heat in Miami will discourage people from walking far. I’ll give some credit to New York because although the traffic may be bad, people can walk everywhere and they have a decent subway system to get around the city.

Despite all of my complaints, I still go to Miami, New York or Los Angeles once in a while for a short trip to see old friends and to revisit the overly-hyped up megalopolis cities which temporarily add a degree of artificial excitement to my low-key life.

This picture is of Biscayne Miami, taken from a harbor cruise boat about four years ago. The city is definitely beautiful from this perspective, but to me, it is overwhelming from within.

The cheap vacationer

During my recent stay in Miami, I stayed in the northern part of the city: Aventura and Sunny Isles. I have been to and stayed in other parts of Miami, such as Brickell, South Beach and Lincoln Road, but my friends whom I was visiting this time around live in the north. In any case, I was not interested in seeing the downtown as I really only went there to go to the beach and to see my college friends whom I have not seen since I graduated more than two years ago.

You may have gathered from my previous posts that I am one of the cheapest travelers you may meet. I was hesitating whether to go to Miami or not during my Labor day weekend because I did not want to spend more than $300 in total, including the roundtrip ticket and my other expenses. For two weeks, I would check prices and then return to recheck them a few days later. The airfares were looking grim and I was starting to lose hope. Finally two days before I would take my flight, I found exactly what I was looking for: An early morning flight in, and an evening flight back, all for $260. I jumped on that to buy it and I was really psyched for my trip.

As for my suitcase, I packed a pijama, my little toiletry bag for my toothbrush, my bathing suit, shorts, a t-shirt, a simple beach dress, and some gifts for my two friends whom I was visiting. Taking only the bare essentials make for the best trips, especially the spontaneous ones.

Oh, and I brought with me $30. I had not gotten paid yet from my first month of my new job, so I pretty much just took with me the remaining money which I previously had in my bank account, which was about $20, and my dad was generous enough to give me $10. Thanks dad, that should be enough to buy me a bottle of water in Miami.

It turns out that I actually only spent $10 during my three days in Miami. Impressive right? Yes and no. Being on a budget and traveling with what you’ve got is definitely acceptable and commendable, but there comes a point where you have to compensate for the quality of your trip. This is the lesson that I learned on this trip: Have enough money on you to be able to have the independence you need to go where you want within the city you are visiting without having to depend on and inconvenience other people.

Stuck in luxury

One of the friends that I was visiting there lives in Aventura, and the other lives in Sunny Isles with her two kids and her mother. Her husband is currently away for work, and she works as well, so most of the time her mother is alone during the day with the kids. I came to Miami knowing that my Sunny Isles friend would be working during the day, but at least I could spend time with her mother and kids, and see her after work.

I must admit that although I do not like fakeness and pretentiousness, it does not mean that I do not like or appreciate nice things. I just don’t like when people have to show off or compare to others in order to seem better. When staying at my friend’s flat in Aventura, I was delighted and impressed by the clean, white marble floors, the straight, modern lines of the furniture, the huge flat screen TVs (yes, there were more than one), the simple, yet sophisticated decorations, and the breath-taking view from the windows and wrap-around balcony.

The view of Miami by night from my friend's Aventura flat is quite amazing.

My friend had forwarned me that during this weekend, she would be busy helping to take care of her friend’s baby while the friend was packing for a trip, and later on she’d drive them to the airport. I understood and told her that it would be not problem if she couldn’t be around all that much. After showing me where the food was and how to get to the pool she left me in the paradise of her home and went to help out her friend. This luxurious dream world soon transformed itself into a prison.

Upon waking up in the king-sized bed with streams of golden sunlight coming through the floor-length white window shades, I enjoyed my breakfast by the balcony and relished in the relaxing morning views.

However, once 11:30am rolled around, I started to get antsy. I was visiting Miami for only 3 days, and this day was my one full day there, as the other two were flying days. I was not so interested to go to the nice pool by myself, as I wanted to take advantage of my short time there and use it efficiently. While staying in the nice apartment in Aventura, I decided I wanted to go to Sunny Isles and spend the day with the mother and kids of my friend there rather than be alone.

I was hoping someone could drive me from Aventura to Sunny Isles, as it was only a fifteen minute drive away, but both of my friends were busy at the time. As I was growing impatient, I was feeling more desperate to leave and figure out a way to get to Sunny Isles. I knew I only had a few dollars in my bank account and the rest of my $30 cash stash was in my purse, so an Uber would not have worked. I looked up any information I could find about public transportation and busses in Miami, but the closest bus I could find was a long walk away. My phone was low on battery and I wanted to wait until it charged more before even thinking to walk anywhere and get lost with a dead phone.

After some time, my ideas were exhausted, and I was left with few options. I could still try to walk and find the bus stop, but the entire trip was estimated to take at least an hour (and it was blazing hot and humid out). I could ask my friend to just drive me there, but I was trying to be so polite about it that I think she didn't pick up on the despair in my voice.

After calling and asking her again, she finally asked me, but why didn't you take an Uber there? I explained to her my no money situation, and her amazing advice was "well you can't travel to places like Miami without having money for Uber! ". She could and would have bought the Uber for me (and I would have paid her back later), but I was too embarrassed and shy to ask, so instead I endured a wasted day of self-loathing and frustration.

Eventually at around 4:30 in the afternoon, she was able to come and pick me up, and we took her friend and the friend's baby to the airport. A bit later on, we finally went to Sunny Isles and reunited with my other friend's kids and mom.

I was lucky to have been able to use my other two days in Miami efficiently, but I have some regrets about not taking advantage of my full free day there

My idea of a perfect vacation: Sit at the beach and catch up with old friends.

The “bougie” life

I learned a new word while staying in Miami. My Aventura friend kept referring to me as “not bougie”. She would say, “I told my friend (the one with the baby) that she could invite you over and not have to worry about making her house look presentable and perfect because you’re not a bougie person”. I had never heard of this word before, and I asked her about it. She told me it means someone who tries to be high class and snobby. I agreed that I am definitely not that. In any case, I looked up the word online to understand it better. I found a very interesting definition from Urban Dictionary: “Aspiring to be a higher class than one is. Derived from [the French word] bourgeois – meaning middle/upper class, traditionally despised by communists”. Now I totally understand.

Practicality

I am proud to not be a “bougie” type of person, but I know that I fall too much on the other side of the spectrum: I am a little bit too cheap with myself, especially regarding convenience and making the best use of my time to ensure the best quality trip for what I spend on it. There is no sense in buying a decently-priced ticket but then decide to stay cooped inside all day because you don’t want to spend money to go somewhere. Relying on friends to take you everywhere is a bad idea, because it will almost definitely annoy them to be your (unpaid) taxi driver, and you may blame and resent them if they cannot be at your service to go out when you want. Having your own independence while traveling is a must, and unfortunately in the world that we live in, money is what will give you that freedom.

After thoughts: Five days later

It has been a few days now since I was in Miami, and as I write, the city of Miami, as well as the rest of Florida, is currently being pounded by the Hurricane Irma. I am truly grateful to have been able to visit Miami and see my friends there while the city was all in one piece, especially when I had no idea what was coming at the time. Buying my plane ticket to go there and return home just days before destruction hit could have been pure luck or a miracle for me; whatever it was, I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to go there when I did.

My friends whom I had visited are currently on the road now, scrambling to get as far away as possible from the inevitable danger that was once a place of retreat and paradise. I pray that the city and its residents will soon recover, and I take this moment to remind myself and my Erasmusu readers that nothing lasts forever, so when you travel, please take heed to my advice presented in this article and truly make the most of your time wherever you go around the world.