Lessons Learned From Going To Provincetown After Deciding On a Spur of The Moment In July

It was a Friday afternoon and I decided that I'd go to P-Town for the weekend without having a place to stay. Lessons learned: 

1.     Don’t do it.  You’ll be mad at yourself as soon as you get there.

2.     The Chamber of Commerce is great.  But the listings available may or may not be your saving grace.  Some *unnamed* bed & breakfast owners will say that they only want to rent to someone who’s going to stay longer than a day, even if the sun is about to set on that same freaking day and they still don’t have anyone else to reserve it for.  Pray to God that they won’t find anyone at all so they realize how stupidly flawed their economics are and hope to God that you will find someone who will let you book a room just for that day, as in the next 5 minutes. 

3.     Bring fucking layers.  As in for all the seasons, especially in summer.  Because if you don’t, you will be spending all this money you don’t have to, just to buy clothes you already have, like leggings and a sweater.  Be that person who packs 5 outfits just for a 24-hour trip.  You’ll be glad you did.

4.     Pedicabs are free (if you want them to be!)  “The customer decides the price.”  And is it bad that I enjoyed being taken around like a princess by someone who was working hard tooth & nail to transport my heavy self behind them on a bike?

5.     The pizza place across from the Pied Bar is not the only pizza place in town.  So please, don’t deny yourself the opportunity of eating better pizza by forgetting that there are other pizza places nearby. 

6.     Don’t stay in a hostel or even think about staying at one, if you can afford not to.  Trust me, it’s not worth it (and the hostel in town is far, as in a few, long, hilly blocks farther away from everything else happening in the center of town). 

7.  Spend at least 3 days there.  You don’t want to have to do endless walking around trying to see and do everything on your travel days.  And it’s no fun getting your period on the return part of your 24-hour trip. 

8.  Find a place to stay as soon as you’re even thinking of going, (i.e. months in advance) and book that shit right away.  This is especially true if it's in high season (i.e. the summer.), although you might be lucky if it's a spur of the moment decision (which I also made) in say, May.  

9.  If you can find someone to stay with FOR FREE, your trip is already that much better & hundreds of dollars cheaper. 

10.  Go with a friend or friends.  Part of you will be glad you did.  Or, you’ll just be like me and make a video of your every move that you probably will never show to anyone, but will make you feel somewhat comforted that you did share a significant part of your life with another, even if it’s just your Iphone. 

11.  Avoid The Canteen during lunchtime on Sunday.  Like the plague. 

12.  Bring lots of bottles of water.  You don’t want to have to buy what you already have at home in one of those overpriced restaurants, especially after you realize that they’re easily making $48 in profit off a case that would only cost you $5 in the supermarket. 

13.  After all is said & done, and you can finally take a breather from the frenzy of the above, eat, watch tv, walk around, take pictures, and be merry.

Me, chillin like a queen in my bed & breakfast hotel :-) It WAS worth it!