Reverse mathematics

One of the really fun things about travelling in dodgy, economically-mismanaged Latin America is the value for money. Although the mathematics are slightly different wherever you go — in Peru, you divide the local price by 3 to get the dollar price; in Mexico, you divide by 10; and in inflation-scarred Chile, you divide by 500 — in every country, the local currencies are weak, and there's always division involved. Suddenly, now that I'm in Europe, it's reverse mathematics — all the local currencies here (with "all" being the Euro, almost everwhere) are stronger than the dollar; and instead of dividing local prices, I'm multiplying them! Eek!

Dividing prices was jolly good fun. Multiplying them is not. In Bolivia (an 8x country), for example, I'd spend the night at a hostel for Bs. 25, and I'd think: "ha — that's only $3!" Here in England (a x2.5 country), on the other hand, I buy a tube ticket for £4, and I almost have a heart attack when I think: "crikey — that's $10!" So, in conclusion, it costs me over 3 times more money to buy a tube ticket in London, than it costs me to spend a night at a fully-serviced hostel in La Paz; and you're wondering why I'm spending so little time in Europe?!?! Looks like the only way I'm going to survive in Europe, is by going so frugal, and spending so little money, that it doesn't matter how many times you multiply something, it's still not very much :P.

Yeah, great plan that is. It'll work splendidly, until the next time I fancy a can of Coke in Europe. And... oh, oops — just finished one now :P.