Posts by amberskipper3

Can we get a change made for amberskipper3?

Sure thing, just hit up Sash about it.

Frank Alvarez8 said:I absolutely love blueberry blossom juice, and that berry wine is top-tier!
but nothing beats deep-fried flowers 🙂

Even the jam isn't half bad.

Look, there are studies out there, sure, but absolutely none of them actually prove that drinking those eight glasses of water really does what all those women's magazines and massive bottled water marketing campaigns claim it does.

Morgan Wilson7 said:honestly, it's all just marketing fluff
I mean, you can hydrate your body in a million different ways without needing to chug John or Evan or whatever else they're peddling

It’s honestly hilarious watching my coworker sneak over to the water cooler and drain five little half-liter bottles during her shift, acting all devastated because she "doesn't feel any difference"
like drinking water is magically erasing her cellulite or shrinking her waistline.
But hey—to each their own, I guess.
Personally, I don't buy that drinking water is going to transform your skin, your hair, or anything else significant enough to write a book about—unless you count how much money it makes the bottling companies.

For instance:
http://dms.dartmouth.edu/news/2002_h...02_water.shtml

Or maybe this:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0809071640.htm

I’ve been digging through some international news and scrolling through random threads online, and honestly? I’m starting to get the feeling that this whole "eight glasses a day" mantra is nothing more than a massive marketing ploy cooked up by big beverage corporations and shoved down our throats via medical associations.
It’s pretty obvious—it started right here in the United States and just kept spreading.
Every single doctor I’ve ever brought this up with just laughed in my face when I mentioned the idea of "hydrating" your skin from the inside out.

Lately, I’ve been seeing it everywhere—from mainstream news outlets to actual medical journals—where people are claiming the whole "eight glasses a day" hydration rule is total nonsense.
Honestly, I could never force myself to chug that much water in a single day, so I just stick to my own vibe and drink whenever I actually feel thirsty.
It works for me, though; my skin is glowing, I’m staying fit, and I don't deal with any dryness at all...
What’s your take on all this?

briskseal32 said:I guess, without wanting to be rude, it seems like you might not actually live in a tourist area, so maybe you don't know all that much about how tourism works. It shows a bit in the way you talk, like you think the government is basically obligated to just hand tourists to farmers on a silver platter. 🙄

I guess America doesn't really offer things to tourists... it's more like the local business owners in the tourism industry do.
The situation in the Midwest is just like this because everyone is waiting around for the government to finally step up and do something... I guess.
Maybe it’s a mistake to think that tourists only need greasy food from questionable places and a couple of little museums to be happy, I guess. Shopping, I guess. Maybe just a little bit. Maybe somewhere in Canada, I guess. 😳 Everywhere you look, it’s just small towns and mud... I guess I had a really bad experience in the Midwest, unfortunately. 😢

I guess maybe I should have mentioned California as a great example of how agritourism can really take off. Maybe I just missed it, I guess. 😍

California is absolutely killing it.
We've been there a handful of times and we are blown away every single time:
Radovani
Bale
Brajkovići

But even folks in the Mountainous Region are starting to get their act together. We've stayed with the Prica family several times now.
There are some fantastic farm stays in the Small Town, USA area too.
But honestly, they struggle with everything...
I've heard some pretty grim stories.

Charles Ramos7 said:Maybe look at it this way:

http://www.villabornstein.com/

But just because something is agritourism doesn't mean it's automatically a farm stay.

I think we might be talking past each other regarding the terminology. Agritourism can technically cover just about anything 🙏 (and sometimes it’s more of an information-based concept than a physical one), but there is a very specific legal definition for what constitutes a farm stay under the Hospitality Law, and you obviously can't have one without an actual farmer on site. 🙂

The original question was basically:

Agritourism — why is it practically non-existent, or just barely hanging on?

Charles Ramos7 said:It’s not a "wrong perception"—that’s actually how the Hospitality Law lays it out. And like I mentioned before, you don't *have* to have all that stuff on-site, but then you're basically just operating Zimmer Frei.
To be honest, there's nothing wrong with that approach; I know people who make a great living doing it. It just doesn't fit the specific menu or the whole "traditional farmstead" vibe you were talking about earlier.

It could also look like this:

Or maybe like this:

http://www.paintball-chicago.com/

Or even this:

Every single one of these types of Agritourism setups attracts its own specific crowd.

Charles Ramos7 said:Obviously, running an agritourism farm means owning property, but if I’m not mistaken, someone here is planning to do this just out of a weekend cottage 🤔

You don't need to know how to milk a cow? Then what does? Is knowing Microsoft Excel actually the key?
By its very definition, an agritourism setup is all about serving food produced mostly on-site.
Fine, you won't have cows—they're too much work—just some chickens, and whoever's going to deal with the backache from gardening... in the end, you can just whip up some Coca-Cola sweets for your guests. You don't even have to thaw them; they go straight into the pot 😉

Yeah, I gotta say, I’d be pretty shocked if it wasn't Microsoft Excel—but honestly, probably a bunch of other PC programs too.
There's really no need to overcomplicate things.
Look, on most of these Agritourism spots, the owners go all out and raise their own livestock right there on the property, but honestly? It’s not like you actually need them to run the show. If you're looking to get your hands on fresh, local goods from nearby producers, it's seriously no big deal. You can find everything you need without any hassle.
The owners have everything out there—vegetable gardens, some farm animals, orchards, beehives... you name it.
The idea that an agritourism farm is just some glorified farming operation? That’s completely wrong. Seriously, it's a total misconception.

Charles Ramos7 said:When I say this isn't a job for a young, educated guy, what I really mean is it's not a one-person show—you need the whole family backing you up.

If your parents are retired, or if the kids are too small—or if you don't have any kids at all—running an agritourism farm is going to be an uphill battle. Honestly, my grandma could run a place like Zimmer Frei.

In this line of work, there’s a logical progression: you start as a farmer first, then move into tourism. You can't just call yourself a "manager" when you don't even know how to milk a cow. Or better yet, if you don't even own a cow, it isn't a real farm in any meaningful sense.

I couldn't agree with a single word of that. Not one.
Look, if you’re using the term "farmstead," you already know what we’re talking about. It implies an actual estate—a real operation where one lone person isn't just grinding away doing every single task themselves. That setup is honestly pretty rare these days, though you still run into those outliers. When they actually do have a proper crew running things, that's when they start bringing on seasonal help or extra hands to keep the gears turning.
That whole "logical progression" where you supposedly have to be some kind of hillbilly just to get into agritourism is honestly ridiculous.
Look, if you actually want to get into agritourism, you don't need to know how to milk a cow. Seriously. People make this huge deal out of it, acting like you need to be a full-time ranch hand just to host a weekend getaway, but that's just nonsense. You can run a killer business without ever getting your hands dirty in a barn.

Charles Ramos7 said:I think there’s a bit of confusion here regarding terms. I’m assuming we’re talking about an actual agritourism farmstead rather than just renting out rooms and running a rural restaurant—there's a massive difference between the two.

Running an agritourism setup isn't really a career path for a young guy with a degree. It’s definitely not a "one-man show"; at its core, it’s a family business.

To truly launch an agritourism operation, you first need to be a farmer living on the land, actually producing the food you intend to sell... Sure, you could try to skip those steps, but then you're basically just running a Zimmer Frei.🙂

Look, I don't know what everyone else was getting at, but I was specifically talking about younger folks—people with at least a high school diploma—who live on rural estates, farming or running small local businesses.
Or they might own the property but end up working low-wage jobs or under-the-table gigs at private companies.
But why on earth would agritourism *not* be a job for a young, educated person?
Everywhere I've traveled to visit these kinds of estates—whether it was in California, the Mountainous Region, or over in Canada... everywhere, the owners were actually younger people with at least a high school education, and honestly, super often they had college degrees too.

cosmicviper10 said:Honestly, even the National Parks aren't being tapped enough if you ask me... I mean, around here, people just don't seem to know how to sell anything unless it's water—you know, the ocean, waterfalls, and that whole bit. And when it comes to agritourism, I'll say it again: in my opinion, the real issue is the marketing and the fact that the local folks are lagging behind... though I suppose the root of that problem goes pretty deep into the fabric of this entire society.

That’s a completely baseless and totally arbitrary take.
Both in the Hilly Region, USA and the Mountainous Region, USA, there are plenty of young, educated folks who are looking for work and would jump at the chance to get into agritourism. You only have to look at the unemployment stats to see it.
Take the town of Otočac, for example—I personally know at least 20 people there, from college grads to high school grads, who are out of work and can't seem to launch anything given the current climate.
The reasons?
messy land records
local officials just not giving a damn
overly complicated banking red tape
etc
etc

Jamie Davis17 said:Actually, I have—and I used to work in the tourism industry myself.
The hotel I’m talking about... it wasn't packed or anything; it wasn't even full.
But seriously, have you really never eaten at a hotel without actually being a guest there?

Those kinds of hotels, especially when they're right near a National Park, really focus on their specific guests. They plan their meals around them and probably don't even bother with an à la carte menu.
That’s nothing unusual. It’s totally possible they’re even registered specifically for that kind of business model.
We stayed in this little boutique hotel in Aosta that operated exactly the same way.

cosmicviper10 said:The whole reason I decided to start this thread was because of what brisknomad6 was saying... I mean, it’s all about those creative concepts that really need to be legalized, properly marketed, and then actually sold to people. Because, let's be honest, not everyone is out there looking for nothing but the ocean, the sun, and a day at the beach..

Yeah, sure...
All that sounds great on paper, but once you step outside the National Parks, finding local guests is incredibly rare.
Really rare.

Harold Jackson32 said:You actually made me laugh with that menu—and I don't mean that in a bad way. Honestly, I cook a lot of that stuff at home myself. I’m living out in Suburban City, USA, and part of me just wants to give you a call and whip up everything you mentioned. Even without the whole agritourism vibe, I’m always making tomato sauce and eating nothing else, foraging for mushrooms (though these days it's mostly chanterelles), and spending my time making jams, ajvar, and pinđur. I also make these savory turnovers—kind of like a savory strudel with cheese, cherries, walnuts, or potatoes—and my own homemade pasta... Plus, since I live a bit outside the city limits, it’s pretty peaceful out here. All I need now is to buy a lounge chair for the pool, and then I’m officially inviting you over for a weekend :-) We could even take a quick trip out to the Hilly Region; the scenery alone makes the drive worth it. And don't even get me started on that thinly sliced smoked meat, onions, and farm-fresh eggs with cheese and cream, or some traditional egg porridge...
Anyway, thanks a million for the reply and all the ideas. If anything else pops into your head, please reach out! I’m seriously considering jumping into this business full-time. If I actually pull it off, you’ll be my very first guest. :-))

When you're getting a tourism business off the ground, the most important thing is figuring out exactly who your guests are going to be.
If you're mostly hosting locals for a day or two, they probably aren't looking to get their hands dirty in a field or help you prep winter preserves.
Foreign travelers, on the other hand, absolutely live for that kind of experience. They don't really care about being productive; they just find pure joy in it. There’s this one family from the Netherlands that’s been coming to the Mountainous Region for years just to mess around in the garden and help out with the animals and the farm.
Regarding the rooms and lodging setup—official categorization gives you a clear roadmap of what you need to meet. As for decor and trying to make things look "fancy"—honestly, less is more.
A fireplace is a huge plus, along with that smell of woodsmoke and cooking up local specialties that define the area...

Jesse Sanchez90 said:It isn't just "resistance" in the traditional sense; it's more like every single link in the chain is trying to grab its own slice of the pie independently...🙄

Without genuine willpower at the higher political levels, you aren't going to find solutions for even the most seemingly impossible issues—just look at the latest situation regarding the border between the US and Mexico.
Ask God what they actually signed🤷 but—Eppur si muove....

As for this whole "getting paid" thing, that's a whole different beast.
From federal agencies down to local communities, prices are basically determined by who can grease which palms.
My buddies just weren't ready for that reality.

I’ve been reading through all your posts, and honestly, the only thing I can say is—there’s a grain of truth in everything being said here.
The reality of the situation is just plain depressing. Truly sad.
I have some friends living in a gorgeous part of the American Midwest—young, smart people, some even with specialized degrees in hospitality management—who really wanted to get an agritourism project off the ground.🙏 We're talking cozy lodging, guided excursions, farm-to-table food grown right on the property, scenic hikes across a massive, beautiful estate...
But once they actually stepped up to the plate? Once they presented the plan to the local authorities, went to the bank, hit up the county offices, and dealt with those endless federal departments and agencies... well, when they were handed a mountain of paperwork requiring every single permit, certification, and clearance imaginable, and then the bank had the nerve to quote them a 12% interest rate on a loan—they just threw in the towel.
Now, they just run things under the radar, serving a few hunters and lost bikers on the side.

darkmaker94 said:Look, I laid out exactly what I’ve got and what my setup costs. From where I’m sitting, you need all of that—especially the ability to actually use your Microsoft card online via PayPal. Unlike Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase actually makes that possible. 🙂

The fact that you opened a foreign currency account that charges fees instead of just a standard checking account isn't the bank's fault; it's just a case of you not doing your homework. 🤷

eBay won't take my Microsoft card from JP Morgan Chase.
It keeps telling me the card number is wrong.
???

Angela Wright said:The American Hospice Foundation.
They either provide direct rental services or donate items to people in need, and they’re always reaching out to see how they can help.

Thanks a ton.