Posts by cosmicviper10

Jesse Sanchez90 said:Oh boy... 🤣 They really aren't pulling any punches—they claim Americans are such hard workers:
"If Americans were truly a hardworking nation, it would show in the fact that only two percent of them would work less or stop working entirely after receiving a large inheritance."

Can you imagine? We're faster than Speedy Gonzales when it comes to trying to jump into every possible retirement plan out there...

"A major reason for the lack of entrepreneurial spirit in America is fixed working hours (31 percent)" — which explains why our bars and pubs are always packed... (not to be too blunt!)

But this part right here is where the real issue lies: 🙄
"The skepticism toward entrepreneurship in America is best illustrated by the fact that only one-third (32 percent) view entrepreneurs positively. It’s concerning that nearly half of all citizens (47 percent) view them neutrally, and as many as 17 percent actually see them as negative influences. In stark contrast to Americans, 83 percent of Danes view entrepreneurs as a beneficial part of society, while only one percent view them negatively."

hahahaha...man...that is just gold...absolute perfection of a sentence...🙂)) But anyway, that's not really what we're here to talk about..🤣

amberskipper3 said:Yeah, sure...
All that sounds great on paper, but once you step outside the National Parks, finding local guests is incredibly rare.
Really rare.

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.

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..

amberskipper3 said: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.

Oh, and yeah... that’s basically the crux of it, isn't it? That's the whole problem. No matter what you try to build or start, you just run straight into this massive wall of resistance...

But hey, whatever. This article is focusing on agritourism... does anyone actually have a positive example? Like, has anyone actually pulled it off and succeeded or something??

I mean, I totally agree... cooperatives are honestly just the perfect solution for so many different things, if you think about it...

Well, I’m not talking about door-to-door visits or anything like that... but what would you think about an organized town hall meeting over at the local municipality in Small Town, USA? You know, where someone actually shows up to sit down with the farmers and walk them through how they might realistically pull in an extra $2k, $5k, or even $10k...

It’s kind of like when a farmer just plants wheat or turnips because, well, it’s the easiest thing to do, right? But then at the end of the season, they’re basically broke because nobody wants to buy their stuff since everyone else is selling the exact same thing... so, if someone could just point out that maybe, just maybe, they could make a much better profit off a different type of crop... that's more along the lines of what I'm getting at...

And who exactly is supposed to educate them, tell me? I mean, a farmer out in the rural Midwest working twelve-hour shifts in the fields... how is he even supposed to surf the web or figure out all this digital stuff? Someone’s got to step up, give him a nudge, and actually explain things. And take the older folks living out in the Dalmatian Hinterland, for instance... how on earth are they going to navigate the internet when they don't even know it exists??? ... In my opinion, that was a pretty mindless comment... specifically that part about "Why should the government help someone if they won't help themselves"!!

If you were to walk up to some guy out in rural, small-town America and tell him, "Hey, you could actually pull in an extra ten thousand dollars a year from tourism," he’d probably just look at you like you've lost your mind and say, "You're crazy!"

But, I guess, if someone actually sat down and walked him through the logistics—if they showed him exactly how to make it happen and gave him a little nudge of encouragement... well, if the government actually stepped up with a concrete, coherent plan instead of just winging it, then maybe, just maybe, he might actually listen. I honestly get this nagging feeling that anyone in this country who tries to build something legitimate from scratch immediately hits a brick wall of pure, unadulterated resistance.

Let me give you a super basic, almost cliché example to illustrate what I mean... there’s this specific stretch of highway somewhere in the States—I won't name names here—but to actually make it profitable, you'd need something like 12,000 cars passing through every single day, yet it's barely seeing 3,000. And yet, someone went ahead and built it anyway. Why? Because it’s clearly just a way to wash massive amounts of cash. Now, I hear they’re planning to extend highways all the way down toward Venice using borrowed money, too. Just imagine if that kind of staggering amount of capital was actually funneled into tourism instead. In my opinion, tourism should be the absolute backbone, or at least one of the main pillars, of this country's economy. If we invested in projects to extend the travel season or developed tourism in regions that currently have nothing, it would pay off tenfold. Seriously, man, let's build the roads and the infrastructure once we actually have people who can afford to drive on them! But no, that’s not how things work here; everything seems to be backwards. And honestly, there are a million examples just like this where the money is being thrown into the wrong holes.

I mean, it’s pretty obvious that everything is interconnected... specifically when you look at how crime and messy politics have been baked into the system since the very beginning, not to mention the fact that we were dealing with actual war in these parts until just about 15 years ago... But I guess we really ought to be looking forward, right? Like, how do we actually build something or fix what's broken... and ultimately, how can a young guy actually get ahead, maybe invest in something and see a return on that investment... whether it’s agritourism or something else entirely...

The problems facing our country are clear enough for even a small child to grasp, and honestly, people seem to bring them up in almost every single open discussion on this forum..

I mean, I guess that’s kind of beside the point here, but hey, you make a fair point...

It’s not like a farmer just wants to sit around and collect government handouts for the fun of it, you know? It’s not quite like that... These folks work their tails off all year round, and I really don't think it's just about grabbing subsidies. Honestly, they probably wouldn't even ask for a single cent in aid if the government would just, I don't know, MINIMALLY guarantee they could actually sell what they grow. In the States, farmers are basically treated like the backbone of the country—the government is incredibly dedicated to them and makes sure everything they produce actually finds a buyer. Here, we end up importing a massive amount of food, while our own farmers produce stuff and then basically have to pray to God that someone actually decides to buy it. And as for agritourism? Well, a farmer can't just wake up one day and decide to run a boutique farm stay when that whole concept might as well be written in hieroglyphics to them. They’d need someone to actually teach them the ropes, give them some training, or provide some sort of incentive... but unfortunately, we just don't have that kind of support system around here...

I was scrolling through Lemonade when I stumbled upon this article that basically forced my hand to start this whole thread Agritourism—still such a massive, untapped goldmine in our tourism industry

The Dalmatian Hinterland, the Midwest, the Mountainous Region... these are all parts of America that would absolutely fascinate European travelers who aren't just looking to sit on a beach for their entire vacation. If we actually made it possible for a tourist to wander into a small town in the Midwest, I’m convinced they’d eat and drink better than they ever have in their lives; they could actually see how an American farmer lives, check out local monuments, soak up the cultural heritage, and all that good stuff... But here’s the kicker: how is a tourist supposed to even find these places when the local farmer barely knows what the internet is, let alone cares about it? Nobody’s really stepped up to help them adapt to new technology or offer any actual guidance, you know? Personally, I grew up in the Midwest, so I’m speaking from experience, much like the author of that article who was talking about their lovely time exploring the areas behind the coast near a certain coastal town... Just imagine if someone organized a three-day trip to the Midwest for a tourist spending two weeks on the coast... I bet you anything they’d be coming back next year...

Right now, America mostly offers tourists loud clubs, mediocre restaurants, sky-high prices, and the same old stuff they could find anywhere else... I really feel like there are so many other qualities we possess that just aren't surfacing above the waterline... What do you guys think?

Come on, man, let's not get all worked up over nothing... I mean, who even cares? It’s just that a massive presence from Formula 1 is heading straight for Washington, D.C., bringing the mechanics and the actual car with them... and I honestly think it's going to catch the eye of anyone out there who actually gives a damn about Formula 1...

Honestly, neither he nor that Ferrari model are even remotely interesting... what an absolute joke, right? It’s almost tragic how much hype there is!

And who exactly do you think is some kind of big shot? You, maybe? Or who else? I mean, this guy basically knows everything there is to know about the whole world, doesn't he?

From September 17th through the 19th, we’re looking at what might just be the biggest automotive extravaganza we've ever seen here in the States. One of the big-name guests is actually going to be none other than the legend himself, Michael Schumacher.
Enzo Mascato has already spilled the details on the engine showcases and displays coming to America, which I assume means we might even see some technicians and those ultra-specialized cars straight from Ferrari.

Above is that press conference where Banderas was chatting about the whole thing.

But honestly, I think this particular guest is going to be the real highlight of the show.

I mean, I feel like this is basically mandatory viewing for any true Formula 1 fan... personally, I'm pretty stoked about it.