Appreciation post: a hostel desk clerk in Lisbon talked me out of the 3 day rail pass
I had my mind made up on this one. I was going to drop about 180 euros on a 3 day rail pass so I could hit Porto, Coimbra, and Sintra without thinking about it. Then the guy working the front desk at my hostel in Lisbon asked how many nights I was actually staying. I said five. He just kind of laughed and said, "so you want to spend three of your five days on trains?" That hit different because he was right. I was buying the pass to feel like I was doing a lot, not because I wanted to sit on a train for half my trip. I ended up taking one bus to Sintra for like 5 euros round trip and spent the rest of the time walking around Lisbon eating cheap. Your mileage may vary since everyone travels different, but I think I was chasing the idea of a big trip instead of the trip itself. Has anyone else had a random hostel worker talk them out of something they were sure about?