I think the idea of suing someone for posting a bad review about your business is as preposterous as that lawsuit oh so long ago against McDonald’s for the coffee being too hot.  Actually, that lawsuit probably had more merit than any of these will.  Why would anyone use review sites if only good things were posted???  What’s the point of having the Internet and the ability to share our thoughts and opinions if we can’t share the good and the bad?

As I mentioned in my last blog, I no longer trust the reviews on hostels.com and hostelbookers.com because they allow the proprietor to delete certain reviews.  My firsthand experience with these websites is that, after spending a good chunk of time to write a review, most of the bad reviews I’ve written got deleted after a few weeks.  So now I’ve switched to Tripadvisor where comments and reviews are moderated and once they are put up, they stay up! 

Some people argue that businesses should have the right to sue because false reviews gets posted, but out of all the reviews I’ve read, I’ve only seen one that looked like it could be fake (and it was a positive review).  In our 9 months of travel so far, anywhere we’ve stayed that’s been mind-blowingly awesome has had mostly all good reviews (you can never please everyone!).  Likewise, anywhere we’ve had a bad experience, there were a number of bad reviews, and those reviews were accurate or similar to our experience to some degree. 

Besides, on a site like Tripadvisor, the management can always write a response to the bad review, and it gets posted right under the bad review.  Personally, I always read the management response and I’ve booked at several places that had multiple bad reviews but there was management responses.  I think it shows you care enough to address the issues!  I think instead of wasting time and money on frivolous law suits about deflamation, the management at these businesses that have bad reviews should concentrate their energy on making improvements and then respond to the bad reviews to say they’ve fixed the problem!  Even if you sue me, what kind of money do you think you’re going to get out of an ordinary civilian???

Also note that current blog stuff has once again fallen behind because I’ve been preoccupied with Aisa trip planning, which is making my head spin!  I had forgotten how hard it is to find info sometimes!  Accordingly, I’m adjusting my style of blogging a bit include more facts/tips.  If you are looking at this blog because you are trying to find some info about Europe travel as you plan your trip, but what you’re looking for isn’t here, I might still be able to help so feel free to contact me.

Thanks for reading!

Scarlett

When I started this blog, my main goal was to keep a diary of our travels for our own memories while providing some potentially helpful information for other travellers (God knows I’ve extracted a lot of info from reading other people’s blogs).  As such, I’ve been backtracking and writing articles in chronological order, using notes I’ve made during our travels so far (i.e. the last entry dated June 13 was just posted yesterday, but pertains to June 13 and what happened that day).   Starting today, I am going to work on catching up by writing some more current stuff, as well as some older stuff.   In order to prevent confusion, the blogs will still be dated whatever date they relate to, and will appear in chronological order on the site.  If you check the site regularly, please scroll down for past updates as they will appear below this note, and current entries will appear above! 

Thanks to those of you who continue reading – I really appreciate all your comments and feedback and it’s nice to know you care!

~Scarlett (a.k.a. Rooster)

I managed to find (on Google) an American dentist who had moved to Barcelona:

Dr. Joseph Vilallonga

Description:
American dentist. Associate member of American Dental Association. General dentistry, implants, whitening, tooth remodelling, emergencies. Calvet 15, pral 1ª, 08021 Barcelona.

http://www.clinicavilallonga.com/

He told me he wouldn’t be able to do the procedure for about a week because the area was too inflamed, but prescribed me some painkillers, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory drugs over the phone when I went to the pharmacy.  The painkillers weren’t strong enough so I phoned him back at a different pharmacy and he got me codeine, which finally numbed the pain enough for me to get through our first couple days in Barcelona.

Today I phoned him back to see if there was any way he could do the root canal now that it’s been a few days and the painkillers seem to be working pretty good (I’d rather not have to look for another English speaking dentist and we leave the day after tomorrow).  He suggested that I go to his office so he could examine me, so we hopped in a cab and rushed over there while he had an opening.  When we got there, we were surprised to be greeted by a Japanese nurse who spoke English!  Dr. Joe later explained that he has all Japanese nurses because his niche is dealing with the fairly large Japanese population that lives in Barcelona. (editor’s note: I am going to have a root canal too while in Barcelona…..GGgggggg~)

He took an x-ray, put some freezing in the area, and then drilled into the tooth but, when he opened the tooth up, I felt very sharp pains.  He explained that this meant the area was still too inflamed for the anesthesia to work properly, so he couldn’t do the root canal, but he put some medicine into the tooth and covered it up with a temporary filling.  He said the medicine should help with the infection and in a couple of days I shouldn’t need the meds anymore. Unfortunately, this means I’ll have to find another English speaking dentist in France to do the root canal when the inflammation goes away

We used www.kanetix.ca to find the best rate which happened to be with happened to be with TIC Travel Insurance. Be sure to read the find print, a lot of companies will not cover trips greater than 6 months. Also if you read the fine print, one of the conditions of the travel insurance is that you have valid provincial coverage or else the coverage will be Beverly limited; up to $500 max in some cases. A good alternative that we’ve found is from www.worldnomads.com. It is a little more expensive but allows you to buy insurance after your trip has already started and allows for online unlimited online renewals and has a comprehensive online claims are.

You should also check with your provincial health care to see how long you can remain out of the province before your coverage will end. In British Columbia, a resident can maintain coverage for up to 24 months during a temporary absence but approval is limited to once in five years for absences that exceed six months in a calendar year.

Whatever you decide on, don’t skimp out on medical coverage and do your due diligence!

T-Mobile also has a good international addon for $19.99 on top your regular blackberry plan but is email only.  However, if you’re on a BES you can hide your browser traffic….

Google Latitude

Vancouver,  BC