Postcard from Bishkek

They say that you only get one chance to make a good first impression – so work at it.

First impressions can be misleading.  You need to think hard about how to present yourself and what message you want to get over.  Let me illustrate with a story:

One of the most memorable day trips I ever took was when I was in New Zealand, many years ago, a friend and I rented a car and traveled around the South Island.  We had rolled into a small town called Te Anau, on the shores of Lake Manipouri  in the Fjordland National Park … and started looking for a place to stay.  We hadn’t booked ahead as it was the low-season and we thought that there would be plenty of places … and we would also be able to take our time, lingering if we found somewhere we particularly liked.    

Although we had thought that there would be plenty of choice because it was the low season, it proved to be a bit more difficult than we had anticipated.  One of the disadvantages of travelling in the low season is that many of the guest houses had closed for the Winter … To be honest, it was getting late and we were beginning to get a little anxious … and then we saw the sign outside one lakeside property “We only look expensive!“

It was true: they did look expensive, it was indeed much more spacious and comfortable – I am tempted to say luxurious - than the other places where we had stayed.  If it hadn’t been for that sign I think we would have easily passed it by as being beyond our budget …  but sign caught our attention and, intrigued, we decided to stop and have a look.  As it turned out, the rate we were charged was one of the lowest I paid throughout the whole trip.  True, that’s probably because it was Winter – the “low season” – and I am sure that during the high season they may well have charged much higher rates than they charged us.

It was whilst we were in the motel that we saw the leaflet announcing the attractions of the local area and advertising the day trip and, as luck would have it, there was one scheduled for the next day.

The trip didn’t sound too exciting at first … it involved a boat trip, a visit to a power station on the far side of the lake, combined with a coach trip along an unsealed road over the Wilmot Pass, (at a mere 671m), and down to the sea for another boat trip in the fjord of Doubtful Sound … before returning – by the same route we had come.

I realize that this did not sound particularly appealing, but we were tired after several days of traveling, we decided it would be a good idea to have a day off and this seemed to provide a suitable opportunity and so we made a phone call and booked places.

It was fortunate that we did so because this was Fjordland … and the drive along the 21 kilometer Wilmot Pass Road passed through fantastically dramatic scenery, and the reason that we had to return the same way was simply that it was/is totally unconnected with the rest of the New Zealand’s network of roads.  It had been constructed between 1963 and 1963 especially for the construction of the Manapouri Power Station.  It’s sole purpose was to facilitate the transport up to the construction site of heavy equipment which ships had brought round the coast to a small landing jetty in the fjord below.  It is reckoned to be the most expensive road in New Zealand and cost something like $2 a cm at the time … I hate to think what it would cost now.

The memories of Te Anau have stayed with me even though lots of other places that I have visited, (including many on that same trip to New Zealand), have now all merge into one another and I forget the precise names and locations.  If I had  

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So, what on earth am I writing about a motel and a day trip in New Zealand … in a Postcard from Bishkek?

The answer is that my mind was cast back to Te Anau, the Motel and this day trip by an email from a client about creating the right impression – that first impressions can often be mistaken impressions … if I had been guided by my first impressions then I would have missed out on pampering myself in the motel and going on one of the most spectacular day trips that I can remember.

He had been looking at our website for the Silk Road Lodge which includes the following phrase: “The Silk Road Lodge stands proudly on the Great Silk Road, offering distinctive homely accommodation renowned for its privacy and relaxed formality …” and basically wondered if it created the right impression.

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He picked up on the word “homely” saying that implied “plain and boring” and suggested that “homey” would be a better alternative.

My initial reaction was, “what??? – plain and boring???”, but as I thought about it I realized that, maybe, he had a point … Although the choice of “homely” had meant to imply comfy, cozy and snug, familiar, friendly and homelike, informal, modest and natural, plain and simple,  unaffected and unassuming, not ostentatious or pretentious, and welcoming … I had to admit that some of those words could be double edged, (like “plain” –  and “simple” or “familiar” – after all, they say that “familiarity breeds contempt” … hence boring? ), and then there were the associations with common, domestic and everyday … and even with unattractive.  

On the other hand “homey” carries most of those positive attributes that we were looking to convey and also hints at delightful,  pleasant, congenial, intimate and hospitable, relaxed and restful, cared for, cheerful and easy going, soft and warm, without the negative connotations.  The only drawback I could see is that it is slang and the association with “homeboy” which in American slang can have “gang” connotations.  

It seems you can’t win.

The thing that struck me the more I thought about it was the difference that one extra letter – the letter l – might make.

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  So, I wonder, what do you think?: homely or homey … or maybe there’s a third alternative?   

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