Ruby Granger #33 Goes on a boat, dresses like Captain Birdseye

[Satisfying Click]

Yeah I think there's a reason she didn't eat in the evenings and it wasn't the cost.

As you've all said though, good on her for taking the plunge into solo travel, hope she gets some proper therapy and not some nodding dog that reminds her of her mother.

 

[DanBanks]

All criticism aside: Good for her for doing this by herself. For someone as sheltered and overly dependent on her parents as she is, that's a big step and it clearly wasn't easy. Doing that took guts, and she has every reason to be proud she's stuck it out.

This is true. But I can't help thinking that she'd have had an easier and more enjoyable time if she'd planned her itinerary better. Maybe not focusing so hard on the whole "literary" thing would've given her the flexibility to visit more places.

I was nervous for her on the beach. If that location is a private historic site or part of a state park or something, I suppose it was fairly safe. But seeing her all by herself out there was giving me some horror movie vibes. That said, I used to love wandering around in deserted places like that when I was her age. It's a kind of thing you grow leery of when you get older and you realize how many times you were lucky not to run into big trouble.

 

[Xorubyxo123]

She visited some beautiful places. I really liked that sunset by the river, although she didn't try very hard to capture it in the right way. But what ruined this vlog for me was her editing. It is just so bad, from mixing vertical and horizontal shots, to sudden and often cuts. She should really put more effort in this, considering this is her job now.
Also her over the top descriptions and poetry readings are so unnecessary.
She could have given more information about places, for example she mentioned multiple times Ipswich is a place where part of Little women was filmed. And that's it, no facts about the beach or the building. But wee know leaves were red and that's enough lol. It looks rushed and lazy. I haven't seen her vlogs in a while, I guess I forgot how sloppily she makes them lol

 

[emmer_moans]

She seemed like she was having a manic episode on that deserted beach, I must say it was pretty uncomfortable to watch.

Especially the bit where she was using a weird voice talking about never forgetting the day on the beach. I think she’s trying sooo hard to be “present” in nature and speak like a Romantic poet, but she just sounds like a moron. I mean, kudos to her to actually get on the plane and push herself out of her bedroom, but she’s sounding unwell.

Edit to add:

There are so many shots of her jerking her head 90 degrees to check for strangers or something. Being wary is sensible but she looked panicked and scared - why did she include those shots in her vlog? Did she not think whilst editing “hmmm, I look a bit jumpy here, maybe I’ll leave those few seconds out”?

 

[opal73]

She really went for a swim in Massachusetts. In late October

 

[Hannahebee]

If you compare this Boston video to the Scotland video, the content is near enough the exact same as 1. She goes to a beach in both Scotland and Boston and then runs into the sea on both videos, 2. She focuses on a seagull in both videos when she is at the beach, 3. She goes to bookshops in both videos and hardly buys books in them both (Brought 1 book in Boston and Brought 2 in Scotland), 4. She stayed in a B&B in both videos 5. You can't hear her talk on the beach in both videos as it was too windy and 6. The titles of the videos are near enough the exact same (A Bookish Week in My Life in Scotland and A Bookish Week in My Life (Alone in America!).

 

[gossip_guy]

"I'm sorry you chose not to like my crappy editing. I spent many many hours editing and somehow it still looks like it was edited with a lawnmower! I'll probably get better one day! "

Ruby, you've been doing this for over seven years. If you haven't improved in any way in that time, it's clearly not going to happen accidentally and you're clearly never going to bother trying to get better.

 

[figgypud]

Kudos to her for going all that way by herself but the "I'm so scared" at the start of the video is alarming. I mean, she clearly faced it that fear but "I'm so nervous" would be much more normal. And then putting herself into situations where she's then scared when she gets there, not thinking it through, like on the beach, thinking that a city wouldn't be busy? The whole dashing into the ice cold sea in October and springing into a run is just worryingly impulsive, like she's driven to do it by stress and agitation. She seems to be doing okay and I hope it's an eye-opener for her and that she feels more confident to expand after this but it feels like watching a 14 year old who's been abandoned by their parents, not a 22 year old woman who nobody should have any qualms about spending such a long time alone.

 

[zoeanned]

I don’t know what to think about the last video. I’m impressed she tried, it’s pretty obvious she’s struggling though.

I wish she had someone in her life who could advise her better. A UK trip would have been a better starting point, or if she really wanted to go abroad, booking yourself on tours for at least some of the days is a good way to ease into solo travel.

Her trip seemed lonely. I solo travel a lot but I’ve always been able to meet people in hostels or on tour groups.

 

[Whisper2Me]

Let's just talk briefly about the ocean temperature. First, we had a record breaking summer with extreme heat and drought. This broke only recently and suddenly it was fall. The water is fairly warm, for New England, this time of year, (60F) and certainly bearable for wading. She didn't jump in and swim, she just got her feet wet. If anything, she should be careful of sand sharks which frequent the area and come right up to the shore, in about a foot deep of water. While they don't attack people often, when they do you can get a very nasty bite and being remote from calling for help, that could have gone very badly for her. The fact that she just ran right into the water without any knowledge of undertow (look it up, people drown from this in MA) was plain stupid. Our waters are known for severe undertow and numerous people drowning from it every year. Things like this, her wandering on quiet streets, quiet parks (the grounds at Crane Estate) and especially this time of year, when tourism season is considered over, shows how very non street-smart she is. Her week at Amherst is probably up, so next will certainly be Concord MA. God only knows what she will go to or leave out, as some places have already closed down for the season. I'm really disappointed with her experience in Boston. She missed a lot of excellent opportunities.

 

[StatusWoe]

your third overseas holiday this year.

Fourth, I think?? She went to Paris, Italy, Greece, then Boston.

She really went for a swim in Massachusetts. In late October

Spoiler

I'm used to the North Sea, so this doesn't seem too unreasonable.

I don’t know what to think about the last video. I’m impressed she tried, it’s pretty obvious she’s struggling though.

I wish she had someone in her life who could advise her better. A UK trip would have been a better starting point, or if she really wanted to go abroad, booking yourself on tours for at least some of the days is a good way to ease into solo travel.

Her trip seemed lonely. I solo travel a lot but I’ve always been able to meet people in hostels or on tour groups.

Agree with all of this. I really am impressed that she's done this trip. It's a huge step. But it doesn't look as though she's enjoyed her time in Boston. I'd guess she's been dealing with significant anxiety, which is understandable, but it wouldn't have been so overwhelming if she'd booked a few days in Spain (just an example) instead. Like you said, joining a tour or some sort of organised activity would give the trip more structure and a social element. I can't help thinking the travel experience seemed very lonely, especially in that Halloween post where she's just stuck in her room. That isolation will worsen the anxiety too.

Good for her on making the journey. I just don't think Boston was the best choice for a first solo trip.

 

[gossip_guy]

Fourth, I think?? She went to Paris, Italy, Greece, then Boston.

You're right, I forgot about Italy! God, so many holidays and none of it memorable.

 

[Daredevil]

 

[M.veroni]

Hahaha
What did she expect, when she choose to buy a new edition which is always more expensive than the original?

 

[babygoats]

What a bizarre video. Holiday and party footage usually looks more exciting than it actually felt at the moment. There's none of that here, the video feels very empty and lonely. It really goes down to her script writing and editing skills, I think.

Also it is so hilarious that she justifies buying just one book because it is supposedly too expensive. Putting even the fact that she is filthy rich aside, she says that it was 17 dollars, and she would pay 13 pounds for it at home. She does know about currency exchange rates, right? 13 gbp is the same as 15 usd. It is literally a 2 gbp difference, which is nothing for travelling.

For someone whose whole job is to perform a certain lifestyle and aesthetic on camera - that's what influencers do, not even judging; she is so weirdly bad at it for someone with so many opportunities and so much time at her hands. She could get better camera equipment, take editing courses, hire a video editor as so many do, even involve an actual producer/manager... Yes, that would be even more "fake", but at least she could achieve the vibe she is clearly going for, but failing so badly.

 

[Ilaariaa]

This whole thing was a mess all around imo and an absurd waste of money. As someone else said she went all the way to Boston for three weeks to visit 1 museum, go to coffee shops and bookstores and go to the beach once.
Three weeks is such a long time as well. I've never been on a holiday that lasted three weeks. Not as a child with my parents, not now with my boyfriend, not ever. I don't think she realizes how unfathomable it would be for the majority of people to spend three weeks on holiday in another country.

 

[jeisan]

wow, I was surprised she was working on her novel. If I was her I would try to visit everywhere and don't waste time on anything just travel and see as much as I could see. It's not like you visit states every year. You can work on your novel at home too.

 

[abcbabe]

Hahaha
What did she expect, when she choose to buy a new edition which is always more expensive than the original?

Literally that hotel is £300/NIGHT! That's INSANE!

Also she didn't do Boston justice! I really liked it when I visited, especially the Cambridge area and she showed so little of it! As people said, there are so many museums in Boston. And, if she was bored in the city, Providence, Rhode Island, is literally about 1hour on the train and again, the Brown area is really cute and just a chill little day trip she could have done.

 

[Satisfying Click]

Ruby hates spending money on things full stop I remember in one of her first year university blogs, she put 50p in the wrong tumble dryer and seemed disproportionately put out by it. Daddy Bones probably paid for the hotel in exchange for getting her out of the family home for a few weeks.

 

[custosmorum]

Why does she include excessive clips showing us that she's reading? Why does the vlog have to be "bookish" and what does that even mean?

"I'm on a plane. Here's a random book page, so that you know I'm into books!"
"I'm reading Little Women, I swear! Here's me turning over a page."

It just ends up not looking genuine.

The books she reads are some well-known classics that I would expect she had already read by now, or some rather childish books. I'm not a book snob, but I would expect a more profound reading list from someone who studied literature and whose whole personality revolves around reading and writing. It all seems very surface-level and performative. I'm honestly not sure whether she even enjoys reading or just the aesthetic that comes with it.