And So, You Search

 

What a fucking waste of time.  Good Lord. Airbnb, addictive like online porn.  There’s always one more thing to see.  And so, you can spend countless hours trying to find . . . the perfect place.   

 

I have la-dee-da status with Marriott.  But they largely all booked out.  So much for smaller crowds during the pandemic.  I always look over what the Lonely Planet gives a bonus star to and, checking online, sure enough they’re all booked as well.  I’m disinclined to look any further.  We’ve four people.  Hotels just don’t make any sense and whatever the cost is you need to double it for two rooms.  Sure am glad there’s Airbnb. 

 

I managed Toledo and Cordoba quickly.  Found a well-reviewed spot in Seville.  The place I’d decided I liked in Grenada, where you could sit on the porch, and gaze up and the Alhambra.  But this is the theme and soon I’ve found another gent whom every seems to think is a fine fellow, and soon we’ve settled on that place as well.  And then it was trouble. 

 

I wanted a place on the coast in Galicia.  Didn’t have to be very fancy.  Be cool if it had a pool.  Be cool if the beach wasn’t too far.  Be cool if it didn’t smell like a cannery was located next door and that a few of the guests hadn’t commented that the place was dirty or if the comforters on the beds make the place look like owners were crude and cheap.  And so, you search.  There’s a good amount of coast in Galicia.  For each location I considered hundreds of homes.  And selected thirty as possibilities.  You get the point.  None of them were perfect.  I didn’t really know what I wanted.  And kept thinking of one or another stakeholder being disappointed.  Eventually I decided on a place that was the best of the compromises and secured the place. 

 

But I was informed that, at least for this place, I needed to wait twenty-four hours for confirmation.  The person seemed to type numbers at me.  I recalled that they didn’t have any reviews.  Finally, it became clear that the guy wanted me to book it with him off Airbnb.  And you know, it’s nice to meet you but we haven’t established trust yet.  That’s what Airbnb are charging you for buddy.  And so, I returned to the search and invested another four or five hours trying to relocate places that had since disappeared and reconsider my budget to spend more on a place than I’d expected.  He contacted me later and I told him I was no longer interested.

 

 

 

Tuesday, 08/10/21