Nah nothing is wrong! Actually everything has mostly been good up till now anyway!
It was an early morning start as we headed towards New Orleans. Two thirty AM to be precise, which was even with our bodies still reeling from different time zones was a little hard. It was my first mistake of the trip. I had failed to factor in travel time from Yosemite to the airport in San Francisco so instead of spending the night surrounded by the sound of the rivers running past the tent we had instead travelled back west the evening before. Taking our time in the traffic to safely get back towards the airport. My second mistake was the not booking ahead at the motel I had identified as easy to get to the airport in the morning. So as we rocked up to the front desk to be met with we are sold out. I wanted to argue as I’d just checked online and they had offered rooms. It was by now getting later and after another five hour drive we were tired.
So back to the car we went and online and found another nearby motel. It was late enough that the nearby Waffle House was closed. Lucky for us we still had a packet of flavoured rice which we hadn’t eaten in the camp. We also had some M&M’s and a packet of Dorito’s. But we didn’t eat them only the rice before falling into a few hours of unsteady sleep. It was the type of sleep one has when one knows you need to be somewhere the morning. It was unsatisfying but it was better than sleeping the car in some park right! I had looked at rebooking but the cost was prohibitive at the late notice and I could not justify it.
It’s funny when I make a mistake like that my first thought is simply how do I fix this. When I realised I’d made the mistake I’d talked to iKaruS about it. I really didn’t want to give up any time in Yosemite but on the other hand what were my realistic safe options. Clearly our first choice was to change flights but this is one leg which I had gotten the ‘cheap’ seats on. Changing flights meant forfeiting the whole amount and paying again and paying a lot more than I’d originally paid. So that was out. The second choice was deemed unsafe which was to drive back in the early hours of the morning and while it wasn’t a hard drive. It was unfamiliar to us and driving on the other side meant a lot more concentration to try and organise. So at 2 30 AM we made it to the airport. For those flying out of San Fran Domestically and get told you need to be there two hours early at least. You don’t. Our flight was at 5 AM and the security gates open at 4 AM. You do need to do tickets and stuff but we didn’t need to be there at three that's for sure!
There is stress in making mistakes and costing us money but mostly it was annoyance with myself. In any case it wasn’t a huge mistake and only cost a nights accommodation.
Accommodation
So after our early morning we arrived in Nawlins just before lunch time feeling as though we had been travelling all day. The house was beautiful and the other guests had arrived just before us. She, was one of these excitable women where everything was delivered in a high pitched fast paced voice as if everything was a problem. Well there was a problem because they took our room. We didn’t care thankful to have a king sized bed to lay down for a couple hours. But when we woke up, she fessed up to taking the wrong room and then how she didn’t understand why it was an issue and the host had stopped responding to her. I can imagine the text message exchanges going back and forth.
The next morning we received a nice text from the host who wasn’t present about the rooms and if we could switch back. This raised the intensity of the lady again as she just didn’t understand it. They however were leaving before us so we simply suggested that we would switch rooms after they left and let that solve the problem. The host was very thankful I think of just having someone not kick up a fuss.
Actually we had two hosts in the house, the owner who was in and out and his caretaker, Thomas. We met Thomas on the first night as after a trip into the French quarter we arrived back to a Thursday night Will and Grace gathering. Much like our own Wednesday dinners this was just what they did. The next day we met the Hosts sister and were invited to the Hosts engagement party the night after! But what we really liked was on the last couple nights with the host out of town Thomas was being the caretaker, Thomas’s professional life is a tour guide and boy once started he didn’t stop. His knowledge of New Orleans was fantastic and we spent several hours chatting to him about life and the various histories of places. New Orleans has a huge history. Much larger than I’d thought actually and far richer than the potted stuff you hear generally. We learnt about the wedges of neighbourhoods caused by the way the French gave people river frontage. The avenues which were accidentally created as being the ditches between the plantations with a track on either side. When the ditches were filled in trees were planted and gave way to what seems to be planned shady avenues.
Travelling with AirBnB is an interesting experience. Our first house in San Fran we didn’t meet the host at all. But it was a comfortable place with three rooms and one bathroom. I suspected the host actually lived in the apartment above and could keep and eye on people. We met French, German and a lady whose was French American but had just been living in South America and had moved to San Fran to live. It was a fairly old but basic place. In New Orleans the place was a new build and the host was using Air BNB to pay off his mortgage and why not. It is a costly city to visit and if he can offer rooms he doesn’t use its ok.
There is a downside to the whole airBnB thing that we encountered at a bar of all places. A rather drunk local who was friendly enough had a dig about your guys taking all the accommodation. And he was right. He had lived in the French Quarter but the owner can make more money from short term holiday rentals than they can from long term. IT is a problem in a lot of cities, except for the inconvenience of having to change sheets and keep the place tidy, it makes sense from a money point of view. From a sustainable housing point of view it is a night mare. And while regulation is occurring to keep it in check it is forcing prices up in areas and for people who can least afford it.
AirBNB also causes problems for the guests as well. Hosts do cancel unexpectedly and at the last minute. The lady in New Orleans that cancelled my booking a week after I made it because a family emergency occurred, I totally understand and it was months before we needed the accommodation. But there was one place I felt a bit odd about in San Antonio. I checked back and he had had some bad reviews and then I noticed the place was no longer actively listed. So I contacted him, I was assured everything was fine. So three days before arrival I messaged again because we are getting in late at night and I wanted to feel comfortable about the late night arrival. Again I was reassured all was well.
That night at around midnight the host cancelled my booking. Now I am actually glad he cancelled because I was getting a bad vibe from him but I am left confused as to why he would continually reassure me only to cancel. It’s possible he was trying to wait for me to cancel. You see AirBnB penalise hosts who cancel and help guests find other accommodation and give a voucher to put towards the new booking.
Part of me is looking forward to our camping and to be able to run to our own rhythm for a while.
- Log in to post comments