Tag: travel

Airbnb Journey: The Townhouse in Kissimmee

I’ve fallen behind in my airbnb home summaries. Life…amiright??

So just to recap, in December 2020 with full-time telework looking like our indefinite future due to COVID, I found a tenant for my condo, my boyfriend and I gave up our lease, and we put all of our stuff in storage and became digital nomads. We decided to basically take advantage of airbnb’s discounts on monthly rentals, and we figured if we kept our monthly lodging at around the same price as what we’d pay in rent/mortgage, it would all work out.

Our first airbnb home was in Raleigh, NC, then we needed to come back to the DMV area so we stayed in Alexandria, VA and then stayed in Frederick, MD for two months. By this point, it wasn’t quite yet Spring and we were tired of cold weather, so we decided to head to Florida for some sun.

We knew that with Covid, amenities were not guaranteed at a lot of places, and even if they stated that pools and gyms were up and running, there was no guarantee that it would stay that way once we got there. Outbreaks and surges just made things really unpredictable, so we thought it would be nice to have a house in a warm area that had a pool included. The 3 bed, 3 bath townhouse with a pool in Kissimmee was perfect! When we read the summary, we liked that there would be space to spread out. And somehow when we mentioned Florida, some friends and family said they may want to visit. And visit they did. lol.

The Rundown: So here’s the rundown on the home. Kissimmee is a neighboring town of Orlando. We had hoped that picking a time before Spring break, we’d for the most part have a peaceful space, before families started converging on the theme parks and warm climate. And that completely worked out. For the most part, this home and the neighborhood were quiet during our stay.

The home itself was decorated in white and orange throughout, and there were televisions in each room, which we loved. We had enough room for visitors, with a bedroom and bathroom downstairs for privacy. We had every kitchen convenience needed, except a few small things. We also loved having a trash valet, so all we had to do was put the trash in the bin right outside the front door and the community was responsible for placing it out for the trash men to collect, and then returning the bin to the home. But of course, the thing we loved the most was the pool right outside the back door. It may have been May but it was HOTTT in Florida. We’re talking upper 90’s on a lot of the days. So being able to take a quick dip during lunch or after running an errand in the hot sun was super nice. We even had a pool guy that came once a week to check water levels and chemicals. The community also had a pool, so we went there as well when we wanted more pool space or a change of scenery. And on most days, we were the only ones in the community pool. It truly was fabulous.

What we did: Because of the pandemic, of course we mostly stayed in the house. We did a lot of cooking and took walks. We found a few places that we could go to and still be socially distant. Because Orlando is inland, it wasn’t like we could really frequent the beach. But we found a nearby lake town where we could walk around, enjoy the scenery, grab food, and enjoy the day.

Before heading to Florida, we researched the safety protocols for the theme parks. They were limiting the number of people who could enter the park, and they also had strict mask mandates. We felt comfortable enough to buy tickets, so we also visited Universal Studios and Epcot. And we literally were not even 10 miles away, no traffic, easy parking…it was awesome!

What we loved and didn’t love: We loved that we had visitors and that we had space for them. We loved the warm weather. We did not love that there was no real space to work (I mean…who goes to Orlando to work??). We had to work either from the glass dining room table, which shifted if you leaned on it too hard…or from bed or the couch. So that was definitely not ideal. And we also had issues with the internet. There were four full work days that the internet was out due to them doing work in another unit and accidentally messing up our connection. Which means we had to take days off that we did not expect to take. So that would be the biggest complaint.

Overall, with a few exceptions, great space and great pick!

Here’s my IG vlog post about my stay:

Have you been to the Orlando/Kissimmee area? How was your trip?

justamarylandgirl4 Comments

Road trip Tip: Read advice columns

Photo by Marta Wave on Pexels.com

The fall is the perfect time for road trips. Something about the leaves and the air just enhances that wanderlust craving. And with people about to hop on the road to grandma’s house for the holidays, there will be a lot of road travel over the next few weeks.

For me, hopping around to different Airbnb’s can easily be hours on the road. Music is a great distraction but sometimes it just doesn’t fit the bill. My boyfriend and I are together ALL. THE. TIME. and it feels like we’ve covered every discussion topic known to man. So when we’re riding along, and we get tired of music, that’s when we read advice columns.

I know, I know. Ummm what!??! But forreal. We read them, and we discuss our take on each situation. And honestly, it’s a wonderful way to get to know more about your partner without being judgmental.

Here’s what we do. We set up the hypothetical situation using the advice seeker’s information and then we fill in our assumptions based on the unknowns. Then we sliced and dice every sentence, debate our viewpoint, and sprinkle in our past experiences, our boundaries, our hopes, etc. It’s such an interesting and entertaining way to see what we agree on, where we differ and why.

There are so many times I’ve said “wow, I can see how that is something I’ve done and it seems horrible,” or “I was once in a situation similar to this and this is what I did”.

There are things about our pasts that we didn’t know about each other and may not have had a reason to even bring up. But when we’re reading advice columns, it jogs our memory and sheds light on the situation we’re discussing.

Our favorite columns are Dear Prudence and The Moneyist. Dear Prudence is a good way to dive into some social, relationship, and family topics, while The Moneyist helps to delve into your thoughts about finances, investing, budgeting, etc.—all things that are extremely important in relationships. You may not realize that your significant other had a specific view about money, or that they were brought up thinking certain things about home life or vacation or work life…so many things are brought to light just by reading these columns!

Reading advice columns and using them as prompts for discussions actually may even help you hammer out some compromises about situations that haven’t even occurred. Knowing how you will address a situation before it even arises*could* help eliminate future headaches down the road. It may not help at all but you never know…it could.

Among our many outcomes, we’ve agreed that rescue is the way to go for pets, that we’ll never co-sign for anything for anyone ever, and that we’ll try our best to put kids in their own bed as soon as possible. Sounds random, I know…lol…but they were all the result of conversations we had after reading advice columns.

Why don’t you give it a try? Here’ a scenario from Dear Prudence. Chat about it with your significant other and see what you guys think!

Dear Prudence, My cousin’s daughter is getting married in November. We’re not particularly close, and I don’t believe I would have been invited if this were a formal, in-person wedding. Due to the current pandemic, however, the entire event is occurring on-line and the guest list appears to number in the thousands. The happy couple have published an extensive gift registry, with the cheapest items starting at about $200, and have sent a series of mass emails expressing their excitement that we’ll all get to share on their special day, with glossy images of their lives together. I have to confess that I feel a little mean-spirited about the whole affair, as this feels more like an aggressive marketing campaign to maximize the return on investment than a family celebration. Is there a polite way to quietly disengage? Would it be rude to not send a gift (and to RSVP that I can’t make it)? My cousin is notorious for holding grudges and will almost certainly kick up a fuss.

WWY?? Do you see that situation the same way or do you feel differently about it? Have you ever tried this? What are some ways you entertain yourselves on road trips? Let me know!

justamarylandgirl2 Comments

Oops I Broke Something: Airbnb Mishaps

Things happen.  We are all human.  And just as I accidentally break things in my own home from time to time, obviously things can happen in the Airbnb homes that I rent as well.  I do try to specifically and intentionally be extremely careful as an Airbnb guest, because I really do not want to have to spend money replacing things and I don’t want a bad rating. 

But…life happens.  Things get damaged, things get broken, it happens.

Luckily, so far, I haven’t broken or damaged anything major. And **fingers crossed** it stays that way.

So the question is—as a guest, what do you do if you break or damage something?

I actually find that the answer is really simple. 

Do as you’d want someone to do if they broke an item in your home.  In my opinion, that really only leaves three choices.

  1. Fix it.
  2. Replace it.
  3. Notify the host of the damage.

Or possibly a combination of all three.

Here are a couple of real-world examples from my Airbnb adventures of times when things got damaged, and how I handled them.

Fix it.  It was literally the first home on my adventure.  I hadn’t even checked in yet.  It was well after 10pm when I had pulled into the driveway, opened the trunk to my car, and out tumbled a bottle of red wine.  It hit the ground so hard and so fast.  The bottle shattered, and red wine went all over the driveway.  I wasn’t sure if it would stain the ground and I really didn’t want THIS to be my first impression in my first Airbnb home.  I was exhausted from a long day and long drive.  All I wanted to do was get inside, shower, and go to bed.  It was late and I couldn’t even see because it was dark, I hadn’t even opened the door to the home, and I was nervous that neighbors would think I was trying to break into a home that I didn’t belong in.  But I knew that I would feel horrible if on day 1, I stained the driveway.  Despite exhaustion, I searched.  In the dark I was able to find the hose, wash down the driveway, collect the glass, and get everything cleaned up.  WHEW!!!  All was fixed, and all was well.  And now I can check into the home and hit the sheets.

Replace it.  I will say this. I do feel like there are times that some hosts just leave old dishes they no longer want, for their guests to use.  Knowing that dishes are not clean, kinda rusty, or downright unusable, they still stick them in cabinets and drawers, so that they can check the box stating that they have a stocked kitchen.  Or it could be that previous guests jacked the dishes up and maybe the host hasn’t realized it. Whatever the case, it’s a little gross and kinda irritating.  But we make do.  We wash everything super well before we use them, and we line the dishes that we can with aluminum foil when we cook in them.  In one home, we used a well-worn baking sheet left by the host. We lined it with foil and cooked our dinner.  When we pulled the sheet out of the oven, it was burned too bad to continue to use.  The foil had burned through, and had welded itself onto the crud that was already on the baking sheet.  Though we didn’t feel like it was our fault, because the thing was crusty to begin with, we still opted to purchase a new set of cookie sheets.  We left one sheet at the home to replace the sheet that was no longer usable, and we kept one for our travels.  Though we didn’t feel like we should have felt obligated to replace it, we felt like it was easier to replace it without risking a misunderstanding that resulted in a bad rating from the host.  At the end of the day, it was $10 and it wouldn’t break us.

Notify the host.  At the home in Frederick, one day we looked and just realized the inside of the comforter had a huge rip.  We have NO idea how it got there.  We don’t know if it was there before we arrived and we just hadn’t noticed.  Or whether we damaged the comforter ourselves and just didn’t realize it.  We had a choice to make.  Ignore it entirely and pretend we didn’t see it, or notify the host.  I did what I would want someone to do if I were the host and they were staying at my home.  We contacted the host and explained what we noticed. We asked if he preferred that we pay for it or buy another comforter to replace it.  We realize that an Airbnb home is not the Marriott.  The hosts aren’t sitting around with clean replacement bed linens just waiting to be called into service.  I knew there was a chance that the host had potential guests lined up to move in immediately after I checked out, and they may not have had time to search for a new set before new guests arrived.  I didn’t want to put them into a situation where they were unprepared for incoming guests.  I also didn’t want them to sacrifice their rating by providing (unbeknownst to them) torn linens to guests.  Ultimately, I sent the host a note and asked if they wanted us to reimburse them for the comforter, or if they preferred that we go out and buy a replacement comforter set.  They asked that we replace it, and we did just that.  Was it our fault or our obligation to replace it?  I’m not really sure.  Should they have a line item in their budget that accounts for guest mishaps?  Yes, absolutely.  But at the end of the day, it wasn’t a huge deal to us.  My boyfriend and I split the cost, we found something comparable, and moved on with our lives. We felt this was the easiest way, even if the onus wasn’t necessarily on us to replace the comforter set.

If you rent an Airbnb, or another vacation home, keep in mind that things happen. Items get worn out, things break, things get damaged. Just be honest about it, and handle it the way you’d like others to handle it if it was your item that was torn, damaged, or broken.

Have you ever had a mishap at an Airbnb? What did you do about it? If you’re a host, how would you like a guest to handle an incident in your home?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

justamarylandgirl

Coping when things don’t go as planned

coping
{“did you mean to leave this?” this is the picture sent to me by my neighbors of the bag i left on my front porch when i went on a trip.}

I know this is a weird pic to accompany this post, but let me explain.  I spent weeks, maybe months, planning for the perfect five-night cruise to Bermuda.  I bought all of my essentials, and I coordinated my daily outfits.  I bought new dresses, shoes, and swimsuits, I packed up all of my clothes, devices and accessories just perfectly, and I headed to the port.  Upon arrival, we hand our suitcases off to the cruise staff, and grabbed our carry-on bags from the trunk.  Wait…where is my carry-on bag???  And this is when all of my months of perfect planning completely fell apart.  I DON’T HAVE MY CARRY ON BAG!!!
This meant no accouterments, no accessories, no belts, no make-up, no toiletries, no tablet, no chargers, no extra pair of sandals, no hoodie, no pashmina…none of it!  AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
So this picture is a picture that my neighbor sent asking if I meant to leave this bag on the porch.  I literally walked out of the house, locked the door, and got in the car…WITHOUT MY BAG!
I’m not gonna lie…this effed up my whole entire mood for a solid day.  And possibly part of another day.  I whined about it to all that would listen, then eventually, after I’d gone on about it long enough, I decided that I didn’t want to look back on this trip as the trip that was f*cked up because I forgot a bag.  Like…ok chick…get it together!  This is a vacation. You paid GOOD MONEY for this trip!  You’re going to Bermuda, you’re with family and friends, and you are off from work.  Get over it!!!  And eventually, I did.  I got a toothbrush from a family member.  I used my mom’s make-up, and bestie had a spare wristlet and some other items that I could use.  And I just made do.
So my question is…how well do you adapt when things don’t go your way?  How do you move forward when you plan and plan and plan, and something totally derails all of your efforts?  What tricks or tips do you use to overcome disappointment and salvage your plans?  Well…I clearly suck at it, and have no real advice for moving forward.  So I scoured the internet for tips, and here is what I came up with:
Keep cool/breathe:  There’s a pretty good chance that the issue at hand isn’t life threatening.  Take a moment, calm yourself down, and take a deep breath.
Acknowledge that you are disappointed:  It’s ok to be upset.  Take time to grieve over what went wrong.  You had your heart set on something that didn’t happen.  And no matter how small or trivial it may be to others, it was important to you, and it didn’t work out.  It’s ok to acknowledge that.
Forgive yourself:  You’re human.  Life happens and everyone makes mistakes.  be ok with your humanness and accept that you did what you did…or didn’t do.
Accept what you cannot change:  I had to tell myself, this trip five days, not a year. I have my clothes, I have my travel documents, and I have my medications.  The extra bag was just extra items.  I don’t need them to continue on with this trip, nor do I need them to have a good time.  I couldn’t change what happened or what I didn’t have.  I wasn’t able to purchase a majority of the items on the ship, and by the time I got to my cruise destination, the trip was more than half over, and buying the items on the island, if possible, wasn’t probably going to be worth it.
Assess what you can and cannot control:  Now it’s time to switch into damage-control mode.  Let’s start figuring out how to make the situation better.  Or if there’s nothing that can be done, it’s time to figure out how you can change your mindset to move past what happened.  I could not control the past, but I could control what happened going forward on my trip.  Take control of what you can, and release that which you cannot control.  I had the sun, I had good people around me, and I had wine.  And for most people, that all adds up to a good time.  So I made the decision that that was going to be the case for me as well.
Revise your goal:  Once you’ve explored your options, figure out the new goal.  decide what you want out of your experience.  For me, I knew that I didn’t want to remember this vacation as the trip where I left my bag at home.  I wanted to have a good time, relax, and enjoy my family and friends.  I revised my mindset so that the bag was less important for accomplishing that goal.
Determine your options:  Figure out what’s important to try to fix and what you have to scrap.  I had to realize that I just wasn’t going to have my lysol wipes, my statement necklaces, and my new blush.  But I was able to buy a necklace in the gift shop that I really liked, I’d have to accept that the room steward cleaned the room sufficiently, and I used my mom’s red lipgloss as blush.  Somehow it all worked.
Assess your resources:  Who or what is available to help you cope and come up with solutions?  I knew that the ship’s shops were not going to be a huge help.  Their game is souvenirs, not drug store goods.  And what they did have, I knew would be dramatically overpriced. I knew also that the store didn’t even open until we were in international waters, and I knew that wouldn’t happen until the cruise was a day into the itinerary.  I knew that our plans were so tight on the island, and could not guarantee that I’d even find the kind of store that would have the kind of things I needed.  So for me, my resource options were limited.
Lean on others for help:  Figure out who is willing and able to help you and how.  Lucky for me, I travel with over-packers.  One of my relatives had some extra toiletries, my mom had some make-up, my bestie had some accessories and necessities that I could use.  I made it work.
Execute your new plan: Move forward with your revised plan.  The plan has changed, there’s a new goal.  Revise your actions to accommodate the change.  For me, when I dressed for dinner and such, I had to include a 10 minute window for going to my mom’s room to get make-up, and my bestie’s room to get accessories.  It wasn’t the end of the world, and I had to accept that.
Have you found yourself in a situation where something went dramatically different from how you planned it?  Were you able to roll with the punches or did you completely fall apart?  Let me know what happened and how you dealt with it.  Or…if you have some advice to share, feel free to leave a comment!
cropped-tata-for-now-m-2-e1547271271563.jpg

justamarylandgirl

5 Tips for Surviving a Family Vacation

I did it, yall. I went on vacation with 40 relatives, yes 4-0, and I survived!!!

Again…FORTY! lol. FORTY PEOPLE!

I’m an introvert, I love being quiet, I can spend large periods of time completely by myself not making a sound and not having any human contact whatsoever. So, this is key for introverts…we DO NOT thrive in large groups. The more, the merrier is NOT our motto.

When my mom said let’s do a family cruise, my first reaction was “oh dear God NO!!” I know, I know…it’s a horrible reaction, but listen to me…relaxation and large groups don’t always go hand in hand, and I know my limitations when it comes to this type of thing. I know I’m not alone on this. But my my thoughts were… what if there’s drama? What if they make me get up early every day? What if they make me do a bunch of stuff I don’t want to do? How are we going to coordinate a ton of people to do activities?? And then the vision of herding cats popped into my head.

With that said, I cannot tell you what made me agree to go on a cruise with a massive group of people, even if they were my blood (or the spouse/friend/companion of blood). But I did it. And I roped my boyfriend and bestie into going as well. You’d think having them there would be a relief, but this oddly just added to my cruise prep stress. What if someone in my family says something to one of them, and I spend the entire trip playing defense and running interference? What if Cousin So-and-So asks me to go to the pool, but my boyfriend wants me to go play shuffle board? What if my auntie gets too intrusive with my bestie, grilling her about her most intimate life choices? Will the group expect all 40 of us to do every single thing together? Will I be able to escape the group, boyfriend, and bestie to do my necessary introvert recharging? I didn’t know what to expect and the whole thing just made me nervous.

So cruise day approached, we met the group at the port, and the 5-day trip to Bermuda commenced. Hugs, introductions, and lots of reacquainting happened. We laughed, ate, danced, swam and soaked in the sun. And after five days together, I’m happy to report that the trip was not worth the stressing at all!

Let me tell you what you can do to make your family trip a success this summer:

  1. Start off with a good mood. Begin your vacation with the intentions of having a good time, not with the intention that all things will work out perfectly. Make the decision that your vacation will be relaxing, fun, therapeutic, revitalizing, or whatever you want it to be. Then make it so.
  2. Leave old family fights in the past. Or at least make the conscious decision to not bring them on vacation. Nothing will kill a good time faster than bringing up that argument about who took Grandma’s precious cloth napkins in 1963. Vacations are precious, time away from work can be hard, and trips can be expensive. Don’t waste precious time and money on drama that’s no longer important.
  3. Prepare yourself mentally and physically for all possible scenarios. This includes packing items for a contingency, and preparing your mind for the possibility that every day may not be perfect. If it may possibly rain, have a book on hand for the days you can’t go to the beach. Pack an umbrella or slicker, and have what you need on hand to be outdoors in potentially inclement weather. Don’t let a bad weather day stop you from enjoying your trip. The more you’re able to go with the flow, the less negative impact an unexpected occurrence will have on your vacation. We had a couple of rain showers…so those were good times for souvenir shopping or the indoor pool. For the day that the ship had a wind advisory cutting off our sunbathing, we opted for the casino and hot tub. Be ok with changing plans. Or better yet, don’t make plans and just go with the flow.
  4. Limit the number of activities that are done as a group. My mother was the group’s organizer, and she made it a point to say she wasn’t coordinating many things. She wanted people to feel free to do what they wanted, as too much planning makes people feel like they’re at boot camp, not on vacation. As a group, we took two group pictures, and ate dinner each night. My mother invited everyone to do certain activities each day if they wanted to join her, but nobody had any obligation to join her at all.
  5. Book your room away from the group’s room block. Now…this may or may not be necessary or even possible. For me, I figured it may be a good idea. For those moments when I wanted to absolutely get away, I could escape to my room on a different floor, in a different part of the ship.

While I was terrified initially, and I feared all things that could go wrong in a large group, my trip turned out to be a wonderful time, and I’m so glad I decided to go! If you have any tips, please feel free to comment!

justamarylandgirl