I'm a control freak. I am. I don't know if telling you about me having what most perceive as a weakness is a great way to start the first post of my blog, but I'm pretty sure honesty is. I want to set a good tone. I'm a control freak and I like to be on top of anything. Sometimes it helps to be prepared. Sometimes the stress doesn't pay off. But I think I'd be more stressed if I didn't try to control stuff.
When my girlfriend and I started planning our trip to the US earlier this year, I started nerding out on travel stuff. "What is the best X?", "How to Y" and "Top 10 Z". I learned that I could create my own custom maps with Google Maps Engine, now Google MyMaps, and I loved it. It was around June, and we decided we would travel on the next January. I spent most of my waking time in that second semester of 2014 planning this trip, with at least two Google Maps tabs opened in my Chrome window at all times. That level of control freak.
We had to decide where to stay, and, again, I was on top of it. We can stay at this hotel, and that hotel, and that other hotel. But we were talking about a trip to Los Angeles, a big town (probably the definition of a big town), and hotels close to places you want to visit are very expensive. Cheaper hotels are usually 1) not great or 2) farther from where you want to be.
Then, I thought of checking out this Airbnb site (now I realize I was late to the game, even by Brazil standards). It didn't disappoint, and we ended up staying a week in a (for our purposes) very well located apartment in Hollywood. You may discuss whether we chose a good neighborhood to be in. I agree. But given the circumstances of our trip, it was great. We actually miss it now. That's the experience I think Airbnb strives for: to make you feel home.
When my girlfriend and I started planning our trip to the US earlier this year, I started nerding out on travel stuff. "What is the best X?", "How to Y" and "Top 10 Z". I learned that I could create my own custom maps with Google Maps Engine, now Google MyMaps, and I loved it. It was around June, and we decided we would travel on the next January. I spent most of my waking time in that second semester of 2014 planning this trip, with at least two Google Maps tabs opened in my Chrome window at all times. That level of control freak.
We had to decide where to stay, and, again, I was on top of it. We can stay at this hotel, and that hotel, and that other hotel. But we were talking about a trip to Los Angeles, a big town (probably the definition of a big town), and hotels close to places you want to visit are very expensive. Cheaper hotels are usually 1) not great or 2) farther from where you want to be.
Then, I thought of checking out this Airbnb site (now I realize I was late to the game, even by Brazil standards). It didn't disappoint, and we ended up staying a week in a (for our purposes) very well located apartment in Hollywood. You may discuss whether we chose a good neighborhood to be in. I agree. But given the circumstances of our trip, it was great. We actually miss it now. That's the experience I think Airbnb strives for: to make you feel home.