#Adventures in Adventuring: Nerd's first @AirBnB

A hoi hoi nerderinos,

This nerd is officially out of the hippie commune. I found this place on AirBnB.com - and I have to say, I was THOROUGHLY impressed. Take a look:

This is where I slept ...

SUPPPERRRR comfy futon!!! I didn't wake up with a bar up my butt, but not that that would have been a bad thing ...

Here's where I put my stuff (which no one touched, btw - and dudes, I'm traveling with LITERALLY thousands of dollars in equipment and nerd gear) ...

and here's where I was writing/ editing from ...

I paid $40 a night to stay here, had NO idea where this place was in relation to wherever I needed to be - but because of the reviews on AirBnB, I was able to read from other travelers that this place was in the heart of EVERYTHING. OMG, they were 100% CORRECT!!! Literally!!! This place was PERFECT!!!

I got to work, write, edit and sleep without anyone bothering me. It was super quiet (almost annoyingly so coming from the big city noises), and yah considering this place was $10 less than the glorified brothel I stayed at for one night in Chicago - you can't be mad at it.

Traveling to begin with can be so so so expensive you have to cut your costs as much as possible without being stupid and sacrificing your safety.

I felt 110% safe here.

I will say I was a bit overwhelmed with incense a few times (damn hippies), and the one night that 5 girls from England checked in with literally no concept of how to share a bathroom with not only each other, but the other guests downstairs ... that got annoying.

Again though, it was for only 1 night. I was there for 10.

The main hippie duderino was pretty rad. I enjoy keeping to myself in living situations like that as I am around people 24/7 and can get overwhelmed ... he totally got that and didn't bother me. I did however, pick his brain this morning and asked him what made him want to turn his home into a bed and breakfast - and he said it was a matter of circumstances, he had no other option.

Intrigued, I pressed on.

No other options?

I had this woman rent a room upstairs (there were 5 bedrooms in all, 2 floors), and she didn't disclose that she had 3 cats, cancer, and was a raging alcoholic. I was stuck because I couldn't kick her out yet no one wanted to live with her. Heck, I couldn't even CLEAN for the longest time because she was too sick to properly take care of her cats, nor would she let me near her room. She had drunken fits of rage during the middle of the night because that was basically all she could do with her life at this point was just drink - well that, and call the cops.

That is one of the most insane things I have ever heard, I said.

So, something like AirBnB just made sense because people would come and go none the wiser.

Amen, to that!

I then thanked the duderino for his stories - told him he should write a blog, or a book ... hell, I'd read it!!!

He smiled, and said his gift to me for that would be refraining from offering me unsolicited health advice.

Yah, the duderino was like a MASSIVE health freak. Literally THOUUUSSAANNNDDSSSSSS of jars in the hallway filled with spices, herbs, everything. Was super duper freaky, but whatevs - to each his own.

So there ya go! My AirBnB cherry was popped, and I HIGHLYYYYY recommend it. Again though, this was one experience and yours may vary - totally just read the reviews on wherever you want to stay to make sure it's kosher for passover.

YAY LIFE!! Now I'm staying with one of my oldest oldest oldest friends. Actually, he is the closest equivalent to a high school sweetheart. (He wouldn't date me when we were growing up until he got his license, and then by the time we were 16, the legal driving age in CT, I was done with school.) I took this kid's virginity when we were 17, and he happens to have an extra bedroom in his place. SCORE!!! I am repaying him with a wee bit of money from production (basically the going rate of a night of couch surfing, $16, times 12 nights) - and maybe some nerdy lovin. MAAAYYBBEEE!! heheheehehe ;)

Here's all my stuff that I'm traveling with btw, I have a rule that if I can't carry it on my back, I can't bring it ...

30 days on the road, and this is what I got!

Plus too, it's SUPPPERRR annoying trying to bob and weave through crowds with a rolling suitcase. I can't do it ... I just ... can't do it.

More adventures to come ... whoop whoop!!!

#nerdsunite

I'm in Boston until the 12th, and then I head to NYC next. If you guys wanna meet up - drop me a tweet, and I will happily grab a brewsky: @JenFriel