grrlTravels

one vacation, hermetically sealed, please

I hate to waste perfectly good vacation days moping around some tropical destination because the room sucks or the bathroom is crappy or we happen to have settled on the wrong side of the island. So I like to do my homework.

Homework means googling the heck out of the destination, and especially the accommodations. I head straight to TripAdvisor.com, which has user reviews for almost every single hotel I have ever searched for, no matter how obscure. It's a great site, save the fact that at least one third of the reviewers are completely insane.

If there are more than 3 reviews, there is at least one negative one. My tact is to start reading from the top and read at least 3 or 4 positive reviews until I feel like I have a good feel for the place. Then I skip around reading as many of the negative reviews as I can stomach until I have a good idea of what people are complaining about. Trips are all about expectations. There are days, like the days you are driving cross country towing a camper, that a campground with hot showers and flush toilets might be a little bit of heaven. And other days when the hot showers with the cement floors might be the thing that drives you right over the edge. Expectations, right? I like to have mine set properly. So it's good to hear both the good and the bad. Right?

Unfortunately there is that squiggly, vacations - are - precious - and - we - can't - waste - a - whole - week - with - a - fridgethatsmellsoffish, I Need To Relax, this might be the last nice vacation we ever have, freakin over-analytical side of me that believes every single idiotic thing that every single ridiculous person writes on the Information Superhighway. That side me of makes reading TripAdvisor a tad disconcerting.

What if you do wait in line for 45 minutes every night for dinner, only to be harrassed by sullen waitpersons? What if every single bed DOES smell like the mildewed shower curtains from your freshman year at college? What if the whole entire complex IS crawling with cockroaches the size of my hand? WHAT IF?

Never mind that in the tropics bugs sort of come with the territory. Ditto dampness. Never mind that many times your attitude forecasts the treatment you will receive from people and your ability to embrace the place you've chosen. Never mind that it is somewhat arrogant to say, "I hated every single thing about <insert name of country here>." Never mind that some people are just plain stupid. Those stupid people have chosen to express their opinions on the Internet and that confers on them a validity that they may or may not deserve. How is one to know?

I drove myself batty going around and around and around trying to decide if I could stand a lackluster view (of course I can.), less than perfectly manicured landscaping (yep.), large rooms which could stand a bit of renovation (size matters.), and a host of other tedious details which might matter but probably won't. I worked myself into such a frenzy of indecision and worry that K. was forced to take matters into his own hands and rented us a house within 1 day of putting his hands to the keyboard. It's a house (what's the neighborhood like?) on a hill (can't walk to the beach), with a pool (small) and presumably a view of the ocean (but maybe not). It sounds divine. We will take any bugs (inevitable), leaky faucets (or funky toilets or confusing hot water heaters or mysterious air conditioners), or lack of blankets (or pillows or forks or toilet paper) in stride.

Now that the lodging are settled we must investigate how we might like to spend our time and if we are going to be able to eat anywhere with the children. I think I'll start with TripAdvisor.com. When I loop back around on myself so many times that I wear a groove in the carpet I'll let you know.

Posted by grrlTravels at November 12, 2007 10:07 PM