Change Is Hard!

I must say that some of the fun of every adventure has been working out the logistics on my own.  I've already written about getting the flights -- but those are really just the bookends of each journey and those are the easiest part of the logistics.  What is often more challenging is the accommodations and ground transportation. And in China,  where I'm essentially illiterate and linguistically silent (another blog topic!) and therefore generally limited to public transportation options, figuring these parts with a "budget-traveler" mindset takes the bulk of my research/preparation. 

For this trip to Shanghai -- where I've been before and might have made these plans with less study and stress -- I took a different fork on the "two roads" that I frequently reference.  You see, I've often repeated, sometimes with disgust, that "people like to do what they have always done."  Most often I am talking about adapting to new technology - but it's certainly true of travel logistics as well.  How much of your life is filled with routines that you prefer to do only because you've always done them?  Change is hard!  Even I still double space after punctuation and carry a handkerchief!

So, when Andy mentioned to me that I might want to consider AirBnB, it appealed to many of my travel priorities: budget-minded, opportunity for increased personal interaction with locals, and taking on a new traveling challenge.  I know the primary readers of this blog will know AirBnB -- but if it is a new term to you, do a search on it ("google it" doesn't seem to be fitting recommendation for a blog about China where Google is blocked by the Chinese government - another blog topic!). I quickly learned that AirBnb in China, like in the USA and worldwide, is becoming increasingly popular as a lodging alternative.

Now, I've used AirBnB successfully 8 times in the USA -- but only once for just a room in a shared house, otherwise opting for an "entire place."  And while an "entire place" is more often suitable for traveling couples/families -- it did remove some of its appeal on these solo adventures: it is not budget-minded and offers no increased interaction with locals.  But on the flip side, getting just a room adds a level of complexity to the choices that makes finding a suitable place much more difficult.  And I quickly found that while there are many AirBnB listings in Shanghai, the only way to figure out whether I was going to be able to even communicate with the host(s) would be by researching each one to see if the listing was in English and looking through reviews to assess whether an English speaker had a successful stay. 

Thereafter another complication: should I eliminate listings where the host was female so as to avoid the appearance of impropriety.  Certainly, as I've blogged about before, there are plenty of old white guys on the hunt for young Asian females and I don't want to be associated with that.  But, in this regard, I quickly noted most of the listings were by females even though some reviews would mention positive interaction with a husband or male partner/roommate.  Of course I'm interested in the sociology/demographics of hosting and the reasons for the apparent predominance of female hosts in Shanghai* (perhaps everywhere?) -- but in the end couldn't let it be a determining factor if I was going to use AirBnB at all.  English listings, reviews by English speakers and location had to be primary. 

The accommodation logistics were further complicated by indecision as to whether Andy would meet me in Shanghai -- or I would take the 4 hour train ride to Wenzhou.  And after I thought I had completed my research (much more time consuming than just using booking.com to find a hotel!) and was ready to book a downtown location (listed by a female but reviews mentioned male partner/husband) -- I remembered that my inbound flight arrival in the evening and my early morning (6:50am) departure (the subway doesn't run at 4:00am when I would need to be at the airport).  Once again, the easy path yelled "hotel" -- but the adventurous path tugged at me until I found only 2 listings near the airport and only one of them stood out as a "super host" (an earned AirBnB designation of a perfect record of reviews with no last minute cancellations).  Listed by a female but unknown if husband/partner present. I booked the first and last nights there as there was no other suitable option -- and awaited further texting from Andy on the in between 4 nights.

As I began the trip, I thought this AirBnB choice in China might have not been worth the extra research and time -- only time would tell.  After all, I was doing exactly what these adventures require: "Playing It By Ear."

Spoiler alert: I'm writing this on my way to Bangkok -- all the extra research and time to experience AirBnB in China did exactly what I sought: cheap and interesting -- but not without creating more stories to tell.  Yes, change is hard!