Sometimes not doing your routine results in unexpectedly delightful results. I decided to go to New York this week because the plane tickets and hotels in Austin were too expensive. I wanted to attend the 2017 SXSW Conference and Festival to check out all the hype. Alas! My budget said no. To console myself, I decided to go to the exciting, bustling and ever-charming Big Apple. I always stayed in hotels whenever I visited but this time, I wanted to try Airbnb. No, I'm not being sponsored. I compared hotel prices, read reviews and said, "Heck! Why not try Airbnb? It couldn't be that bad." I've already tried renting out apartments in Europe and Asia. It usually takes me awhile to make a decision because I check out the locations, I read the reviews, and I exchange emails with the owners. In this instance, however, I only exchanged one email with the host, didn't check out the location and just skimmed the reviews. I booked the place because it was cheap and it was close to The Cloisters. A day before my departure, I double-checked the listing location. My heart stuttered when I saw Harlem Heights. Oh, crap! I googled Harlem Heights safety, crime statistics in Harlem Heights and variations of the same. Trulia.com didn't allay my fears when it pinpointed exact street corners and the number of crimes committed in each of those streets. Then my host sent me a text with the address. It was a different address from what was in the confirmation email. By then, my anxiety level peaked. What had I gotten myself into? The host texted back explaining the listing address was incorrect but the apartment was still in the same block. After some back and forth, I decided to brave it out. And here I am, blogging underneath the warm quilt, listening to the occassional stomping feet of a resident going up the stairs, cars driving past outside the window, and voices filtering up from the street below. The apartment is wonderful in its shabby chic condition. All amenities are provided, including normal-sized toiletries (the host was so much more generous than hotels), six fluffy towels, mix of pots and pans and cutleries, fresh 1 litre bottles of water and orange juice and 8 tiny tubes of yogurt. Oh! And there's even a yoga mat. I feel very comfortable. I get the sense that this is how some New Yorkers live. The surrounding areas aren't bad either. The place is vibrant especially around Amsterdam and Broadway. Not a bad result. This experience will be showing up in one of my future stories. Have you ever done something outside of your routine with unexpected results?
