Murphy’s general laws states, and I quote:
“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.”

And of course, it happened.

I’ve spent the last two days filling my trip to Canada with all kinds of activities, meaning buying tickets to events and making reservations, all of them non-refundable ’cause that’s how life is. By the way, this trip has been planned for 3 months, and the moment I decided to fill the agenda, with 3 days left to finally arrive, our AirBnb hosts cancels the reservation. It was done via automated email.

Panic button pressed!

• Check other AirBnbs in the same area: None available or almost 2x 3x times the amount we originally paid.
• Hotels near the same area: None available or almost 2x 3x times the amount we originally paid.
• Customer Service: Gave us a decent credit for the inconvenience, but still not close to cover the difference.

So, what to do now? There’s absolutely no way this trip can be posponed, now even less that I bought event tickets and admissions. Easy, stay in another area, away from the action and compromise. Our best case scenario turned into the woes case scenario in an instant.

The host appeared about an hour or two after the storm has passed. I was 20 tabs deep into bookings and hotel room rates. He explained: “technical difficulties with the platform and some documents led to AIrbnb canceling the property’s rental agreement online”. Of course I believed him, these things happen. He was willing to give us the same rate, sans service fee. Now it’s an even better deal, BUT, can we trust him? Can I travel hundreds of miles and place my trust on guy that could disappear and screw up my entire weekend? It’s not even about the money this time, it’s about not having a bed to sleep in once I arrive.

The short answer: No, fuck no!

The long answer: Seemed like an honest fellow with great reviews, also, top notch apartment, but really not in the mood to roll the dice on this one. Not worth all the problems it could cause.

The solution: Booked a king room at a Hilton about 20 minutes away from the city. Maybe I won’t be near the action, and will have to drive a bit for my events, but I saved about $200, and don’t have to worry about any hiccups (that’s the front desk’s problem).

Lesson to be learned: plan for the worst, prepare for the worst, then improvise.