I have a problem.
A Tripadvisor problem.
It happens every year.
At about this time, my mind and body starts craving/dreaming/needing a vacation. Somewhere different. Preferably to a place where trains are called metros and where you can stay in a flat instead of an apartment. Or maybe a tropical turquoise retreat where I can drink from a coconut and lay on beach.
A place where I can be Vacation Mom and Vacation Wife. The one that doesn’t worry and nag and yell and order. The one that lets you buy obscenely pricey gum from the gift shop and stay up until you feel like falling asleep. The one that doesn’t care if anyone has brushed their teeth or combed their hair. She’s awesome. I miss her.
But in order to transform into this groovy, go-with-the-flow chick we need to get the hell out of dodge first.
And in order to do that we need to find a place to go.
And every time we find a place I am compelled to that damn website to check out the reviews.
It never ends well for me.
Everyone has an opinion, and I read every last one.
MaryS from Wichita thinks the rooms at a certain resort in Puerto Rico aren’t clean enough.
George from New Jersey didn’t like any of the restaurants but loved the pool at his hotel in Hawaii.
clevergirl8 from Texas loved Peru but had a horrible time with customs at the airport.
I try to focus on just the positive. You can’t make everyone happy, I say to myself.
But then I toss and turn and doubt. And doubt.
Are people just really really picky?
I realize that I could never have been one of those people backpacking through Europe or Asia or Idaho. I need research. Data. Background. I need to know that others have gone before me and had a good time. Or not.
So we’ll make our plans for vacation and it’ll be very exciting, but deep down I’ll be thinking about MikeP from Albany, who thought Dublin was beautiful except for the hotel concierge who was a bit grumpy the whole time.
I give Tripadvisor.com 3 out of 5 stars. Lots of consumer information which usually results in the firm knowledge that no matter where you are going or what you are doing – it could have been better somewhere else.
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