This past few months have been like a roller-coaster of emotions for me, I assume that for many others too. I have started writing about this several times but never finished, sometimes thinking no one will really care, others put off for fear of being judged whatever I say (I’ve realised I don’t handle criticism very well lately, but bring it on). I was starting to see the light at the end of a long and dark tunnel when we were hit by this awful virus and everything suddenly came to a stand still; no more job prospects, no more bookings and no option to travel and see my family at Easter as I had planned since I had to miss Christmas with them. Probably like most I’ve had mixed feelings about this platform, who hasn’t been affected by having to deal with customer support only to find there’s no recourse to an unfair decision. But all in all they were good to me so, long ago, I made the conscious choice to stay loyal to Airbnb and now was paying the consequences. I was kicking myself for having relied on them when I got my one and only Covid-19 cancellation, mainly because it happened long before it became a real threat in Western Europe and the way my guests went about getting a full refund without even asking me first. I know many will disagree but I soon realised the only acceptable course of action was to refund anybody that could not travel because of it, whatever cancellation policy we had. We’ll never reach an agreement about Airbnb’s right to override hosts’ policies, it has been discussed endlessly, I think even Solomon would find it difficult to reach the right decision in a case like this, and it’s not of any use to keep shouting about something that cannot be changed. If I have not had to deal with many more refunds it’s only because unfortunately I had to start rejecting bookings very early on given the high risk of a very bad outcome for someone like me catching this virus.
When you live alone in a flat in the middle of a big city, the prospect of having to lock yourself down for weeks on end and isolate is not very appealing for someone with depressive tendencies; there’s so much time to think and the constant worry about the financial issues and how or even if I would survive this has been too much at times. Although in this situation it has been a blessing and a curse at the same time, I’m grateful to live in the Internet era, amongst other things, I wouldn’t have rediscovered this forum otherwise. In spite of what I’ve read many times about Airbnb not being a partnership or a community, reading and replying to posts has indeed given me a sense of community and of belonging, I’ve realised there are many beautiful places I’d still like to visit one day (maybe staying with some of the hosts I’ve “met” here) and in turn has given me hope too.
Hosting is not a job for me, never considered it a business, it’s a lifestyle; it was a nice extra income at first until it became my lifeline, and maybe I should really have used the past tense here as given the current circumstances I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to host again. Having guests to welcome in my home kept me focused and motivated, I’d say it even kept me sane in spite of some ups and downs, and can also honestly say that they are what I miss the most. I’m surprised that very few ever mention this or seem to be too bothered about them, maybe because guests appear to have turned into the “enemy” due to the flood of cancellations suffered by most hosts. Even before this started I was getting worried about how long home sharers who once were the backbone of the platform and made it different from the competition would last amongst the plethora of “professional“ hosts that flooded the market, at least in my city of London. I have read that Brian said in his last broadcast to us here that Airbnb intend to focus on the human connection again, go back to their roots, this will mean supporting hosts like me and couldn’t be more welcomed. The cynic in me is reticent to believe it, but amongst everything that’s been said since all this started, if that comes true, for me it would be the most positive outcome from an awful situation (again many will disagree but aren’t there many better suited platforms to choose from for them?) because at the moment I feel it would be my only hope to get back to normal, whatever normal is after this. The financial side of things can be dealt with in other ways, it’s the human contact I want back in my life. I miss my guests, I want them back.
