Day 19: Hello Goodbye

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

Day 19: Hello Goodbye

It’s a few days before Christmas, and we’re preparing to say goodbye to yet another guest. He’s been staying with us for two weeks while he works in our small town, and he’s returning to his home in Seattle just in time for the holidays to start. We shared a bit of an adventure when the boiler stopped working on the coldest evening of the Canadian winter so far, and we all spent a chilly night with extra duvets and space heaters. Luckily, he had a sense of humor about it, and we all survived. When I get home from work tonight, his truck will be gone, and just like that, he will have passed from our lives.

 

For me, saying goodbye is always difficult; I tend to avoid farewells. It’s probably not the greatest trait in an Airbnb host. Since starting my hosting career, we’ve had over 300 guests stay in our flat - some for a night or two, some for weeks - so the goodbyes are both frequent and inevitable. I still don’t like them, despite all the practice. It doesn’t necessarily take a long stay for a guest to make a significant impression: you can connect to people in such a short time. Guests come and go, but we remember them. I should focus on the hellos instead of the goodbyes, and the meaningful connections that are made, however brief and fleeting they may be. As hosts, we have the honor of participating in major events in people’s lives – family vacations, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, honeymoons, to name a few – and we have power to make the events even more memorable, and hopefully even more special. A bottle of wine, a word of congratulations, some flowers, a kind gesture, make people realize that we do mark their passage through our lives – that their presence means something to us and that they matter to us. They’re not just a reservation code: they briefly become part of our lives. We make a connection.

 

Tonight when I get home, a different car will be in the guest parking spot, and there will be someone new to say hello to.  Again, we have the opportunity to participate in a major event in our guests’ lives: our new arrivals just had a baby yesterday, and because their house is under renovation, they need a place to stay. A fresh human in our Airbnb: not many life events are more important than that, the very beginning of what I hope is a long and happy story. Soon, they’ll be gone too, taking a little bit of the flat with them back home and leaving a little bit of themselves with us. Maybe when they’re back in their own home, they’ll remember spending Christmas 2018 in our Airbnb, something that’s brought up during the holidays with a smile and a “Remember when…?”. I hope so. I hope that we make the same kind of impression on our guests that they do on us: not always perfect, but mostly positive, and always memorable. 

 

Hello and goodbye to all of my Airbnb guests of 2018: I remember you all, and I’m glad you came.

34 Replies 34

@Robin4 Thanks Rob, and to you and yours as well!

 

We may not have a white Christmas here either, as it turns out: it looks like rain, and today, it's supposed to be 7 degrees.

@Alexandra316

Thank you so much for you lovely post~!!!!

Henry and I have become quite fond of a few of our previous guests, with whom we stay in touch with....... we love hearing from them, especially when they send us pics of Korean food that they recently had or *tried* to cook lol~!

 

 

@Jessica-and-Henry0 I'm sure that must be the case for you, when all of your guests stay with you for longer and you really have an opportunity to build a rapport.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Alexandra316  Thank you for writing and posting this. I've also been a bit sad to see many guests go, some only stayed for a few days, but we really connected. One of the things I really appreciate about this forum is how many hosts here write so well, thoughtfully and articulately. (I always like it when the infrequent posts from the ever-elusive Emily, who writes prose/poem posts appear)

@Sarah977 Thanks for the kind words. Lots of talented people on this board, for sure! Ah Emily, dadaist prose poet. I'm convinced that she is one of us in a fake moustache.

Lawrene0
Level 10
Florence, Canada

Thanks for the reminder that to be a little sad is to be grateful, @Alexandra316!

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

This is a lovely post @Alexandra316. Really thought provoking. I sometime stop and look around and think about all the individual lives and experiences that are going on (when you walk down the street, everyone has a different purpose, different deadlines, different joys, different challenges). It is lovely to picture a little bit about yours. 🙂

 

Thank you so much for sharing this. 

 

Lizzie

 

 

 


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Claire475
Level 9
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

What a beautifully penned article and a lovely way to reflect on being an ABB host. 

Generally I have short term guests who stay a day or two and then move on, Luxembourg is quaint, but small, so most tourist don’t stay for long, and by nature nor do business guests. While I must admit the constant changing of guests is exhausting,  I have learnt an untold amount about the world from our guests, and feel blessed that without leaving my home I have traveled the world. 

My guests have shared interesting stories and parts of their lives with me and in return I hope I have given them a calm, clean, comfortable room away from the rush and bustle of being a tourist and the frenzy of city hopping for the business person.

 

Thanks @Claire475! I've actually visited Luxembourg, and it is very lovely. Your place looks beautiful, and I'm not surprised that you guests enjoy it so much.

Clara116
Level 10
Pensacola, FL

@Alexandra316 Thank you for your very sweet, most touching post about hosting and your  gentle heart. I believe connections with other people is truly the essence of life. No matter what. Knowing, sharing, caring, loving and just being kind or acknowledging someone. 

I'm convinced (even with the crazy technology that seems to distance everyone)  like phones don't get answered BUT you message and zing you get a response bullet fast.  TOO Funny  - I just NOW got a text, I had to laugh out loud - its 7am, too. 

A few days ago I was with our mother as she took her final breaths..............and after 13 yrs. volunteering at Hospice - I have yet to see this any different - everyone wants people they love and care about at the end. Nothing else. So it is wonderful to make connections, relish them, treasure them and work not to burn too many bridges as we journey through life. 

thanks Alexandra for this uplifting post - it was very needed during this time for me. Blessings to you, Clara

 

 

@Clara116 Thank you for your incredibly kind words, and for sharing your experience. I am so very sorry for your loss.

I also believe that one of our main goals in life should be to connect with others. I'm by no means a technophobe or against progress, but I think that with the pace of life and increased reliance on digital devices, it can be difficult to make that connection. That being said, I also think that digital spaces like this one can bring us together and make meaningful connections too. Thank you for taking the time to connect with me.

 

This is lovely! Thank you for sharing 🙂

 

@Christine615 Thank you! Yours is great too.

Dieneke0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Alexandra316  That is so lovely expressed. Yes it is very strange to say goodbye. Most people you won't see anymore. I feel that it always very intense as you empathise with what they are doing in London, in my case. But also if a new guest arrives then you switch gear. It is also lovely that one always learns new things of the different cultures and even of one's own city. Thank you. 

@Dieneke0 Thank you! That's a really interesting point about learning more about the place you live because of hosting guests. I find out new info when people ask questions, or guests find interesting places and then tell me about it. Pretty cool!