How to book accommodation

I was frantically trying to book our accommodation in New York City for two weeks in the end of August and complaining over dinner at my parents' that staying in Manhattan is actually going to blow my budget (I have a grant for doing research there), when my helpful dad, who have actually travelled more than me in his lifetime, started to come up with suggestions. It sounds very expensive with 150$/night for an apartment, he said. Have you tried hotels dot com, he suggested. I tried to explain that I don't want to live in a hotel room for two weeks with Zoe since I want to be able to cook meals and have a fairly normal life. Also trying to avoid the obvious: getting a hotel room in NYC in August is always going to cost more than 150$. Oh but they often have suites or apartment type accommodation, he continued. We got something very nice in Thailand once that wasn't very expensive. I didn't point out the obvious difference between the two countries and just smiled. Yes, dad, I'll try hotels dot com. So I'm still frantically trying to book an apartment through airbnb. If people would just reply to me and accept my inquiries, that would be nice. And after a bit of debating with myself I decided that it is worth the extra money to get a decent place on lower Manhattan though. 

I can deal with this

Zoe and I got off the train in Edinburgh after a busy weekend visiting a friend, in fairly good time to get the bus to the airport where a plane would fly us directly back to Stockholm, arriving just past midnight. I was pulling the small suitcase that Zoe thinks is hers, and pushing the stroller, sometimes with Zoe, sometimes without. Due to tram building the whole street above the station was closed off and the airport bus was nowhere to be found. I walked around and got a bit agitated; it was not easy to roll luggage and stroller around. I finally saw an airport bus and asked the driver with hand gestures where he would stop. I then rolled everything in the direction he pointed, no bus stop was to be found. I then tried to follow the bus but I got lost at a small crescent where I also hit the curb so hard with the stroller that Zoe fell out. "Zoe walk with mom", she promptly decided after I apologized and made sure she was okay. Now our flight was approaching an hour away. I hate giving up, but I also hate missing flights. I hailed a taxi and had to ask him to stop by an ATM where I could then spend £4 on taking out £20 so I could pay him. He told me the bus stop was on the other side of the station where I hadn't looked and I felt a bit stupid.

We reached the airport on time but when I looked for the desk to check-in SAS was not listed. I found a small screen in the corner with actual flights listed and it showed a two hour delay. So much for hurrying. My flight tracking application on my phone had not notified me. Zoe wanted ice-cream. I realized we hadn't had dinner and it was close to 8pm. "You can have anything", I said and continued rolling ourselves down towards the cafe area. The little convenience store had no ice-cream. The guy laughed and said "it's too cold here". Zoe broke down. I went down on my knees and tried to explain that we were going to be here for a long time and that we could look for something else to eat. At the same time they called the passengers of our flight over the speakers. We were to report to the service desk because our flight had now been cancelled.

At the service desk I was informed that they would put us up in a hotel but that the bus would not be there for an hour and a half. Then the plane would fly the next morning. "Hotel?" Zoe asked excitedly and I confirmed. At least it was not a boring hotel. We cozied up in the cafe and I let her watch non-stop children's shows on the iPad while eating the rest of our nuts from the bag and two pasta screws from a pasta salad that unfortunately had yucky stuff on it.

Meanwhile I tried not to panic as I calculated our arrival time with the new flight tomorrow: At the earliest it would arrive one hour before my students had their final exams, 10 students who had prepared and who needed this exam in order to graduate this spring. An exam I could not let anyone else do because it was project based. I can deal with this, I thought and called a colleague. "Can you look after Zoe for two hours tomorrow afternoon?". She agreed and luckily Zoe has seen her a couple of times before so when I told her, she was excited. "Zoe like Katy", she said and I sighed in relief.

When we finally got to the hotel they were quick to check us in and without asking the price I bought a 24 hour internet pass. They offered us dinner but I laughed, looking at the most tired 3 year old in all of Scotland and just shook my head. Zoe fell asleep the instant she hit the pillow and I went to work. Writing students that I might be late. Very late. Writing a presentation for the day after, which I originally would have had the next morning to do. I slept at 1 am and my alarm went off at 6:30. I woke Zoe up as late as possible and she tumbled into her clothes and into her stroller. We caught the bus as the last ones and checked into the flight. When we got to security they had implemented little gates like on the subway, where scanning your boarding pass opens the doors. Our boarding passes didn't work and we had to go to the staffed gate. Zoe started wailing when she was just let in. The security officer quickly held back the queue and closed the gate with his card. He then handed his card to Zoe and let her scan it, opening the doors. She was thrilled and I nodded at the guy: "You saved our day". In the lounge Zoe drank two bottles of orange juice and had one bite of cheese.

A tired Zoe finally on the way home

Our flight was even more delayed and in the end we touched down half an hour after my exams officially should have started. We jumped in a taxi and I prayed the whole trip that the taxi driver would drive cautiously; I don't ever take Zoe on the freeway without an actual car seat (which is also illegal), but there was really not much option here. Taxis here have booster seats but no special belts. My colleague met us at the entrance and I kissed Zoe before running over to the 20 students waiting for me. Their presentations and exams all went well.

The most difficult part of the trip was the subway home from work. Fortunately I could leave my suitcase in my office because I was going to Copenhagen the next day (without Zoe) but she was so over tired and travelled out that she didn't want to hold my hand on the train station and I had to hold her down in her stroller and strap her in. Something I have only ever done once before.

We got home and I made the bed immediately, letting Zoe fall asleep under my duvet. Then I sat down on the kitchen floor and cried. Just a bit.

Those boring old hotels

Back when Zoe still thought minibars were exciting

When I was putting Zoe to sleep we talked about how today had been ("Zoe thinking that it was a good day") and what activities are coming up next. I reminded her that this week she will go to an English nursery for two days while I work in Manchester and then we will take the train to visit one of our friends who used to live in Stockholm. One that Zoe likes very much and got excited talking about. "But first we have to stay in a hotel for three days", I said, thinking she would also be a bit excited about that. But no. "Oh, that's a long, long time", she said in a tone of dislike. I asked her if she didn't like hotels and she thought about it for a bit. "Hotels boring", she then said and there I had it: My 3 year old has stayed so many times in hotels that she now thinks it is uneventful. She knows the little wrapped soaps. She knows there is never Pocoyo on TV in hotels. She has fallen down the hotel beds more than what's good for her (why are they always so bloody high?). Even the minibar has lost its glory. But our friend's apartment, she mused about for a while. Did it have stairs or an elevator? Could she walk up the stairs while I took the elevator? Would there be a balcony like we have? I didn't know but we will soon find out.

This is our next trip coming up. Due to practicalities such as my teaching obligations at the moment and timing of planes, it was impossible for me to drop Zoe off in Copenhagen for this three day trip to Manchester. Instead I managed to get a nursery to take her for two days, a private babysitter for the evening of the dinner and I got her plane ticket on my miles. All in all it will cost me around 200 dollars for the babysitting, which is much cheaper than any other option I could think of, and we get to make a trip out of it. Too bad Zoe thinks hotels are so boring, I'll try my best to spice it up a bit next time.