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After one year of COVID restrictions I’m happy to have no guests anymore.
As a 6-year host I don’t like the way AirBnB has changed from offering private places to a hotel-like service.
It’s not about the people anymore but about location and service. Guests are also expecting too much I think.
I loved to hang around with guests, cook together, having some drinks and a nice chat. It’s all gone.
To me it was never about the income but about the people.
I work as a media and communication designer. COVID hit me hard. No contracts for a year. We are nearly bankrupt.
Maybe I’m depressive, I also developed some kind of a alcohol and drug addiction.
Don’t know why I’m posting this here. It just doesn’t make sence anymore.
Your feelings are understandable. And just as it seems things are going to get back to normal with the vaccines, the regional spikes keep reminding us that the pandemic is not over.
You don’t have to quit hosting…or continue. You don’t have to make a decision today. The old model of hosting guests and hanging out with them will return. There might even be an increased demand for that kind of accommodation once it’s safe. It’s impossible to say what will happen next month or next year.
If I remember correctly you are in Germany and I don’t know if your listing is one that I have bookmarked or not. Was your Airbnb a separate property that you need to sell?
I hope you get the help you need to battle your addiction and depression. You are always welcome to post here even if you stop hosting.
Fair enough, but as @KKC said, it’s not a decision you need to make right away. We feel the exact same in respect of interaction with guests, we really miss the glasses of wine and a chat on the patio, or with others taking them to our favourite tabancos for some vino de Jerez and tapas.
Sadly, we get very few Airbnb guests now, the vast majority of what few bookings we’re getting here, down in the bottom left hand corner of Spain, is via BDC and Vrbo. We haven’t seen any of our regular direct booking guests for almost a year now.
While (with us anyway!) Airbnb guests have always generally been more sociable then BDC guests, we’ve had a good few BDC where we’d happily have chatted or had a glass of wine with, but couldn’t. For us, it marks a distinctly different type of BDC guest then before.
Maybe worth thinking that a change is as good as a rest and giving a different platform a whirl?
From a financial perspective, I feel for you. We have suffered massive losses since March 2020 as well, as have the majority of small time hosts in our neck of the woods.
That all said, I am confident that many facets of pre covid hosting will return. As more and more folks get vaccinated, the tension and stress of dealing with guests at arms length will disappear and allow for a more personal style of hosting to reappear.
Different strokes for different folks. There’s alternatives out there, but you need to go find them. I sincerely hope you do, viel glück!
More than welcome, I mean you’re the bloke who introduced the Dead South to this forum
Oh my god…pun intended. I wouldn’t last with them either. But they have some good advice in there, like “one day at a time.”
I drank and sat around enough during the pandemic to put on about 10 extra pounds. I also felt bloated, had heartburn, didn’t sleep well. About 6-8 weeks ago, after a visit to the doc who told me my cholesterol is up again, I decided to start on some projects around the house including a small renovation project in my Airbnb room. Since then I’ve put in 6-8 hour days of brisk physical activity, burning calories and drinking down. I feel so much better and have lost almost all the weight.
That works for me, you may need professional help. There are plenty of substance abuse counselors who are rationalists.
Please hang in there. Life is full of ups and downs. Soon things will be better. Try to stay optimistic. Do things to refuel your soul; read a book on the beach or by a lake, go for a walk, have a dear friend over for a pasta dinner, etc.
Because the folks on this forum care about each other. I’m sorry you’re having trouble with your depression and substance issues. Here’s hoping you find a place for help that fits your needs, faith-based or rationalist. Take care of yourself.
I, too, miss hanging out with the people. It’s never about the money for the really good hosts.
I remember your cabin by the lake. Lovely property!
Take a breath. Know that an international forum of people cares about you. Don’t make snap decisions.
This! I do have fond memories of Dirk and better days. Way back in 2016 there was a particularly nasty member who would post ridiculous things, get banned, change her forum name and post again and get banned… Dirk would join in the fun of mocking her.
I can be pretty harsh (I like to think I’m a tough love realist) but there isn’t anyone here I wouldn’t try to help if I thought I could. Even some no longer posting members whose posts I couldn’t stand, I’d help them if they needed help. I think we have an exceptionally good group here.
Others have expressed my thoughts better than I could articulate them. You are a valued member of this community, whatever you decide will be fine but please put all major decisions on hold for now. 2020, and so far, 2021 has been a grieving process for the “Before” time, a struggle for the now “Covid-time” and leading into an uncertain “Future” time. I second Annet3176 in encouraging you to try other groups - each one tends to have its own personality. Hope you can find a good fit and can take what helps and leave the rest.
I will go to a hospital on monday. They have a 6-week program for burned out people.
Sadly my health insurance will not cover the costs so I will have to pay by myself.
Wishing there were other options than the heart to click on… need something to express feelings of respect for you for making a tough but good decision, sad for you that it will be a financial burden, happy help is available, admiration for your ability to be open and share, hopeful you will be back. Guess the heart sums it all up!
@dirk You might enjoy a movie called “You Kill Me”. Stars Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni, so the acting is great and the story is quirky and quite funny. He plays a mafia contract killer who is a drunk and really losing it, so his bossman forces him to go to AA. Of course he hates it, but he ends up getting what he needed out of it.
Best scene is when he finally stands up in front of the group after not participating for the first few meetings, and tells everyone what he does for a living that his drinking is interfering with, quite matter-of-fact, as if it’s just a normal, regular job.
