How to be a good vacation renter

With more and more people going the VRBO/AirBnB route for rentals, the end of our second season renting out our shore house with 98% great renters for the past two summers, and a conversation with Lauren about what makes a good renter, I figured why not. We have had truly awesome people stay in our house and are very lucky. They have taught me so much. Selfishly, I'd also like to know what you have liked or didn't like about interacting with owners you've rented homes with on VRBO or the like as I am still finding my way around that. Deal?

Some of you are probably like fuck you I'm paying that's how I'm a good renter to which I would respond yesthankyouandgoodday. But if you're curious beyond that, here are some ways to be a good vacation renter.

1. Read everything the owner sends you. If your owner is like me, I can guarantee you the answer to 90% of the questions you will have is in the info packet. If they send you nothing, ask if they have info about the house that they typically send out. But if something is not covered...

2. Ask questions.  It is best to go into a rental situation with the appropriate level of expectation. It will also let the owner know what they have omitted and should include in the future.

3. Let the owner know if something is wrong or broken when you arrive or goes wrong/breaks while you're there. Chances are they have a very short window of time between you and the next guest to address any problems so while no one ever wants a problem, it is a relief when someone contacts you about it immediately and doesn't wait until check out to tell you. If it's something that needs to be fixed immediately, it will surely improve your vacation to have it taken care of. If it's just broken but not impeding on your time, you will be doing the owner a huge favor by preparing them. 

4. Treat it like your home....unless you eat in bedrooms. Don't eat in bedrooms. Seriously. Just...don't. Otherwise, relax in it and be comfortable in it but also know you can't go a day at home without wiping your kid's peanut butter and jelly off the dining room table so you shouldn't go more than a day without doing that in your vacation home either. If a light bulb burns out out or remote batteries die, change them (all good owners will leave some for you). If your dog makes a mess or your kid writes on the wall, clean it up. Put the trash and recycles out on the days indicated. It's a home, not a hotel. If you don't want to lift a finger and would like someone wiping up after you, you belong in a hotel, not someone's home. Knowing that it is a home and not a hotel with full service and not expecting full service will serve both parties well. 

5. If you like something, say something, and the reverse. I do little things like leave travel size stuff/fresh bag of coffee/some paper goods/etc for people, and it's good to know if those things are worth it since it means money out of my pocket. It's also good to know if it bothers someone for some reason. Do the pillows suck in a bedroom? Please tell me. All feedback is good feedback even if it's not super specific. 

6. Trust is a two way street. Renting through one of these sites requires you to trust the owner, yes, but it also requires the owner to trust you. Go with your gut but don't be weird. Do not rent from anyone who does not have a phone number and email attached to their listing. Expect to share your email, address, and phone number with the owner. 

7. Do not act like you are the first person to ever rent a house. When I think about the houses I've rented, I cringe at one incident in particular where I was a total special snowflake. It was my first time using VRBO and our first time bringing the dogs to a rental. That was the last place we rented at the shore since the offer we put in on our shore house was submitted and accepted during that vacation. The owner called me and reassured me on the phone. That is so not usual and I actually emailed her after our first season here and apologized for being needy as fuck a year before. 

While we're on the subject of vacation rentals, I would like all renters to know that VRBO/Homeaway is pulling some shit and they're asking renters to pay for it. If you're planning on renting via VRBO, know that you can still book direct through an owner to avoid their booking fee. They've just made it very hard to do so. They've also screwed up a few auto quotes so check your itemized quote when you do pay through them.

What have you liked or disliked about dealing with owners through VRBO or AirBnB?

I can't sign off without wishing my Gussie a happy 12th birthday. 

Or without sharing more links of organizations that will be helping on the ground in Texas. 

Houston food bank: http://www.houstonfoodbank.org/donate/
Corpus Christi food bank: http://www.foodbankcc.com/
Galveston food bank: http://www.galvestoncountyfoodbank.org/
The Texas Diaper Bank: http://www.texasdiaperbank.org/
SPCA of Texas: https://www.spca.org/news_hurricane-harvey
Coalition for the Homeless: https://www.homelesshouston.org/take-action/donate/
Portlight, which helps people with disabilities: http://www.portlight.org/home.html

I'm linking up with Lauren & Bre for their Add it to my list linkup, which they're doing the last Tuesday of every month. 

Thursday Thoughts: Mine are not together yet, but carry on.

1. I usually start the new year with my poop in a pile ready to get down to business. As discussed yesterday, in the opening week of this year my poop is more like a Jackson Pollock painting. I've been holding my planner in a kung fu grip so I can get my shit together before vacation in a few weeks.

Via 

2. Last weekend we went to the shore to take pics of the house so we could list it on VRBO. If you know someone who's looking to rent in the southern Jersey Shore region, specifically in Ocean City, please share the link with them. Thank you! Outtake: MFD also decided to winterize it...and turned the water off before he told me he was winterizing it. Then as soon as I found out the water was off, I had to go to the bathroom because that is always the way.

3. Countdown to Africa: 12 days. This week I got a typhoid shot and picked up my prescription for malaria and cipro. And fought with MFD about if we needed a yellow fever shot or not. He says no, I say why not. So if all you see from Africa is photos of us being detained in the airport, you know who to blame. Just kidding, the CDC agrees with him. People who have survived 14 hour flights - please share your tips! And drinking booze and taking pills don't count. If you have noise cancelling headphones that didn't cost an arm and a leg, hook a sister up with a link please.

4. Did I tell you guys I got a bluetooth type device that is going to tell me where my keys are every time I lose them? Stay tuned to see if this works. I really need it to work based on all the key fuckery that I subject myself to.

5. Just a reminder as we start a new year:

6. So I broke my gel nails on vacation only rule and got them over Christmas. Now I want to take them off and I have to do it at home so I'm avoiding it. People who remove at home, any tips?

7. I finished Making a Murderer this week. I have some opinions about innocence in regards to these two subjects of the docuseries, but most of the takeaway for me was about fair trials and preconceived notions we might go in with, regardless of our role in the system (judge, law enforcement, lawyer, accused, juror). What an eye opener about the legal system and what people are up against - especially uneducated people. One of the many lawyers said something in the last episode that has really stuck with me about how you think the system works until it works against you or someone in your family, and then you really see the cracks. And that it could happen to any of us. I'd like to share more thoughts but I don't want to ruin it. Watch it with an open mind!

8. The next Show Us Your Books is on Tuesday. I had a little over two weeks of meh reads - I bounced back and forth between a few books that were not really lighting a fire under my ass. I picked it up this week with Black-Eyed Susans. We also have a new button if you're interested, and you can get it on the right sidebar.

9. Blah blah I know. Look, us looking gross with our dogs over the holiday slow time:

10. I'm putting my money where my mouth is in regards to raising money and awareness for homeless youth, one of the most under-served age groups in the homeless population. On March 18 I'll be joining friends for Covenant House's Sleep Out to Support Homeless Youth. I'll be sleeping outside to raise awareness and money for homeless kids - homeless teens on their own often slip through the cracks with few places to turn - they are the most under-served group in the homeless population. Covenant House is the largest privately-funded agency providing food, shelter, immediate crisis care, and essential services to homeless youth in 27 cities in North America.They strive to move each young person forward down a path to an independent adulthood, free from the risk of future homelessness. I need to raise $1,000 for these kids by February 19. Thanks to the generosity of my people, I am within $200 of that goal. Any small amount helps. If you can donate, please click here. p.s. did you know you can age out of participating in this? You can. I'm in the last year of eligibility with my old ass. Thanks to Catie & Joe for opening my eyes to this opportunity and for the invite to join their team!

11. Ecard of the week: