We left San Diego on Wednesday morning at 7:30 AM. There are no non-stop flights from San Diego to Paris, so of course we connected in Detroit. I know what you’re thinking – who connects in Detroit?!

We did! I guess Delta has a pretty big hub there. We sprung for the Delta lounge so Andy could work for a few hours before our flight to Paris. The one thing that we really liked about the Detroit airport was there was an intra-terminal tram to get you between gates more quickly.

I was handling our first big issue of the trip, spoiler alert – there was another big one coming… When I had booked our Airbnb in Brussels – I found a cute apartment close to the train station and the car rental office. Our host hadn’t responded to any of my messages – which was pretty unusual. We’ve used Airbnb so many times that I’ve lost count, and I can’t say I’ve had this happen before.

I tend to be a bit paranoid when it comes to booking things, and unfortunately, I typically assume the worst. (I usually come up with a Plan B and Plan C ahead of time). I felt like I was likely just making something out of nothing. But the night before we flew out I couldn’t sleep. Our host hadn’t responded to let us know check instructions or anything.

I checked as soon as I woke up – and there was still nothing. So I immediately opened a case with Airbnb while we finished getting ready and packed. Once at the airport I called Airbnb. They said they would try to get a hold of him, but then I hopped on the plane.

Roughly 4 hours later, we landed and I had 4 voicemails from Airbnb. And a few messages in the app. One from the brother of our host – I guess our host had gotten sick and was just released from the hospital. They had to cancel our reservation.

At this point, we were landing in Paris within 10 hours and then hopping on a train to Brussels.

Once we got to the lounge the Airbnb representative called me back. They were refunding me what I paid – and 10% (which is a bit cheap if you ask me!). What they didn’t take into consideration was that I booked this back in OCTOBER – and it was 1/3 of the price of other Airbnbs in the area. I finally got someone competent who helped me get at least 30% additional to help me find a suitable Airbnb.

The new Airbnb was in the same location – and I think a bit of an upgrade. However, we did pay about $100 more to book the place.

I could finally relax as we boarded the plane to Paris. Nothing like a last minute booking to send you into a spiral.

Also, as a side note. We were definitely spoiled after flying Qatar Airways. Delta was nice and all, but Qatar still holds the #1 spot in my opinion!

Up Next:

-Landing in Paris
-Travel to Brussels (train)
-Grand Place
-Dinner and second dinner
-Manneken Pis