Jun. 21: Too. Many. Options!

I just spent two hours trying to book a hotel in Seattle for this weekend. I did the same thing yesterday. There are plenty of rooms available in the city; that’s not the problem. The problem is that I’m so friggin’ worried that I’ll choose a hotel with some particular feature that will make us unhappy, that I can’t make a decision.

Just when I think I’ve found the perfect place, I realize something important is missing, like nearby parking or an in-room coffeemaker or an address in a safe location. I keep looking. Then I’m sure I’ve seen the NEXT hotel that looks perfect for a much lower rate somewhere else, so I re-open all the other travel sites I’ve already looked at and try to find it. And I can’t. I start over, and I find the perfect place AGAIN. I’m ready to book it but happen upon a customer review about someone finding human feces on the wall of their room. So that one is off the list, and I look for another, and the further I get from the city, the cheaper they are and the oh-so-much scarier they are. Also, I am lost by then—literally and figuratively. I give up and start over again.

My jaw is clenching. My blood pressure is rising. Am I giving this way more thought than I should? Yes. Am I stressing for no good reason at all? Most definitely. Am I the most indecisive person EVER? L’il bit.

Because how hard does it have to be to find a bed on which to lay one’s head? Not hard at all! Unless you’re me.

Did you know there’s actually a site called CouchSurfing, where you can find a couch in someone’s house to crash on? Are we in college? No, we’re just cheap-asses. Victor asked, “Who would do that? And who would want some stranger sleeping on their couch?” I know who. My mom married him when I was 14. I have a feeling everyone who’s listed their couch as available is either a total creep, a rapist lookin’ for some fun, or a serial killer. Possibly all of the above. CouchSurfing’s slogan is “Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time.” It could just as easily be “Participate in Being Easy Prey for a Criminal, One Couch at a Time.” Yikes-a-hootie.

I will not be CouchSurfing in Seattle, that is one thing on which I can decide. We’re not desperate for a place to stay, nor are we even a little bit interested in being someone’s victims for the weekend. So, um, yippee for me! I’ve crossed something off my list that wasn’t even there when I started this whole process.

I’m like this every time I start to make any kind of travel arrangements. It takes me forever to weigh through my options and I’m a complete basket case by the end. But I almost never regret the choice I end up making, so there’s that.

Still, it kinda makes me hate me for being me.

Wish me luck.