#273 Nomad Diary. 10-16 January 2026. Back to Our Friends and Family in Alabama. They Always Tell Us We Have Returned Home! Rest and Recovery From Brazil Travel. Nomad Notes: Choosing a Hotel.

 

Our Amazing Breakfast at Our Alabama Airbnb

Ladies Day for Capshaw Church of Christ in Athens, Alabama

Saturday. 10. Today I went to a Ladies worship day with 50-60 women who I mostly know from our Capshaw church. There were some visitors. It was a first for a day organized like this with this group. It was very enjoyable for us all. Hailey organized the entire day with 6 lessons presented by women who I have never heard speak and don’t know so well. I enjoyed listening, learning and getting to know each one a little better through the day.

Sunday. 11. We had our regular group to worship with. We’ve known many of these people for more than 10 years. Since two groups combined a few years ago, we have been getting familiar with many more people. One of our members announced that they have kidney cancer and her surgery is in two weeks. It was a sad announcement paired with a happy announcement of a couple expecting their first baby in June after many years trying!  Eric’s family came over for dinner. We had Greek chicken meatball ‘bowls’. Add in rice and quinoa, green beans and tzatziki sauce.

Owen at Our Airbnb with His Paw Patrol Set Up

Backyard at Our Airbnb with Grandkids. Esther is Tossing a Ball.

Me and Owen Making Brownies at Our Airbnb

Monday. 12. The weather is cold in the 30’s-40’s today, but super sunny and bright. We decided to go shopping around mid-morning. We went to some of our favorite places: Duluth Trading Company; Bridge Street; Bass Pro Shop; a Mexican lunch; and a walk at Indian Creek on our way back to our house. Darrell found some new hiking shoes at Bass Pro Shop and a lightweight, hooded jacket at Duluth. I bought a new tee shirt! Lol.  

Tuesday. 13. Today I had a 1 year check up appointment with my sleep doctor. I didn’t need to go. My sleeping has improved over the year since he analyzed my sleep study last year and told me that I breathe better sleeping on my side. I’ve trained myself to mostly stay on my side. Either side works. I’ve increased my sleeping hours up to 6-7 hours on one side, then I wake up and change sides. All of my answers on the office intake showed that I have improved and didn’t need to do another sleep study. He was glad because he doesn’t often see someone like me who improves without a machine! Yay for me and for the info he gave me! 

At 10am we went to the church building for Doug’s Bible class. We enjoyed being together with our friends there. At 1pm we were online for our Bible class with the English church. I did fall asleep during the presentation, but I woke up for the conclusions! Lol. So sorry that I couldn’t make it through today.  

I decided on and booked an airbnb for our April stay in Galveston, TX. The host has 24 hours to approve, and it’s still pending. Hopefully it will be approved. I tried to choose a hotel for Vancouver, BC in May, but after getting Darrell to look at it and reading through some of the customer comments, I decided to give up on that hotel. There are a huge number of hotels and properties to choose from in Vancouver and it can be overwhelming. I decided to look again at Galveston and quit looking at Vancouver for a while. 

We went by Samuel’s house and got our two stored boxes.

Wednesday. 14. Today is cleaning day at our house. Since we are living here for 6 weeks, I put myself on a weekly cleaning schedule. I’m kind of hoping Eric will bring Esther and Owen over to help out, in their 2 and 4 year old fun ways!

Thursday. 15. We have been staying inside today. It’s sunny, but very cold at 30 degrees. We will get our coats on and get a walk around the neighborhood before dinner. We have been spending most of our time today deciding on hotels for our dates in and out of Vancouver, BC. Some of our decisions are difficult because of our choices on budget, or how much we are willing to spend within our choices available. There are other details to consider. 

Today’s delicious menu, because we eat really good food!: Breakfast: Darrell’s Apple Pancakes with Greek Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Fresh Berries, Nuts, Maple Syrup, and Pork Tenderloin. Lunch: Lean Beef Tacos with Black Beans, Cheddar cheese, Greek Yogurt, Lofat Sour Cream, Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers, La Provedencia Tortilla shells. Dinner: Left over Greek Chicken meatballs, greek yogurt tzatziki sauce, rice and quinoa, green beans. Snacks: black grapes, bananas, hot tea with milk.

Friday. 16. 

My Filled Journal with Some of My Neurographic Art.

My Sketching Practice Final Draft, Following an Artist on You Tube.

Nomad Notes: 

Choosing a Hotel: Spending time looking at a lot of hotel choices in Vancouver, BC. Some of our decisions are difficult because of how much we are willing to spend within our choices available. There are other details we consider. Finding a hotel seems easy and even overwhelming in Vancouver, but the prices vary between $175-800 per night. There are also choices of staying in rented rooms at B & Bs, or at apartments. 

There are times that we spend $0 on a night’s stay at a house sit, or at a friend or family’s house. There are times that we must spend several hundred dollars for a night’s stay. As we make our stay choices, Darrell enters the payments into his complex spreadsheet. This keeps us on track for our annual budget. When we began our nomad living in September 2020. In 2020, the prices for an airbnb were about $50-60 per night in Alabama. Some of the pricing was lower because of the pandemic, and throughout the recovery of the pandemic into 2022. Inflation has occurred in the 5 years we have been moving from place to place. We have pushed our nightly stay price up through these 5 years beginning at $50/night, then up to $80/night, $90, $100, $120 and this year our budget is $150 per night. We have a committee of 2 to make these budget changes! Lol. 

For our dates in Vancouver, we are flying in and spending 2 nights before getting on a cruise ship. We are scheduled to get in around 9pm and then there’s added time to get luggage and through customs. We wanted a hotel near the airport, but considered some closer to the cruise port. We have stayed in Vancouver before and our familiarity makes it easier for us to understand how we get around once we are there. There is a metro at the airport. It is tap on and tap off for the easiest way to pay. Using the citymapper app we can follow our detailed directions from place to place. Over the past few days, we have independently looked at stays in Vancouver that consider our scheduled arrival; the cost of the stay; previous customer comments; access to restaurants; and ease of getting to the hotel late at night. 

A couple of times we’ve had a choice of a hotel after discussing the pros and cons. Darrell tried to book that hotel through a ‘best price’ web site, but he gets stuck and it’s taking longer than an hour to try to get the reservation to go through. He gave up. The next day, when we feel less tired, we are ready to look again and to try booking again. Today was the day, and then there were still some stalls going into the process. One of Darrell’s first questions was the competing booking agents and the promises of points and deals, etc. He spent much of the morning looking at the details of the prices for one of our choices. It came down to a credit card rewards; a ‘perks’ web site through our bank; and Booking.com. The Booking web site won by $100! It’s so much easier to use than the other two sites with less rules to read through on the one time contracts. 

This comparison made me check a hotel stay that I booked for my upcoming Indiana trip. I booked it on ‘perks’ and I thought I had gotten a good deal. I wondered if I had looked at Booking. Turns out that I did get a better price on ‘perks’ for this one by $40. I had compared and went with the lowest price. This particular transaction on ‘perks’ was easy for me. 

So, it’s okay to check different stays and properties prices on different platforms. There’s not a clear answer to one always being the best deal. 

Where the difficulty comes is the amount of time it takes to learn about different platforms and then manage your memberships and what you know about doing business with these businesses over time. These details can change, and there is more time consumed in learning and keeping up with details. We do the best we can, but sometimes it’s easier to walk away and try something else. 

Our first hotel in Vancouver, in May is for 2 nights. We booked Quality Inn at $380. Our second hotel in Vancouver is for a one night stay in September. We come into the cruise port at breakfast time. We had a choice to fly out this day, take a red-eye, or wait until the next day. We decided to take the 5am flight the next day. We want to be very close to the airport. We looked at the one hotel at the airport. We like it, but it’s over $400 for one night. Darrell picked a couple of fairly close hotels to compare, but the cost difference wasn’t worth what we would pay for a taxi to the airport at 3am! We booked the $400 room for the convenience and closeness to getting our flight.

It is such a strange contrast to me to think how paying that much for a one night stay goes against the ‘save’ mindset of my lifetime and generations! Wow! We have enough and more than enough to travel well and pay for good services along our way. Thank the Lord who goes before us and follows us up even when having good things can be so difficult and seem counter-culture for me or for Darrell! 

Isa 52:12 (ESV) “For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

Psalm 139:5 (ESV) “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.”