The accommodation saga - Part two

The story continues from yesterday where after initially thinking I was to be staying at Phil's house for the whole week I suddenly find my plans completely in shambles and was struggling to find accommodation at the San Francisco hostels for Friday and Saturday night. There still appears to be absolutely no rooms available in any hostel.

I awoke this morning to faltering faith on what this day will bring. We begin 9.30am Friday.

In an effort to save money I decided to wake up early so I could take advantage of my hostels free pancakes in the morning. I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled my way to the kitchen... it was packed... and they ran out of pancake mixture before my turn came up. Today was not starting well.

A cursor for how the rest of the day may go perhaps?

James, Millie and I checked out of our current hostel. They had another hostel booked that they were to be staying at for the next few days, and I obviously still had no where to go so I just hung around the hostel, using their Wi-Fi. I gave a (hopefully) heartfelt thank you to James and Millie as they left, without them my previous night would have been miserable. They said they were spending the day at a sports bar to watch the Euro Cup 2012 (soccer) and said if I sort my accommodation out in time, I should go meet them there at midday.

We shall see...

I spent the next hour debating with myself on what the hell should be my next move to sort this situation out. As of this moment I am literally stranded with no accomodation for the following two night.

Suddenly, I envision my first plan!

The airport...

If I have no where to stay, I was going to sleep at the airport. It isn't great, but it will do.

Let's call that... Plan G, and try and think of better alternatives before it gets to that stage. My options that I could think of were, in order of preference:

Plan A: Keep checking the hostel booking website and see if something comes up
Plan B: Hopefully get a reply from one of the very many couch surfing requests I sent out
Plan C: Send messages out to all my new San Francisco friend's who have their own accomodation (there is only about... 2 or 3 of them...)
Plan D: Walk around to each hostel and ask them if they have room (that often works I am told)
Plan E: Don't have one, but I refuse to have 'the airport' as my number 5 preference...
Plan F: See Plan E
Plan G: The airport. Seriously if I end up here, it will be a new low for this trip... ha!

I had already initiated Plan A, B and C, and had nothing left to do but wait and hope for them. Plan D I should probably do immediately if I have any chance of it working. Time was of the essence! I spent about an hour in limbo, waiting for something to happen, wondering what I should do.

James and Millie's words ring through my head "we are going to be in a pub having a beer"...

Hmm... walk around to each hostel asking if they have rooms, potential solving this dilema... or go have some beers in the middle of the day with two new friends and risk missing a window of opportunity to get a room for the night and end up stranded?..

...

...

...

...

10 minutes later I find James and Millie at the pub =D

First round is on me guys!

I am an extremely optimistic guy. It is a huge fault of mine but also one of my greatest qualities. Something was bound to come up, I just knew it, so I happily sat with James and Millie and enjoyed a few beers while watching the soccer. These two rocked and we had an awesome time. An hour went by and still nothing, and I am wondering where the hell has Phil got to? I messaged him explaining my situation, but I haven't heard anything from him at all. I thought we were friends...

Ah well, all good, something is bound to present itself I'm sure of it.

Another hour went by and it was nearing 2.30pm by this stage. Despite keeping a brave face in front of James and Millie, I was starting to get a little nervous I admit. The airport was starting to look pretty likely...

Suddenly, I get a call... it's Mardy! Remember Mardy? Probably not! He is some guy I met in my hostel room who I invited to come to the hostel pub crawl last week with Isabel and I. I barely knew the guy to be honest but when you are in a bind then any help you can get is welcomed. What's this? He says he would be happy to have me stay at his appartment! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! How does this luck happen!?

Problem solved!

The luck involved in all of this is unreal, what if I hadn't met Mardy (highly likely), or if I hadn't invited him to the pub crawl as it was only on a whim that I did (and that is where we first talked the most... well enough to warrant becoming Facebook friends that is), or what if Mardy hadn't gone and got this apartment (also extremely likely, he only got it because he made friends with the owner by chance).

And the best part? His apartment is literally on a tiny island in the bay of San Francisco... called Teasure Island! Ha!

Absolute life saver!

With all the pressure off it was time to enjoy the day. With James and Millie we explored the city a little, James and I won a t-shirt in a golf putting competition, and we had some cake. I really wish I had met them much sooner, for they were to be leaving for Las Vegas the following day. Ah well, again I am reminded of the curse of travel.

Thanks guys! You couldn't have entered my life at any more of an opprtune moment then you did =)

So out of no where, despite all despair, a solution presented itself. I am going to enjoy my time on Teasure Island and really just take it one day at a time.