Day 39: Watching Netflix alone

My kitchen table.

One of the questions I'm asked frequently is this: Isn't it exhausting having people around you all the time?

The short answer is: I've spent many years of my life feeling lonely, for various reasons, and I really hate it, so no.

But let me explain this a little more. First of all most of the Airbnb guests I have are very considerate and have their own plans most of the time. And it's not like having friends or family that overstays in your home. These people don't expect me to cook or arrange things for them.

Also I've come to realize that I don't need as much privacy as I thought. I'm perfectly fine with not having my own room, but to sleep in the dining room. During the days I also have a lot of time alone in the apartment. 

But surely, having 47 guest nights means there are a lot of people here. Today for example when I came home from the gym I met A in the kitchen. She's a researcher at Uppsala University and spends a few nights here every month when she's in town. While she had her Picard dinner I was cooking some chicken. We had some wine and talked about how our last week had been.

Then came guest no 13 and since she didn't have anything to eat I offered her some chicken. So we sat there, the three of us, talking about how sports for kids are organized in our countries (I'm writing an article about this), or what it's like to break a foot (this happened to A a couple of months ago) or making broth (since I now had some chicken bones). It turned out that the broth was something that they both took seriously and they compared their best ramen experiences and how amazing the broth had been, for at least ten minutes.

I wish I could describe this better, but what started out as a rainy Monday when I was feeling a bit down, ended in a really nice evening with good company. Now, what was the question again; would I rather have spent it alone watching Netflix?