MedFlies

A lot of people have asked how we found the four places we will be staying in four different countries before we ever left on the trip.  The simple answer is the internet.But it took hours of creative searching to find the four places that met our criteria. Search terms make a huge difference.  For example “self-catering” means that it has a kitchen. This simple term eliminated all of the listings that did not have kitchens. Listings were all over the board as far as listing agencies. VRBO is an international agency a lot of people know but it is very pricey and there are scads more.  Once you find a listing you have to scour the photos and the details about what each has (gas hobb (love that one), oven, washing machine, wifi connection, etc.) to meet your requirements.  Photos tell a lot  as long as you remember they are showing truncated views of the accomodation to the renter’s a advantage…the four story apartment building next door is not in the picture.  So that ushers in the next part of the process, establishing an email relationship directly with the renter.  I found this to be essential to getting a good rate. All of our contacts  negotiated giving us markedly discounted prices from what was published on the agency web site. In addition I got to know people and get a feel for each of the cultures through them. One of my favorite people we didn’t rent from was Caesar who ended his last email with, “Hugs from Sicilia.”