Three years ago I swore off shared Airbnb kitchens forever

Three years ago in Medellin I booked this supposedly nice shared apartment with like 8 other digital nomads. On day two I went to make coffee at 7 AM and found someone's half eaten arepa sitting on the burner and a sink full of oily dishes. By day four the fridge smelled so bad I started keeping my yogurt in my room with a cold pack. The worst part was the guy who would cook fish at midnight and leave the pan to soak for two days. I lasted two weeks before I moved to a private studio for $150 more a month. Has anyone else had a shared kitchen experience that made you rethink your whole living setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucashenderson8d ago

The arepa thing is tragic but that fish story is brutal. My last straw was finding someone's wet socks draped over the toaster.

casey3428d ago

@alext52 hit the nail on the head with that respect thing. Heard a podcast a while back about how most roommate fights boil down to one person acting like a barn animal. Wet socks on a toaster is straight up feral behavior.

alext528d ago

Have you seen that article about the 15 worst roommate offenses that went around last month? Because I swear your wet sock story belongs right near the top of the list. @lucashenderson I've had my own share of bad roommates over the years, but I think the fish story you mentioned really takes the cake. It's one thing to leave a mess in the kitchen, but deliberately putting dirty, wet clothes on a toaster is just asking for a fire or at least a pretty bad shock. Makes you wonder what goes through some people's heads when they think that's acceptable behavior in a shared space. I remember reading somewhere that most roommate conflicts actually come down to basic respect and communication, which seems to be missing in cases like yours.