So, we all know the COVID shit ruined my vacation to the UK 3 times this year. I got rather spoiled going for 2 1/2 weeks since 2015. Getting to meet, see, and hug Henry Cavill 4 out of those 5 years made it even more special. Last year though was a bit of a shitshow.
Myself and my usual 2 travel companions, Rachel and Karo, made plans to stay at the Le Hurel Cottages on Jersey once again for 2019. Karo put down the first deposit pretty much within a month after leaving in 2018. So starting in like Nov of 2018, I kept remind them (mostly Rachel since Karo already paid her share) that the final payment was due Feb 11th. That weekend Rachel up and says she wasn’t going to be staying at the cottage for the first week cause she wanted to go to Italy. Now, first off, by this point the $600+ dollars Karo paid for the deposit is non-refundable. Second off, Rachel knew when the final payment was do and could have made this revelation sooner so we could get the deposit back should Karo and I decide to stay some place else for that week. But nope. If we canceled, we lose the deposit which wasn’t fair. So Rachel ended up paying for the week she wouldn’t be there (about $300).
Oh, let’s take a step back for a sec… Rachel was unemployed and had been since Nov of 2018. This is an important point that will come into play in a bit.
Back to the plans…. Rachel starts looking for a car. She wants a convertible cause that’s what we talked about getting last year. However the prices have gone up. Karo and I both say, save the money and just get a regular car. But nope… she reserves a convertible for twice the price.
As it gets closer to the time, I make a hotel reservation though a special discounted membership I had at a hotel for the first few days we are in London. Rachel agrees to share a room and split the cost. She is still unemployed at the time we leave for London but forks out $1100 to upgrade to business class.
We land in London, drop our bags at the hotel since we can’t check in yet and got off into the city. She buys at least $200 worth of booze, lotions, hand creams, bath bombs, and I forget what else. We got back to the hotel to check in and freshen up to meet a friend of mine for dinner. After we eat, Rachel is putzing with the bill and says she’s trying to figure out what she still owed me for the cars to/from the airport and a couple of smaller things. I remind her she still owes me for the hotel. She says that she paid for the week at the cottage that she won’t be there. I just said “Who’s fault is that?” Meaning she’s the one who waited until the last minute to change her mind and they are two separate issues. Apparently that didn’t sit well.
We get back to the hotel and she storms into the lobby bathroom then comes out and storms up the to front desk demanding her own room. The staff person didn’t know what was available which was an answer she didn’t like and got all huffy with him. We get into the elevator and I said “What the fuck?” Her reply “You know I’m paying for this out of my retirement.” I simply shrug. I say nothing. We ride up in the elevator, get into the room, and she starts throwing her stuff into her luggage. Again, I am saying nothing. I am however messaging with Karo about what’s going on. Rachel eventually storms out of the room and heads downstairs to get her own room. So she has enough money ($660+) to get her own room but not pay me $330 for the one we would share. Umm… okay.
Now, she never once broached the subject of asking me to cover the room cost. In a lot of instances, I would have probably said okay to that. But she never asked. She just assumed I would. But even if she had asked, her spending habits for the trip made it very clear she had the money to pay me but I wasn’t as important as everything she bought and ended up buying during that trip. I will outline purchases in a bit.
So it’s obvious she’s pissed at me. I’m a bit pissed but also amused and continue messaging with Karo about it all. She meets with Karo the next afternoon to go roaming through one of member only exhibits at a museum. I wasn’t interest so I didn’t go. Karo questioned her about what happened to get her side of the story. She already knew mine. Rachel’s excuse for getting her own room was that it was because I overreacted and she didn’t want to make me feel uncomfortable. Well if saying “what the fuck” and shrugging is overreacting… well I guess I did. But I think it was more I underreacted and didn’t give her what she wanted… saying never mind about the money for the room. During Karo’s conversation with her. and to try and keep some semblance of peace for when we would be rooming together later on Jersey, she said we would split the cost three ways of the week Rachel wouldn’t be in Jersey. The only reason I agreed to this was to try and make sure there would be no issues when a fourth member joined us at the cottage for a few days. Otherwise I would have said she could deduct it from the money she owed for the room.
There was some other interesting comments from Rachel to Karo consisting of something about how I needed to stop letting me people walk all over me. Well I took that to heart and started with her.
While Rachel was in Italy, Karo and I planned a nice 5 hour spa day for my birthday. At one point Rachel was messaging us to make a massage appointment for her. Yet another expense that would be at least $100. Pre-vacation when Karo and I started to plan this day, Rachel whined about us going without her. Were we supposed to just sit around and do nothing for the week she was in Italy?
Now, these are her known purchases and what the approximate costs were:
- $1100 for business class upgrade to London
- $200+ on miscellaneous stuff when we arrived
- $400 for a purse in Italy
- $250/night for 6 nights in a hotel room in Italy designed for 4 people
- $150 (at least) for 3 designer Italian masks
- $110 for a rain coat on Jersey (it wasn’t raining)
- $90 for a sweater
- $3000+ for a first class upgrade for the flight back to Seattle
And that’s just what I know about. I know there was more. So when he landed back in Seattle, she took off from baggage claim knowing I had a bum ankle after a fall at the Jersey Zoo. She “lost” me in the crowd. I saw her going up the escalator and she never once looked back or around. I took the elevator since it was easier with my ankle and three pieces of luggage. I messaged her to have a safe trip home and that was literally the last time I spoke to her… May 23rd, 2019. She messaged Karo the next day asking why Karo hadn’t spoken to her since our return. But she never asked me. She unfriended me on FB and unfollowed me on Twitter and IG. But didn’t with Karo. She did all that with Karo months later when I made mention in our FB group of friends we made on Jersey that Karo and I were considering glamping at the zoo for the 2020 Challenge. It’s now October of 2020 and she has still never asked me why I was upset. Now maybe she knows and just doesn’t care. Or maybe it’s that she doesn’t know and doesn’t care. But seriously, what kind of “friend” disrespects you like that? It’s not about the money per se. It’s about the fact she just assumed I wouldn’t ask for her to pay me back because she was unemployed, but saw fit to spend thousands of dollars on other things. I’m sorry but your friends come first. And if you really are hurting for money, why are you spending like that?
Karo isn’t speaking to her either because of her attitude about this and other things that happened in 2018. So I don’t think I’m in the wrong here. Karo and I are still friends and were looking forward to awesome 2020 trip to Iceland, Jersey, and Poland (we’re both Polish) but well… fucking COVID and stupid people.