The life of a consultant in UK can be very interesting. The business model is such that you will never operate out of a fixed office location of the company that employs you but you will always be at client location for a particular project. Once the project gets over, you are shipped off to another project in another location. If you are lucky, you can get a project at the same location for the same client. This involves travelling to the client location every week. Staying in hotels from Monday to Thursday at the client location is quite a norm.  The short distances always ensure that you are home for the weekend irrespective of wherever you are working during the week. Most clients are considerate enough to allow work from home on Fridays so consultants get that extended weekend home stay.

Thus, being an IT consultant in the UK, I most definitely got an opportunity to experience this. Though under unique circumstances.

We were living in Basingstoke, Hampshire, a beautiful small town in a great apartment and almost everything significant within a radius of 100 m, including my workplace. I was on a project with Barclays Corporate. We had the best possible life when my allocation in the project ended as per plan. Initially I was happy as I desired a project in London which would enable me to stay put in Basingstoke and at the same time enjoy the thrill of London work life.  That was not to be and my next project was in Northampton for Barclaycard. I was in no position or mood to move out immediately and after checking out properties, we decided to move two months later for a smooth transition. Yes, I needed to relocate as being an employee deputed from India, I was not eligible to get hotel stays like local consultants do. In my case, I had to relocate. However, for the two months I had to live the consultants life. I could not afford hotels from my own pocket so I decided on the airbnb option which were extremely reasonable in the range of £20-25 per night. This would be affordable for two months and I would club this with my relocation allowance which I would be eligible.

Thus started by journey from Basingstoke to Northampton every week. Northampton for the week and Basingstoke on weekends.

Airbnb was sure an enriching experience though I had my share of screw-ups. The biggest advantage I noticed compared to hotels was the access to a kitchen. In addition to this, the homely feeling of being able to move around the common areas rather than being locked up with your TV or mobile phone in the claustrophobic hotel room. Mostly the other inmates would be in their rooms or arriving late so often, I had the whole house to myself. I never liked the office canteen food so always I had the habit of carrying food from home. And eating dinner out on a weekday was a once in a while exception rather than a rule. So, the kitchen at these homes were a blessing. I used to carry home-cooked chicken curry and dal with me to Northampton on the Monday morning, have it for lunch at the office, keep them in the office refrigerator during the day and then carry them to the airbnb home, have dinner there and keep it in the refrigerator there. And of course I could buy a packet of rice and prepare it in the kitchen. This would easily cover me till Wednesday lunch. The remaining meals I was ready to be at the mercy of the canteen.

At the first instance, my host was Alana. She was an Australian and was in UK for some time. Probably she had rented the house and put some of the rooms on airbnb. In some of the homes, the host would be residing there or visit there in person but this was a place where all the instructions were on the app. I reached a duplex independent house, got the keys from the letter box and settled into my cosy room. The toilet would be common and kitchen on the ground floor. I had purchased bread, butter, milk etc from the super market and enjoyed my evening tea just as I do at home, after which it was me with my phone in my cosy room, enjoying the IPL.  A few more hours and I would be having my home-cooked chicken curry. As I went down to the kitchen, however, I noticed something unthinkable in today’s age. The place did not have a microwave. Was this really true? It cannot be. I thought maybe the TV was actually a microwave but none of the buttons really indicated that. I had to get a confirmation from Alana that indeed it was not there. Of all the homes I have stayed, this was the only one which did not have a microwave. Not a major issue though. I cooked rice and heated the chicken in the old fashioned way in the sauce pan on the burner and all was well as I retired into my room to catch-up more on youtube and talk to my wife. How cool is this consultant life, I thought.

The next morning I realized I screwed up. My phone had a notification from airbnb and there was a message from Alana.

This was most embarrassing and I realized that I have rendered a toaster useless on my very first night of stay. The damage was minimal. The apology was accepted and I stayed at the same home for three weeks in the subsequent month.  Little did I know that I was in for more embarrassment in my next home.

I was thrilled that I managed a cheaper rate of £17 for my next stay post the labor day weekend. It would even be a shorter week. Also this would be close to the town center so lesser of a walk in the morning. The host was Chris and this was a simple 2 BHK flat and hence less in space and privacy. Chris was occupying one room along with his partner so this was more personal and like a flat-mate. I had the second room and the outside toilet. The rules stated that I could use the kitchen for cooking and other basic needs. Chris would mostly be in his room and this made me sit on the sofa in the living room and enjoy the IPL. By the second day I had got a bit too comfortable and ended up taking a few sips from the Coke bottle in the refrigerator which belonged to Chris.  Probably in celebratory mood after watching a Ben Stokes special in the IPL for my home city club Pune Supergiant. Worse was that after check-out, I realized that I had forgotten to wash a coffee cup which I used and placed in the basin.  Chris would rip me apart. Not through a personal message but through the public review on airbnb. This was the mother of embarrassments and I wondered if I would be black-listed by airbnb for stealing those sips of Coke. My apprehension was proved right as the next house I booked did not accept my booking and even mentioned Chris’ review as the reason. That prompted me to have an offline conversation with Alana and agree to stay at her place for the remaining three weeks, after which we were planned to relocate to Northampton. I specifically mentioned that I would bring no gluten close to the house.

After living for two years in Northampton, we moved to London. After  being on a London based project for a while, I was back on a project in Northampton. Hence, once again on the airbnb journey. London to Northampton was commutable on a daily basis. So only on select occasions would I be staying back in Northampton. Mostly on days when my wife would be out of station.

First such instance was in a house hosted by Candice. The room was cosy and the house similar to some of the previous ones where I had stayed. And this also had rules. This time it was a minor screw-up though. I had no home cooked food this time around as I was staying only for a night. So I just got myself a chicken fried-rice takeaway and had it in the kitchen with the utensils provided. All seemed to be fine but the dreaded notification soon appeared the next day.

Ooops! I thought. Not again. How could I miss the spoons already provided in the room.

The next one was also for one night and it was probably the coolest host. The guy was Jonathan. The room was as usual cosy, the kitchen was stocked up and he had no issues if had a few slices of bread for tea or make coffee for myself. That helped greatly as buying bread and coffee just for a day would be a total waste. For my subsequent trips, I made an offline arrangement with him without going through airbnb which resulted in a few less pounds. One of the occasions, in the peak summer months, he said he would not be able to provide a room. Living in London had been a big hit on my pockets and any other house would have been expensive for me so I requested him to just let me sleep on his living room sofa for the night and allow to use the toilet once in the morning. That is all I needed and I was ready to pay  £12  for the same. This worked out to be a win-win for both. I saved some bucks and he earned some. However, the best part was that he had done up the sofa arrangement just like he would do for the room. With proper linen, duvet, water bottle, pillow, towel. That was a really sweet gesture. I would have been too happy even if he had not done all that.

I just stayed at one more of these houses through airbnb. There is nothing much to write about the stay as it was mostly uneventful. This was one where the host would be remote. On a rainy day, following the instructions, I somehow retrieved the key from the letter box and managed to get into the house.