One of the big advantages of trying 101 Fun and Frivolous Things in Retirement is that it forces you to do stuff that’s perhaps a little out of character. Like:

#4: Buy a “Mystery Hotel” stay

When a friend invited me to his birthday lunch at a venue in Melbourne, I had to find accommodation, being from out-of-town and all. So I opened up Wotif and my next adventure jumped out – book and pay for a hotel in the city without knowing where it was.  

Okay, this may not sound too adventurous to some, but I’m the sort of person who needs to start new adventures ex..tre..mely slowly, so for me, it was an outsidethesquare experience.

Just before you commit to paying for your accommodation, the site pops up the sort of question guaranteed to give you the shivers:

“Are you sure you want to book without knowing where you’ll be staying?”

Now normally, I’d have had cold feet at that and backed right out.  But in the spirit of doing Fun and Frivolous Things, I took a deep breath and pressed the ‘Pay Now” button, which let me tell you, took some courage, even in the knowledge that I was saving oodles of money by doing this.

But miracle upon miracle, the hotel I scored was directly opposite the lunch venue!

So when the birthday lunch ended, several of us wandered over for a coffee in the hotel lounge – it being so close and so convenient – with me feeling mightily smug and proud of my excellent choice.

That was before I settled down for the night, turned off the television and realised that my room was directly behind a lift shaft.

Try sleeping on an airport runway. It’s probably more peaceful…