Herd Mentality - You Guilty?

I have been.

And it almost got me this morning.

Julia and I will be in D.C. for a three-day conference in June where Dr. Robert Lustig, whose recent book Metabolical I highly recommend (https://amzn.to/3W2y2Hu), will be among the speakers.

This morning, they emailed us our registration confirmation and all the details, including hotels where they would run shuttles to the conference venue.

The email said, "Stay at Courtyard, Doubletree, or Holiday Inn - there will be shuttles."

I guess everybody else read the email before me, because Courtyard and Holiday Inn were fully booked. The only option was a double queen room at DoubleTree for $700/night.

I nearly booked it.

The thing is, though, we usually only stay in hotels if we're passing through and only need a place to sleep for the night.

Otherwise, AirBnb is our jam.

That gives us more space and privacy, but, most importantly, a kitchen. That way, we can hit the grocery store to get what we like to eat and not be at the mercy of the continental breakfast or whatever restaurants are nearby.

There are dozens of options on AirBnb. And, bonus, they're about half the price. Which is good, because there's no such thing as a DoubleTree that's $700/night.

Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking about how often I've done something I wouldn't otherwise do just because someone politely suggested I do it.

I was on the verge of spending too much money for a place I didn't care to be at for three nights.

All because of an email.