Alright, folks, buckle up for a cautionary tale. This one’s on me — I was naive enough to believe in the magic of shady Telegram groups. As someone who’s sublet rooms through Facebook plenty of times, I thought I was a seasoned traveler. But this? This was a rookie mistake of epic proportions.
Now, you might be wondering: what are these Telegram groups? Imagine the digital wild west, where people rent out rooms and gamble on who’s actually legit. Six out of ten times, it works out fine. This time, I was in the unlucky 40%.
See, Airbnb gets expensive once you tack on all those fees, which is why subletting is so popular in Europe. A budget traveler’s dream — or so I thought. With a hotel already booked for six days in Amsterdam, I stumbled into one of these Telegram groups and spotted a siren call: “cute apartments.” I messaged a user named Jennifer, and within hours we struck a deal on a charming studio in central Amsterdam. She only asked for a €50 deposit and even had a public Instagram profile. Should’ve been a red flag… but I was blinded by the cute apartment vibes.
Fast forward to the night before my flight: panic hits harder than a German pretzel. The apartment address? Vanished from our Telegram chats. Cue a full-on meltdown, complete with a frantic call to my best friend (also my travel buddy).
While I was drowning in digital tears, hope flickered in the chat. Another user was ranting about a Jennifer who’d trashed her place — something about dog poop palaces and maybe even meth. Charming, right? The kicker? Same name. Same Jennifer.
Turns out, Jennifer the Subletting Superhost was running a side hustle in double-booking. She rented out the same apartment to both me and this other poor soul.
So instead of my dream Amsterdam studio, I was scrambling at 2 A.M. to snag a last-minute Airbnb — which ended up being a finished basement with all the charm of a dungeon. The silver lining? A working water heater and a surprisingly nice interior, which felt like luxury in 3°C Amsterdam.
The Lesson? Get creative with travel methods… but not too creative.
- 23 years old in Amsterdam, The Netherlands for 6 days
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