The Same But Different

Do you ever watch an advert on TV and find yourself feeling that, somehow, it's undermining its own case for the product it is selling?  I get that feeling every time I see that commercial for Air BNB.  You know the one I mean - it tells you not to 'visit' various cities around the world, to instead 'live' in them whilst on holiday, courtesy of Air BNB.  Which seems a reasonable way to sell the service.  But then it goes on to tell us that by spending your holiday living in someone else's actual home, you can do all the things you usually do, like cook, do the washing up, vacuum the carpet and so on, (actually, they don't actually mention the last two activities, but they are a logical extension of the first).  Maybe it is just me, but surely spending your vacation doing the same things you'd do in your own home defeats the object of taking a holiday?  Surely the point is to do something different than you would normally, rather than do the same things, just in a different location?

Personally, I usually end up doing it the other way around: I don't go away on holiday, but instead stay at home and do different things than I normally would.  When I say different, I mean that I try to completely change my routines.  I get up and go to bed at different times, go to different places, speak to different people.  Sometimes I even change my breakfast cereal when I'm on holiday.  Perversely, I often find myself drifting back to the same old familiar haunts when I'm on holiday.  But there's nothing wrong with a bit of familiarity - it's nice and reassuring and, let's face it, that's whay=t being on holiday is all about: feeling reassured and relaxed.  But to get back to the original point, I can't help but feel that, in the eyes of some potential customers, that Air BNB advert might be shooting themselves in the foot by suggesting that you take all your regular chores on holiday with you.  Which is what I won't be doing over the next couple of weeks when I use up some more of my untaken leave.  That said, the 'different' I will be doing will probably involve repainting my kitchen.  Not exotic, but different and necessary.