eau the humanity!

You know how they sell those water bottles that tell you how much water you should drink by what time? Or tricks to make sure you drink enough water throughout the day? Me…I never needed them. I’m pretty much addicted to water. I sip on water while I tackle a particular problem in my head at work. Hell, I even pack a water bottle when I go grocery shopping. If I leave my apartment without my water bottle, I have a mild panic attack before I remind myself that I can buy a bottle of water at pretty much any store or deli. (Though that grates against my inner environmentally conscious nature, but that’s another story for another time.)

After a stint in the Peace Corps spent in Mali, West Africa after college, I will admit my travel has been pretty tame compared to many Huckleberry Travelers. Mostly Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska…upstate New York (I mean during the pandemic…come on, it was the best we could all do). But in those travels, I have had two very different experiences with…you guessed it: water, eau, wasser, agua, ji (that last one I Bambara – the primary language of Mali).

Through a series of fortunate circumstances, I managed a four-night stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Berlin in early Spring of 2019. For those who haven’t stayed at a Ritz Carlton, it may seem like an almost cliché trope of unnecessary luxury. Like, it’s all in the name, but is it really worth it?

Yes.

Yes, it is.

And this is why.

Of course, it’s luxurious. The bed is the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in. The bathroom is a study in opulence. I had an executive desk and a couch and two – TWO! – phones. Well, one of the maybe more inconspicuous amenities is they leave you two bottles of mineral water a day. I would go through these easily and then hit the tap water. Which in Germany, the tap water is pretty good. (On a side note, at a different hotel, when I first got there I called and asked if the tap water was drinkable, they were audibly insulted as they assured me it was.)

By about my third night at the Ritz (!), the housekeeping staff had figured I was a big water-drinker and left me three – THREE! – bottles of mineral water. I’ve heard that the Ritz trains their frontline staff to notice these sorts of details and respond accordingly, and it was such a little thing, but it made such an impact.

Fast forward about a year and a half, but with half that year being 2020, it might as well have been a decade. With all trips dashed – including a coveted cruise to Greenland – by mid September, after over half a year of quarantining and stressing, I just needed to get away. I wanted a week alone in a house or cabin by a peaceful waterfront with nothing but time to paint, read, and write. (A work colleague pointed out that was basically the setting for a horror film but – spoiler alert – I survived.)

I ended up renting a home in Caroga Lake, NY which is basically the southernmost part of the Adirondacks. I have come to realize that lakeside rental homes basically inhabit that space in the Venn diagram where cute, quirky, and creepy converge. It was cute! There was a whole separate bungalow that served as a nice temporary painting studio. It was quirky! The owner had a thing for frogs, so there was frog ephemera everywhere. It was creepy! There was not only a deer head mounted on a plaque, but also a quail.

Being lakeside in upstate New York, the tap water was a no-go (it actually smelled weird even from the shower). There was a Poland Spring half jug about half full in the water cooler when I arrived which was obviously meant to be my drinking water. What there wasn’t at that house was cell service. This will be important later in this story.

About two or three days in, I used the last of the drinkable water. I left a message for the proprietress and went about my day – I think I went for a hike – fully expecting to find a jug of fresh drinkable water when I got back mid-afternoon. Well, when I got back – no water. I went to the local store and…they were closed.

Remember that bit about me panicking when I leave my apartment without water? Yeah.

But, I also don’t want to be an overly demanding client, so I let it go for an hour or so, thinking she’d show up with the precious cargo (water) in that time.

Around dusk, I full-on panicked. I hopped in my rental car and drove about 10 minutes out until I got cell service. I called my trusty travel advisor (!) and told him the situation. Well, about 10 o’clock that night, I heard a loud knock at the front door and there was a woman lugging a full-on water cooler-sized water jug.

It was the best water I’ve ever tasted in my life.

Thanks, Jill! We’re so grateful for your loyalty! And for the rest of you — If you’re looking to book accommodations of any stripe — whether a vacation rental on a lake or a stay at a luxury hotel or resort in our hotel program — we’d love to talk to you about some of the fantastic options we have at our disposal!