My parents recently enlisted my help in finding an Airbnb for us to stay at on our family vacation to Chicago next month. I did my initial search on the ride home from school, where my mom drove and I ran potential places by her. I don't know why she even said Chicago in the first place because she wasn't interested in anything in the city. Apparently, the family that we're visiting lives in the suburbs, so we want something close to them. Unfortunately, there are not many Airbnbs outside the city, for obvious reasons. Most people who visit Chicago want to be in the middle of everything, not on the edge.

While my mom's parameters were frustrating, Airbnb was causing trouble of its own. As soon as I put in the dates of our stay, the innumerable options became utterly countable. Enticing finds disappeared during our dates. Also, specifying the number of guests didn't make much of a difference. Even with four guests, I would still be shown places with one bed. We may be family, but we need our space. The added filter of three beds limited our options even more. It was proving difficult to find a good place for us to stay in (or rather out of) Chicago.

My mom and I had it narrowed down to four houses when my dad asked to do some more searching. Anxious to come to a conclusion, I showed him the places we had already found. He vetoed them immediately due to the fact that they were in "Chicago proper." So we went back to searching the suburbs. The time it took me to tap on a listing was as long as it took for him to say no. It's a wonder we found anything. We ended up with half as many options as my mom and I found, and a third of what we started with.

Later, I showed my mom the two places my dad and I had found. She liked one of them, which was a relief. After messaging the host for more information, we decided we would stay there. We haven't booked it yet because my parents need to look at it together first. I can do all the work but apparently can't make any executive decisions. Oh, well. At least they're paying.

TIP: The map feature shows you listings that fit your standards in the area of your choosing. It can be much faster than looking at every place in a given city. The map displays the price of the listing, which you can click on for more information.