Everytime we book a new location our excitement builds. We are nearing the end of our booking stage which is wonderful and saddening because I know it means we will eventually have to leave the fairytale.
Just to give you an idea of how this started… we started off trying to plan a specific route and ended up taking the most cost effective route instead. While the dream would be to book a one way and go where the wind takes us, the more pragmatic approach is planning out our trip location by location. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for spontaneity but does provide comfort in knowing that we are set up on every stop! We weighed benefits and detriments of hostels and hotels and eventually decided on using AirBnB to find our foreign homes.
Some considerations in using AirBnB:
Super Host: Super hosts are a wonderful find because the notation suggests that the host have honored a vast majority of their bookings, have a vast majority of 5 star reviews, and they truly love hosting.
Proximity: We did a lot of research on the local neighborhoods and the proximity of the neighborhoods to transit, tourist attractions, coffee shops, and nightlife. Just a quick note here – longer post later – when you’re booking cheap flights on EasyJet or Ryanair check the airport you’re flying into. They usually fly into a city right outside of your destination and you’ll have to grab an hour train in from the city. So, if you’re flying in late, pay the extra $50 per ticket to get into the main airport or you’ll spend the same on late transportation into the city.
Reviews: M spends most of his time reading the reviews of our AirBnBs, not just to see if they’re good but a lot of those who stay will mention a close coffee shop or advice for transportation. They will also mention things like whether your amazing view of the city comes at the price of a 7th floor walk up (like my Paris stop this year)..
As always, more to come!
Sweets by Lamb 