
Brett and I have enjoyed looking back at all the Airbnb homes we stayed in on the first part of the Big Adventure, and I thought I’d share the actual listings.
I was put in charge of choosing the rentals for each of our destinations before we set off on our adventure. I weighed price, amenities, location and read review after review to get a feel for different rentals and which would be a good fit for us. Some of the places we rented we liked more than others, but all were clean, had a comfortable bed, plenty of hot water and everything we needed to fix our own meals. Every single one of our hosts had at least bottled water stocked in the refrigerator when we arrived, but many had wine and snacks waiting for us, always appreciated after a long travel day.


I tried to keep our lodging costs under $70 per night. Some places we ended up reserving were over that, but others were (way) under, and it all balanced out. I knew that some places (like Paris or Florence, for example) were going cost more than others, so we saved in other locations in order to balance out those higher costs. However, although the cost per night posted for some listings is much higher than our budget limit, we generally paid less, and we were able to stay within our budget or close to it because staying a week or longer prompted a generous discount. All of our Airbnb rentals were paid for ahead of time from our travel savings.


As far as amenities, WiFi, a fully-equipped kitchen, private bath with a shower, and a washing machine were necessities. We also wanted a sofa so we had a place to relax at the end of the day. Many of the places we rented came with a dishwasher, which was nice but not a deal killer. Also, some buildings had elevators, but in several places we had to climb several flights of stairs – it was good exercise! The one place we worried about more than any of the others before arriving was the apartment in Strasbourg. I have no idea why I chose it other than the location in town was great, but it was tiny, had a sofa bed and didn’t have a washing machine . . . and we were booked for three weeks! It turned out to be one of our favorite places with one of the most comfortable beds of all. We adjusted easily to the small space, and a laundromat was just a couple of blocks away, so taking care of our laundry was never a problem. Best of all, we had a wonderful host and had the great privilege of dining with her family toward the end of our stay.


Our favorite stay though was not in our own apartment, but as guests in a Swiss farmhouse B&B outside of Lucerne. Our room was big and clean and we had a large, private bathroom, but it was the family that made our stay so memorable. They spoiled us rotten, taking us and picking us up each day at the train station, showing us around the area, and included us one evening in their family dinner, serving a traditional Swiss raclette. Our farm breakfasts each morning were nothing short of magnificent. The entire three-night stay in the farmhouse from start to finish was remarkable.

I’ve written that our least favorite stays were in Montevideo and Rome. With Montevideo it was the location – during the day it was fine, but we were warned about going out at night so were always stuck in the apartment. In Rome, the apartment turned out to be much larger than we imagined, and while all the marble looked pretty in the pictures, it actually felt cold and unwelcoming, to us anyway.

All the places we stayed received a five-star review and rating from us. The check-in and check-out at every place was easy, all the hosts were very helpful, and the locations were great for getting out to see the area. There was also always a grocery store nearby, important for us since we cooked most of our meals “at home.”

We won’t be staying in an Airbnb again until we arrive in Perth, Western Australia, toward the end of January – we’ll be using hotels in both India and Hong Kong. After our train journey across Australia we’ll stay in another Airbnb rental in Sydney. Both the Perth and Sydney rentals are private residences, but when we move on to New Zealand we’re booked into five different private rooms because our stays are so short in each town. Some will include breakfast, some won’t. In Japan we will be renting an apartment directly from the owner, and then will be back in an Airbnb rental for our summer stay in Portland, this time on the west side of town, a new experience for us as we always lived and stayed on the east side of the city. In the fall of next year we’ll do our last Airbnb rental of the Big Adventure during our three-month stay in the Cotswolds District in England.

If you have ever thought about using Airbnb but haven’t, I highly recommend giving it a try. We have had nothing but great experiences. We learned a lot about how to go about having the best experience possible from the Senior Nomads’ wonderful book, Your Keys, Our Home, starting with how to go about selecting an Airbnb rental that will be the perfect fit for you and your budget. It’s full of good information about how to make the most of any Airbnb stay from start to finish.
