Airbnb; is the way to go, anywhere!

When I was a Peace Corps volunteer, I always enjoyed the aspect of living with a host family.  I lived with a single Costa Rican woman in a remote village.  I found my experience was very rich because everyday we would talk about the simplest things in life such as the weather, nature, people, and culture.  I wouldn't get the local experience, if I didn't live with a host family.  This was a great way to emerge into a culture.  Few years later, who knew that this concept became wide spread virus as they calls it, Airbnb! 

When my husband and I travel, we would either camp out along the coast or stay with friends and family.  We are not the hotel kind of people, not yet.  I think one, because we enjoy spending time with our friends and family when we travel, and two, we enjoy the local experience.  However, as we get older and our friends and family got bigger, we thought it would be nice to maybe give them some space when we visit… 

Although I enjoy staying at a hotel, don't get me wrong, I sometime find it a bit pricey, especially for someone that is on a budget such as myself.  As we were planning our trip to San Francisco few months ago, we noticed the prices for lodging were expensive! Meanwhile, my husband loves to research about stuff before he makes decision.  So he did some research and found Airbnb from an article! We signed up, became a member, and booked our first Airbnb trip!

I got to say, even though it was a bit pricy in San Francisco; it was a bit cheaper than any hotel in the area! We found a very cute, simple, and small room. It was interesting that someone would rent out their space to a stranger that they don't even know and/or have met! The person that we rented from gave us great instructions on how to access the key, and left us a list of places to go to eat out. Overall, it was a great experience, and we were hook since then! 

This is taken from Airbnb's Website

Recently, we used Airbnb again!  This time was in Los Angeles, CA! We stayed in Boyle Heights area to get the local experience of the city. The person we stayed with had a private room that she rents out of her house.  She was so sweet and provided us some dinner, which was BBQ and breakfast! She also gave us information regarding the neighborhood's history and culture.  Right then, I felt as though I was back in Costa Rica with my Tica’s host mother sharing her story and experience with me. 

Hands down, Airbnb has been treating us well and we have been very fortunate to gain rich experiences with the places we stayed and the people we have met along the way. It is true Airbnb motto said, "Be anywhere and welcoming people into your home."  We are excited and look forward to traveling via Airbnb again.