Travel homes — airbnb and others
On travels stay options are several, which depends on the budget, duration, and company. If a short travel and purpose driven then
better to stay in a hotel or serviced apartment, so the stay doesn’t come in between the schedule. But if it is a slow travel then I have felt its better to stay in a airbnb or equivalent options.
This allows us to experience the place better and also the convenience of having a better place with much more space and convenience of cooking is good. Although the service part of hotels can be missed, food on call and cleaning on demand and such. Which would be replaced with convenience of cooking at ur pace and home like environment to take it slow and enjoy the place. It can be considered as a hassle as well to cook and clean during holidays. Slow holidays are meant for that is my perspective. There are no lists to checked with places to visit, so everything can be at ease.
From experience these airbnbs or stays can be very local experience with owner staying in vicinity and sharing space with you or a well provided place given to you to use with less personalisation or their home given to you for usage, the most personal experience of all.
I prefer the last one the most, some of the homes which I lived in gave a glimpse of their life or I assumed certain stuff about the locals from what I saw in their homes. Some of such assumptions are facinating … stalking at its best I would say is here. In other words it makes you inquisitive of their culture and existence in that place.
For instance, in an airbnb in Boston, it was run by a Chinese girl with her mom visiting her. That gave a glimpse of young Chinese adults' lives and how a over protective tiger chinese mom could behave. How they sustained green teas and occasional green soupy food, which smelt different. Her mothers obsession with oranges and groundnuts, which I tried understanding with sign language. But failed terribly.
A home in Brussels, another instance, is very much downtown and was on the third floor.
This home was an old building but nicely maintained. Although it didn’t have a lift, getting there was a task with the heavy suitcases and narrow steps which are typical of these old homes. But once there it’s spectacular with their sky roofs, open living area, and a great balcony. The sky roofs gave direct views to Brussels Palace and other iconic buildings and was an experience to sleep below starry night. The house had a duplex structure with an open bathroom and an old style bathtub in that area in the upper area with a bedroom and other spaces made into a makeshift bedroom. The landing floor was supposed to be only one sprawling living area, with a sufficiently equipped modern kitchen, library, and balcony. I owners seemed to be vacationing in the countryside when we were in their space in town. They seemed to have very eclectic taste as the curios collected at home ranged from a little woodoo doll to a taichi pose chart used as a wall hanging to recycled cycle lamp and a huge collection of books. Most of the books were in Dutch and so couldn’t understand, but one book did garner special interest, it was a Dutch version of Kamasutra, could gather from illustrations and there were many books on feminism.
I already liked the owners, although I only have exchanged chats with her. Must be an interesting Dutch lady who eats Chinese food, as her kitchen was laden with oriental spices.
In another experience, I got to live in a homestay in the landsown in himachal. We got to live with a veteran owner Rajeev, and we got a real glimpse into his retired but active life. That did give an insight into how to be a good retiree with different folks coming to your space every other day. That is when you enjoy varied company. The owner himself confessed his wife does not like it there, so she spent her time back in Delhi.
These experiences can be a bit challenging too, for example, in zanzibar, we were in a space which had to be accessed from a front portion which was under construction which we weren’t informed before, so the hassle of dust and bugs. And here the bed collapsed as we started to sleep in it, gladly no casualties. In Rajasthan, a whole big haveli was at our disposal, which had humongous space, which was tough to access with narrow lanes. But this gave a glimpse of rajwadi life.
In another experience of a slow stay in much on steroids, New York, by luck, chanced upon a pre-war apartment with iron barred doors, compact toilets, and murmuring wooden floors. Strategically placed in the hustling area but secluded Street near Grand Central Station, it gave a feel of newyork to be the same as one in a town backhome once inside it. It took only 10 steps to join ever buzzling Yankees.
In such holidays, such nuanced experience is our takeaway.
What do you look for in yours?
