Don’t go there. Live there!

“Don’t go there. Live there” is the tag line for the accommodation website AirBnB. The vibe of AirBnB is living like a local and on first impressions I thought this idea was incredibly cheesy.

There was me thinking that the whole thing would be like a business transaction and I would choose a place (in a good location and had good reviews), pay the fees, then stay there and that would be all but it ended up being so much than that.

It turned out to be kind of like the advert.

My Milan AirBnB was this unassuming apartment not far from the centre of the city. It was pretty and owned by a graphic designer who also made scarfs.

We often drank coffee and once shared a meal while chatting about travelling, art and politics. It was nice to have a conversation with someone at the end of a day spent sightseeing on my own.

The Paris AirBnB was probably most memorable. It was this apartment/art gallery in the 6th arrondissement and was perfect in so many ways. It was the apartment of my dreams and exactly like the one I would want to live in if I lived in Paris.

But what made is such a nice place to stay were the hosts. They were so lovely.

When I first arrived, they went out and got wine, olives and cheese. We chatted in a mixture of French and English while sipping wine and enjoying a simple meal. It was so nice and instantly made me feel at home and like I was more than just a tourist.   

Each morning we would eat croissant and drink strong coffee while planning our days. One night they had friends over so we drank more wine and ate more cheese. They were friendly as well as welcoming and it was great to chat over food, wine, etc. Having just come from Switzerland, I was able to provide the chocolate which was cool.

It might be just luck that these places were good and maybe next time my experiences might be like business transaction but I am glad to have met these people and live like a local even if it was just for a few days.