Airbnb

Even though Airbnb has been around for a little bit, I only really started using it in 2016. I had heard good things about it from friends and signed up to rent out my room while I was on vacation. Everybody has their profile with information, pictures of the place, and reviews that other Airbnb members have left after hosting or staying with them.

For me, it’s a good alternative to my favorite website for accommodations, Couchsurfing. It’s a little similar and you often get in touch with locals. The fact that you pay makes the experience different from Couchsurfing since you can “expect” certain things whereas surfers are usually happy with anything. Of course, in both cases the most important part is communication. If something is unclear on the profile, you should contact the host and ask.

The cool thing about Airbnb is that almost everybody no matter the travel budget should be able to find suitable accommodation. Especially if you travel with a group of friends and share the cost, you can find nice and affordable places everywhere. When it comes to remote or less populated areas Airbnb probably has an advantage over Couchsurfing. By now, you can find an Airbnb room basically anywhere. On the other hand, finding a Couchsurfing host in a small city can be difficult sometimes. So for me, the combination of both works best.

I’ve already stayed in many great Airbnb apartments (like the one in Recife in the picture above). All of my hosts were very hospitable and the descriptions of the places always matched what I found. So, I can highly recommend trying it – as a host and/or guest!