Europe Travel, London, Paris, Provence

Air BnB, A Great Way To Travel

In October I flew into London from Oaxaca via Tucson and headed out of Heathrow by bus to a suburban London village for my first Air BnB experience.

In London I stayed with a family 8 blocks from Trafalgar

Square and Westminster Gatwick Airport Transfer

Air BnB is a service that matches travelers with people who have a room or two for rent. I had recently joined to test out the system and review it for visitors to the travel planning website softseattravel.com

Changing of the Guards, London

You join with your Facebook account or set up an account and password and you have access to listings of available rooms and apartments all over the world. Visitors review the rooms and write reviews which you can read when searching for an accommodation. At the same time, the host writes a review of past visitors and this alerts future landlords to the behavior of prospective guests. This great system avoids surprises for both guests and hosts.

My first accommodation happened to be with a young couple who were renting for the first time. They therefore had no profile or reviews written by former guests. I likewise had no reviews of my behavior as a guest since I had not used Air BnB in the past. I chose this family based on their photo, a smiling couple standing in a suburban London park looking friendly. They also accepted me on faith. (after a Google search that is)

Provence Antiques I'isle sur la-Sorgue

The couple proved charming and delightful. They made my stay enjoyable and even enriched the experience with my first, home-cooked, steak and kidney pie dinner and a walking tour around their village.

I realized with that first visit the enormous benefit of an Air BnB experience; you see a local family in their daily routine; you get to know them, you talk about their town, their work, their political and religious views, their hopes and dreams; in short you get an in depth look at the culture if you care to.

I stayed in Arles , a day trip from Les Baux de Provence
Photos Le Baux-de-Provence

Thanks to the young couple who so enriched my stay in suburban London, I used Air BnB for other stays in England and France.
Other Air BnB families and hosts were equally accommodating on that October /November trip in England and France and I found the same cultural interchange at work along with some ideal and reasonably priced lodging in the center of several cities and regions.

I stayed with a family in Arles about four blocks from
the center where Roman buildings include a Colosseum.
Arles Roman Ruins Link

Paris Montmartre near Sacre Coeur

Avignon Provence was a day trip from my stay Arles

I am planning a Sept/Oct trip to Europe via Cancun to London this year and will be using Air BnB as often as possible. You can't beat the location of the lodging, the reasonable price, and foremost, the cultural interchange with some great host families.

Palace of the Popes, Avignon, Provence

Sunday, August 25, 2013

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