After 10 years of living abroad with my husband and children, I came back home to our small village near the Fontainebleau forest in 2017. I was glad to return and reopen our home, making it a warm place for family and friends. But I needed to make a decision on what I should do for a living.
I was attached to my rural way of living and looked for connections. I started by creating a nonprofit association with other locals to protect our environment and prevent the spreading of sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant. It was a community success, and I felt I belonged again.
We soon bought a second house in the village to welcome more friends and maybe offer a home to one of our children. We began a total renovation of the old 19th century house, which took more than a year. I loved the design work and first thought about hosting during this time.
I decided to give hosting a try without knowing anything about it—I was only a guest at this time but we had appreciated our first stay in Montreal. I did my research and tried to learn as much as possible on Airbnb. I was committed to welcoming my guests in the best way possible and even took language lessons with an app to refresh my German (with little success).
I started hosting in March 2020 just before COVID-19 lockdowns began in France.
Two weeks later, our president officially announced the lockdown for two weeks. My app bipped immediately, and I had two stays booked by Parisians leaving the city.
My house has three separate listings in it.. Twin brothers booked one listing. Both fond of bouldering, they wanted to share this period together only and enjoy the rocks in the forest.
The other listing was booked by a mother, her two children aged 11 and 13, and her companion. They chose to book for a month to enjoy the countryside and the garden.
The third listing was reserved for our second daughter, who was likely coming back from Bali soon.
I did my best to offer my guests a safety process to share the laundry room, along with sustainable products to sanitize everything.
As the lockdown was extended, loneliness became more present in our life. Only chatting by text, I discovered that the twin brothers, the 11-year-old boy, and I all had our birthdays in the same period. At this time, we knew better on how to safely meet and greet each other. I decided to host a lunch for all of us in our garden with a set of three separate lunch tables—one for each group and with an appropriate distance.
It took me a lot of thinking. I didn’t cook and had to buy all the food in separate packaging to prevent any cross-contamination. But the day was magical. The sun was hot, and we spent the whole afternoon in the garden, discovering each other lifes and stories. Everyone felt the good vibrations, and I cherish this moment since. It made me realize how simple it is to make a difference by hosting with human care.
Since then, I always seek to know the purpose of my guest’s stay and try my best to welcome them in a warm and personal manner. Sometimes, it’s by offering a meal ready for their dinner because I know it’s a group of competition horse riders which won’t dedicate much time to cooking. Other times, I make myself available to receive the delivery orders they placed for a family birthday. Fostering interactions with guests gives me a lot of joy and memories and countless individual stories.
Claudia, Daniel, Tatiya, and I are sharing our experiences with addressing loneliness through hosting and look forward to reading about your experiences. Read what Claudia, Daniel and Tatiya have to share about their experiences below:
