We host in an old farmhouse in a tiny village in Northern Denmark. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny. 282 inhabitants at the last count. It’s as local countryside Denmark as you can get. Chickens, dog and hens, and a large garden with an old fruit orchard, maize labyrinth, and several kitchen gardens. It’s local, it’s rural, it’s countryside.
My background is international. I moved to Denmark from London, and before London I lived in Beirut, Dubai, Washington DC, Tokyo, Pisa, Aix-en-Provence, Zurich, Sana’a… Airbnb is for me a way of inviting the world in, of reconnecting with the world, giving my family a global outlook on things. I met my Danish husband in Japan, and while I work for a global tech company, my husband works with local farmers and is very much connected to everything going on around us and is at any time able to tell who got a new tractor, who’s cow ran away, and who’s farmhand is taking over which farm.
As a family we have a motto to explore, learn and live a life of generosity. We love helping international guests connect with our local, and what better than Airbnb to help us with that?
We’ve had quite a few American groups and individuals stay with us to find their roots. Some turning so local that they knew the local café better than us (yes! Our tiny village has a café run by volunteers, lots of our guests visit!) and becoming Facebook friends with half the village. Its lovely to follow their quest to find new relatives, enabled by Facebook posts and connections.
We’ve also had Chinese from inner city Shanghai who liked nothing as much as digging their own potatoes. They had never been outside the city in China and had never seen vegetables in their natural habitat before. Not only did they leave a great review, they also left us a traditional knotted red bookmark that hang on the wall in our living room, next to a tribal knife from my time in Yemen.
From closer by, but still international, we’ve had several Norwegian groups help out with the chickens, the last of which was earlier this summer, and left with bag of new potatoes, the same chicken and a recipe.
My girls (6 & 7) have learned that the word “trampoline” is understood in almost all languages. And once you get going on the trampoline, language is no barrier to further play.
We also have international friends coming to visit and sometimes to stay. We had 14 nationalities at our wedding almost 10 years ago, and it’s a privilege to block the Airbnb calendar for a few nights or a week and reconnect with friends from afar.
Old friends or new friends, having a guest house on Airbnb means that you get to make friends over experiences, a meal or both.
This topic is part of our Festival of Hospitality 2022. You can find the full line-up here.
