Hello everyone!
Welcome to the Community Center! I'm @Bhu...
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Hello everyone!
Welcome to the Community Center! I'm @Bhumika , one of the Community Managers for our English Community Ce...
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This post is co-authored by Host Advisory Board members @Marielle135 and @Delphine348 from France, and @Tatiya0 from Thailand. Learn more about the Host Advisory Board.
Marielle: Airbnb has revolutionized the way people travel, forging connections that span the globe and transcending traditional accommodations. With its innovative platform, Airbnb has helped facilitate cultural exchange, promote local economies, and foster a sense of belonging for travelers. Hosting, wherever you live, is like traveling without moving. Delphine, Tatiya, and I first met through the Host Advisory Board and have been going on this trip for different periods.
I have been hosting on Airbnb for more than 7 years. I live in the French countryside in the middle of wheat fields. Itโs a little village that locals wouldnโt have likely considered an interesting destination for travelers. And here we are two listings as a Host, and three listings as a Co-Host later. Hosting has made people in my village realize we are not in the middle of nowhere but in the middle of somewhere.
Somewhere people traveling to or from holidays like to stop. Somewhere families or friends, despite the distance, choose to catch up. Somewhere locals can accommodate their families if their place is too small to organize a large event. Hosting has not only enriched my way of looking at the world but has also enabled me to have a look at the world coming together.
Iโve also observed a shift in how people travel and in their perspectives. For some, COVID-19 has created a worrying and new way to evaluate where they stay: some guests consider the isolation of a place, the overall space, and its quietness as all added values nowadays. Many hosts and travelers have had the chance to sit back, look at their life, and relax (or stress) during a period none of us could have imagined living through and surviving. Despite being located in different places, both hosts and guests have enabled many people to continue living their everyday lives in a different way, and to reconsider their future.
Maybe because we live in remote areas, or are overwhelmed by locals in busy cities, the arrival of a new face with memories of travel, and life experiences are an enrichment for both the Hosts and guests. That's what hospitality does for me: it heals the pain and shortcomings. The more we share and create a good guest experience, the more we feel stronger as members of a united world.
Delphine: I started hosting in 2020 just before the COVID pandemic began. After living abroad in Africa for 10 years, my husband and I came back home to France. I needed to figure out what I would do for a living. We bought an old house near ours, with the idea of creating a listing on Airbnb. I dove into renovation work for 15 months with the help of a very efficient contractor. I loved this part of imagining the best layout for my future guests, based on our previous experience as guests.
As soon as my hosting journey began, I realized it was exactly what I needed to do. Welcoming my guests, looking after their needs, and doing my best to introduce all the points of interest in my area is a real satisfaction.
I soon discovered the Airbnb community with the Community Center. I learned a lot from other Hostsโ discussions and questions and decided to volunteer to become a Community Leader for my area. Becoming a Host has opened possibilities and connected me with Hosts around the world, as well as with my local community. I only wish I had had this opportunity sooner.
Tatiya: I started hosting on Airbnb in 2013. I have met so many people around the world, including guests who have become my friends and others who I would have never met if it werenโt for Airbnb.
Iโve welcomed guests in the listings I host, along with places I support as a Co-Host.I also offer two in-person Experiences, and two online Experiences.
I've kept in touch with past guests over the years, and when I travel, I make a point to reach out to them if I'm in their city. One highlight includes a time I was visiting a couple I first met several years ago. While we were having lunch, their six-month-old daughter turned over for the first time. I was honored to be there to witness one of their familyโs โfirstโ precious moments.
Marielle: This summer, Tatiya traveled across Europe and met Delphine and me in France, in our countryside. We enjoyed quality time together, and even celebrated Delphineโs husbandโs birthday. Tatiya cooked a Thai dinner for us and had plenty of food and wine discoveries while staying with me and Delphine. That is how deep the Airbnb community hospitality is.
The evening at Delphineโs house with Tatiyaโs home-cooked Thai dinner.
The joys of being a part of the community ๐คฉ๐คฉ๐คฉ๐คฉ๐คฉ๐คฉ
@Marielle135 @Tatiya0 @Delphine2 This is so beautiful! Vraiement gentile et sympa. Indeed the world is now a global village made easier by Airbnb Love, Belong Anywhere. Thank you so much ladies for sharing your touching sentiments to celebrate the Festival of Hospitality 2023 Itโs super that you get to meet face to face. And laugh and make merry as you recount the phenomenal Host Sojourns. Fรฉlicitations! Jue โค๏ธ๐ฐ๐ช
I loved reading this Marielle, Delphine and Tatiya! Itโs wonderful hearing your hosting stories and how it has opened up the world for you all and enriched your lives and the lives of the many guests you welcome into your Airbnbs.
@Delphine348 Great to see you again!
Wonderful story, thank you so much, @Marielle135 !
Thank you @Till-and-Jutta0 , I have heard of you through @delphine348, and how much you have achieved, so your opinion counts double ๐
Love this story. It sounds like mine. Although Long Beach is NOT a small village, I enjoy showing people from all the world over the best this town has to offer. I learn so much from my guests and enjoy every minute.
Hello @Jean174 and thank you. I believe we can all experience the same things though in totally (or not) different places. Seeing we enjoy what we do for a living, for keeping our house, or just for fun, we tend to put the same energy and envy in it, so probably in return we get the same pleasure ๐ meet you maybe one day in your or my listing ๐
@Marielle135 @Delphine348 and @Tatiya0 Thank you for your collaboration and sharing your experiences which is different and friendships that has been formed through the Host Advisory Board.
@Marielle135 you have shown that cultural exchange is an experience to be shared. It looks like there was a good meal to be had and laughter by all in the photo.
Yes, as you have said Covid did change the way people travelled and city people have found the countryside and rural areas that they may have not thought to stay.
In Australia people have found and tried Airbnb for the first time. Enjoying the experience and realising while Covid rules were here and they didn't have to leave Australia to holiday.
We even had interstate shut downs or cities and shires. Guests were having to find a new way for short breaks, holidays or time out.
@Delphine348 the joys of renovations and recreations can be rewarding and what a time to choose with Covid regulations and restrictions. This was possibly a time where you could loose yourself in your own space. Were you able to buy building materials, paint and furnishings or were they in short supply?
I think hosting brings out the best in people who enjoy meeting people and not just in for the money (mind you it can help).
Yes I have found or feel that I have something in common with most hosts on the CC Forum and enjoy reading about items of interest from around the world of Airbnb.
@Tatiya0 what a way to meet up with people who have a common interest and share a meal through Airbnb in France.
I am sure you have lots of experiences to pass onto other hosts and yes, it is great to catch up with past guests who you have made friends with.
I have looked up your profile for the cooking experiences. It looks like a feast to enjoy at the end.
@Marielle135 @Delphine348 and @Tatiya0 Again thank you for sharing your friendship and different styles of Airbnb hosting.
@Laurelle3 there is always a good side to bad things, the hard bit is to see itโฆ indeed covid has enabled us all to appreciate what was just ยซ under her nose ยป personnally I felt like I was living in a castle. One of the first guest I welcomed came with his son, when he opened the car door, the little one ran out of the car into the garden yelling his lungs out. ๐ the dad was worn out, coming from Paris, in a flat (though big).
i agree with you!
i used to live in a stop by village on the way to holidays, I now live in a destination!
Getting to spend time with @Delphine348 and @Tatiya0 was indeed super cool. My liver and body have been recovering since ๐
Thank you @Marielle135 , @Delphine348 and @Tatiya0 for sharing your story with us. It is an incredible community to be a part of. I have met so many interesting people over the years - it really is a great way to travel.
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@Marielle135 @Delphine348 @Tatiya0
What a wonderful story!
Thanks for sharing this and for your tireless contribution as HAB23 .๐
I also have so many places I'd like to visit around the world thanks to the guests I've connected with during my 8 years of hosting.
I believe there is value that only hosts can provide.
#madepossiblebyhosts ๐
Hello @Shinya0 thank you for your sweet message.
Definitely being a host is a renewal everytime! At the moment I have an Irish couple staying in my listing and you know whatโฆ I wish they could not liveโฆ thatโs also that hosting thanks to a platform as powerful and international as Airbnb. ๐
Thank you for sharing these wonderful stories of your hosting journeys - and so wonderful to see 3 hosts together! @Marielle135 I absolutely love that thought - "not in the middle of nowehere, but in the middle of somewhere"!