New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here ‌👇

[Bhumika]

Hello everyone! 😊

Welcome to the Community Center! 👋  I'm @Bhumika , one of the Community Managers for our English Community Center along with my lovely team members @Quincy @Paula @Rebecca @Elisa @Alex @Emilie and we are thrilled to have you join us.

Let's kickstart this thread with a little about us Community Managers:

@Quincy : I'm from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 I have been on the Community Center for 6+ years, and have been an Airbnb Host myself. I love cycling🚲, playing football⚽, and travelling🌏 . I love how dynamic and diverse the Community Center is as we meet Hosts from all around the globe. 

@Bhumika :  🌍 I was born in Gujarat, India 🇮🇳 , and shifted to Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 last year! 📷 I recently realized my love for photography and aesthetics. I love to capture mundane life and candid pictures. 🌆 When I'm not working, you'll find me binge-watching thriller movies or exploring history.

@Paula : I am from Colombia 🇨🇴 and currently living in British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦. I have a passion for Latin American culture (I love to dance 💃) . I've had the opportunity to visit around 20 countries 🌎 and plan to visit many more. In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities, especially mountain biking 🚲 and hiking 🏔.

@Rebecca : I'm from Cardiff in Wales originally but being a military child and a veterans spouse, I've travelled and lived in a lot of different places in the UK and Europe. I'm an environmentalist 🌿 and like to minimise my impact on the planet 🌎 as well as volunteering in my local community.  I love sea swimming 🌊 yoga on the beach 🧘‍ and I'm a children's yoga instructor too! 🙌 

@Elisa : I was born in Italy 🇮🇹 and as a lover of unique experiences—from exploring the streets of Rome🇮🇹 , Paris 🇫🇷, and Toronto 🇨🇦 to appreciating timeless art and cuisine—I'm here to blend the old with the new. 

@Alex : I'm originally from Spain 🇪🇸, but my passion for traveling made me move to Toronto🇨🇦 this year to explore the culture and add another unforgettable experience to my journey ✈️. I'm also passionate about all kinds of sports ⚽️ (especially football, in which I played at a semi-professional level) and love to discover new dishes everywhere I go. 🥘

Now it's your turn! Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? And is there something special about the location of your accommodation that you'd like to share?

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Warm regards,

Bhumika

[Bhumika]

That's wonderful @Daniel13767 ! It’s incredible how hosting allows us to connect with people from diverse cultures and all corners of the world! 😍

Do you have a memorable guest interaction that stands out to you?

[Paul11559]

Hi I’m Paul

originally from Manchester UK after 30+ years in Vancouver I 

Recently retired to the beautiful village of Sun Peaks 

skiing and hiking and kayaking and anything outdoors is my jam

[Paula]

Hello @Paul11559, it is absolutely great to have you here 😊

I would like to invite you to share some tips with our wonderful community by starting a 👉New conversation here.

I am sure your expertise will greatly benefit many new Hosts 😊

[Ryan3920]

"Hello everyone! I'm Ryan from Lawton, Oklahoma, and I'm thrilled to be part of this vibrant host community. With a background in hospitality and a passion for creating welcoming spaces, I strive to provide guests with exceptional experiences that make them feel right at home. I believe in the power of connection, and I’m eager to learn from all of you while sharing my insights and tips. Let’s collaborate, support each other, and continue to elevate our hosting game together!"

[Paula]

Hello @Ryan3920, welcome to the Airbnb Community Center 

I would like to invite you to share some tips with our wonderful community by starting a New conversation here.

I am sure your expertise will greatly benefit many new Hosts 😊

[Andrea8263]

Hello! I'm Andrea and live on the beautiful Gold Coast on the east coast of Australia. This is my first Airbnb listing and it's great to have a community to source quality info from. 😁 Our property is surrounded by nature yet close to all the GC has to offer from the quaint Mount Tamborine cafés, nature walks and shopping, to the fun theme parks only minutes away. I'm yet to take any bookings so any advice to get going is appreciated!

[Rebecca]

Hi @Andrea8263,

Welcome to the community, and congratulations on your first listing! You cottage looks really cozy with nature all around it. 😍

Perhaps you could share your listing with us on 'Ask about your listing', where you can ask other Hosts to critique your listing and give you some tips about how to improve it and help you be as successful as can be? It's often a useful exercise, even more so when you're starting out! 😊

[Malcolm238]

Hi, I am Malcolm and hosting with my wife a wooden chalet since 2019 in a beautiful area of France, with lots of trees around.

We are from England, had to take early retirement due to my wife's illness (which has been better in a warmer place) and use the chalet to top up a small pension.

Both my wife and I love wildlife, we love to watch birds, so we got a property with a bit of land. We built the chalet ourselves out of a kit which looks over a meadow surrounded by trees.

I love hearing our guests (many come from big towns and cities) talk about what they have seen and heard, like owls in the night or deer in the evenings.

[Rebecca]

Hi @Malcolm238, 

We're so happy to have you here with us! I'm really glad to hear retirement in this lovely area of France is agreeing so well with you and your wife. I can't believe you built this chalet by yourselves though, how long did that take? 😮👏

It does look like a wonderful spot for wildlife lovers. I can imagine it also because a winter wonderland over the snowy months.❄️ 

[Malcolm238]

Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for your reply.

The chalet took 6 months to build during the winter, this including all the electrics and plumbing. It was a first for us to build such a thng 😀.

We don't get much snow, when it does come it normally all goes within the day. Once we had snow for 2 weeks, but that was a few years ago.

[Rebecca]

WOW, @Malcolm238! 6 months is really no time at all. You must be very proud of yourselves. What was the most challenging part of the build? 

The snow sounds very similar to the UK snow situation. By the end of the day it's usually rained and turned to mush! 😅

[Malcolm238]

I don't know Rebecca 😀. 2 things were challenging:
We could not let the inside wet while the walls were going up, so I dragged 2 large tarpaulins over the whole site which took 2 hours to do, then in the morning it would take another 2 hours to take it off, but the inside was bulging with rain water.
The other was getting the large bits of timber up to the top of the walls and putting the roof on, so a friend helped.
 
So what’s your story Rebecca, how did you get involved with Airbnb? We used to live near Wisbech and both my wife and I worked in Cambridge from time to time.

[Rebecca]

@Malcolm238 - that's amazing dedication but such an experience. Not many people build their own homes these days. I really admire people who can craft things like this. 😊 

Well at Airbnb, I'm a Community Manager, doing my favourite thing:- connecting people so they can get the support they need and creating a community environment where people can have meaningful conversations and feel a part of something special. 

I know Wisbech and Cambridge very well - beautiful area and so much history! 

Quick tip: if you type "@" and then the username, this will tag the member that you're replying to.

[Malcolm238]

@Rebecca , thank you for the tip.

The trouble with the Fens is that it is a bit flat, I like the hills and I have them here.

It's also great to do something you love, well done.

[Rebecca]

You're welcome @Malcolm238! Hopefully we'll see you around on the Community Center often! 😊