I suspect Mark Twain would have LOVED Airbnb.
While travel is indeed a catalyst for personal growth and understanding our fellow humans, I think the same could be said for hosting. My very favorite part about hosting has been making personal connections with people who come to our part of the world to experience the things I’ve enjoyed here for many years. Sharing this little town I love and helping others see it as we do has been such a joyful part of my own personal journey.
What I hadn’t expected was the opportunity to see this place through the eyes of others; The glee of a first snowfall as experienced by southerners; The majesty of the mountains in the summer from the perspective of a city dweller; The spectacular autumn colors that make lines of cars pull off of our winding roads to take photographs. It’s all new again when viewed alongside first timers.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of hosting our guests is helping them feel at home in the place I call home. Over time I’ve developed a guide of “insider tips.” It isn’t a review of every single place. It’s the highlights, the places to go that are unlike all the others. It’s the places where guests will feel welcomed and looked after, or places to go to be peaceful in the woods. It’s where to park when the lot is full and the “special” to order that’s not on the menu. I aim to make guests feel they’ve got a “fairy host mother” for their adventure.
I’ve had the good luck to have my guide carefully translated into Spanish and French by native speakers who have understood the nuances of what I want our visitors to know and I share it with guests before they arrive. I’m overwhelmed by the gratitude folks have expressed for having a compass to guide them while they explore.
While we live in a time when there seems to be a lot dividing us from each other, I’m thankful that Airbnb brings us together. I’m thankful we meet people who at first may seem very different and at heart are so much the same.
Thanks for asking @Helen427 ! One of my favorite things about the garden is that it puts on a show from late May through the fall. June is blue and white, with Columbine, Daisy's and Ms. Rumphius's famous Lupine. The color shifts through the summer, with pink echinacea, golden rudbeckia, assorted cosmos and sunflowers. From the table looking back, guests see a stone retaining wall filled with succulents and surrounded by lavender. We planted it all as a pollinator garden and we fortify it with some new seeds in the spring.
We have occasional black bears, frequent wild turkeys, deer, and many birds, including humming birds. We have yet to have a moose wander through, but they yearlings occasionally lose their way and wander through town or a nearby condo complex before getting "re-directed" by the game wardens.
The hot air balloon festival launches from the fields below us in July. That's always a treat from our porch and garden.
