What 12 individuals learned after one year of living anywhere on Airbnb

Key Takeaways

• The Live Anywhere on Airbnb participants share their experiences and tips after spending the past year living and traveling on Airbnb.
• Last year, Airbnb selected 12 individuals to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, traveling the world through the Live Anywhere on Airbnb program.
• During their travels, participants provided Airbnb with insights to ultimately help improve the platform’s design and functionality for long-term flexible living.
• As their travels have now ended, participants share some of their most memorable moments from their long-term stays, tips and advice for other aspiring nomads.

Over the past 10 months, the Live Anywhere on Airbnb participants had the unique opportunity to travel the world and immerse themselves in incredible experiences—like tasting feijoada in Brazil for the first time, searching for elephants in a Malaysian jungle, hot air ballooning over Cappadocia, biking through the Atlas mountains, and more.* Throughout their journeys, participants shared their insights to help Airbnb better understand and accommodate long-term stays, ultimately informing future upgrades and innovations on the platform.**

Three key findings stood out:

1. Tools like wishlists are helpful in planning multi-leg journeys.
2. Amenities like fully-functional kitchens and ample common space to gather in are important for longer stays.
3. A positive, long-term trip experience usually involved an attentive Host and as such, access to the local community and recommendations.

To close out the program, we asked participants a series of questions about their travels and advice for others living on Airbnb. This is what they had to say:

What has been your favorite memory from the Live Anywhere on Airbnb program?

“Rupert’s first steps on the sand in a beautiful beach in Costa Rica,” - James G. from the UK.

“Most of our time was spent on a large-scale cross country road trip, where we fell in love with a number of US cities. In a few cities, we had the chance to share our stories with the local media, and in Tulsa, we even got a mayoral proclamation, where April 22 was declared Lindsey and Anna Day!” - Lindsey and Anna from Maryland.

What is one travel tip you would share with someone looking to live long term on Airbnb?

“Be flexible. Plans will change all the time, make the best of every situation and don’t get stuck on a plan if it’s not meant to be. Stay open-minded and seize opportunities when they arise. Don’t book things too much in advance either,” - Will from France.

“Use wishlists! We used the wishlist feature as a parking lot for potential Airbnbs. Sometimes we’d get up to 15, 20, 25 different homes, and then would narrow it down to our top – Ben & Peta from France and South Africa.

“Prioritize the Airbnb over everything else (including location). Unlike a holiday, you will spend a lot of time at home, which is what makes an Airbnb vs. hotel so helpful. When living like a nomad, it’s essential to have a comfortable home to return to at the end of the day of travel or working remotely,” - Steven from France.

“If you’re traveling with a group, opt for spaces where every person has their own room regardless of how comfortable you are with each other. Yet it’s also important to find a place where there are spaces for interaction, like big living rooms or balconies. Even just a small cozy corner where people can gather and exchange stories or simply do work together,” - Hendric from Singapore.

What advice do you have for Airbnb Hosts who want to make their listings more hospitable for long-term stays?

“When booking a weekend or a shorter trip, we were happy to get a door code, make ourselves at home and not interact with the Host at all and just get on with our holiday. But when staying in places longer, we definitely craved more communication from Hosts and it made all the difference in helping us feel at home," - Stephanie from Tennessee.

“I really appreciated Hosts that outfitted their Airbnbs for longer stays. Listings that actually had full kitchen equipment, ones that even provide things like detergent. It is really nice when you walk into an Airbnb and there’s those little extras that you need for long-term stays that you don’t necessarily have with you,” - Victoria from Russia.

“Show your guests around! One of my Hosts took me to her favorite places, cafes, and restaurants. Those places became my favorite places. At one of the cafes that I frequented, the owner would come out on occasion and greet me and say hello. That meant the world to me, because it made me feel like a local and was extremely kind. Those are the experiences that I think anyone wants when they travel, especially if they’re traveling long-term,” - Marquita from New York.

With the recent launch of Airbnb Categories, what is your favorite Category on Airbnb?

“We love the flexibility that the new site allows. Because we’ve spent the year traveling, we’ve been really flexible not only with time, but also with location. We always use the Flexible dates feature to make sure we’re seeing the best listings, even if it means changing our plans slightly. Category-wise, Amazing Pools are always a hit with Hays! We’ve been lucky enough to have pools at our homes in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam!” - Stephanie from Tennessee.

“By far our favorite is the Design Category! Just magnificent properties pop up that weren’t as readily visible before. Next, was the Beaches Category because of the uniqueness of these Airbnb listings. And finally, the OMG! Category. Love having the option to have the system surface candidates that would not otherwise come our way,” - Ben & Peta from France and South Africa.

What have been some of the benefits of living long-term on Airbnb?

“On longer stays, personal connections were most important. For us, connection means feeling connected to the local community, wherever we are. One of the ways that we do this is going back to the same places, like a coffee shop, a place for breakfast, or a grocery to buy produce. We don’t try to see everything and we are really living in our neighborhood. People start to recognize us and we feel connected to the fiber of the local community,” - Ben & Peta from France and South Africa.

“I liked Hosts who tailored recommendations for longer stays, for instance practical basics like banking, post office or where to buy household supplies in the neighborhood – local perspectives you would only get by staying at an Airbnb,” - Hendric from Singapore.

What was something you found challenging about living long-term on Airbnb?

“It’s ‘hard’ to constantly adapt to a new city and a new apartment. And, with longer stays of 28 or more days most of the time we had a hard time canceling our stay if countries closed or flights were changed because of the strict cancellation policy,” - Jonathan from Canada.

“A common misconception people have about the nomadic lifestyle is that you are going to be on a perpetual holiday which is not the case if you have to work, because at first, you might be trying to live like a tourist almost full time, but sooner or later you have to accept that you need a certain routine and that you have to use your energy for your job. So, it’s not all just fun,” - Maria from Argentina.

Will you be continuing your nomad travels once the program wraps? If so, where will you go next?

“Would love to! Considering the Philippines as there was still so much to explore in the region. Not to mention the vibrant nomadic community as well,” - Hendric from Singapore.

“We hope to be seasonal nomads after our year of living anywhere with Airbnb. We hope to make travel a significant part of our lives while having a home base in South Carolina. We’ve already got plane tickets booked to Banff, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Copenhagen and Berlin. This year has also taught us that my wife and I enjoy working together as travel content creators. We hope this could be our small business moving forward as well,” - Colin & Meg from Malaysia and South Carolina.

*The Live Anywhere on Airbnb program encouraged participants to travel safely and responsibly throughout the duration of the program. Participants were advised to follow local and international travel requirements, as well as health guidelines.

**Program duration was 12 consecutive months from July 2021 to July 2022, 10 of which included traveling to and living in listings on Airbnb.

About Airbnb

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.

About Airbnb.org

Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.'s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org's charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.

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