While my wife Kristie and I are not quite ready to travel with the baby yet, I've been bitten by the travel bug yet again. (It's recurring, I don't think there's a permanent cure.) To quell that travel itch, I searched a few of my someday-destinations on Airbnb, and realized there are so many cheap accommodation options out there! Here are a few where I can (really) imagine myself spending a week or two...
PS: Use this link to sign up for Airbnb and you'll get $35 in travel credit (and so will I!)
PPS: This post is not sponsored. Except for by my daydreams.
I spent an evening once in Malmö, Sweden. I was in college, visiting one of my best friends from high school, Cara, who was studying abroad in Copenhagen. In my memories, we seem so young and full of energy! We took the train to Sweden one night for dinner – except, you know, we were broke. So (like all college students) we chose wine over food at an outdoor cafe on a cobblestone street, and played silly games while the sun set and we got tipsy in the cold.
ANYWAY I would really love to go back to Sweden. This studio apartment in Stockholm is in the Södermalm district (which I recognized from reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series) and is only $77 per night during the week, and $89 per night on the weekends. Accommodates 2. Doesn't it look so dreamy and tidy?
Traveling to Asia is sort of a bigger, faraway dream of mine. The flights have always seemed to me long and expensive – but worth it, I'm sure, and even more so when you can stay in apartments like this one in Hanoi, Vietnam, for only $44 per night. I don't know if Kristie's interested in a flight that long, so I might rope my sister into trekking across the world with me...
My love-love relationship with Montréal started the summer after freshman year of college, when I visited the city twice – once with my college BFF Chiara because we were 18 and wanted to go somewhere we could drink legally, and then again a month later with my whole family (including the dog) when my brother toured McGill University. And then Kristie and I returned two years ago in February...which oh my god, coldest EVER! But the city was never more charming. Next time we go (it's only 6 hours away from us driving), I want to stay in this loft in Old Montréal. It's $106 per night, sleeps 4, and looks so stylish and cool.
Private apartment rentals in P-town are so hard to find in the summer; I'm tempted to reserve this cottage now! Pardon me while I swoon over that Smeg fridge for a sec. Provincetown is our favorite Cape Cod destination (we were there in January a year or two ago), and this sweet space is 1/2 block from Commercial St. and sleeps 2 for $99 a night.
Last year when we visited Paris, Provence, and England we were in London for maybe a grand total of an hour and a half while changing trains. It was enough time to grab lunch with my beloved college roommate, but we really didn't get to explore the city. Hopefully our 2019 travel plans will have room for that, because this studio flat in Notting Hill had me at "window seat." It's $94 per night and sleeps 2. As a sometimes-sleepwalker, the loft bed makes me a **tiny** bit nervous, but I'm not kidding about that window seat.
Tuscany has always seemed like a perfect Italy destination. (And not just because I watch Under the Tuscan Sun whenever it's on Netflix. Which I do.) I've never visited Italy before, but Tuscany is so gorgeous – and close to Florence, plus tinier towns – how could it not be our destination? Dream central. I love the pink bedroom in this Chianti apartment. It sleeps 3 for $71 per night. And that garden/backyard, are you kidding me?
Is it just me, or do homes from the Hudson Valley end up in interior design mags constantly? Kristie and I haven't spent a lot of time there, but it's practically in our backyard (and close to Chiara and her husband Mike). The open floor plan, private location, and clawfoot tub all have this home on my list. It's $110, so one of the pricier places on this list, and sleeps 4.
I loved visiting Cara in Copenhagen during college. She'd go to class in the daytime, and I'd explore the city on my own. That trip was one of a couple that cemented in me a real taste for travel, and the confidence to go about by myself. I remember standing in the middle of a plads (I can't remember which one) when the bells of a church began to ring and a cloud – a true CLOUD – of birds started swooping around and around, while the bells kept ringing. I will treasure that memory for the rest of my days. So of course a return to Copenhagen would be the most lovely thing, especially if Kristie and I were nestled in this studio flat in the vibrant Norrebro district. It's $93 per night and sleeps 2. (Do you think Danish 7-11's have started making gluten-free pizza?)
One of the things I loved about our apartment in Paris was the little courtyard it had, protected by a number-lock door. Walking through the gate felt like we were home before even getting home...we were part of our own tiny neighborhood where it felt safe to let our guard down a little, and hang out on the steps of our apartment building, playing with neighborhood cats. That's what first attracted me to this apartment, steps away from the Champs Elysées for only $57 per night (I know!). It has the sweetest little outdoor space, plus a bathroom covered in marble, and it sleeps 3. I promised it when we were last in the city, but believe you me, we are coming back to Paris.
Tulum seems like a trendy but quiet jungle paradise, but really – any quiet spot in Mexico? I'm up for it. I haven't been to Mexico since I was 14, and I've travelled in several other Spanish-speaking countries since, but not much sounds more tempting right now than a chance to put my Spanish to use in a Mexican hideaway. This apartment is a complete tropical dream, featuring a pool, a patio, and room for 5 near the Yalku cenote – for $97 per night.
I think as long as Iceland Air is offering those unbelievable deals on layovers, the country is going to be a hot place to stop. Kristie's always wanted to see the Northern Lights, and I've heard nothing but good things about the scenery, the city, the people who live there. This studio apartment actually looks like it's a good size, and is a 20-minute walk from Reykjavik city center. That bathroom though! $105 per night, sleeps 3.
After Hurricane Katrina, I travelled with a group of college students down to New Orleans where we spent spring break 2006 cleaning out houses damaged by the flood. I found myself doing things I never, ever thought I would (like nailing shingles to to a roof, or taking down walls with a sledgehammer). It was an incredible trip in a lot of ways, but especially because I got to know New Orleans. Damn, those are good people. I want to go back and maybe stay in this cute cottage. It sleeps 3 for $65 per night and is one mile from the French Quarter and Bourbon Street.
This list and research really did quell a little bit of my travel urge...at least until tomorrow. Again, this post isn't sponsored at all, but if you haven't tried Airbnb yet, use this link to get $35 travel credit (and I'll get $35 to help fuel our next adventure).