Expatacular tips are about making your first or next expat move easier. Think of them as the “Lifehacker” for Expats.
Whether you aspire to live, work or study in another country or if you are already doing that, then the word “expat” is part of your everyday language. In the most general sense, an “expat”, is anyone who is temporarily or permanently living in a country other than the one where they claim citizenship.
Every week, we take a look at “expat hacks” to help you make the next transition abroad seamless.
If you have any to suggest, leave them in the comments or send us a message.
Today’s tip: Stay like a local with Airbnb.com
Airbnb.com
Tired of staying at the Holiday Inn when in Ann Arbor, MI? Not sure of what you are getting when you book through couchsurfing.org? Airbnb.com is a novel concept in travel accommodation where the locals make their own homes available to travelers, for a price.
The easy to use interface is simple, enter the destination of your choice and the dates you want, et voila! Airbnb then looks in that area for rooms, condos, homes and even castles (yes, castles) available for rent from private owners who have registered themselves with airbnb.com. Transactions are done through PayPal or a Credit Card and the money isn’t disbursed to the host until at least 24 hours after you check in.
Accommodations can either be listed in either a grid with pictures attached or a map view so you can see exactly where you will be staying. It is a simple matter to narrow your search results by price, distance and recommendations. Each search result comes with a short description, amenities available and some quick details.
As with all social websites, the real power comes from user recommendations. Recommendations are abundant, not just for the result you select, but also for other properties that host has listed on airbnb.com. If that host receives enough stellar feedback from travelers then they become eligible for SuperHost Alliance status, a designation given by airbnb.com to hosts that go above and beyond. A nice warm and fuzzy for those of us still hesitant to use the service.
The most innovative feature of the site has to be the groups feature, a user created network of hosts and travelers that provides rooms for those with the same interests, alma-mater, profession, etc… Clicking on a group displays a world map view showing where hosts participating in the group are along with a picture grid of available accommodations below.
As a matter of full disclosure, we have yet to try out the service airbnb.com provides. Reading the reviews of some of the users and the favorable view it received in the New York Times, aribnb.com will definitely be on my short list of providers to try while traveling abroad.
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