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About half of our Airbnbs have been fine. Not sure if this is just luck of the draw, or if there is something I'm overlooking in the ones that don't turn out well.
Could be that I don't translate the descriptions as well as I should.
Eclectic international neighborhood: Bars on the windows, groups of young men following us around, and no walking about after dark..
Cozy studio: One room with a microwave on top of a dorm refrigerator.
In the heart of things: Neighbors will will partying and and playing music all night long.
I know a lot of people love AirBnB, but we found it iffy.
I have learned to decipher the Airbnb language, lol.
Even if you search "entire place", it can be part of their house, like a detached one. I'm very careful about who lives in/near the property. If the household has a small child, it's not a good sign for light sleepers.
Most Airbnb properties are not in the best neighborhoods. It requires some research, the map allows you to roughly identify its neighborhood but you need to figure out which neighborhoods are good/bad.
“historic districts" are also more likely to be bad neighborhoods.
Another one: There is no point in going out of your way to extremes to try to blend in with the locals. Obviously you probably want to avoid fanny packs and white crew socks and day-glo colors, but chances that anyone is going to mistake me for a native are slim to none. Especially when I'm with a tour group or hanging out in a generally tourist-y area. I'm going to be wearing comfortable walking shoes and carrying a utilitarian (e.g. not high fashion) bag.
Even if you search "entire place", it can be part of their house, like a detached one. I'm very careful about who lives in/near the property. If the household has a small child, it's not a good sign for light sleepers.
AirBnB really needs another category for private separate quarters that are part of the main structure, but separate and with a dedicated entrance. The place I'm staying in next weekend is categorized as "entire place", but it's the basement apartment and the owner lives upstairs. In my mind, that's not the entire place, but it's also not quite a shared space. So I don't know what you would call that new category.
It's basically free to browse the pictures of the sights you want to see. You can also watch documentaries, travel videos and use Google map to feel the streets.
But you can't experience the food without being there eating it.
The scenery is always more impressive seeing in person than via picture.
I do try but I don't make it a goal to look for best restaurant or best food. I don't like most of the exotic food anyway.
It's basically free to browse the pictures of the sights you want to see. You can also watch documentaries, travel videos and use Google map to feel the streets.
But you can't experience the food without being there eating it.
I thought so too till I took my first exotic vacation to Peru many moons ago. The magical beauty of Machu Pichu in the mist following a rain and rounding the corner, the unexpected face to face encounter with a llama staring at me while I stared back at him still bring me goosebumps. No pictures or videos can recreate it or do it for me.
Maybe for some people, eating high end food during travel does the same thing. But for me the sights and sounds of the places I go to is difficult to experience in photos/ videos.
I thought so too till I took my first exotic vacation to Peru many moons ago. The magical beauty of Machu Pichu in the mist following a rain and rounding the corner, the unexpected face to face encounter with a llama staring at me while I stared back at him still bring me goosebumps. No pictures or videos can recreate it or do it for me.
Maybe for some people, eating high end food during travel does the same thing. But for me the sights and sounds of the places I go to is difficult to experience in photos/ videos.
I'm not a fan of Michelle food.
I prefer mid-range food local people like. During my travel in Spain, I normally spent 15 - 25 Euros/per person/per meal and the food was usually very good.
Peru is one of the few countries where you can find llama meat in local restaurants. Some people are just not into food, I know.
I like to visit places and just go with the flow. I'm not a tourist-y gotta-see-all-attractions kind of person. I don't talk about that part when people ask me about my travels because I usually get "....you went ALLLL the way over there just to do THAT??"
When I go to SE Asia, I just get up in the morning, go to the palengke for the day's food, hang out at the mall, wander around with friends, play bingo, ride local transportation, eat local street food, watch local tv and movies (I only understand about 20% of Tagalog haha but I can figure out what's going on for the most part)
Also, I like the process of getting there just as much as the destination itself. I have no issues with a 16.5 hour trip to Taiwan. (Or a 20 hour trip to Manila). And I fly economy! I always fly international airlines though (EVA, Cathay, etc etc) I would never fly a United, Delta, etc internationally.
I dread domestic flights though. I have one coming up next month and my plan is to get on, shaddap and watch movies on my phone until I arrive at my destination
Put me in the camp of those who don't like to camp (get it, ha ha) and hate cruises.
I've gone camping before and didn't care much for it.
I went on one cruise 11 years ago, a seven day trip that went to several ports, and was never so bored and miserable in my life.
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I always fly international airlines though (EVA, Cathay, etc etc) I would never fly a United, Delta, etc internationally.
