“The flights to Croatia are so expensive, maybe we should just drive”.
Yeah right. Like we could drive to Croatia. A minute later we were on google maps. Hull to Croatia, 22 hours. 22 hours divided by what, 3 maybe? It was actually starting to sound like a possibility and I was definitely up for it. But how would we book places to stay along the way?
We got home from work and Joe got the map up. We looked at the highlighted route From Hull to Croatia and basically picked out 3 countries on the way there and 3 on the way back. It was that easy! I couldn’t believe it. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe some huge planning session with paper maps and pins and string, etc.
We ended up choosing 2 countries on the way there, France and Austria. For the journey back we chose Slovenia, Germany and Luxembourg. 6 countries in 2 weeks. A night in each. Sorted.
To Airbnb or not to Airbnb?
Air bnb was absolutely the right way for us to do this trip but I get that it’s not for everybody. If you don’t mind being in someone’s home for a night and you’re happy to meet new people then I’d say go for it. It’s cheap, safe and makes exploring a new place in a short space of time easier as the hosts can give you all of the best information on where to visit, eat and avoid. You can also type in specific areas you’d like to be close to and see if there are Air bnbs close by which means less travelling around once you arrive at your destination, which was super important to us because we were driving from early morning and arriving late afternoon so we didn’t want to spend the afternoon driving from place to place.
Also for anyone concerned, you don’t have to sit and chat with anyone if you don’t want to. Everyone we stayed with was respectful of our space and pretty much gave us a key and left us to it which we really appreciated. But if you do want to chat most of them are open to that too. You also have the choice of searching for a private room or an entire home. With the latter you’d get the whole thing to yourselves without the hosts which we’ve done before and it was perfect for us. You’re often left hints and tips about the area, from directions to the nearest pub to maps of hiking trails. Win win.
For me meeting the hosts and spending time in their homes was something I really enjoyed. I will literally walk around the Avenues in Hull trying to look in peoples windows just to get a glimpse of their lives. I find other people’s homes and lifestyles fascinating -Joe calls it nosy but I prefer curious- so I was in my element! And they were all so unique! Each home completely different to the last. Different people from all walks of life all with the same desire to open up their homes to complete strangers. Bonkers but brilliant!
So tell me, has anyone stayed in an Air bnb before? What did you think? Has anyone had a weird experience? Am I the only person obsessed with other people’s lives? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading this story so far ♥️
The actual life of Riley 