As I sit down to write this, Leesa and I have just welcomed a French couple, on a year long working holiday visa and a Chinese couple, on a 14 day holiday around New Zealand, into our home. Being Airbnb hosts is so rewarding. Every night you just don’t know what you are going to get and we have learnt so much from the stories and experiences from our guests. Some of them have seen more of New Zealand than we have! As they arrive we show them to their room and ask the typical questions “where have you come from today?” and “how long are you travelling for?”. We usually strike up conversation in the kitchen while one of us is cooking dinner and we help them plan their days in Dunedin. Sometimes there is a slight language barrier and we revert to miming and simplified speech. We have two spare rooms in our house and guests have their own bathroom. We never get sick of having people in our space (actually it feels strange when we have noone booked in for the night). In fact we have made some friends along the way, many of whom we plan to visit when we travel one day. Firstly there was Penny & Barry from the UK. When I told them that I was heading out for the evening to a school fundraising quiz night, they told me they would love to join the team. It was a hoot getting to know them outside of the house - even if their quiz skills were a little poor. Sophie was also from the UK. She stayed with us for a week before finding her own place in Dunedin as she was moving here permanently. Even after she moved out we have kept in touch and catch up for bookclub, runs, bikes or dinner at each others houses. Francoise was a retired French baker whose husband had died a few years earlier. She had decided after a few years of moping around home to get out there and discover the world. We thought she was so awesome for travelling solo to New Zealand. She had picked up a rental car in Christchurch and stopped at Moeraki boulders. Unfortunately she left the handbrake off and the car headed towards two low posts connected by a chain. She was sure once it got there it would stop the car. Instead it pulled the posts out of the ground and the chain scraped all the way up and over the car. She then ran and pulled the handbrake just before the car rolled off the cliff. She was telling us laughing, saying she couldn’t believe she had to ring the car company only 4 hours after picking it up to say she damaged it. She was such an awesome lady. ![]() Recently we had a farming couple from the North Island who came down for the Eagles concert. The lady informed us that we didn’t look like a gay couple and in fact she had never met a gay couple before. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask us! We told her she could ask away….. We had crepes with an Italian couple on Christmas morning and there was also another couple who told us about travelling around the world on a Yacht (which they had just sold and had just begun their journey travelling the world by land.) ![]() The absolute best guests we have had were Bianca and Waldemar from Germany. We looked forward to playing competitive Uno with them each night over a glass of wine. They have continued to send us pictures every second day of their travels and we have promised to visit them back in their home country. Most people stay one or two nights, someone stayed a month and a few people have come back to stay again. In total we have had 295 couples stay in just over two years. Being hosts has really helped us recognise and understand cultural differences and similarities, which has helped us to be more accepting and welcoming to all people regardless of age, race, religion and sexuality. Meeting people is so rewarding. It is absolutely worth racing home everyday to wash sheets, vacuum and clean the kitchen and bathroom just in time to put our smiles on and open the door to another couple. Here are the links to our listings if you want to be nosey - it is quite interesting reading the reviews from our guests
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16674991? location=Dunedin%2C%20Otago%2C%20New%20Zealand&adults=2&guests=1&s=VP9TqEXH https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17638798?location=Dunedin%2C%20Otago%2C%20New%20Zealand&adults=2&guests=1&s=VP9TqEXH And on a business note, if you are thinking about hosting, let me know, I get $150 for anyone I sign up!
3 Comments
Jane
3/4/2019 04:38:44 pm
Thanks Abbie - I really enjoyed that!
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Sarah
30/7/2020 05:12:35 pm
Hi Abbie,
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Hi Abbie,
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