Everything That Went Wrong in the $30 Airbnb

June 19, 2018 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Life In Your 20's, life lessons

A couple of weeks ago, my friend invited me to her wedding. I brought my roommate Katherine as my plus one and booked an Airbnb for us.

I didn’t spend too much time on the selection. We wouldn’t be at the place long, just to change before the wedding and to sleep afterward. There also weren’t a ton of selections in the area, but I found a suburban two-storey bungalow for $50. The rental was a private room, meaning the host would be home, but that was fine; I’ve done that before in the States and abroad. Plus, I had a $20 voucher I could apply to make the entire rental $30. Amazing!

I forgot about the Airbnb almost entirely until a week before the wedding when “Mr. Xi” emailed confirming my arrival and informing me he would be out of town. “I’ll leave key in lockbox,” he wrote. “The code is 7133. Leave the key there when you go out.”

Traveling Without a Trust Fund: How To Go Abroad with “No Money”

June 26, 2017 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Life In Your 20's, life lessons

Growing up, I wanted to see the world. No one believed me. I don’t even think I believed me. But the last year and a half has shown me (and my parents, friends, and audience members) is that you should’ve believed me. Since March 2016, I’ve been to six countries on five trips and have two more trips on the horizon (plus designs on a bunch more).

Over a short time span, I’ve become the world traveler I always dreamed of being – and you can, too!

I’m not normally one to write how-to articles, but I feel the need to inform friends and acquaintances that I did not come across a large sum of money a year ago and, heck no, I do not have a trust fund. While traveling is pricey, it doesn’t have to be out of the ballpark.

The Airbnb Host Who Shouldn't Be

March 13, 2017 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, life lessons, Life In Your 20's

I've used Airbnb many times while traveling abroad, one of which I've even documented on this blog. I don't require much of where I stay: just a place to sleep, shower, and where I can keep my belongings while out and about. I prefer my host to be helpful, but not overbearing. And now I need to add, I'd also prefer my host not to be a nitpick - because if you're a nitpick, then you probably shouldn't even be a host.

How to Vacation Without a Stove: an Airbnb Story

October 13, 2016 by astoldoverbrunch in Guest Post, Humor, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Leisure

I have a standing vacation date with my best friend from high school. Ever since the two of us graduated college and she moved up to NYC, I’ve taken the train to visit her for an extended girls’ weekend.

But this year, both of us confessed that we felt more burnt out than usual. We’d talked about vacation plans near the end of February when the world was cold and dreary. Maybe we should go somewhere new? Work had me so exhausted that all I wanted to do was sit on a beach somewhere and not move for hours. While walking ten miles through Manhattan each day is fun, that wasn’t the vacation I needed this year.

So rather than buying my usual train ticket, I started searching Airbnb for places all up and down the East Coast.

The Airbnb Host and the American Liar

June 20, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, Life In Your 20's, life lessons

When I went to Copenhagen earlier this year, I didn’t want to break the bank. That meant finding a cheap place to stay. I was traveling alone and abroad for the first time ever, so I wasn’t keen on a hostel. Hostels aren’t even that cheap compared to Airbnbs (sometimes it’s a $10 difference), and I also wanted to be able to sleep. I conjured nightmares where my cohabiting strangers partied until 3 AM and jet-lagged me lay stricken on the top bunk having to get up in four hours.

So that left me with Airbnbs. For those not familiar, Airbnb is a system where locals rent out their residence to travelers, either the full home (i.e. the host is not present) or a room in their home while they are home.

Never having done this before, I was hesitant. Wasn’t it weird to stay under the same roof with a perfect stranger? But I mean, that’s what Airbnb is.

Going Abroad for the First Time

March 23, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Life In Your 20's, life lessons

Since tenth grade, I’ve been committed to living abroad. That’s also the year I decided I wanted to join the Peace Corps. I have never abandoned that idea, even as I’ve entered a PhD program and realized how atypical that path is. (True academics may use the stronger descriptor of “stupid.” STEM PhDs get high-paying careers; they don’t abscond to Africa. But I will.)

The irony of my short-term life dream is, I had never been abroad. Until two weeks ago when I went to Denmark. But until then, I have had to cringe and admit I have been a caged bird my entire life, but one day I’ll fly outside the bars aka cross the Big Pond. It’s hard to defend a life dream when you haven’t even tasted it. Or at least you feel deluded.

As I’ve written before, though, I have clung to my decision to live abroad/join the Peace Corps, and I’ve grown even more resolute that I will be applying within the next two years as grad school wraps up. But even as that day has gotten closer, I have felt more and more claustrophobic – like being on a plane with no leg room and you don’t know when the flight ends because you’re phone’s on airplane mode and your wristwatch has stopped working and how many time zones have we crossed, is my phone changing to match it, WHEN WILL I GET THE HELL OFF THIS PLANE, etc. (This scenario did not happen. At all. I promise. Never happened.)