FUN! My Obsession With Airbnb
I once sailed my hotel room
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
One of the reasons pretty much everybody looks forward to retirement is to have FUN! No worries about bosses. No stress about deadlines. Nobody relying on you to get their work done… just you and the glorious gift of time. But, honestly, if you don’t have a clue what you’re going to do with all of those glorious extra hours, I bet I can tell you exactly what you’ll do with them. Netflix and ice cream binges. Or surfing the web with a glass of wine. And, while those things are fun for a few hours, they are less fun as those hours stretch out into years. So, how do you fight the siren call of the couch? I do it with perpetual lists and a calendar. One of my favorite lists is my Airbnb Wish List. I have to admit to an obsession with Airbnb. Those hours spent surfing the web? A lot of them are logged on Airbnb, for me. But, the good news from that is that I then have a list. And I use that list at least a few times a year to find amazing weekend getaways that fill those would-be Netflix hours with FUN.
My Airbnb tips
First and foremost, have a BIG list of places you want to visit. I say this because they tend to come and go quickly. Some of the most fun places I’ve stayed are no longer on the market and many of the ones that are still out there book up early. So, if you’re like me and sometimes you just get the bug to go, you’ll want a smorgasbord of possibilities in the hope that a few will be available. The other thing to keep in mind is that you may find that Airbnb is expensive for just two people. Airbnb can be an amazing experience for the uniqueness of the abode (yes, it’s true; my son and I actually sailed our hotel room - aka Airbnb boat that we stayed on.) so you may be willing to pay more, but if you’re going to meet Mickey or climb Half Dome and your room is just where you’ll rest between adventures, a hotel might be a better deal for two. If you are planning to travel with a family or two couples, however, Airbnb can be a great deal. The price of two hotel rooms is often more than the price of an Airbnb, and you don’t get the kitchen and living room to hang out in together with a hotel, so shop around if you’re just looking for a pillow. If you like the unique ones there’s a filter for you! When you first log on and it asks where you want to go, click “I’m flexible.” It will bring up all of the “offbeat” homes! Or, if you know where you want to go, you can click “filter” at the top of the properties page and under “property type” you can click all of the ones that are fun for you. Finally, make sure you are not the first person to rent the place. Look for reviews and listen to them! They are almost always spot on… but you don’t need a TON of reviews. Just a few will do. If the people don’t pick up after their dog (or even if the towels are too small) you’ll find out about it with just a couple of people reviewing. The fewer reviews, usually the less time the place will have been on the market, and often the cheaper and more available it will be.
Where should I go, Jeri?
OK, so what are my picks? As I mentioned, I have wish lists out the wazoo on Airbnb, so let’s start with just Northern California - which are fun weekend getaways for me, since I live in Nor Cal.
The first stop is San Jose for a treehouse! You gotta kind of get behind a little bit of “glamping” for this one. The bathroom (and morning coffee) is downstairs outside of the tree house in a little corner of the main house. But, hey, it’s a treehouse with a tree actually growing through it! How cool is that? You’re up in the boughs with the birds. In fact, when we were there, we saw a nest being built on a bough BELOW us. How awesome would that have been a few months later when we could have watched the baby birds learn to fly? But, the best part? We ordered pizza for dinner. And the poor delivery guy had to figure out how to deliver to a tree! We only stayed one night and there were plenty of movies and board games to keep us busy, so we didn’t really venture out for any adventures outside of the tree, but it was well worth the drive to San Jose for this one! (We stayed in it when it was first listed. There may be a 2 night minimum, now.)
This is a pretty, but fairly ordinary house. It’s very clean and they have lots of space inside and outside to gather. When you get there, though, you feel like you’re all by yourself in the woods. It sits on half an acre on a greenbelt right across the street from a beautiful forest. We saw several deer grazing in our “yard” as we had our coffee outside on the little side patio. The kicker? At the corner of the property, probably 150 steps from the driveway, is 17 Mile Drive! You’re right across the street from the The Links at Spanish Bay - easy walking distance for brunch, or to watch the golfers do their thing. And, of course, you’ll have to get in your car and go see the Lone Cypress, Spyglass and Pebble Beach and the most spectacular homes you’ve ever seen. It’s free, after all, because you practically live there. (Other people have to pay to drive 17 Mile Drive, but this Airbnb is inside the gates, so you don’t.) Get bored with the vistas on the drive? (I have no idea how you could, but if you do…) Monterey is right next door, with Cannery Row beckoning, or a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in easy reach. Or, if you’re more upscale and want to see where Clint Eastwood outlawed ice cream, the other end of 17 Mile Drive takes you right into Carmel-by-the-sea. GREAT weekend getaway!
The Tiki House at Sparks Marina
OK, this isn’t, actually, Northern California. It’s Western Nevada, but it’s closer to Sacramento, where I live, than some of these other Nor Cal places - and it’s kinda the bomb. Maybe I’m so in love with it because it was the first place I got go after the pandemic hit and we’d been locked down for months… but let me tell you about it, and you decide. It’s a beautiful home and very well appointed. The neighborhood is pretty cool. It has canals and bridges and looks a little like Venice, but it’s called the Tiki House because of the Polynesian theme with tikis everywhere. It does feel like you’re on the islands. In SPARKS? You ask? So did I. But, it turns out there’s a man-made lake there, and it’s a short hike from the Truckee River. The lake is big enough that you can fish or SUP or kayak. There’s a path that goes all the way around the lake for a nice walk. People walk, skate, run, walk their dogs, ride their bikes and generally use the heck out of the path all day long. It’s fun to sit on the patio with your morning coffee or evening wine and watch all of the comings and goings. Within easy walking distance is a little outdoor mall with a great pizza place. It also has escape rooms, axe throwing and a trampoline park. We did all 4 escape rooms while we were there. (My son and I are kind of escape room junkies.) There’s a cute little coffee shop and park with bbqs and swing sets associated with the lake if you want to take it easy for the day, or hit the Truckee River if you want to raft, hike, or generally commune with nature. The best part of this one? Telling people you had a great time in SPARKS, of all places!
This one is no secret and is pretty popular, so it books up in advance, but IT IS COOL! It’s a ferryboat in Sausalito. But not just one of the houseboats there. It’s got some historical significance. The SS City of Seattle (Yellow Ferry) was originally launched in 1888. She is the oldest surviving ferryboat on the West Coast. If you pick up any of the books on the houseboats in Sausalito, this girl is almost sure to be on the cover. It’s BIG and very, very yellow. In fact, I’d say it’s so big, you could host a ballroom dance party in the main room. It has some really cool features, though, like a big paddlewheel right outside the bedroom window. It looks like they’ve done some upgrades since we stayed, which I think is good and bad. It’s homier than it was when we were there, but I bet the echo isn’t as good! You’ll want to spend a few days here. First, you have to take out the kayaks and do a little tour of the houseboats from the water. They are AMAZING! If you’re not big on hitting the high seas by yourself, kayak tours take off from the other end of the houseboats and are easy to book online. Sausalito, itself, is a gem and within (a long) walking distance of the houseboats, or you can Uber there. There are lots of restaurants and, my son’s favorite, ice cream parlors and parks and beaches, too. You can take a bus from the parking lot near the ferry building up to Mt Tamalpais for a day hike. It’s breathtaking! And, did I mention there’s a ferry building? That’s because there’s a ferry to San Francisco that takes off from there. Head over to the City for an early dinner and catch a sunset on the way home! (The last ferry out is around 7, I think, so you won’t be able to catch a show, unless it’s a matinee.) Don’t short change yourself on free time, though. Sitting on the deck of this place watching the seaplanes take off and land is a wonderful day in itself. And FISH! is an amazing, sustainable seafood restaurant right around the corner with a very laid-back atmosphere not to be missed. Seriously… I think I’m going to book this place tonight.
I told you that my son and I stayed on a sailing ship that we actually got to sail. It was fantastic, but unfortunately, one of the casualties of the “comings and goings” of the listings I was telling you about. The listing is still there, but no dates are available. Hopefully, that means it will be back one day. But you had your heart set on staying on a boat? Have I got the adventure for you! We went on a trip a couple of weekends ago to an Airbnb in Bethel Island in the Sacramento Delta. It’s a podunk little island with mostly Mexican restaurants and dirt, except for a few gems including this Airbnb! There are actually 3 Airbnbs on this property. It’s a marina and two of the offerings are boats. (The other is a trailer.) Again, this is glamping, but of the highest order! There is a clubhouse at this marina that has everything you need for a fun time. There is a dart board, cornhole, air hockey, a full kitchen, bbq’s, fire pits, a hot tub, a popcorn machine and a chili cheese nacho bar! They have a golf cart and bikes for exploring the island and kayaks and SUPs and a peddle boat for exploring the waterways. You could spend a very pleasant weekend just taking advantage of all that the marina has to offer. But, just across the island is a diner not to be missed. It’s called the Rusty Porthole (sounds kind of Spongebobian, doesn’t it?). Of course, Guy Fieri has been there with Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. They’re known for their alligator bites, but the secret? The HUGE, succulent shrimp cocktails! Get yourself one. You’ll be glad you did. One of the secrets of places like this that have multiple glamping units (and you’ll find lots of them on Airbnb) is to commune with the people in the other units. My son taught me this. I’d hole up in our tipi, or geodesic dome or whatever, and he’d want to go to the bonfire with everyone else. Every single time we did, it was fun and fascinating and wonderful to learn about everyone else’s adventures. Drag your butt out of the yurt and meet your neighbors! Oh, and don’t try to book this one 4th of July weekend. My son, our friends and I have it all booked up. Maybe next year!
One thing I noticed as I was writing this is that my blurbs got longer and longer as I went down the list. I think that’s probably because I’M OBSESSED WITH THESE PLACES. But, if you’re going to have FUN might as well throw your shoulder into it.
I hope you found some inspiration, but if not, at least I hope you take this one thing away from this newsletter: have a list! Whatever grabs you - if it’s restaurants in your area, or waterfalls in North America or crazy festivals or Comic Cons - make a list! Then, when you find yourself opening the third tub of Haagen-dazs, put it down slowly and pick up the list. And schedule some damn thing. You can always eat your Haagen-dazs in the hot tub while playing a game of darts on Bethel Island.