About 10 years ago I was bitten by the travel bug. It has bitten me very hard and shows no signs of letting go anytime soon! I go anywhere I can as often as I can. I love taking in new sights and exploring different cultures. Over the past decade of travels I’ve noticed that one of my highest expenses has been hotels. This seemed odd to me since I barely spent any time enjoying the hotel. For me, hotels are for 2 things and they both start with the letter ‘S’ (sleeping & showering 🙂 ). I was not getting any delight from the hotel, motel, Holiday Inn scene.
Realizing that lodging was my biggest (and least appreciated) travel expense, I started researching other alternatives to hotels and found an array of choices. This begins a series of posts on hotels alternatives that I personally use and find enhance my travel experience:
Part 1 – Airbnb
Part 2 – Hostels (coming soon)
Part 3 – Couchsurfing (coming soon)
What I have learned from trying out different forms of lodging is they are a key part of the travel experience! Added benefits include:
♦ Unexpected adventures, friends, or local experiences
♦ Enrichment to the cultural aspect of the trip
♦ Cost effective (leaves more money for food & adventures)
Each of these 3 alternatives to hotels offers a unique lodging experience that tends to be homier than your average hotel. My biggest piece of advice is:
Know your options while traveling. Know your purpose for traveling.
Match your ‘home away from home’ to your purpose.
It can often keep more cash in your wallet and leave you with a more local experience. On your next travel adventure I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone and try a new type of lodging. You never know what you will find!