Air BnB: A Great way to Rent a Furnished Apartment all over the World!

In my quest to find ways to travel economically, yet comfortably, I have most recently been exploring new types of accommodation. After six months of hostels, hotels and guesthouses, I thought it would really be nice to stay somewhere that felt like HOME.

For this reason, I started looking into renting furnished apartments, all the while thinking it would probably be too expensive for me.

Not so, I soon figured out! I came across this terrific source, AirBnB (http://www.airbnb.com/tell-a-friend?airef=1q8u8z5ec0azz5) and realized it was not as far fetched as I had imagined!

The site is set out, so that you can search by city, and basically, the listings are a combination of private rooms, studios, apartments, and full on homes that you can rent and stay in while on vacation. Some of the properties do have restrictions, such as how long the minimum stay is, but there are many that are affordable, convenient to tourist sites, and that are a break from the regular hostel experience.

Vin and I got excited scrolling through the listings for Bucharest, as we knew we wanted to stay grounded there for a bit. We ended up with a charming apartment, just 15 minutes walk from the center of the old city, for $15 each per night! Basically, that is just about the same that we have been paying for accommodation, so we considered it a deal.

Having access to a kitchen and having a real home to relax and come back to at the end of the day has been just wonderful. And to make it even more special, our "landlords" have been just fantastic. Vlad Paul and his girlfriend Deanna, have been such amazing hosts, even though they don't have to be. They introduced us to friends, BBQ'd with us, and even took us on a road trip through the Romanian mountains. When we signed up to rent the apartment, we had no idea that we would actually make so many friends.

So, the experience has been well worth it, and is one I would like to try again. I cannot recommend Air BnB more, it really is a win win situation for all sides.

Have you ever rented a vacation apartment or home overseas? Please do share your experience and sources!

** Check out listings for Air BnB at http://www.airbnb.com/tell-a-friend?airef=1q8u8z5ec0azz5