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I do this right now and have been living in airbnbs with my wife and child for over a year paying comparable rent we did in Denver. We actually got featured on

by jsonne 5y ago

I do this right now and have been living in airbnbs with my wife and child for over a year paying comparable rent we did in Denver. We actually got featured on the Today show for it a few months ago. AMA? Biggest thing is the multi month stay discounts. Sometimes we get 60-70% off. We're in Florence Italy right now in a great location and paid roughly $2000 for 45 days (so significantly lower than our Denver rent). Once you get packing down really the biggest pain I've found is car rentals which seem stubbornly expensive and stuck in the stone age so we prioritize places with great public transit.

Areibman 5y ago
How stressful is this for the family unit as a whole? I would imagine that traveling with a child is not easy, and as they enter school, there's much more pressure to just settle down in one place.
- jsonne 5y ago
  My wife doesn't work so it helps. I would say more stressful around travel days including the day before and after but those are only every 1 to 2 months. Otherwise its fairly normal stress levels.
stevekemp 5y ago
I read the piece, and the moment the author mentioned booking in advance I wondered what happens if you've booked in January to lock in lower rates for July, and then they cancel at the last minute? Suddenly you'd have to pay the higher/normal cost and change your plans at short notice. It feels like that's a risky thing to live with - I've not used airbnb so often, but even booking only a few weeks ahead I've had hosts cancel with essentially zero notice so I have to assume that's a pretty common occurrence.
- hiq 5y ago
  > I've not used airbnb so often, but even booking only a few weeks ahead I've had hosts cancel with essentially zero notice I have little experience with airbnb as well, but don't they help you find another one in this case? Maybe with discounts even?
  - psychlops 5y ago
    No, they won't. The AirBNB hosts are independent and have no network, many times they will have just the one unit. If they cancel, they are unable to fill someone into the unit during their time and suffer some minor penalties which grow if they continue to cancel on guests.
  - ornornor 5y ago
    Airbnb doesn’t do anything. Same if your place isn’t as advertised or has an issue, Airbnb will happily check you out that night and refund you; good luck finding an alternative accommodation at the very last minute. You’d be lucky if you only end up paying double or triple the rate you thought you’d be paying by booking the Airbnb in the first place.
- jsonne 5y ago
  Yeah so we book months out and it hasn't been an issue so far. I suppose that is a potential issue but we pay in advance and just haven't run into it yet.
jcims 5y ago
I’ve literally been hunting airbnb properties over the past week in Florence and northern Italy for a 1-2 month stay for my parents and kids. This is great to hear, and good tip on public transit. Is Turo much of a thing there?
- jsonne 5y ago
  I would strongly advise not having a car. The ZTL traffic zones are such a pain and the public transit is good enough that you can do without it. Not sure on turo but there's lots of rent on demand vespa esque bikes available if thats an option for you.
  - jcims 5y ago
    This is super helpful. I was dreading that part of the process. Knowing that its not essential and likely a negative is awesome, thanks!
- ornornor 5y ago
  > I’ve literally been hunting airbnb properties If anything, you’ve figuratively been hunting properties; the opposite of literally.
  - karmakaze 5y ago
    I think that ship has sailed--many/most dictionaries show this second usage. Words do that, I've made peace with it as it's quite clear in informal speech/writing.
leppr 5y ago
How do you handle looking for accommodations? That was the biggest hurdle for me when I was doing the digital nomad thing. When you're settling in for the long term, you can take the time to do multiple visits in order to make an informed decision. When you're settling short term, you don't care that much if the accommodation you booked online isn't good. But when you're doing the temporary-but-mid-term thing, it's complicated because short term rentals are often icky about visits, while making a bad decision has more serious consequences for you: getting stuck for months in a bad accommodation isn't fun, especially if you plan to work out of it.
- jsonne 5y ago
  Yeah so I mean there is always that risk. I think the big thing is we look for price range first and then we carefully read reviews. Once reviews are good and we study the pictures to make sure its at least nominally friendly for a toddler we start research about the neighborhoods etc. Also since I run a company anywhere we go has to have a coworking space nearby (luckily they're super common at this point so it hasn't been a problem). I should mention we're also super flexible on "where" we go. Mostly it's not the Paris and Rome sorts of place because they're expensive. We tend to stay in more regional hubs (Hence Florence) that are a bit cheaper and stay around there rather than take lots of day trips.
debo_ 5y ago
Do you qualify Florence as a place with great public transit? I lived there for a few months ages ago (2006) and my only memorable experience with transit there was literally getting hit by a bus (and then arguing with the driver about whether it was my fault or not) :) I loved it there. I hope you do too!
- jsonne 5y ago
  Florence is lovely and I'm deeply saddened that I have to leave. Probably more so than anywhere else I've ever been in the world. The traffic is crazy though and the busses in particular flying past you at full speed down the medieval streets with less than a foot of clearance is terrifying. It would surprise me 0% to hear what you experience is a regular occurrence (hope you were okay!)
Bradlinc 5y ago
Do you use an external display or just a laptop screen when nomading?
- jsonne 5y ago
  I have a portable USB external display that's super slim. It's a nice thing to have for sure.
mLuby 5y ago
> We actually got featured on the Today show for it a few months ago. AMA? How did you get featured on the Today show? Who initiated that?
- jsonne 5y ago
  An NBC journalist found me on Twitter talking about doing the digital nomad thing while working / having a family.

by jsonne 5y ago

Areibman 5y ago

How stressful is this for the family unit as a whole? I would imagine that traveling with a child is not easy, and as they enter school, there's much more pressure to just settle down in one place.

jsonne 5y ago
My wife doesn't work so it helps. I would say more stressful around travel days including the day before and after but those are only every 1 to 2 months. Otherwise its fairly normal stress levels.

stevekemp 5y ago

I read the piece, and the moment the author mentioned booking in advance I wondered what happens if you've booked in January to lock in lower rates for July, and then they cancel at the last minute? Suddenly you'd have to pay the higher/normal cost and change your plans at short notice. It feels like that's a risky thing to live with - I've not used airbnb so often, but even booking only a few weeks ahead I've had hosts cancel with essentially zero notice so I have to assume that's a pretty common occurrence.

hiq 5y ago
> I've not used airbnb so often, but even booking only a few weeks ahead I've had hosts cancel with essentially zero notice I have little experience with airbnb as well, but don't they help you find another one in this case? Maybe with discounts even?
- psychlops 5y ago
  No, they won't. The AirBNB hosts are independent and have no network, many times they will have just the one unit. If they cancel, they are unable to fill someone into the unit during their time and suffer some minor penalties which grow if they continue to cancel on guests.
- ornornor 5y ago
  Airbnb doesn’t do anything. Same if your place isn’t as advertised or has an issue, Airbnb will happily check you out that night and refund you; good luck finding an alternative accommodation at the very last minute. You’d be lucky if you only end up paying double or triple the rate you thought you’d be paying by booking the Airbnb in the first place.
jsonne 5y ago
Yeah so we book months out and it hasn't been an issue so far. I suppose that is a potential issue but we pay in advance and just haven't run into it yet.

jcims 5y ago

I’ve literally been hunting airbnb properties over the past week in Florence and northern Italy for a 1-2 month stay for my parents and kids. This is great to hear, and good tip on public transit. Is Turo much of a thing there?

jsonne 5y ago
I would strongly advise not having a car. The ZTL traffic zones are such a pain and the public transit is good enough that you can do without it. Not sure on turo but there's lots of rent on demand vespa esque bikes available if thats an option for you.
- jcims 5y ago
  This is super helpful. I was dreading that part of the process. Knowing that its not essential and likely a negative is awesome, thanks!
ornornor 5y ago
> I’ve literally been hunting airbnb properties If anything, you’ve figuratively been hunting properties; the opposite of literally.
- karmakaze 5y ago
  I think that ship has sailed--many/most dictionaries show this second usage. Words do that, I've made peace with it as it's quite clear in informal speech/writing.

leppr 5y ago

How do you handle looking for accommodations? That was the biggest hurdle for me when I was doing the digital nomad thing. When you're settling in for the long term, you can take the time to do multiple visits in order to make an informed decision. When you're settling short term, you don't care that much if the accommodation you booked online isn't good. But when you're doing the temporary-but-mid-term thing, it's complicated because short term rentals are often icky about visits, while making a bad decision has more serious consequences for you: getting stuck for months in a bad accommodation isn't fun, especially if you plan to work out of it.

jsonne 5y ago
Yeah so I mean there is always that risk. I think the big thing is we look for price range first and then we carefully read reviews. Once reviews are good and we study the pictures to make sure its at least nominally friendly for a toddler we start research about the neighborhoods etc. Also since I run a company anywhere we go has to have a coworking space nearby (luckily they're super common at this point so it hasn't been a problem). I should mention we're also super flexible on "where" we go. Mostly it's not the Paris and Rome sorts of place because they're expensive. We tend to stay in more regional hubs (Hence Florence) that are a bit cheaper and stay around there rather than take lots of day trips.

debo_ 5y ago

Do you qualify Florence as a place with great public transit? I lived there for a few months ages ago (2006) and my only memorable experience with transit there was literally getting hit by a bus (and then arguing with the driver about whether it was my fault or not) :) I loved it there. I hope you do too!

jsonne 5y ago
Florence is lovely and I'm deeply saddened that I have to leave. Probably more so than anywhere else I've ever been in the world. The traffic is crazy though and the busses in particular flying past you at full speed down the medieval streets with less than a foot of clearance is terrifying. It would surprise me 0% to hear what you experience is a regular occurrence (hope you were okay!)

Bradlinc 5y ago

Do you use an external display or just a laptop screen when nomading?

jsonne 5y ago
I have a portable USB external display that's super slim. It's a nice thing to have for sure.

mLuby 5y ago

> We actually got featured on the Today show for it a few months ago. AMA? How did you get featured on the Today show? Who initiated that?

jsonne 5y ago
An NBC journalist found me on Twitter talking about doing the digital nomad thing while working / having a family.