As I begin to feel my body slowly moving up and down I realize that the last night was not a dream, and that I am in fact on a boat. Portland, Maine is one of the coolest cities I've had the pleasure of experiencing, and I got to see it from the most waterfront location possible, through Airbnb.
For graduation, my parents decided to take me to New England to experience the opposite side of the country from where I will be going to school. We had a few hotels booked, but our trip was an open page waiting to be written on and so several nights were unplanned. One day, while sitting at a coffee shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we were trying to decide where to lay our heads in Maine. We knew we wanted to be in Portland, but had no idea which hotels offered the best locations, services and prices. In the midst if this predicament, I decided to go check out Airbnb, which I had been introduced to through tv commercials and online ads.
Airbnb is an online booking website set up for hosts and guests. Hosts are people local to any and every town or city in the world who wishes to open their home to guests. Guests are the travelers who come and find themselves in need of a temporary home. The idea of staying with locals and experiencing places on such an intimate level really drew me in, so I created a profile. When signing up, several safety precautions are taken such as uploading a photo of your ID in order to ensure the safety of both you and your host. As soon as I created my profile and began to look, I was hooked. The website handed me hundreds of housing options from cheap to pricey, from eclectic to modern, from small to large, all in one place.
Immediately, we found a host who was offering his boat out as a room, which really got me excited. We checked the prices and accommodations and everything lined up great. We contacted our host through Airbnb and made the reservation, pumped for the unique experience ahead.
After reserving our spot, everything went smoothly from arrival to departure. Through Airbnb, we were given the opportunity to experience Portland from the very closest we could get, with an amazing view, and the soothing rocking of the waves.
Without Airbnb, we would have been paying the same amount for a room in a large building a couple blocks from the ocean, with hundreds of other strangers, and a subpar free breakfast. But because of this new innovation in travel, my family and I experienced the harbors of Maine on our own private boat, with gorgeous views, city life just across the bay, and marine life just below us. So thank you, Airbnb, for paving the way for new adventures in travel.
