#65 January 29, 2022 16 Months Nomad Living in Airbnb's.
Google Maps Timeline keeps track of places I go. A couple of years ago Darrell showed me how to turn on my settings and to begin using Google Maps in this way. I enjoy the annual review of where I've been, how I've moved either by vehicle or foot, and highlights of my pictures along my journey. Along with Maps, I often take photos of places I visit and leave a Google Review. This mostly is about restaurants for me, but it can also be a tourist location. These photos and reviews are public. Google keeps track of how many views and the comments for each photo, then send the numbers to the reviewer. This is a positive feedback loop to know that others found your review enjoyable, helpful or informative.
Here are some of my numbers from my 2021 Google Timeline:
We sold our house in September 2020. We liquidated, downsized, minimized our living to become Nomads on the road. Since then we have been mostly living in airbnb's. I do the bulk of the shopping for our next stays on the Airbnb app. I enjoy looking at our list of past stays on my app like a charm bracelet or scrap book reminding me of the road we have traveled and enjoyed. In the past 16 months we have lived in 22 airbnb's. Our longest stay was 4 months. We have returned to 3 properties of 19. In airbnb's around Yellowstone National park we stayed 1-2 nights outside the north, west and east gates. Airbnb rates are calculated per night for advertising and then fees are added on and any discounts are tabulated in your final bill. Our average stay cost for 2021 was $68 per night.
There is usually a significant discount for 28 nights in US airbnb's. We try to hit the sweet spot and get a better rate by staying a full 28 days. We have many stays that are less than 28 days, and that's ok. We have also spent a few nights in hotels when it is easier for an air travel day, or just before we went on our 7 day cruise out of New Orleans in December 2021.
We have shortened our timeline of finding our next property. I'm now looking for a month long stay just a month ahead of our stay. We know that this can work well or not so great, but we are allowing for our experience to be what it is. As I have let go of my stuff, I am learning to let go of how I thought it would be for how it is. Darrell has also let go of his stuff and is a good partner to travel with in the experience of now.
On this Saturday we have been at our Meridianville airbnb for a week. I feel like I've done a lot of living in a week! I visited and sat with my local grandson, Owen three times plus two more visits! I'm definitely getting my babytime in.
We have been to our local church and reconnected with our friends there, and it felt like coming home. Yesterday I met our youngest son, Samuel for his lunch break since he couldn't come today for lunch. I've also been on my computer for a few hours working on my Quickbooks Self-employed to get ready to merge with TurboTax. With my business closing in November 2021, this will be my last year to do this kind of tax tracking. I also had electronic forms to fill out for our Estate Plan that we are updating with a local lawyer. While we have attended seminars about retirement, we listened recently to a lawyer explaining how legal issues have changed around us in the past 15 years. It used to be that spouses were considered the voice for each other if needed for medical or financial issues.
This is not the way it is now, and we needed to update our will which was way out of date and also add the needed POA's. The paperwork for the estate interview was 1/5th the length of the paperwork that I filled out for my colonoscopy next week. I'm glad that it was an online form for the surgery center because I had to work at least an hour or two to complete it. I feel like I'm slow at doing computerwork and manuevering through electronic applications, but I am glad that I can do it way better than I used to. I remember the struggle I had deciding years ago to upgrade from a flip phone to a smart phone. I made it through the learning curve and I'm continuing to learn and practice more. I am so often thankful for Darrell's help and his skills in all of the electronics world that I cannot match. My life is certainly better because of him!
Saturday morning has a routine of waking up without an alarm, doing our chosen routine from a few DDP Yoga recorded routines, making breakfast together, and talking to Darrell's mom (88 years) by phone. Today she was struggling a bit with a bad cold, and had negative Covid tests. Today was also my chosen laundry day to do sheets and towels.
We had an 11:30 a.m. family lunch at our airbnb. It was the first time I have cooked a full meal for a very long time. It must be like riding a bike because I was able to plan, shop, cook and clean up with ease. I planned to get a picture of my completed meal, but that didn't happen! We all enjoyed our meal very much: Crispy Skin Baked Chicken Thighs, Spinach Salad and raw veggies with homemade Ranch dressing and homemade Italian dressing, Rosemary roasted sweet potatoes, Roasted brocolli, pressure cooked Italian green beans, and Almond Flour sugar-free chocolate chip pan cookie.
Then we played a game of Contract Rummy, a family game-standard. Samuel said he could come next Saturday and so we planned to do another family meal and game then. Stay tuned for next week's menu! lol!
I took naps, practiced Spanish on Duolingo, hung out inside because it's cold out, chilled-relaxed-rested with afternoon decaf keurig coffee. Darrell included me in his crossword clues as he's pondering. Our dinner was microwaved left overs. And then we sat down together in front of our newish and small sized travel computer to begin on Turbo Tax and importing our information. We got through all that we had within about 40 minutes! What a relief! We are still waiting on some documents, but we are really close to completing this annual report.
For the rest of the evening we sat on the couch having hot tea and popcorn. We read on our phones a little while and then watched a couple episodes of 'Dry Bar Comedy' on YouTube and 'International House Hunters'. A comment I have on International House Hunters is that it allows us to see a simplified overview of a foreign city while seeing some real estate and the costs of either renting or buying at the time of filming.
We head on to bed between 9 and 10 pm, showering at night.
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