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I’ve hosted over 150 groups of guests in my apartment in Amsterdam on Airbnb. One things that keeps surprising me is that almost none of my former guests have asked for a discount before making the booking. A big mistake, if saving money is something that you value.Read more
It is human nature to be scared of the unknown. We perceive an unknown risk to be much greater than a known risk. In travel, this means that people tend to think that countries or cities that they are unfamiliar with aren’t safe. One question I get asked a lot is if certain countries or cities are safe to travel to. Read more
Nyepi, a Hindu celebration, is celebrated mainly in Bali on the last day of the Balinese calendar, although it is a public holiday everywhere in Indonesia.
From 6am to 6am the next day no-one is supposed to engage in any activities. No entertainment, no electricity, no work, no travel and for some even no talking and food.
It’s a day reserved for self-reflection.But Nyepi has another, more interesting purpose. The night before Nyepi, the Balinese ride a number of Ogoh-Ogohs through the streets, accompanied by loud orchestral music. These are skillfully crafted monsters, mostly build by youth organizations. Each village typically build one Ogoh Ogoh.Read more
As we begin a new year, people around the world are already considering their first holiday of 2015. Which destinations are predicted to be the hottest choices for this year? Read more
Cruises to the Adriatic are gaining ground on the global travel market, and it’s no wonder; the area’s culture, history, cuisine and climate have conspired to woo travellers from across the world.
With so many potential destinations to choose from, it’s best to combine some familiar hotspots with a few, lesser-known gems. Here are some prime candidates for your cruise in the idyllic Adriatic.Read more
Brazil is one of my favorite countries and I’ve spent a fair amount of time there in the last few years, enough to notice a lot of interesting aspects of Brazilian culture and behavior.
Instead of listing the usual stereotypes, such as Brazilians love soccer, carnival, parties and are always late, I’ve tried to include less-well known and more interesting aspects of Brazilian culture.
Note that Brazil is a very large country and there are big differences between the various states and cities. However, I believe the following is true in most parts of Brazil.Read more
The sharing economy has been around for a while, but awareness is still very low. According to Jonathan Millenhald (CMO of Airbnb), awareness for Airbnb is still less than 1%, even though the company is the second highest peer-to-peer platform valued at $17B.
There are many small platforms that offer many other opportunities for anyone to make some extra side money. You could be a cook, a dog sitter or tour guide.Read more
Every human being on this planet has skills and knowledge that is valuable to others and therefore can be monetized by becoming a teacher or tutor. Most people don’t realize this.
They think that to be a teacher you have to have a university degree, be an expert in your field or know everything there is to know about a subject. This notion prevent people from taking action and reaching their full potential. Read more
The second most expensive asset that most people have is a car. Cars are generally used in a very inefficient way. This study shows that cars are parked 95% of the time. That’s right, for every hour that passes cars are on the road for 3 minutes and doing nothing but taking up space for 57 minutes.
Isn’t that crazy? Think about how much precious space all these vehicles are taking up in cities like New York, San Francisco, London, Paris and so forth. Another way to look at this is that if we can find an efficient way to share our cars, only 1 in 20 people that own a car now would have to own one! Read more
The easiest way to make money in the sharing economy is to monetize your most valuable asset: your house. Monetizing property is nothing new of course, people have been renting out accommodation for thousands of years.
However, with the arrival of short term rental platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO and Homeaway, it is now easier than ever to make money with a house, room or even a couch. There are a lot of advantages of renting out this way versus the traditional long term rental option. And the best thing is, you don’t even need to own a property. You can list rented accommodation as well. Read more
