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How Airbnb Has Enabled Me To Travel The World

Get Paid For Your Pad

The last few years I’ve been traveling around the world non-stop. I’ve been to over 50 countries.

I went lobster hunting in the Bahamas, scuba diving in the worlds’ most tropical places such as Fiji, Vanuatu, Thailand and the Philippines, hiked up a volcano in Iceland and sailed along the coast of Croatia during Yacht week.

The number one question I get from my readers is: how do I afford this? The short answer is: Airbnb.

I started renting out my apartment in Amsterdam to long term renters when I moved to Chicago, back in 2009. This provided me with a steady and secure source of income, but I wasn’t happy with the situation for three reasons:

  1. The return on investment wasn’t great at under 5%
  2. I couldn’t stay in my own house when I was visiting home
  3. I had no guarantee that my renter would leave after the contract ended

After switching to Airbnb, all these issues were resolved. I could stay in my own house whenever I wanted, I didn’t have to worry about long-term renters not wanting to leave and my rental income more than doubled to over 10%!!! This was enough to cover all my travel expenses.

Travel the World Airbnb

In addition, I was able to connect and share my house and neighborhood with people from all over the world. All the “thank you” emails and positive reviews I received provided a great sense of fulfillment and happiness and that’s what really made me fall in love with the Airbnb concept.

When sharing this experience with friends I noticed how surprised most of them were that this is even possible. I helped a few of them setup their own Airbnb listing and they have since been able to have a similar experience. I was getting messages like this:

I’ve been meaning to say thank you to you – I listed my place on airbnb when we were in Amsterdam and I’ve been renting it out solid ever since! The extra cash has freed me up to travel, it’s great man. – Kris Hawkins

This lead me to the idea of writing a book. I wanted to share my story with the world and show people how they too can create more freedom in their lives by renting out a room or their entire house. Six months and a lot of hard work later I’m proud to have successfully released my new book: Get Paid For Your Pad.

Get Paid For Your Pad

The book is an all-encompassing guide to hosting on Airbnb. It takes the reader through a step-by-step process of everything that needs to be done to maximize the income from their Airbnb listing, including subjects as how to prepare your house, communicating with guests, reaching the first page of the Airbnb search results and how to set an optimal pricing strategy.

The book comes with countless examples and templates that any Airbnb host can use to improve their listing right now, as well as three exciting bonusses. The best thing is: you can get the prologue, introduction and first chapter for FREE!!!

New to Airbnb? Sign-up now and get $25 travel credit!

If you enjoyed reading this article, please share it. If you have any questions, comment below and I will respond as soon as possible! You can also sign up for my newsletter and get notified about new posts.

7 thoughts on “How Airbnb Has Enabled Me To Travel The World


Comment author said

By Jessica @She Dreams of Travel on 29 July 2014 at 00:33

I recently discovered the beauty of Airbnb but from the perspective of someone looking to rent rooms and homes. Airbnb allowed me to stay in some expensive cities at a more affordable price. I love the website! When i have my own place one day, I will definitely look into Airbnb as an extra source of income. Congratulations on publishing that book! I am sure a lot of hard work went into it :)

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Comment author said

By Jasper Ribbers on 29 July 2014 at 01:58

Hi Jessica! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ve used Airbnb extensively as a traveler as well. In fact, whenever I book a trip, I always look at what is available on Airbnb before looking at hotels. If you ever get started as a host, let me know!

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Comment author said

By Simone on 30 July 2014 at 07:49

That is great info Jasper. I do think it probably helps that you live in Amsterdam, which is a popular destination. I on the other hand live in Almere, which I’m pretty sure would be harder to rent out! But it’s worth looking into.

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Comment author said

By Jasper Ribbers on 30 July 2014 at 18:00

Hi Simone, I hear that a lot. However, I’ve talked to plenty of hosts who rent out in smaller places and they are always surprised to see how many bookings they get. There is only one way to find out ;-)

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Comment author said

By Vivian Aliu on 12 October 2014 at 06:10

Airbnb is a great website to rent your space, spare room, or home. The site gave me the opportunity to travel places like London and Brazil. Thank you for creating this blog dedicated to Airbnb. Your interview for the Daily Travel Podcast has inspired me to continue using Airbnb to fund my travel addiction & freedom. Congratulations on publishing “Get Pad for Your Pad”!

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Comment author said

By Jasper Ribbers on 14 October 2014 at 00:40

Hi Vivian, thanks for stopping by and great to hear you’re enjoying Airbnb!

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