As a nomad with no home base, wherever I stay is my home for the time being. And at 43 years of age, I know what I like and dislike, and what makes me feel right at home. In this post, I will outline my process. But first, revisit a previous post called, How do I Choose Destinations? Hopefully, that makes sense because if I have no clue where I'm going, how am I supposed to begin searching for lodging?
After three years of traveling full time, I have created a list of things in a rental that truly makes me happy, and comforts that make me feel right at home after I unpack. Below you will find two rather long lists of criteria which serve as the ultimate wishlist. The first list is what I strive to find. The second list includes bonus items that are luxury. Of course, there is wiggle room but overall, I'm looking to check as many of these boxes.
Rental Criteria
AC in bedroom
WiFi in the unit, not shared with another unit
Kitchen with refrigerator/freezer combo, kettle, toaster, 2-burner stovetop or hot plate
Washer with drying rack
Good sized shower, no small corner shower
The shower head sprayer has a wall mount above my head
Outdoor space with seating, overlooking something scenic
Couch or sitting area separate from bed if a Studio apartment
Queen or king bed, not too firm, with nice pillows and linens
Blackout curtains in bedroom
Location within 0.25-mile to 0.5-mile walking distance of groceries, restaurants, and the beach.
Bonus Criteria
AC in living space
Microwave
Coffee maker (like a Mr. Coffee machine)
Clothes dryer
Smart TV with options to login to Netflix, and/or have access to English-speaking channels
Outdoor space looking directly at the beach and ocean, or property right on the beach
Pool
Start the Online Searches
Now that I understand what brings me joy and how I get that cozy home feeling, then I start my searches. I start on sites like Airbnb and Booking, and play around with their filters. On Booking, I check the Free Cancellation filter to see what comes up. Then I go to the Maps view and start clicking around on different properties. I switch back and forth between the Map within the sites and with Google Maps, so I can see where grocery stores and restaurants are located, in relation to the rentals.
View Every Picture
I look at all the pictures and in particular zoom into the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. In the kitchen pictures, I'm looking to see if the essentials in my lists above are visible. Sometimes the property will show pictures of the inside of kitchen drawers and cabinets, which then helps me determine how equipped the kitchen should be.
Then I investigate the bathroom pictures and try to get a good view of the shower. My 5-week stay in Mondello, Italy had the tiniest shower I've ever experienced and I barely fit inside of it. It made my bathing experience miserable especially because it was super hot in the July summer, and I spent lots of time at the beach and wanted to wash away the salt water and sand. The other thing I realized about European showers, they often don't have fixed shower heads. They have a sprayer which is great but I find having a mount where the spray head can be secured allows me to use two hands to wash my thick, long hair. Not having that type of setup has become a non-negotiable for longer stays. I can deal with a day or two but that's my limit.
Next, I dive into the bedroom pictures and try to zoom into the bed. If there is a soft edge on the corner of the bedding, then the mattress is often on the softer side. If it's a rigid corner, then it's likely hard and I just don't sleep well on hard beds. I want one I can somewhat melt into. In the bedroom pictures, I look for the number of sleeping pillows and hope to see four. Finally, I look at the curtains in the bedroom and read the listing to determine if they are blackout curtains.
Read Every Review
I read all the reviews, and if a property has hundreds, I'll skim over almost all of them. People that leave the most helpful reviews will mention the comfort of beds, blackout curtains, quality of shower with water pressure and if hot water works, if they used the washer, and nuances about the kitchen or accessing the property. These reviews are very important to my search as they set my expectations once I've narrowed down some prospective properties.
Send A Message
Before I consider renting a place, I always send a message through the platform asking a couple of questions. Maybe they are regarding the size of the shower, the softness of the mattress, the ability to get an extra pillow for the bed, or the view. How they respond and the length of time it takes to receive a response, tell me a lot. And it helps me base my expectations of living in the property. If they provide detailed answers in a timely manner, they tend to be passionate about the hospitality business and I'm likely going to have a great stay in a well throughout and equipped rental. This is what I really look for because after all, their home is going to be my home.
Pricing and Budget
If I am not finding properties in my budget then I go back to the local Facebook Groups I joined, where I had learned about the location in the first place. Again, I discussed that in the post called, How do I Choose Destinations? In the groups, I will ask for contacts to local property managers and I might put a short list of my criteria within the post, just in case there's an individual with a property. Once I'm in contact with locals via Facebook Messenger, then I send them my long list, along with my dates and budget. They sift through their properties and send me links to the ones that meet my needs. Then we discuss price and payment options.
Rentals on sites like Airbnb and Booking are going to show tourist prices, which are inflated from what locals would pay. That's why I like connecting with local property managers. For example, I lived in Aruba back in November and December of 2021. My monthly rate was what typical tourist vacationers pay for just 1-week in a resort. This is where the saying, "live like a local, not like a tourist," comes in among full-time travelers like myself. What you've been paying for vacations and holidays, is not what nomads pay to live somewhere, whether it's a short amount of time or longer.
In a future post, I will discuss more how I create and set budgets. I think it's important to remember that some countries have a higher cost of living than others. So in one country, I might be very happy to pay $500 to $1,000 in rent per month, whereas in other countries I could spend $1,500 to $2,000 per month. And for those of you new to following my journey, it's important to know that one reason why I choose nomad life is that it is less expensive for me than a traditional US lifestyle. When it comes down to it, I have a fraction of the expenses traditionalists have, but I am also not trying to spend the least amount possible. I think there's a huge misconception about nomads being broke backpackers and living paycheck to paycheck. That is so not me.
Although I started living abroad in 2019, I've kept detailed records of my expenses since 2020. As I review my past spreadsheets, here are my average monthly rental amounts:
Average Monthly Rental by Year and Countries Lived In
2020 | $1,025 | Ecuador, US, Belize |
2021 | $1,170 | Belize, Panama, Aruba |
2022* | $2,500 | Panama, Mexico, Barbados, Spain, Gran Canaria, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Montenegro, Portugal, Oman, Thailand |
*2022: You're probably thinking, OMG!
First off, it's only October. And I have all of my lodgings accounted for in the month of November, while only partially for December. But the main reason this category is crazy high is that it includes 6 cruises. A cruise is all-encompassing of lodging, food, entertainment, and transport. I choose to put the price of each cruise into my Lodging expense line item because it is where I'm sleeping. And for tax purposes (a whole other topic I won't touch here), I need to track where I sleep in the world. I did not list all of the countries I stopped in during each cruise, since I was just passing through for a day.
Where have I actually been staying?
In the menu of this blog, you will find a link to Stays. Here you will find I list the countries I've lived in by alphabetical order, and then placed links to the rentals by city name. There are a few places that I would not recommend renting. I don't indicate that on my page, but if you read the reviews of the property, you will eventually come across mine and get a detailed review. Keep checking that page as I update it when I have booked my next stay. And if you're curious about where I'm off to next or where I have been, go to the Itinerary page.
What do I hope to do differently in 2023?
A lot of my nomad friends have been renting a few days to a week in one place, and then either working with the landlord off-line for a more affordable price. There's a certain comfort in knowing I have a home during the month or so I'm in a country. Which makes settling in easy. However, I am learning that sometimes I just don't love the location, or maybe the bed is truly too hard and I am not sleeping well. The benefit of renting for a shorter period of time is to be able to move and find a different place from a local I meet in person, that better meets my needs. The downside is having to search for properties when I get somewhere. This entire process takes a lot of time regardless of how I do it. But I have found that I'm pretty comfortable renting a place for 2 weeks. It's a nice balance of time for me to settle, and get to know the community before making further decisions.
I think I'm going to continue booking two weeks at a time and see how it goes. If I luck out and get a place that I love, I'll ask the landlord within a few days of arrival if it's possible to extend. If their reservations are full, then I'll ask for a recommendation of another property or maybe try a different city in the country. It's a crap shoot for sure, and it requires one to take into consideration high seasons when places book up well in advance, compared to low seasons when there are ample properties available for rent.