An early start to the day led me to the airport to catch my flight to Grand Cayman. Making a stopover in Miami gave me some time to catch up on some “work” that needed to be taken care of before I headed back into paradise.
As part of this journey of letting go I decided to completely forgo my usual CIA level of research before a trip. I’m traveling with minimal information on my locations, no guide book, and trusting that I will find or experience whatever I need. I’ve also decided to explore the non-traditional ways of accommodations. I had such a great time with the hostel experience in Israel that I thought I should expand my horizons. For me, this is a big deal. Knowing where I’m going to sleep and that it’s of decent caliber has always been my thing about traveling. I can easily go camping on the beach and be fine, but I won’t do roach infested hotels (had enough of that experience in Ethiopia).
My point is that for the first time I chose to use Priceline for my accommodations in Turks and Caicos. My sister uses this all of the time but is usually able to figure out the hotel before committing. I took a leap of faith and just clicked on the price I liked and hoped for the best. The accommodations worked out and it led to meeting a new friend.
The next exploration was with airbnb.com. If you’re looking for passive income and have an extra room, guest house, vacation condo, or even RV to advertise you can put it online at airbnb.com and voila instant bookings. For people looking for different places to stay, you can search in your desired destination during your time frame within your budget and find local places to rent. The owners don’t get paid until the person finishes their stay, but they do charge your card so the money is collected up front. Airbnb takes a percentage and sends the rest to the owner. You can look at reviews and pictures before you commit. They offer accommodations around the world, so give it a shot.
For me, I chose a beach-side apartment that had a room for rent. We had a couple of communications before arrival but I really didn’t know what to expect since there weren’t any reviews and he was new to airbnb. After landing I grabbed a taxi to the location and found a perfect beach side apartment on the second floor. This will do.
Toufic, my host for the next several days greeted me. I walked into a spacious 2 bedroom apartment with an open floor plan, fantastic kitchen, my own bathroom, washer/dryer, and a view of the South Sound of Grand Cayman that can’t be beat.
He took me to the store in his black-on-black with the super-fly wheels jeep wrangler to get some sundries and again I walked into an amazing display of food and treats. Hopping back into his jeep we headed back to the apartment, where he made us his comfort food of wheat bread, zatar, olive oil, fresh tomato, and cheese. So far this airbnb thing was working out.
During the cooking session we familiarized ourselves with each other and found that life had serendipitously brought two very similar people together. We sat out on the balcony discussing a range of topics from the philosophy of life, our mutual endeavors to start new businesses, to him almost getting his SAG card while working in Laguna Beach. Smelling the ocean in the air while we chatted, I noticed there was a draft of weed mixed with the salty spray. I sat there laughing to myself as I indulged in a bottle of wine and enjoyed island life around me. Now I was on vacation.
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