How to make use of Airbnb even when you’re not traveling

Seoul Nooks
3 min readDec 15, 2020

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Founded in 2008, Airbnb has become one of the most popular platforms to reserve accommodations. I started using Airbnb back in 2014 when I was traveling Europe. Airbnb was not a well known platform back then to Koreans who are not hardcore travelers. I remember I had to ask my sister to sign up so we can get a discount code to book the next accommodation. Now Airbnb Korea is an easy option for anyone with any budget.

Feel at home and travel local

What people like about Airbnb is the experience it offers. Sometimes all we want is somewhere to feel at home instead of getting a fancy package of hotel service. Most places on Airbnb are houses where people actually live. Staying at those places is like living another person’s life for a moment. How nice is that?

Another thing I love about Airbnb is the hosts I get to meet through the platform. When I booked places on Airbnb my hosts were travel enthusiasts themselves with fascinating stories to share and all enjoyed meeting new people and making friends from hosting — like this one! (She is now the host of Seoul Nooks Coliving.) As a Korean myself, I look for my stay on Airbnb first even when I travel around Korea because I get to experience the real local life thanks to these amazing hosts.

Living in a dream house in Seoul

All the benefits mentioned above are not just for travelers. Actually Airbnb can be much more than a place to look for accommodations for your next travel destination. With a variety of unique stays listed, it can also be a great platform to look for long term stays.

Having lived in Seoul for almost 10 years now, Seoul is no doubt my favorite city except one thing — housing. If you have ever tried to search for places to stay in Seoul, you would know. Since sharing a flat is not a thing in Korea, it’s really hard to find a place with a living room for one person to live. Most places are so-called “one-room”, a type of housing very common in Korea, where everything (including washing machine, kitchen, bathroom) fits into one 3–4m² room. (Hence the name “one-room”.)

At one point I became tired of one-room life. I wanted to have people around whom I can share my daily life with, I wanted to have space I can chill outside my bedroom. Even if that means I would have to share the space with someone else. I naturally thought of Airbnb because most houses I saw were for 3+ people and hosts rented out rooms individually. So why not rent them for a longer term? Places like Seoul Nooks Coliving can be a perfect match for those who enjoy the experience Airbnb offers. For me it was like a hidden gem among all those one-rooms and ticked all the boxes I loved about Airbnb — lovely and cozy house provided by a compassionate host with rich local experience.

This article was written by Yejin, a digital nomad programmer who is keen to innovate education through technology. She’s staying at Seoul Nooks since November until her next destination: Bali, Indonesia.

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Seoul Nooks

Seoul Nooks is a coliving space for global citizens in Korea.