So when chosing air bnb's one always tries to find a host with a lot of recommendations and when i started looking for a place to stay in NYC, i had a tough time to find something affordable, central and good looking.
I made a great catch when finding Nancy's air bnb, located in East Harlem on Manhattan. She is usually booked out pretty fast almost a year ahead, so if you want to stay at hers, better book about 8month in advance, which i did.

I originally booked only for myself, but it was not a problem at all to add my friend into later. Nancy is really nice and very informative already when you contact her by mail. (for 2 people it was around 580€ for 6 nights)

Anyway there are a few points to mention and this air bnb experience has been changing a lot for me at how looking and accepting other people's lifestyle.

Nancy is a strict vegan, she offers a huge vegan breakfast and asks you not to bring any dairy products in her house, which is not a big deal for me. It was rather a great opportunity, since i had a hard time anyway to get food around town, due to my numerous allergies.

Furthermore Nancy has quite a few rules in her tiny apartment, which she writes about in a two pages text on her profile/description. First you might be overwhelmed, but it is indeed quite basic rules that well behaved/educated people already know.

If you forget to do something, Nancy will make you a little card next day as a reminder (once we accidently did  not wash out the kettle, so next morning she put up an illustration how to do it)

The cosy apartment is also covered anyway with notes and illustrations how to use the lights or how to spread the shower curtain (it sounds now super weird when writing about it, but it did not change the fact, that it was a really nice stay)

Nancy prefers that you do not stay out late, so if you want to party all night, this is not the right accomodation for you. It is fine to stay out longer than 11pm e.g. if you watch a musical, but she likes to be informed, because she really cares for you.

As a host and person, Nancy is just fascinating and really inspiring.
She is around 70 years old, but still as fresh as any women in midage. She is very active and working with tv shows and her own vegan organisation and is really passionate about it. Although she lives alone, she never seems to be bored and she really enjoys having you there. She is trying to learn a lot of languages still, so she has different cards and posters she puts up for your breakfast in your mother language. I would love to be as active and smart at that age.

When staying at different air bnbs, with other cultural background you develop much more tolerance. Some time ago i would have thought "what a crazy, weird woman" but now i see it as a possibility to meet interesting/individual people and learn a lot. THANK YOU!

As already said, i was quite late in booking, so i took what i could get. The air bnb of Patrick and Ralf had not so many feedbacks, but the few they had were good.

The Bungalow is located quite central in Maspalomas on Méloneras side, very close to the Shopping Mall Faro 2 and the botanical garden. The bus stops are really close and a supermarket can be found only 5min walk away. If you would like to go the beach it actually takes a bit longer (around 20min walk) past by the huge golf area.

Lying in a very calm area, with a lot of small houses around, this part of Maspalomas feels less charter-all-inclusive, which is indeed really nice.

On my first evening i had some difficulties to find the place, but i called Patrick and he found me quite fast. He showed me around in their quite small home, which has access to a pool as well.

The house consists of a small very cute kitchen combined with living room, several sleeping rooms and one bathrom, which unfortunately can't even be locked.

Of course i had read about the shared bathroom before, but forgot it until i came there. Also it was quite irritating for me, that this was the only room in the house that could not be locked.

Anyway i did not know that there were other guests to be coming as well, so first night it was totally fine, although i never spent more than 5min in there.

The second day, two older men over 40 arrived and took the rooms next to me. The rooms are small, but they offer everything you need, still i would not want to stay longer than a week here.

If you live with other guests, you really need to take more care. The unspoken rule of the bathroom became: door open, no one is in - door closed, pls do not enter. Still it feels quite uncomfy to take a shower, knowing there are only old man around -I have never showered that fast. Also the men did not seem to care as i did, so they tend to let the door open while they peed. Not so fun.

The first night this was really driving me crazy and i did not want to leave my room, to be honest, but then i realised we had totally different day schedules. While i was doing a lot during the day, coming back at around 9pm, they were leaving to party around that time. Perfect time for my shower!

Also in the mornings, they were still deeply asleep, snoring insanely loud, which left the kitchen for myself to have a calm breakfast. Ralf and Patricks host does not include breakfast, but they always offer you free drinking water and you are free to use their kitchen and fridge. Also food is fairly cheap around there, so you might not need to cook at all.

Another inhabitant of this place is their very cute dog Isabelle, who always wants to play with you. Sometimes when i got up in the morning, she already stood in front of my door with her innoncent look and her ball in her mouth. She is really the nicest dog i have ever met, and i am quite scared of them actually.

After all i can say that this AirBnB experience was something totally new for me, but really valuable. Looking at it now, i would definitly go there again, since now i can only laugh about my uncomfort. Ralf and Patrick are both really nice hosts and willing to help you with anything. Especially Patrick is such a sweetheart and a very patient person, i could learn a lot from him.

Since they are moving to a new place, they will have a new accomodation, which will then have spared bathrooms for almost every room. Of course, this will be a bit more expensive, but still far cheaper than anything the hotels offer and it is way more authentic! (The price for the room was 47€ a night, which is indeed fairly expensive for what you get, but you are in the most popular spot on Gran Canaria - Maspalomas)

Jawi House & Painter, Ubud

If you really want to get to know the Balinese spirit and kindness of the people, you should stay with someone local. I stayed with Putu Merni at Jawi Painter House in Ubud and honestly, i have never met such a kind and warm person as Putu. She is the absolute personnification of the good in people, giving you so much and being more welcoming than anyone could be. Her main business is actually doing a lot of things in the house and preparing offerings and going to the temple. She is really passionate and living her religion in everyday life. I have never met such a GOOD person. Before my stay i already contacted her for some information on how to get to hers, but she was directly so very helpful, that i did not need to worry about anything.

She send a driver to fetch me from the airport, which was really nice and i was feeling more secure with a person, that she knows.

So when i arrived she welcomed me as warm as any person could be, thanking me hundreds of times for staying with her. The room i rented is located over her own little home. It is really clean and nice, with a king size bed and a freshly renovated bathroom. It looks super modern and nice, i directly felt home. Also i had a small balcony, that was surrounded by palms and other trees, one feels like waking up in the jungle every morning. I would advise you not to open the windows or anything, to keep out the mosquitos. Putu is cleaning the room every day and making sure, that no insects are in there. There is an air conditioner and a very big fan under the ceiling, keeping the room always cooled and very fresh. Sleeping here was like heaven.

The bathroom is equipped with a european toilet (not to be found everywhere in Indonesia) and a nice bathtub, can be used as a shower as well.

The best thing about this place was the owner herself. Putu helped me with really everything. She booked a driver for me to see the different temples, for a nice price. Also she rented a scooter for me from her sister in law, also for a friendship price. Same goes for my transport to Gili Islands. She has been amazingly helpful and always offering more help. In her description on Air BnB Putu says she will cook for you the last night of your stay, but in reality she cooked for me 4 nights and everytime it was so delicious. Putu does not own a real kitchen, so she will prepare everything on two electric cooking plates on the outside. In the morning you can smell the amazing pancakes she prepares. I am allergic to many things and first i had to explain to her a few times, but then she tried everything to still serve me amazing meals. One other really nice thing about this place is, that Putu is offering you free drinking water in your room, so one does not have to worry about that.

Whether you travel alone or with other people, i would always recommend this place to you. As it lies in the central heart of Ubud, one can access almost everything in Ubud by walking.

Staying at Putu's Place was around 22€ a night including breakfast (and very often free dinner). If you stay for a longer time, she will make a better price for you. So especially for Yoga people a good place to stay if you are on retreat!

As said i was first a bit sceptic about renting an Air BnB with a man, but this was really not neccessary. Bale Kampung is a nice group of small accomodations, 2 bamboo huts and some real houses in a yard with tropical flowers, approximately 10min walk from the beach. It is lying in the east of Gili Air, the local area and very easy to find. There are a lot of signs if you walk down the main road from the harbour you turn right once and then left again and you will be there. Also Dean and his family are very popular and everyone knows them on the island, so you can always ask people around, if you are lost. Before i came to Gili Air i asked Dean quite a lot about transport and the boats and he was really helpful and offering me to organise a transport back, once i come to the island. When i arrived, he was not there, but his daughter is organising the place, while he on travel and she is super friendly. There is always someone around at Bale Kampung, if you have any question, they will be always happy to help. You can also rent a bike or they will help you to organsie a trip to another island, or snorkelling adventures. They always know someone, who knows someone, so you can get better prices. Also there is always fresh drinkable water for you offered and coffee and tea, which was super important for me.Also they serve a nice breakfast to you every morning.

The bamboo hut i rented was super clean, as well as the outside bathroom in the back. First it feels a bit weird, but then it's amazing to have a shower in the morning when the sun goes up!

Of course one has to consider, that there are also some negative aspects about a bamboo hut. There is a small fan in the hut, that keeps you cooled at night, but makes some noise, so if you are sensitive to that, you might need earplugs, because without the fan on, it's super hot and impossible to sleep at all. Also better have it on, since mosquitos do not like windy areas, so that keeps them off, as well as a very good repel mosquito spray.

One night i was waking up, because i heard something running around in the hut. It was really frightening and actually it was the biggest cockroach i have ever seen in my life. Not having anyone else in the middle of the night to fight this monster, i was totally stressed and getting super frightened. I know obviously, that they do not do anything, but still they are disgusting. So this monster was running up the ceiling of the bamboo hut and then falling down of its own weight, onto my bed!! Panic attack! Then it was running down on the floor and i saw my chance to finally set an end to this. I got my shoe and managed to slap it once, twice, it took around ten strokes until it did not move anymore, they have such a strong shell. I took it by one of its legs and threw it as far as possible out of the hut, directly closing the door again. After that i actually sprayed my mosquito spray on all small holes i could find in the hut and lay towels in front of the door, because there is a small slit under it, where the monsters crawled in.

Apart from that, my stay at the bamboo hut was really amazing. The bed is really comfortable and if you are not scared of nightly visitors, you will definitly enjoy this!

I paid 27€ a night at Bale Kampung, including breakfast, but prices can variate around the year.