Live anywhere around the world for a year – for free.
When James and Steph saw that tagline on Airbnb’s Live Anywhere project, the couple applied immediately.
They didn’t think they had a chance in actually landing the gig. But after a 500-word application, a video, and two interviews, their phone rang with the news: the duo had won, and would soon be heading off abroad.
There were just a few catches.
For one thing, the Birmingham-based couple had recently welcomed their first child, Rupert, now ten months old.
Plus, neither James, a surgeon, or Steph, an NHS dentist on maternity leave, had mentioned they were applying to the project to their respective workplaces.
‘We hadn’t spoken to our work, friends or family about the programme before applying,’ James, 31, tells Metro.co.uk.’It would be like talking to your boss every time you bought a lottery ticket.’
After receiving the big news, the family had some thinking to do.
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Of course, 300 days travelling the world and staying in Airbnbs sounded like a dreamy adventure – but was it really possible for two new parents and their baby? What would happen with work? What about their house? What about the Covid situation?
James and Steph, 30, asked people in their lives and the response was unanimous: of course they should go for it.
Handily, the scheme worked out pretty well within each of the pair’s careers.
James is in a period of research training and in the last year of a PhD programme that involves working with surgeons in other countries. He was supposed to spend months working with colleagues around the world before Covid struck, then the Live Anywhere programme popped up. His supervisors gave him the okay to complete his research on the road.
Steph, meanwhile, was on maternity leave when they got the call – and was fortunate to have colleagues who stepped up to cover her work while she’s away.
‘As a dentist and doctor we don’t have the most portable jobs for short-term stays (although six-month or more job rotations abroad are really common), so we were really lucky that this programme came up at the time that it did – a totally unique, and very fortunate position,’ says James.
Once that was sorted, the pair found someone to rent their home while they were away, and, just one month after that life-changing phone call, the couple set off with baby Rupert in tow.
The first stop, in September 2021? Curaçao – a beautiful island in the Dutch Caribbean.
But that first plane journey could only come after a lot of research and planning.
The project has some rules.
Over 300 days, the family’s stays at Airbnbs wherever they choose are covered, and flights and travel costs receive a contribution. They have to stay at places for 28 days, so they can get a proper experience of longer-term life in one place, but can’t stay for more than 90 days in the same location.
They are allowed to use the budget for weekend visits elsewhere, however, so can pack in side trips while keeping their home base in one place.
James and Steph decided to go all in, making the absolute most of the incredible opportunity they had been offered.
‘We spent literally hundreds of hours researching locations for safety, accessibility, Covid rates, Airbnb quality, WiFi speed, things to do for Steph in the day while I was working, cost of living – all with the ambition of visiting six continents over the 300 days if at all possible,’ says James. ‘It was a hugely complex process.’
That does mean they’ve had to accept a dent in their savings, too.
James explains: ‘As we are just living off one income at present and the income from our rental property is covering our mortgage we will not save any money, and are likely to spend a reasonable chunk of our savings (sorry, wedding, you may have to wait for another year).
‘It’s definitely worth it for a unique opportunity of a lifetime. We wanted to make the very most out of it possible and really enjoy our time on the road.’
While many of us would have jumbled up tummies and a tension headache the day of getting on a plane and leaving home for a year, James and Steph boarded their flight with little trepidation.
Instead, they were excited.
‘Perhaps we were a little overconfident, and perhaps it was just the whirlwind experience of the one-month turnaround from news to departure with 250+ things to sort in work, life and home before departing, but we didn’t feel particularly nervous before setting off,’ James tells us.
‘Rupert is pretty portable and while he is the most excitably, wriggling little boy, he is a really happy lad and we don’t worry too much about very set routines – so we thought it would be a relatively easy.
‘We have always loved travelling together and experiencing new cultures, and when little Rupert arrived we wanted to share our love for adventure with him from his very first year.
‘When we saw the programme we started imagining what it would be like to get him to taste foods from so many different countries and continents, meet people from so many different cultures and backgrounds and anchor our early memories with him to different locations around the world – and we just thought – we had to go for it.’
The parents quickly discovered, however, that travelling with a baby is a touch more complicated than they had expected.
They’ve had to adapt plans and work out a routine to keep Rupert entertained on ten-hour flights, but the good news is that this has taught the couple to embrace flexibility and accept that their old approach to travel might not work out.
James and Steph's tips for travelling with a baby:
Our first approach is that everyone has been a baby once, and in general people are good, and kind and understanding.
That being said, there are definitely some tips and tricks to make flying with a baby easier:
- Try to pick flight times that don’t require your baby to wake up exceptionally early – this will throw you all off right from the start and is a real pain
- Take emergency healthy snacks with you wherever you go
- bBeastfeeding has been an incredible asset as a calming/feeding/bonding tool on the road. Bottles would work really well too – have some prepared for emergencies.
- Get an extra legroom seat for long flights
- Don’t be afraid to ask for a baby ‘queue jump’ – passport control, Visas, boarding – 90% of the time people have been very accommodating and its saved us tens of hours in waiting with a screaming baby.
- Lounges have been a godsend and are super affordable if you are travelling a lot, check out PriorityPass or another provider. This gives a safe, clean baby space to relax with refreshments between or before flights – absolute must, and great recipe for stress free travelling
- Minimise what you have in hand luggage – even if you have to pack your bags full with baby stuff.
James explains: ‘Our big lesson has been in the type of house and type of area which is baby friendly – gone are the remote beach locations, and now cities, convenience and accessibility are everything.
‘Homes with few breakable bits, or at least bits that can be moved to safe locations, with a nice cot/high chair/safety features in a safe neighbourhood with good roads and a nearby shop/supermarket is really key.
‘Going “off the beaten track” doesn’t seem quite so attractive anymore (25-year old me would never have believed I would say that).
‘For Steph and I, a good living space for the evenings after Rupert is in bed is totally crucial. And for work, wifi is really key – although 4G seems to stretch most places and is a reasonable if expensive alternative for essential meetings.’
Then there’s the Covid question, which so often throws plans up in the air.
‘We’ve definitely learnt to be flexible and keep an eye on rapid changes in the global landscape,’ James notes. ‘We had planned to visit Cape Town in January, but sadly it now looks like travel to South Africa will be tricky now for some time with the new SARS-CoV-2 variant.
‘We’ve learnt to have a plan B/C/D/E, and not to worry if things change, and pay the extra for flexible fares and rates wherever possible.’
Those tweaks haven’t in any way stopped the family from having an incredible adventure, mind you.
After a month in Curaçao, they headed to Mexico for Dia de los Muertos, followed by Guatemala in November, Costa Rica in December, and a stop home to the UK for Christmas.
Next, they plan to venture to Sri Lanka, then India, Singapore, Borneo, Japan, the US, and Italy.
Rupert has been loving every minute – and his parents cherish the fact that his first years on earth will be spent soaking up culture from all around the world.
‘We have vowed to take back one cultural practice/belief from each place we visit on our trip to introduce to Rupert’s life as part of our family traditions in the future,’ says James.
‘In Mexico, of course, it was celebrating the day of the dead and remembering those that we have lost in a postitive and celebratory way, demystifying death and the circle of life, and creating a little Ofrenda with some of their favourite things.
‘In Guatemala, we have bought him a tiny worry doll. This is a Mayan tradition where children can share their worries with the little doll then put it under their pillow at night and it gets rid of their worries before they go to sleep. We love it!
‘We have had some of the best moments of our life as a little family since starting this adventure.
‘Rupert has already seen a volcano erupt, an earthquake, Caribbean sunshine, a lunar eclipse, jungles, pyramids, cliffs, sea water, lake water, hot springs, festivals, ancient ceremonies, monkeys, parrots, turtles, has been on speed boats, horseback, golf carts, tuktuks, catamarans and pick-up trucks, and had his soul blessed, his demons expelled and gifted a special ribbon to protect him from witches’ curses – what a lucky little 10-month old he is.
‘We know he won’t remember things explicitly but we 100% believe it will shape the way he interacts with the world in the future, which just means the world to us.
‘He is already such a confident, friendly and happy young boy we can only imagine that these experiences will give him a unique world-view.
‘It’s so important to us that we bring him up to appreciate and respect all cultures, religions, genders, sexualities, and ethnicities equally – and we hope this trip will be a huge part of what shapes him in this way.
‘We can’t imagine him to be the sort of person that is timid, or afraid to take on life’s challenges – that’s for sure.’
While few people get the chance to stay in worldwide Airbnbs for free, James and Steph hope their story will inspire others – especially parents – to give travelling a go.
They’ve got some exciting stops coming up, but when the 300 days of the project comes to an end, the road ahead isn’t entirely clear.
One thing the parents know is that travel will definitely be a part of their journey.
‘We will take every opportunity possible to hit the road and experience new things with Rupert,’ says James. ‘Sadly surgery and dentistry are not well suited to the “digital nomad” lifestyle, but I suspect several other times in our lives we may take a longer period of time to live and work abroad together as a little family.
‘One thing travel has taught us too, though, is that there is no place like home, and that your family and very closest friends are irreplaceable. There’s no place like home!’
To keep up with James, Steph, and Rupert on their adventures, follow them on Instagram or read their blog.
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