After a few requests, I'm finally getting around to this blog post! Rob and I use Airbnb a lot when we travel, and I've had some questions about how we pick the right place for us.

I totally understand that staying in a stranger's house can feel totally weird, especially if you're used to staying in hotels, but I've found that a few things help me feel really comfortable with it, and a lot of the time I actually prefer an Airbnb to a hotel. But that was not always the case--our first Airbnb experience was not a good one, and it ended with me driving from Asheville back to Charlotte in the middle of the night. There was nothing wrong with the property we chose, and looking back I know that it all went to hell because of my personal preferences. So keep that in mind when you're traveling--what makes you feel at home? How far outside your comfort zone are you willing to go? 

1. Use a Superhost. This is the easiest way to know that you're going to stay at a great place hosted by a great person with a lot of experience and good reviews. We picked one for our condo in Miami in February and we could really tell the difference.
2. Plan ahead. We kind of forgot about our Asheville trip until the last minute so our options for places to stay were limited, and we ended up in what was quite literally a cabin in the woods. No one was there to greet us and we were 20 minutes from town. We also arrived at night so it was already dark and I had just sort of lost my bearings. If you know me at all then you know that none of that is within my comfort zone.
3. Speaking of which, keep your comfort zone in mind when searching. Do you want a place to yourself or would you rather rent a room from someone who will probably be home? Surprisingly enough I've found that I prefer to either rent a room or maybe a guest house and have the hosts actually on the property. But if you feel weird about sleeping under the same roof as a stranger, then you probably want to rent the whole house/apartment.
4. Pick a place that's conveniently located. Pretty simple advice, but it can be hard to pick a neighborhood when you're visiting a really big city. Our San Francisco trip last summer was kind of difficult because we wanted to go everywhere. We ended up staying near The Castro District so we could walk around there, and then we Ubered everywhere else before staying with a friend in Japantown for a few more days after we checked out of the Airbnb. It worked out pretty well. 
5. Use Google to check out the area. The location might be good but you want to make sure you like the neighborhood's vibe, especially if you're Instagram-obsessed like I am (embarrasing but true). Google Street View is really helpful for this, and make sure to check out the map and make sure there are some things around the Airbnb--coffee shops, dinner spots, maybe a little market--it's up to you to decide what's important to you but we always love having a few options nearby that we can walk to.

--

Some of my favorite places we've stayed (I can update this list after future trips):

California:

• Scenic Neighborhood Garden Cottage in Santa Rosa
• The Loft in Downtown Healdsburg (seriously one of the most gorgeous apartments I've ever been in)

Florida:

• Midtown Miami Guest Suite

--

Let me know if you have any questions! I absolutely love reader requests so if there's a post you'd like to see me write, you know where to find me!

Last week, Rob and I made a quick little one-night getaway to Charleston. I hadn't been in years, but always remember loving it, so it was really nice to just escape in the middle of the week (Rob is starting a new job today so he took all of last week off and then I kind of did, too). He had a meeting on Wednesday afternoon so we planned around that, and we were on our way back home 24 hours after we had arrived, but I think we fit plenty of good food and dreamy walks down King Street in.

Here's a list of all the places we went while we were in town--most of them came from recommendations on my friend Annie's blog, Annie Reeves:

• House rosé and oysters for lunch at 167 Raw. Seriously delicious. Also if you're ever there please get the chips and guacamole--it was amazing. We also ordered ceviche and it was perfect.
• We stayed at The Restoration and did happy hour at The Watch, their rooftop bar. The hushpuppies with pimento cheese and pepper jelly were our favorite. 
• Walked down King Street and stopped for dinner at The Darling Oyster Bar which was, you guessed it, darling. More oysters and some truly fantastic cocktails. We got more hushpuppies and they weren't my favorite but the king crab parfait was glorious.
• I was on a roll after dinner and had to stop for ice cream at Jeni's, which I didn't realize was a chain because it felt so quirky and independent inside. I got a scoop of wild berry lavender and one of honey pistachio and they're both my new favorite.
• Ate breakfast in bed at the hotel before heading out for coffee at Black Tap--Rob got a regular cold brew and I ordered their coffee cocktail which was cold brew, mint, and honey shaken in a cocktail shaker. Definitely worth a try.
• Lunch before heading home was at Blossom, and the food was great but I probably wouldn't go back. It had kind of a stuffy vibe and everything was really expensive (I ate a $20 salad). But the menu looked good and Rob was jonesing for a lobster roll.

I always miss Ender so much when we're gone, but it was really awesome to get away for just one night, especially since Charleston is only three hours from Charlotte. I'm already planning a few more short trips for the summer! Where do you want to go next?

Last year we spent Memorial Day weekend in South Carolina with our friends Tina and Michael, and this year we were lucky enough to do the same. Both times, Rob and I have come home completely relaxed, well-rested, and sore from laughing for three straight days. This year there were ten of us at the beach house, and it was a weekend packed with sunny mornings on the water followed by rainy afternoons of endless games of cards, homemade piña coladas, bottomless chips and queso from the grocery store, and our beach tradition of a Saturday early bird hibachi dinner at a Japanese steak house, which had us back at the house well before 6 PM for more cards (and queso). 

I really haven't been to the beach with anyone but Tina in some time--I wrote this post in 2014 after her Dewey Beach bachelorette, when my parents were breaking up and I was wondering what family trips might look and feel like after a divorce. I hadn't thought much about trips with friends before that point--maybe because we hadn't done too many of them, but Tina and Michael's house in Richmond has always been a place that felt a lot more like a second home than a place to spend a weekend away, so until we started vacationing together I hadn't really given any of it a second thought. Regardless, it's been such a gift these past few years to get away and relax with some of your favorite people.

I have always been blessed with friends who feel more like family, and multiple times over the past few days--as her husband and mine stood under the porch grilling burgers together or while Tina and I chopped fruit over glasses of wine and reheated cheese dip and wiped down the coffee pot before heading the the beach to catch whatever sun was left in the forecast--I was once again overwhelmed with gratitude for these rituals we've put in place as we've grown up. And I'm already looking forward to the next long weekend.

I hope you had a beautiful holiday, wherever you were.