How to Use Airbnb Like A Pro

If you frequent this blog, you may know that I have a well-documented love for Airbnb. Through this wondrous network of home-away-from-homes, I've been able to snuggle up in cabins in upstate New York, attend Alt Summit without having to share a room with five other women, and even find affordable accommodations for my recent trip to Europe. I've also regularly used Airbnb for when I have visitors here in NYC because, for some reason, my parents don't want to sleep on my IKEA sectional couch (I mean, seriously, what's that about?).

If you ask me, Airbnb is the best way to go when it comes to finding the right place to stay. It's cheaper, it's homier, the hosts are wonderful, and it's just a convenient, solid system for making travel easier. I use it so regularly that I actually can't remember the last time I stayed in a hotel.

That being said, since I've been around the Airbnb block a few times, I thought I'd share with you today some of my tips and tricks for booking the best possible experience. Let's do this.

Know what you want

Do you want the whole place to yourself? Is it important for you to have a washer/dryer? Would you like to stay in a treehouse or a riverboat? If you have specific requests, Airbnb does a good job of helping you sort out the listings that just aren't going to work for you. After entering in your dates and location, you can always choose the More Filters option. From there, you can click through a series of checkboxes or even plug in a keyword (e.g. king size bed, beachfront, movie theater on site). Pro tip: If you are traveling somewhere woodsy, wifi is not a given, so filter your search to make sure that you don't end up in a cabin somewhere without any access to Orange Is The New Black.

Don't dismiss private rooms

In terms of room type, you probably know that you have three options to choose from: Entire Place (you get the whole kit-n-kaboodle to yourself), Private Room (you stay in a room where your host will be on site), and Shared Room (you share a room with another human being). As a certified introvert, I always swore that I would never choose any option besides Entire Place. I just didn't like the idea of someone else being around while I hung out in their digs. But while booking a trip to Salt Lake City, I noticed that there were a lot of private rooms available for crazy cheap (like $30 a night) that looked really great. I booked one, and man oh man, it was fabulous. My host was a dream. She didn't ask overly personal questions, walk in on me in the bathroom, or hover over my bed a la The Exorcist. She just chilled and answered my questions whenever I had them. I had a private entrance, so it was basically like staying in a hotel room, only super cheap and actually much nicer. All of that to say: even if you're a total loner, a private room might still be a good deal for you.

Read the fine print

Some hosts go to great lengths to describe their listing. Some don't. I often steer clear of the ones that don't because I like to be well-informed of what I'm getting into. But I also look for certain red flags, too. For instance, when a host says, "We LOVE making new friends and we hope you will take some time during your visit to sit down with us, have a scone, and tell us your story" -- that's a big ole NOPE for me. If you're into that sort of thing, go for it, but for me, that's just not my bag. Instead, I look for a host that says, "We enjoy hosting our guests, and while we are always available to answer questions, our aim is to respect your privacy." Sign me up for that. Also, be aware of their cancelation policy or if they have weird house rules (A curfew? Am I 17?).

If your dates are flexible, be flexible

Just like a hotel, Airbnb listings often have a high and a low season, so rates are subject to change depending on the month or even the day of the week. Take a look at the calendar on listings to see the availability and cost of each day. You know, be smart.

Read reviews

Reviews are at the heart of what makes Airbnb great. For one, they hold hosts and guests accountable. Knowing that you are subject to a review process makes you far more likely to be on your best behavior. But for another, they give great insight into what's really going on. A host description could be like, "I have the best house in the world. Two bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Close to shops. No ghosts or ghouls of any kind, I swear" but then you read the reviews and they are like, "The toilet was broken the entire time I was there, and dude, there were SO. MANY. GHOSTS. If that's an issue for you, don't stay here." (For the record, this is just an example, but man, I kind of wish it were real). Take interest in what a host says about their place, but put your trust in reviews.

Introduce yourself

When you've found a place you love, reach out to the host to say "hello" and make sure they have availability. Be nice, complementary, say what your travels plans are, use proper grammar -- just be a decent human being. Many hosts run their Airbnb listing as a business, but at the same time, they are also welcoming perfect strangers into their home which can be a vulnerable position to be in. Put their mind at ease by showing them you are a considerate person, and you will be far more likely to be approved.

Be a superstar guest

Hosts aren't the only ones who receive a review on Airbnb. Guests do too. Think about that before you clog someone's toilet or crank Metallica at 3 AM. In my most recent experience, my hosts only approved people with one or more reviews, and they said they were most impressed with the ones I had received. Not to brag, but I'm kind of the perfect guest. I tidy up, I say please and thank you, I don't scream in my sleep. I basically just act like a decent human being and all seems to go fairly well. Do the same thing and hosts will be far more likely to trust you to take care of their homes.

Now that you know how to be the best Airbnb user possible, it might be time to finally give it a try! Here's $20 from me to you to use on your first Airbnb adventure!

Have you used Airbnb? What are some of your tips for having the best possible experience?

How To Be a Better Blogger

Let's just get this truth out in the open: the idea of making money with a blog is very cool. I believe that every blogger is somewhere on a spectrum between "eh, I guess making money with my blog would be nice, but I'm good either way" and "my blog is my business/life/everything". I sit somewhere in the middle, but even from that vantage point, I sometimes have mini-meltdowns about just how much information exists out there on how to be a successful blogger.

I recently listened to this podcast episode from Joy the Baker which really digs into how the blogging industry (if we can even call it an industry) has changed over the last few years. I highly recommend giving it a listen. Apparently in the golden days of blogging, long before my time, bloggers were compensated in accordance with their Clicks Per Minute, or CPM. That means if you had a really viral post that catapulted you into success, or if you developed a devoted following over time, there was a chance that you could be making BANK (or at least some pretty decent money). In today's blogging universe, that is just not the case. CPM is still monitored, but it hardly accounts for anything, and the same is true for most click-based stats. If you have Google AdSense on your website, you know this to be largely the case.

True story on this: My blog first came to be known (by people other than my mom) because of this post I wrote about wedding do-overs. It was shared a lot on Pinterest because I guess people don't want to make mistakes at their weddings, who knows. Anyway, there was one day where my page views just SKYROCKETED. 17,000+ hits in a single day (what the helllll?!). I went to click the "Earnings" tab on my Blogger account, my hands rubbing together like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons, and do you know how much I made from Google that day?

$8.01

That's roughly $0.00047 per click. Definitely not mogul money, but make no mistake, I did buy myself a Big Gulp that evening.

I earned it.

The point is you can get thousands of views in a day, but if you're not leveraging some other side of your business (ad spots, sponsors, affiliate links, product reviews, merchandise), you're not going to make a lot of money. The good news is that there are people out there who are able to make an excellent living off of their blogging earnings. The bad news is that getting to that point can be a colossal pain in the ass.

As someone who has been taking this blogging game pretty seriously over the last year, I've developed a bit of insight (mostly by making mistakes) into what it takes to get readers, keep readers, and yeah, make a little money. No matter where you are in your blogging journey, whether you are Joanna Goddard-level famous or your only follower is your mom (hey, go say thanks to your mom), I believe there are a few key areas we should always be focusing on as people who make stuff for the internet. Some of these pieces of advice may help you grow your readership and some may just help you to see yourself as an artist. Take from it what you will.

Oh, and keep in mind that these are all things at which I've failed, and I probably will again.

#1. Just, like, stop trying so hard.

You know how they say a watched pot never boils? Well, we all know that is garbage. I watched a pot the other day while I was making ramen, and you know what? It boiled. But you know what else? I wasn't any better for having watched it.

That's kind of how blogging works, and probably life, I don't know. Much like the inevitability of water boiling when heated, your blog will grow if you keep at it. It simply will. Unless you don't touch it for months on end, it's likely going to get some traction at some point.

But it takes time, probably more time than you'd like

In the waiting stage, it's so tempting to make desperate moves to get more followers, more likes, more retweets. This is the time where you are most likely to look over into the yards of other, more successful bloggers to try to see what they are doing that you are not. You start making lists, adding more pictures, talking about coffee.

But here's the truth -- readers can smell desperation, and it makes them uneasy. I mean, you know this from personal experience. You've been to that blog before where every post is riddled with cliches and the "About Me" seems like it was written by an alien studying human expression. You didn't stick around long, did you?

Look, I agonized over who was following my blog and how to make it more shareable until one day, I wrote a post that I assumed only my friends would enjoy, and it took off. Things really do happen when you stop trying so hard. Stop obsessively checking your stats, stop using vocabulary you don't really understand, and start writing about the things that matter to you.

#2. Love on other bloggers.

Okay, you're seeing your page views go up, so obviously someone is reading your posts, but no one is leaving any comments. This can be super discouraging. I used to get frustrated when I would post my blog on Facebook, get tons of comments there but no comments on my actual blog. This taught me something, though: social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have an ingrained interactive (social) component. That's not necessarily the case for blogs. If you want people to interact with your content, you have to create a commenting culture. 

Here was my problem: I was sharing posts on Facebook with people who were, for the most part, non-bloggers. Non-bloggers usually won't want to leave comments on your blog because it's not a platform with which they are particularly comfortable. They'll read, and then they'll bounce off to something else. 

You know who will want to leave comments on your blog? BLOGGERS! 

But how do you get them to visit your blog? Easy. Leave comments on their blog! The very thing you want, do it for someone else. And do it genuinely. Find some blogs you're really into and leave relevant comments. I say relevant because "Hey cool post follow pls" probably won't cut it. It doesn't for me anyway.

Oh, also, link to these other blogs that you like. Tweet at them. Make them feel like a million bucks, and I promise you, at least a few of them will return the favor.

#3. Express yourself with your design.

A beautiful layout...ah, a blogger's white whale. Like the clothes we wear or the apartment we decorate with throw pillows from IKEA, a blog layout is the world's first impression of what you are all about. I feel like this is an area with which we can get a little too obsessed, but then again, I'm not a design-centric blogger. There are always things that can be improved upon, but as far as I'm concerned, here are the only criteria with which you should judge your blog layout:

Is it eye-catching? Is it acceptably clean? Can I find all the things? Does it reflect me?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then you are golden! Once again, it's about putting your stamp on things. I am positive that there are some people who come to my brightly-colored blog, thinking to themselves that it looks like a muppet just barfed all over their computer screen. But you know what? These clashing colors and giant glasses do a good job of expressing all of the whimsical nonsense I want to share with the world. 

#4. Make it sharable. 

This is a rule you can feel free to break if it doesn’t work with your style, but I believe that graphics are the single most important aspect to any blogging success I’ve had thus far. Back to my wedding do-overs post -- this was the first of my blog posts that I ever pinned. I took a picture from my wedding, slapped a title on it, shared it on Pinterest, and to this day, that post is still spreading like crazy

If I had not created a graphic, maybe someone would have pinned one of my pictures instead, but I genuinely believe that taking 5 minutes to make a title image in Pic Monkey made all of the difference for me. And when I say 5 minutes, it really is that easy, easier even. I just made this picture in exactly 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

Now, not every image you pin is going to go viral, but the point is that images are effective. Don’t assume, however, that graphics are a substitute for quality writing. They are not.

#5. Write what you want and wait for someone to like it.

I may have already said something similar to this (or exactly like this) before, but that’s because it really bears repeating. Writing is a practice that has the power to shape lives, most notably your own. If you are blogging what you love – at best, you will make a career out of it. At worst, you will have a collection of writing that you can be proud of. When you write what you love, you simply cannot lose.

Anyway, for preaching sharable content and graphics, this sure has been a wordy post with very few images. Still, I hope it's at least brought some clarity and hopefully some comfort as well. The main point of all of this, as cliche as it might sound, is to be yourself and allow wonderful things to happen naturally. There really is no good in waiting for that pot to boil. 

Bloggers, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. What are some of your tips?

How To Create A Better Writing Space (And Other Thoughts on Writing)

I think writing is one of the stranger hobbies in the world. It's easily one of the most valuable ways that I spend my time, and I love doing it, but rare is the time that I actually want to do it. The moment I sit down to write, I go into a kind of temporary insanity wherein I can think of nothing more important than organizing closets and checking my Facebook.

Sometimes my cat, Frasier, will sit down on my lap while I'm writing and I'll think, well, maybe I'll just pet this little guy for a bit...and then three hours will pass, and I will not have written a thing.

Frasier with Wheat Thins

The comfort I have is that a lot of writers deal with this, probably all. If you are a writer and you have not adapted this strange set of problems, but you would like to, here is a short list of things to do instead of writing:

1. Blankly stare at nothing
2. Shop online
3. Nap with your mouth open
4. Dance in front of a full-length mirror
5. Make a really detailed sandwich
6. Find the most echoey spot in your apartment and sing Beyonce's Irreplaceable (my neighbor's favorite option)
7. Watch hair videos on YouTube 
8. Read Harry Potter
9. Make faces in the mirror
10. Get lost in a Wikipedia trance starting with Pearl Harbor and ending with Bladder (about 50 degrees of separation, by the way.)

You get the point. It is easy to do anything other than write. But now that I am taking writing more seriously as a career path for myself, I have decided that this crap has got to stop.

It probably won't ever stop, but I have slowly been creating systems in my life to help make me a more focused writer. One of the most effective things I have done so far is set up a proper writing space in my home. Here is the proof:

I've since made a few more changes that I will be sharing with you today, but basically, welcome to my zone. It seems simple because it really is, but there are elements to it that have made it perfect for me and my apartment.

On top of that, I'd like to give you some tips that will hopefully help you create your new writing space, and I might even throw in a few of my favorite general writing tips as well. If you're here just for the writing tips, skip down to #7.

Step 1: Pick an area that you actually want to be in your home.

In my life, I make a distinction between a workspace and a creative space. When working, you want to eliminate all distractions so you can focus on your Quickbooks or whatever. We have a desk that we use as a workspace, but I hardly ever write there.

It's nice enough. It's a really solid desk and it's got some things about it that are really great, so why don't I use it?

Answer: It's haunted.

That's a lie. Sorry. Actually, the answer is that it's just not a place I like to hang out in our apartment. It's right by the kitchen so if Daniel is in there, I am acutely aware of every clink of every dish. It's also by Frasier's litter box, so sometimes I'll be moving right along in my writing when suddenly a stench of death will overtake the entire area. Most importantly, there is no natural lighting in that area. You can't really tell from the picture, but it's a very dark place...practically haunted...

...which leads me to step 2...

Step 2: If you can, write by a window. 

My writing space is indeed by a window, but the bummer comes when I have to look out of it.

Are you depressed yet?

Wah wah. I love almost everything about Brooklyn, except for this one specific view. The reason I like to sit by windows usually is because of all of the creativity that flows from watching people doing their people things and plants doing their plant things and animals doing their animal things. That's one of the big differences between a workspace and a creative space. While you don't want distractions, you do want inspiration. A quick break to look up at a couple sitting on their porch together or a tree swaying in the breeze could be the turning point in your writing.

Unfortunately, that's just not a realistic option for me right now, but this window gets the job done in so much as a good deal of natural light makes its way through it. Natural light reminds us that there is an outside which reminds us that there is nature which reminds us that we have a God who loves us enough to give us nature. I thoroughly believe that taking in sunlight is a surefire way to boost your creativity, and there is science that backs me up in that.

Step 3: Use a great surface/buy the same table I have.

Let me tell you about this table, guys. This is no ordinary table.

We got this bad boy at IKEA, knowing full well that it would change our lives, and sweet goodness, it has not disappointed. At first glance, it's just a run-of-the-mill table, small even. But the truth is, this table is basically Optimus Prime. 

Meet NORDEN. Here are his three forms:

When it's not being a table, it's just a shelf!

Also drawers!

Today I've opted to fill my drawer with tortilla chips, but feel free to fill yours with something sane like pens. 

I cannot say enough about this table. I basically wrote this entire post so that I could brag about it. We bought it as a kitchen table because, like most New York City apartments, our space can get kind of cramped. Having a table that can basically collapse into a small shelf is a step away from magic in this town. While a lot of people would steer you away from using a utilitarian space for writing, I actually like that my writing space doubles as a kitchen table. It forces me to always keep it clean. 

Regardless, make sure you have a designated space wide enough for your pointy elbows, but not wide enough for you to even think about resting your head on it. This seems obvious, but think about that tiny desk you had in your dorm room and how many pencil cups you threw across the room in frustration with it. Think about that.

Step 4: Remove all unnecessary distractions (just keep it clean).

I think that there is a temptation to leave your work in a cluttered mess because Einstein said it made you a genius or whatever. It doesn't. It actually just makes you sad (again, science).

This chick knows what I'm talking about.

Keep your stuff clean, simple as that. This goes for the entire home because, again, the greatest urge you will fight as a writer is to do the dishes instead. You never wanted to do a dish in your life, but now the desire is so overwhelmingly strong that you can hardly contain yourself. If the dishes are done, this temptation will be drastically decreased. 

If you are just not a clean person, just get out of there. Stop reading this and go to a coffee shop (I opt to do this as seldom as possible because going to coffee shops usually means spending money...which is not something I have a lot of).

Step 5: Keep your favorite materials handy.

Keep your area stocked with only the essentials (your laptop, a legal pad, notecards, sticky notes, pens, and a water bottle). If you're someone who uses pencils, I guess have pencils. Each of these essentials should be your favorite version. For instance, inches from my fingertips, I have the best pens in all of human history. They are called Le Pen by Marvy. They are made in Japan, and when I use one, I simply feel like an artist. 

Buy them. You will feel like an artist too. 

I think it's important to have favorite tools as a writer because it leads to a greater sense of ownership. Don't be afraid to be a little snobby about it. Maybe you're writing is sucking it up that day, but look how pretty the ink is when it comes out of this glorious pen! 

Put your Le Pens in your favorite mug, set them aside, and feel very affirmed in all of your creative choices. 

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Emily, for the gift of this PERFECT mug!

Do you have a favorite pen/writing tool? Tell me more! Unless it's those Pilot pens that smear everywhere (my husband's favorite).

Step 6: Make it cozy...but not too cozy.

Let's examine my chair for a moment. 

This thing was $9 at IKEA and was bought out of absolute apathy. It turns out nice chairs are expensive, and I'd rather spend my money on better things like Cat Print button-downs and Hulu Plus. 

It's not the comfiest chair I've ever sat in, but it gets the job done. And it turns out that I am even grateful for the pain in the ass that creeps up in the second hour of sitting in it. It reminds me to keep going, and it keeps me focused. I'm not saying go buy yourself an uncomfortable chair on purpose, but don't deck your creative space out like you are going to live in it for the rest of your life. If you do, distractions are bound to creep up, and you will probably end up taking a totally underserved nap. 

Just keep it simple.

Put some flowers in a vase and let things exist in your space without turning it into a collage of your life's trials and tribulations. 

Which seamlessly leads me to my final and most fun point...

Step 7: Make it inspirational. 

I love that my space is seated right beneath a book shelf because it just reminds me of all of the people in this world who just decided to do it. He could have just taken lengthy naps instead, but no, Michael Crichton wrote. Emily Bronte wrote. Betty Friedan wrote. David Sedaris wrote. C.S. Lewis wrote.

Whether you use actual works of literature, Scripture, quotes, a picture of your son/daughter, make your writing space a place that inspires you to write. 

I recently made some printouts with pretty fonts and colors in order to remind me of some of the truths I've learned about the writing process.

Also, make your space smell good with a delicious candle!

If you can't read these, they say Write It Down, Shitty First Drafts, and Short Assignments. These might mean nothing to you right now, but I'll explain, and maybe you'll want to print them too!

This is something my good friend Patrick says to me whenever I say something funny in a conversation. It always makes me feel like a million bucks. Basically, what I've learned from this statement is that a lot of the things worth writing down are things that live outside of the traditional writing process. They come in conversations or in your sleep or when someone smiles at you at just the right time in your day. You never know when inspiration will strike, and that is why, if you're a writer, you should never leave any hint of your brilliance unwritten. I make notes all day because of Patrick's encouraging words. 90% are nonsense. 7% are bad ideas in hindsight. But that last 3% are like the sperm that makes it ahead of all of his loser sperm friends. Gross. Forget I said that. 

This one, I learned from a book by Anne Lamott titled Bird by Bird. By the way, I would recommend this book to any writer at any stage. It's filled with incredibly practical advice and colored with the sardonic wit of a woman who, like all writers, soars and sinks between her own glory and despair. It. Is. Wonderful.

Apart from using one of my favorite swear words, these words really resonate with me. Shitty First Drafts is one of the chapter titles in her book, and its a principle she teaches her students in her writing class. Here's Anne:

The first draft is the child's draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page. If one of the characters wants to say, "Well, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?," you just let her. No one is going to see it. If the kid wants to get into really sentimental, weepy, emotional, territory, you let him. Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational grown-up means. 

I write a lot of shitty first drafts. I pretty much only write shitty first drafts, and having this little print on my desk reminds me that it's okay. I mean, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?!

Short Assignments also comes from Bird by Bird. It's a chapter of the same title. 

Often when you sit down to write, what you have in mind is an autobiographical novel about your childhood or a play about the immigrant experience, or a history of --oh, say -- say women. But this is like trying to scale a glacier. It's hard to get your footing, and your fingertips get all red and frozen and torn up. Then your mental illnesses arrive at the desk like your sickest, most secretive relatives. And they pull up chairs in a semicircle around the computer, and they try to be quiet but you know they are there with their weird coppery breath, leering at you behind your back.

This anxiety that Lamott describes is a lot of why I think to do my most odious chores whenever I sit down to write. The self-doubt, the gravity of it all -- it is consuming.

But what she suggests in this chapter is that we don't have to have it all figured out when we sit down at our NORDEN table.

E.L. Doctorow once said that "writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice about writing, or life, I have ever heard.

God, I hope that's true because there is so much about my future that is beyond the glimpse of my headlights.


Anyway, guys, I know this whole thing has been about creating an optimal writing environment, but you could write on the hood of your car, and you'd still be a writer. You could write while skydiving or in the mouth of a volcano, and I say go for it (also, I say, try not to die).

As long you are writing somewhere, you are doing something really special. 

I'll end with one more quote from Bird by Bird and then you will have to promise me that you'll go out and buy it:

What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.

Sit down at your awesome space by a window with minimal distractions and lots of inspiration, and write a world. 

I hope this was helpful to some of you! I would love to hear some of your suggestions on writing spaces and writing in general. Also, as always, if the spirit moves you, feel free to Pin this so that others can learn about the joys of a good place to write!

And P.S. If you want to start feeling like Hemingway today, below are some of the tools we talked about that you can buy right NOW:

    

P.P.S. Did you like this post? Want to read more of my ramblings on the writing process? Well...here's the thing: I actually don't blog on this website anymore. Bummer, I know. HOWEVER, you can instead find me over on my new site, christyoshoney.com (that's my name dot com). I'm there on the reg talking about creativity & confidence (and writing, of course). 

I also share a ton of writing tips & bits of life wisdom via my email list. If you want in on that goodness, you can sign up below and you'll also receive a FREE copy of my ebook "Your Dreams Aren't Dumb."

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