We survived our first summer hosting on Airbnb, welcoming 23 different families over the past three months — and, more importantly, the duplex survived too. Our initial rental season had its fair share of hiccups, high-anxiety moments, and unexpected learning opportunities. This week we’re taking you behind the scenes of a busy few months spent learning the hospitality ropes, juggling guests, and — in one memorable incident — dealing with a very full jug of laundry detergent. Sherry also celebrates the end of a long “personal renovation,” and we share how a small change made us rethink how we handle dinner.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- Sherry’s Invisalign journey has come up a lot over time. If you want to hear the beginning of this saga, it dates back to October 2016 in Episode #20.
- As a throwback, Episode #64 includes one of our favorite GIFs showing off the many pieces involved in her orthodontic treatment — Invisalign for complicated mouths often means more than clear trays; there are small attachments and elastics involved too.
Our First Rental Season
- One of the more memorable moments was when a bulk laundry detergent bottle split open during a Saturday turnover. It was completely full when it slipped out of my hands — enough detergent to create a massive cleanup. In photos it looks smaller than it was; that container was nearly as big as our kitchen sink.
- We’ve shared more about the owner’s closet and what we stock for guests in our tour of the duplex closets, including the wallpapered sleeping nooks.
- Before guests started arriving, we made a video tour of the finished duplexes. The tour highlights both sides of the property (two kitchens, six bedrooms, and six bathrooms) and shows details like the marble coasters and other breakables we later removed once we started hosting. You can read more in the post where we first shared the video.
Note: If you’re in a feed reader you may need to click through to view the video. You can also watch it on YouTube.
- We’ll share more on Wednesday about the practical side of running an Airbnb and how we prepare each side of the duplex for new guests every Saturday. Even with cleaning help, the turnover process surprised us, and we’ve already made major changes to streamline it for next season.
- We also plan to post a detailed breakdown of the financial realities of running an Airbnb — the often-surprising recurring costs like taxes, insurance, and consumables. After 90 days we’ve learned a lot and will be sharing those lessons across several posts and podcast episodes.
We’re Digging
- This summer we reconnected with some simplicity and minimalism ideas. One helpful read for us was the book Simple Happy Parenting, which helped reinforce small, practical approaches to family life.
- Sherry often re-reads Simplicity Parenting — it inspired us years ago to pare down toys and simplify routines. That book was the catalyst for one of our game-changing moments: getting rid of half the toys.
- For the beach house we bought inexpensive nylon kids’ knives so children can help with dinner prep safely. We picked a set for the rental and a similar pair for home so our kids can stay involved during cooking.
- In this episode intro there was a little easter egg — a joking reference to an Instagram story mix-up about whether I said, “I have to take the dog out.” If you listen through the end, the whole story makes more sense and is worth the chuckle.
If you’re trying to find something we mentioned on a past episode but don’t remember where it was discussed, we keep a master list of everything “We’re Digging” from previous episodes, plus a Book Club page listing all the books we’ve recommended.
Finally, thanks to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. They’re offering 15% off orders this month with the code WELCOMEBACK (plus free shipping and a 100-night trial). After September 30th you can still use code YHL for $200 off a hybrid mattress in any size.
Thanks for listening!
*This post contains affiliate links*