We've visited 50 states and 91 countries and almost always choose hotels over Airbnbs. Here's why.

17.02.2024 - 11:57 / insider.com

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Martin, who previously worked in the aluminum industry, and his wife Beverly, both 60, who have been traveling the United States and the world since 2019. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

John: I retired at 55 at the end of 2019. Initially, we were going to live in a golf community in Palm City, Florida, and also do some traveling.

Beverly: I had been a stay-at-home mom for five kids. At this point, they were all off to college and getting married. I always wanted to blog my way around the world.

John: When COVID hit, we realized we couldn't travel internationally. Bev had the idea to buy an Airstream and travel the country. So we sold our house, bought the Airstream for $50,000, and visited all 50 states and 51 national parks in two years.

Beverly: We did two loops around the country. It was glorious. To see caves, desserts, and mountains — it was all just incredible. The California national parks were our favorite; they were just amazing.

John: It changed our life. We had never spent a single night in an RV before.

Beverly: After seeing the country, we had a conversation about going abroad.

We had worked a long time to save enough money and retire fairly early, at 55. Originally, we just wanted to travel part-time, but then seeing the numbers, I said to John, "We're spending all this money to live in a golf community when we could take all that money and travel."

Beverly: We were young for the community in our 50s; the average age was in the 70s. The thought of us playing golf every day until we're 90 just didn't seem appealing. So we took a chance, sold the house, gave away all our stuff, and catapulted into this entirely new mindset.

John: We took off in November 2021, first to Panama. Right now we're in Sri Lanka. Just this morning we were on a safari, 10 feet away from a giant leopard climbing up and down a tree. It was unbelievable. We love our life. We can't imagine going back.

Beverly: This is our 91st country. We've been everywhere from North Macedonia and Kosovo, most of Europe and Central America. We've swung through a lot of southeastern Asia. Seeing so much has changed our perspective.

For so many years, we were caught up in the rat race.

John: We didn't even consider hotels at first.

Beverly: When we started, our initial thought was Airbnb was the best option. It seemed the most affordable. And watching other nomads on social media and YouTube, it's a very popular option.

John: After about a year, we started noticing we could stay at hotels for a similar price to the Airbnbs. It wasn't that much of a difference. We didn't have a terrible time with Airbnbs, but just found them to be not consistent. About