How we find our accommodations around the world

As digital nomads, we are usually staying in one place for at least one month. Mostly around 90 days, actually. Finding affordable long-term rentals is one of the most important things.

Before we even decide on a country, I normally research the average price for rentals in different cities. I also search for the best locations for digital nomads. This way I am starting to get an idea of what the prices are like, what’s around to do, internet speed and so on.

So, the bottom line is, I am an organizer who likes to read a lot of blog posts and loves Facebook groups.

Here’s a quick step-by-step guide what I do before we book a flight:

• Find cheapest flights to other countries: It all starts with the flights and countries we are interested in.
• From these flight options I start searching for DN guides online: At first, it often starts with a random search like “digital nomads albania” in order to get a rough idea
• This eventually brings me to specific cities
• Sometimes other bloggers review their apartments which gives me more details on how much they pay, what districts are good/safe, and so on
• Then I check AirBnB just for the fun of it. This doesn’t always mean that I  gonna book there but it’s a good way to find the highest point of the pricing spectrum.
• Next, I check the Facebook Group “Digital Nomad Accommodation” because sometimes someone will post something for the next destination
• In addition, I would do a Facebook group search for “digital nomads in [country or city]” or “expats in [country or city]” and see what comes up. Some groups do a very good job with recommendations etc. So it’s always worth looking.
• From there I usually decide on the country and city after I compared our options.

How we find our accommodation in the end

Ok, so now that we got the research out of the way, we still need a place to stay.

There are actually three ways and it kinda depends on the length of the stay:

• If we are somewhere only for one month: I will book an apartment online through AirBnB (most likely). That’s just because we don’t like to go through the apartment hunt for such a short stay. And, frankly, it’s the easiest way. Not the cheapest, though. AirBnB isn’t exactly the best place because of many incidents that happened over the years of operation but they have a huge amount of rentals listed. That’s the only reason why I still use it. I sometimes look at VrBO as well but they tend to be much more expensive.
• If we are somewhere for longer: I actually have made good experiences with Facebook groups. Some might say different though. It’s always good to have a Plan B and to not be naive. For example, I wouldn’t make any upfront payments and check the apartment before I rent it. Yes, that also means there isn’t much organization before you get there.
• Walking around to find an apartment: This is something we only do if we stay somewhere for 3 months. It can become quite exhausting. We just book a hotel, BnB or else for the first few days, and then walk around, ask around and so on. It is definitely the absolute cheapest way to find a place to stay because you will get a place that is closer to the local price. Talking to real estate agents for rentals might be another way but we haven’t made any experiences with this yet.

That’s it. This is how we do it.