Making Deeper Traveler Connections

During recent trips to Seattle and Canada, I found staying with local families to be more satisfying than hotels

A young soccer player practices in Seattle’s Kerry Park in the shadow of the Space Needle and Mount Rainier. Photos by Kevin Shay

When I was in my 20s a long time ago, I joined a walking project across the United States and Europe. It was my first time in Europe, and the experience of mostly staying with local families in tiny villages and large cities continues to resonate with me to this day.

Staying with families allows you to not only learn more about an area directly from residents, but you also observe how locals live in their neighborhoods and gain more authentic traveling connections.

How do you find families willing to share their homes with you these days? Airbnb used to facilitate more such experiences. Now it seems to be dominated by investors renting out converted hotel/motel rooms or condos. But if you search for a while, you can still find families that open their spare rooms or basements on there to traveling strangers.

It takes a certain amount of trust to allow strangers to enter your home with a code. The Airbnb system builds up guests’ profiles with reviews from previous hosts, and most only agree to rent to those with excellent reviews. For most, it’s a relatively small amount of risk that preserves this more connected travel experience.

Seattle’s neighborhoods contain a wide array of housing styles, some right next to each other. There aren’t many cookie-cutter neighborhoods.

Seattle host strives to make stays ‘colorful and memorable’

Mellington Cartwright, a Seattle artist/designer/sauna consultant, is among those who go above and beyond to connect with guests. Offering rooms in one of the most visually-appealing and intriguing hospitality rentals in the Pacific Northwest, she writes on her Airbnb page that her goal is to make guests’ visits “colorful and memorable. I will go out of my way to make sure you get your needs met and sometimes hyper-focus on things you probably would otherwise not care about during your stay.”

Her home is in a scenic, diverse neighborhood northwest of downtown near the Washington Park Arboretum and Seattle Japanese Garden, resting on one of the city’s steepest streets. The result is great views of the Cascade foothills and Lake Washington from the backyard that features a sauna and hot tub.

Rooms are painted in bold, vibrant colors, and the exquisite interior design features plenty of open windows that provide visual access to light and natural scenes, bookcases with thoughtful arrangements, and even a piano. At times, she organizes social gatherings with local artists and tech professionals. For those traveling without cars, public bus lines are close, and visitors can take short walks along the hills to local shops, restaurants, and bars. The neighborhood lends a good amount of tranquility for being in a fairly bustling part of Seattle.

Having lived in Europe and Asia before settling in Seattle, Mellington incorporates an international flair into her home and artistic projects. Guests might view projects in various stages of development. She is particularly interested in sauna experiences, as she has led tours to international conferences and consulted on projects as a “sauna diplomat.”

“I believe in community building,” Mellington says. “Saunas create spaces for healthy and interesting conversation. They break down barriers.”

In five-star reviews, guests note her attention to detail that included meals, cooking tips, and playing video games with her kids. “It truly felt like I had a family away from home,” writes one visitor.

Artist and sauna diplomat Mellington Cartwright goes above and beyond to make visitors’ stays memorable in her space that includes a backyard sauna and hot tub among mountain views in the center of Seattle.

Other platforms

During recent visits to Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, and Seattle, I mostly stayed with families found through Airbnb. Some were in basements of homes with finely manicured lawns, where we merely entered a code and opened the front door. Others were in backyard cottages and separate buildings that contained several rooms that included refrigerators, coffee makers, and brochures and books on local attractions.

In recent years, we have also stayed in a Wyoming ranch house that featured stuffed bears and cattle, and an Oregon converted barn on farmland.

If you spend more time searching on the platform, you can find rentals like a concrete dome house in Sedona, Ariz., with a fireplace, spiral staircase, and sunken sofas. Located near vortexes Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock, the space is close enough to walk to cafes, an upscale grocery store, galleries, and spas.

Guests stay in the two tallest domes with their own kitchens and outdoor courtyard. Owners Laura Lee and Paul live in other domes on site. There are locked doors between the ring of domes. “If you want to stay somewhere unique, this is the place,” writes a visitor.

A guest at an Airbnb in Montreal hurls a frisbee with the son of a host.

There are other platforms to find families to stay with on visits. Vrbo focuses more on renting out the entire residence rather than connecting with hosts, but usually hosts are close enough for interaction, if desired.

Homestay and Couchers offer free stays for guests who desire to spend a significant amount of time socializing with hosts. Those seem to be more for international visitors who want to learn more about each other’s homelands.

While the tradeoff in choosing such an experience can be a lack of privacy and time to explore the area yourselves, the result is usually a more memorable experience than staying in a tourist-heavy hotel.