Airbnb Is Now Offering Online Experiences So You Can Get Your Travel Fix From Your Couch
Meditate with monks, bake cardamom buns with a Swedish baker and virtually visit Chernobyl's dogs.
Just a few short months ago, your 2020 plans likely included a range of trips, adventures and new experiences, such as heading overseas, seeing different sights and making this year your best one yet. That's not how things are turning out for anyone due to COVID-19; however, thanks to virtual tours and travel live-streams, you can still pretend.
Thanks to Airbnb's Online Experiences feature, too, you can also get a taste of places and activities far, far away from your own lounge room. The sharing platform has launched the new addition to its online offering, teaming up with hosts around the world — who'll hold everything from magic lessons and coffee tastings to dance sessions and sketch classes from more than 30 different countries via Zoom.
Highlights include meditating with a Buddhist monk, taking pastry lessons from a Swedish baker and learning how to make pasta with an Italian nonna — plus, mixing up cocktails — and sangria — with drag queens and going on a plague tour of Prague.
If you're always been curious about the dogs of Chernobyl, aka the descendants of canines that were abandoned after the 1986 nuclear disaster, you can make a virtual visit. If rescue goats are more your style, you can head to an animal sanctuary in the Catskills Mountains as well. And if you'd prefer to meet some penguins in South Africa or meditate with sheep in Scotland, you can do that too.
With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics postponed until 2021, Airbnb has also launched a range of virtual experiences with some of the world's best athletes. Do sprint sessions with Bahamian sprinter Andretti Bain, learn to hammer throw with American athlete Gwen Barry and chat to Paralympic swimmer and triathlete David Hill about prosthetics and how he completes everyday tasks without a forearm.
At present, more than 50 Online Experiences are available, with thousands more set to join its virtual portal in the coming months. Session dates, times and costs vary — and, in some cases, you can request specific dates for your own private group experience.
For more information about Airbnb's Online Experiences — or to book one in — visit the sharing platform's website.
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Updated July 29, 2020.
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