European Sabbatical – Part 2

I committed to an Airbnb in Barcelona that is literally right in front of Barcelona’s landmark – La Sagrada Familia. I have views of the church in my living room, or I can go to the terrace upstairs to see it. The picture above is one I took from my apartment. I selected a 2-bedroom apartment so I could accommodate visiting friends. My musts were air conditioning and a washer/dryer. Many buildings in Barcelona do not have air conditioning which is torture during summer months. Especially since Europe ended up getting a heat wave this summer. I love the airbnb I chose! It’s super cute, updated, and great location.

Since I booked the Airbnb last minute and during the peak of “revenge summer travel”, it was quite pricey. An unfurnished long-term lease apartment in Barcelona goes for ~$1000/mo for a 2 bedroom. So I was surprised to find what I was looking for on Airbnb (furnished of course) for a whopping $3600/month. Since I was going to be in and out of Barcelona, I tried to see if it made more sense to book an Airbnb 2 weeks at a time. But it was actually the same price as booking a monthly rental, since hosts often give a discount for booking for 30 days at a time. 

I used my chase sapphire preferred card to book the Airbnb. Fortunately, there was a promotion with this chase card that I could redeem Airbnb purchases with my chase points for 1.25 dollar per point. Thus, I ended up redeeming 270,000 of my chase points for a month at this Airbnb (a value of $3600). By using my points, my out of pocket expense for the Airbnb was ultimately zero. I had accumulated a lot of points and miles over the past few years since I barely traveled abroad since the pandemic. 

I got to know the host of the Airbnb pretty well, and turns out he owned the entire building. I let him know when I was going out of town for a week at a time, and he worked out a deal with me. While I was gone, he moved my things to an upstairs studio, while he rented out my 2- bedroom apartment. In return, he paid me $100/night and technically I had free cleanings in between. This benefited him because a lot of tourists were looking for a 2-bedroom apartment for a family of four, so he was able to earn additional profit while I was gone and leaving my apartment empty. I profited $800 with this, bringing down my overall Airbnb monthly cost to $2,800. 

Now on to the fun part. I met with a friend in Croatia, where we spent a week. It was my favorite country that I visited in Europe this summer. Old town Dubrovnik (where they filmed Game of Thrones) was beautiful! I enjoyed climbing the wall and the fort for spectacular views. 

The beaches were also gorgeous! The water was so clear you could see fish swimming underneath you. We rented a boat and explored nearby islands and caves. We went snorkeling and I saw starfish which was neat. I have to add that most of the beaches do not have sand, just rocks. This was a bit of an adjustment for a Florida girl. It was interesting to me that the Europeans felt comfortable lying on a rock after getting out of the water versus us Americans needed lounge chairs. I cut my foot on a rock in the water, so in the future I would bring some water shoes with me. 

We also did a day trip to Montenegro since it is only 2 hours away by car. It’s a cute mountainous country with small cities on the coast. It was very cheap in comparison to Croatia. Yet, I found the people in both places to be incredibly nice. 

We returned to Barcelona to meet up with other friends. I showed them around and we appreciated the diverse eating options in Barcelona. In Croatia, our only options had been Italian or Seafood haha. 

Meanwhile, jobs back home were already asking me if I decided what my plan would be when I returned. I told them I would let them know in mid-August. I was still on vacation mode and not even thinking about the idea of working at that time.