Farewell to Airbnb

To my guest Topher, who woke up at 5:30 a.m. to drink coffee with me before my training ride.

To the sociology professor who checked in while I was studying for my orals exam in grad school, and who helped me work through a theory I didn’t understand.

To the trans woman about to meet with her estranged daughter for the first time since her transition — and the joy she felt that day.

To the hundreds of Polaroid photos of my guests on my refrigerator, affixed one by one when they checked out.

To the guests who sat with me and listened in the days following my brother’s death.

To the Japanese guest who cancelled her stay after asking if my neighborhood was really gay because she was “completely straight.”

To my mother who bought me L.L. Bean sheets because she wanted the guests to try percale cotton.

To the Chinese factory owner who gave his employees $100 each for International Women’s Day.

To the act of trusting guests I didn’t know, day in and day out.

To the guest who sat in the backyard and instructed me on how to prune my lemon tree.

To my guest Ulrich who attended my Little Free Library grand opening, and who delighted in it as much as I did.

To the ripple effects sharing my home with strangers has had on my life.

To the disoriented 70-year-old doctor who wandered naked into my bathroom late at night.

To the guest who described himself as having a “big fat weenie” and who shared his struggle with feeling objectified.

To the guest who sat on my bedroom floor and told me about how hard it was for him to control his eating.

To the guest whose family had to move to Bolivia because she was the second child born under China’s one-child policy.

To the refugee from Iraq who found GPS so compelling she likened it to the perfect husband: “GPS doesn’t complain. When I make a mistake, it just says, ‘recalculating…recalculating.’”

To my neighbors, who put up with travelers knocking on their door by mistake, sometimes late at night.

To the many guests who became cat sitters while I was away, and who never asked for anything in return.

To the tenderness of opening my home to strangers.

Thank you for turning a financial necessity into the experience of a lifetime.

Chris Caldeira, 2020