Housing during your sabbatical will determine so much of your experience. There’s a lot to think about when you’re considering housing during a sabbatical. If you’re staying out at home, you know your costs well and this will be fixed. If you’re traveling, keep in mind you have two housing costs to deal with: housing at your destination and housing at your current location.
Figuring out where to live while you’re traveling is a huge part of your travel experience. The people you meet, your favorite bakeries and shops, the parks and recreation options will vary dramatically within the same city depending on where you live.
Getting a sense of how much you’ll be paying
You will probably want to look at AirBnB and VRBO first to get a sense of prices. Don’t despair if they’re higher than you want to pay, though – many owners will give a significant discount if you’re occupying the place every day rather than just on weekends and they get a steady income. Emphasizing that you’re a physician/responsible homeowner/will take good care of the place and won’t be a burden will also help.
Keep in mind that in some parts of the world a lease over 30 days gives you legal rights as a tenant, and some short-term rental owners won’t want to deal with that.
If you’re staying somewhere longer term, maybe closer to 6 months to a year, you may want to check out long-term rentals where the locals get them. These are always much cheaper than the short-term rental sites In Europe, Idealist.org has a reasonable selection and can give you a sense of what long term vs short term housing costs would be. Keep in mind that those prices may or may not include utilities and WiFi, and you may need to set up those services yourself and get renters insurance for a long-term rental.
We initially hoped to rent an apartment for about 500 euros/month as a long-term rental (the going rate for a 3 bedroom in the town we’re staying in), but had trouble finding a landlord who was willing to do a long-term rental for only three months, plus we would have had to set up the utilities on our own, etc. It ended up being worth it for us to work with a family that normally rented out short-term on a longer-term basis.
To have a car or not?
Leasing or buying a car in another country can be a huge hassle in terms of security, crime, parking, and driving. If having a car is worth it to you, you’ll need housing with a parking spot. A bike may be an option in some areas, though you’ll need to figure out storage and security for it also. We had a few housing options we were considering that were about 1-5 miles from the kids’ school. We really didn’t want to lease or buy a car, and wanted the kids to be able to walk to school. With a five year old, we were hoping to stick to 0.75 miles each way or less walking, or a few miles biking. We were considering buying bikes for the whole family but storing 6 bikes means a significant outdoor space, which is uncommon in our small town in Spain.
Location, location, location
A lot of your housing options will depend on the size of your family and how willing you are to live far from the center of town. Keep in mind that if you’re staying somewhere for multiple weeks or months, you may prefer a more neighborhood-y area than you would if you were just visiting a few days and trying to hit all the sights as quickly as possible. Grocery stores and parks nearby may be more important, fancy restaurants may be less so.
Location is closely tied to having a car. If you want to live in the hills of Tuscany, it is going to be tough to get around without a car. You also want to decide if you want to live in a place with a bunch of expats which usually means more fancy restaurants but less of a community feel.
- What do you want your days to look like? Going to museums? Wandering around historic neighborhoods? Living on a farm? Walking on a beach?
- Will you be working remotely and need somewhere very quiet with excellent WiFi?
- Is there somewhere you’ll be going daily (a school or activity) that you need easy access to?
- Are there areas that aren’t safe to walk around at night?
- Where is public transit, and is it easy to get to?
The housing itself
How willing are you to live in a kind of dumpy place for a few months or a year? We are much more willing to put up with some minor inconveniences (no dryer in Spain, for example) than we would be if we were living there permanently (drying clothes for 6 people is a big commitment!). We also care less about having an optimal furniture/bed arrangement for the kids or having an updated kitchen than we would in our own home. We could also probably – maybe – tolerate sharing one bathroom for several months, but not for the rest of our lives.
Can you get free housing?
- Home exchanges are kind of their own world. They used to be mostly a group of like-minded people who liked to travel and stayed at each others’ houses. Now companies like HomeAway have developed into something more similar to AirBnB. This created a lot of controversy. But the idea is pretty cool if you’re willing to let people stay at your house.
- House sitting. Sometimes you can get completely free accommodation by house sitting. Many involve the care of animals and/or plants, so it may be hard to do extended weekend trips using that as your home base. Some allow children, others don’t. But if your primary goal is to integrate into the community and you don’t plan to travel much once you’re there, this can be a great option either in the US or abroad.
- Consider a site specifically for sabbaticals like Sabbatical Homes, Academic Homes, and Transitions Abroad. These were created specifically with academic professors in mind so often follow a semester schedule, but are worth checking out.
Where to look for housing
- For short-term rentals and as a place to “land” when you arrive somewhere new.
- Sites like AirBnB or VRBO
- Hotel website like Booking.com (Europe) or Agoda.com (Asia)
- Beware of the added fees with both of these sites. They often don’t include some fees in the price they show you, especially with their short-term rental listings.
- Hotels.com apparently does not think people have more than 3 kids so I don’t use them anymore.
- For longer-term rentals
- Sites like AirBnB or VRBO now have an option for monthly stays (a post-COVID feature). These discounts are usually in the 5-15% range.
- Local Facebook groups. Many towns have a group, some dedicated to real estate. It’s worth looking while being cautious and safety and transferring money.
- Idealista.com for Europe. Lots of long-term rentals all over Europe, some furnished.
- Local newspapers are usually online now and almost always have a rental section. Helps if you speak the language but Google Translate is pretty incredible!
- Wait until you get there
- This option will only work for people comfortable with uncertainty and who aren’t very picky, but if you can handle just wait until you arrive, you can probably find someone who is willing to rent to you. This was our plan for several weeks before we found our accommodation in Spain. You can book a hotel or AirBnB or a few days or a week and make some connections in town, and befriend the local real estate office. If nothing else it will be a great story!
Negotiate!
Especially with the short-term rental sites like AirBnB or VRBO, you can directly message the owner and ask for a larger monthly discount. They don’t have to worry about random weekdays being unfilled, and the guaranteed income could persuade them to ask some of their current bookings to move if your dates overlap.
I tried this with variable success, though every single person on AirBnB I emailed about a monthly rental came down from the AirBnB stated monthly price. In one case an owner came down from $173/night for the “nightly” rate to $90/night monthly, then down to $70/night when I said the $90/night for a monthly rental was out of my price range. As always when you negotiate, it helps to be willing to walk away if it doesn’t work.