Airbnb’s Online Experiences Offer The Thrill Of Newness Without The Travel

If you count yourself among those leading full-time existences at home, you've likely reached the end of the rope of what you can do to pass the time. You've optimized your memory with some puzzles, baked either banana, sourdough, or focaccia bread, picked up knitting or drawing. Your plants have never been this hydrated and you're also a born-again gamer. And while Zoom birthday parties and 360 virtual tours are all well and good, even the busiest virtual social calendars can fall prey to monotony. 

Airbnb has put a hold on in-person experiences due to the spread of COVID-19, but today, it debuted a new feature made for life on lockdown: Airbnb Virtual Experiences is giving income-starved hosts a chance to make some money by introducing wanderlusty experiences into your newly-sedentary lifestyle. Think of all the cooking classes, yoga sessions, and private concerts you'd normally consider attaching to your vacation. Those are now available for purchase through Airbnb, no reservation required. In fact, they're discouraged.

If you've grown particularly fond of your kitchen, consider looking into some virtual cooking classes. You might not be able to visit Marrakech for a long time but you can spend an evening cooking dinner with a Moroccan family. Or perhaps invest in turning your after-work cocktail into a more rewarding experience with the help of a barista's gin expertise and cocktail-making class. And if you really loved the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen's coffee routine video, a coffee master class will help you brew the best morning cup.

Now is the time for self-care and indulgent pampering, and there's nothing like a multi-step K-beauty routine. Think of this K-Beauty Workshop as a YouTube beauty video come to life. If you're tired of domestic bliss, you can do something entirely different like meet the dogs of Chernobyl, have drinks with Portuguese drag queens, or spend quality time with some rescued goats.

While we all think twice before wading through the waters of our "new normal," it only helps to have options. Trying new things disrupts the monotony and staves off the cabin fever.