Airbnb Trial Run a Success!

This past weekend, my wife and I rented our place to three Airbnb renters from Florida. We wanted to give the Airbnb rental experience a shot while we're in town, that way we can fix things and make improvements before we leave, and we can experience having others stay at our place while we're gone. Two good friends of ours invited us to stay at their place during this experiment.

Overall, the trial run was a rousing success. Our guests left our place clean, if not cleaner than how we left it for them--and we left it pretty damn clean to start. The money was deposited into our account when they checked in. They even left us a thank you note! At first I was cautiously optimistic given the warnings I read online, but this positive outcome definitely gave us more confidence that the Airbnb process will work out for us while we're away. We know not every experience will be as positive as this one. We'll continue to set the right expectations up front on the listing page with the intent of attracting the right guests for our place.

Major thanks to Val and Kalid for opening their home to us this past weekend.

Preparing the House for Rent on Air B&B

Quick update on what we're doing with our townhouse: We've decided to put it up for rent on Airbnb. This is primarily because we don't know when we'll be back. We'd hate to rent it out for a year, only to come back and evict the renters. It'll require a bit more management on my end, but fortunately we have a couple of friends and family in the area who offered to check up on the place.

This move naturally provides us a great chance to purge unnecessary items laying about the house and in closets. We've already made a few trips to the local Goodwill donation drop-off site. Don't be surprised if I'm offering random goods to you when you visit.

Turns out Airbnb is really easy to set up. Their user interface is really straight forward and easy to use, they connect to your PayPal account for quick receipt of payments, they offer to send a free photographer to your place to take professional photos for use on your listing page, and they have a mobile app that helps you manage your listing and communication with potential renters.

There are definitely risks in using Airbnb, but in our case, we're planning on leaving our place in such a way so that there isn't anything worth stealing or that couldn't be replaced quickly and cheaply.

Along those same lines, we have to explore the insurance angle to make sure that we're not voiding any policies or otherwise breaking any contract obligations. We don't want our insurance company to balk at helping us if anything catastrophic were to happen to the house.

If you have any experience and advice for using Airbnb, please do let us know!

Tickets: Purchased!

We bought our plane tickets! We used a local travel agency; they offered a price comparable to what we found online, and they will also manage our visa application.

We purchased our ticket for an October departure two months in advance. We paid approximately $660 per person. The 5-year visa option was $125 per person. Fortunately, this travel expense will be reimbursed by the One Body Village organization in trade for our work as volunteers. I figured that it's worth noting the price on this blog in case any of you are interested in purchasing a flight around the same time.

We had to decide between between buying a one-way or round-trip ticket with the option to reschedule a departure within a year. We opted for the one-way because we're really hoping to stay there for longer than a year, assuming I find a job soon after we arrive. The overall decision on a one-way was based on a gut feeling more than anything else. I have no idea what is going to happen when we arrive. We might be forced to leave back home in three months. I also might find a job and stay for longer than a year. We made the optimistic decision to buy a one-way and risk the additional cost of buying a more expensive ticket home within a year.

My personal recommendation is to have the travel agency prepare and submit the visa application. This is mainly because I want it done right the first time. When deciding on visa options, we were provided with the unique option of applying for a 5-year visa that requires us to reenter the country every three months. This option is provided only to overseas Vietnamese. Visa applicants don't have to be Vietnamese nationals, just born in Vietnam, as was my wife. Since we're married, I'm also eligible for the same visa. A 3-month visa required reentry will certainly motivate us to visit neighboring countries since we're in the area.

I wanted to fly Asiana, and I was told by the travel agent that we might have an issue with the fact that we don't have a return flight. Apparently foreigners are not allowed to stay in Vietnam with any level of permanence unless there's some sort of a work opportunity and work visa already secured. The travel agent instructed us to call them for a ready-made solution in the event that we run into any issue at the check-in counter. Essentially, the agent will inform the counter representative that we do have a return flight home, and that we should be allowed to proceed to boarding.

In summary, we pulled the trigger, and this is finally going to happen. We're really excited to embark on this adventure, and equally as thrilled that we can share it with you. Please keep in touch, be it through this blog or through our own Facebook pages and emails. We definitely want to hear how things are going for you at home. It'll give us a great amount of comfort and ease to know that you're doing well as we gradually adjust to a new life abroad.

Options for Putting House up for Rent

One side task that comes with preparing for an extended trip abroad is deciding on what to do with one's property. In our case, we're aiming to put our townhouse up for rent.

Putting our house up for rent will cut our monthly expenses, thereby extending our savings and allowing us to live in Vietnam that much longer were I unable to find employment.

However, renting out a place isn't as easy as it sounds. There's a number of risks that we have to mitigate or outright avoid. While it'd be nice to decrease this significant mortgage expense, we definitely don't want to come home to a trashed house or worse.

Risks aside, we've come to three options:

1. Rent on Air B&B and Craigslist
2. Rent through a property management company
3. Rent to a close friend

Option 1 requires remote management on our part, as well as having a friend or family member help us with issues that come up. I'm not sure that I want to deal with property management while we're away trying to enjoy our time abroad.

Option 2 requires up-front preparation with the company and eats into any rental income. However, they'd take care of any issues that arose. The only problem is that we don't know when we'd be coming back. If we came back in three months, then that'd create even more hassle to essentially kick out the renter.

Option 3 is ideal. The only two downsides that I can think of are forgoing any potential income because we'd offer the place at a discount and the relationship risks that come with renting a place to a friend. That said, if we have the right friends rent the place, then we'd happily forgo income to rent to someone who will keep our place safe and secure.

We're aiming to have this figured out within the month.

OBV Board Member Response: "Plse plan on teaching KM"

As the title suggests, we got another positive update from OBV today: A board member gave the go-ahead for us to teach Krav Maga. This is exciting news, but it's also very sobering. Both the OBV board and our head KM instructor understand something about this situation that Thuy and I will soon come to learn first hand. We're going to be interacting with young women who have been tremendously traumatized, many, if not all of them, during the formative years of their lives. We acknowledge that we won't know what we're walking into until we get there and build relationships, and hopefully trust, with the young women.

I'll have to figure out a suitable training regimen that meets their needs and keeps to the KM standard of training, while at the same time tailor it to be sensitive to their experiences and target the development of their self confidence.

Between now and the trip, I figured I'll be better served by talking to people around town who have experience working in similar capacities. A former classmate's wife had brief experience teaching a self defense class in the rough part of Philadelphia, and she expressed a willingness to share her insights. That'll definitely come in handy. On the teaching front, our head instructor was kind enough to offer to help me improve my teaching ability through more exposure to co-teaching and by shadowing him during his classes.

This is going to be a good experience for everyone involved.

Green Light to Buy Plane Tickets!

We just got the ok from the One Body Village board to purchase our plane tickets and visas, and confirmation that OBV will reimburse us. This opportunity got a whole lot more real.

OBV is consulting with nuns who stay on the compound about my offer to teach Krav. While interested, they expressed concern about me being a male (their abusers were mostly if not exclusively all male), the body contact required, and what one board member described as "the cultural meekness of Vietnamese girls." Not sure what the last one means. Nevertheless, my wife and I are going to politely push the issue, as we firmly believe that this would be helpful for them.

Now, to buy those tickets and start working on renting out the house.

Requesting to Teach Krav Maga

I recently asked the leadership of One Body Village if I could teach Krav Maga to the young women being rehabilitated on the compound. I'm still waiting for their reply.

I hope that they approve. Krav Maga would be useful skill for them to practice and have. I know I'd get a lot of personal development out of the opportunity, as well.

No other updates on the trip as of late. I don't think we'll see much action until mid-July, when we're to finalize the contract with the leadership. Assuming all goes according to plan, we should have a better idea on our departure date by the end of this month.