Finding a home as a digital nomad through SabbaticalHomes

Published 9 July, 2022

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I have never lived in my own apartment but rented fully equipped places for a few months instead. That meant: No costs for furniture, less bureaucracy and more independence. For my next stop – London – I found a home on SabbaticalHomes.com. Find out more about how it works and why this is a great platform for digital nomads.

Being a so called “digital nomad” means to work and live in different locations. I have been living this lifestyle for over three years now. Therefore I’ve never rented an apartment for myself and had to take care of of the interior, contracts and similar things. I prefer fully equipped rooms and flatshares as they are much more flexible.

Being a nomad doesn’t mean I don’t have a home. It also doesn’t mean that I’m changing locations every month. I personally prefer to stay in one location for at least a few months and during that time find a comfortable and cozy place. No hotels, no one bed rooms without kitchen. A home without the commitment of having to stay there and still living in a nice and safe place.

So far I’ve found places through Airbnb, local Facebook groups or searched for colivings online. When going to bigger cities though it can get quite difficult and expensive to rent a place through those platforms. Also the apartments are sometimes not as nice as they are on the pictures.

About SabbaticalHomes

After doing some research and looking for places in London I came across the platform SabbaticalHomes. SabbaticalHomes was created to provide affordable housing for “academics, scholars, writers, artists, and friends”. You don’t have to be an academic to use the website. I think over the years they changed their mission which is now to offer temporary homes around the world for everyone.

You can find a home in North, South America, Europe, Australia or Africa – there are many home rentals and exchanges in currently 48 countries around the world. Costs? There’s a matching fee on the platform which is 50 dollars per person.

London: Change of guards Buckingham Palace

How I found a home

As I knew I wanted to spend summer 2022 in London I specifially searched for this city on SabbaticalHomes. I scrolled through the list, had a look at some places and then reached out to the owners by sending a simple message. We then got in touch and arranged a video call to get to know each other and see the place. The whole process went very smooth. After only one application I found a home in London. A city where it’s usually very hard to find a decent place for a good price. And also you usually have to send hundreds of messages to receive any feedback.

Three months later I then moved into the place and found myself in a clean, very well equipped, spacious and bright apartment. Feels like a home! The owners? They are spending a few months of the year outside the UK and therefore putting their home on SabbaticalHomes every year to find temporary tenants. Payment is directly to their bank accounts and we stay in touch via messenger.

Benefits of SabbaticalHomes

Compared to other booking platforms or local pages there are a few advantages that come with SabbaticalHomes:

Quality: With SabbaticalHomes most of the places are in fact what you would consider a home. Well-equipped with everything you need. Our place had all basic food items as well as cleaning supplies. It doesn’t feel like you start from scratch – with some Airbnbs it did feel like that.

Easy process: Once you have a profile getting in touch with the hosts is quite easy. It does take a bit longer as there is no booking platform where you can choose dates however I think you have a higher quality of living.

One platform, 48 countries: You can go to any country but use the same platform. 48 countries with many different places – from local villages to the big cities.

Affordable: I do have to say most of the homes I had a look at were quite affordable! For this quality I expected a much higher price. In some cases you even pay less than an Airbnb but get much more for your money. With affordable I don’t mean cheap as it’s not cheap to live in a city – but compared to other offers on the market it’s a great deal. Also it’s only worth it if you don’t pay any other rent at the same time.

You are looking for a different experience? How about coliving?

This platform is right for you if…

In my opinion SabbaticalHomes is the perfect platform for digital nomads and people on sabbaticals. Basically for those who want to temporarily live in a place but still have everything they need. From a minimum stay of one week to stays for a few months there are plenty of options for everyone. If you love flexibility, appreciate quality and want to explore new countries definitely have a look at SabbaticalHomes.

*This post is 100 % based on my personal opinion and there is no partnership between me and SabbaticalHomes.