Free-ish Airbnb and the Valhala Macadamia Nut Farm

• 

• 

Trying to get a post up is the most painfully slow process ever. 10 plus minutes to upload just one photo is making me a little crazy. Oh well, I’m grateful that we at least have wifi that lets me stay in touch with my friends and family and eventuallyyyy post pictures to my blog.

Anyway, our stay here in San Juan del Obispo, which is about 15 minutes shuttle ride outside of Antigua, has been great. We found an amazing deal on an Airbnb WITH A POOL! The gated community thing is also a huge plus, not to mention it’s nice and quiet over in this neck of the woods. We stayed several days in Antigua last year and it’s always a party over there! 

So, of course I travel hacked my Airbnb. Would you expect anything less? Total price out of pocket: 

Free 99 plus some blood sweat and tears. 

It’s actually pretty easy to save money on Airbnbs. Gift cards via PayPal Digital Gifts, sold on Ebay, are frequently on sale for around 10% off. I mention this company specifically because buying gift cards on Ebay can be pretty sketch but PPDG is legit. Other sites have frequent sales on them, as well. Back in the day there was this amazing way to game ebay and get Airbnb gift cards at insane discounts, but alas, all good things must come to an end. You can read more about the basic bones of the deal here:

 https://milesperday.com/2016/04/dead-deal-the-target-ebay-merry-go-round/

This time around was much more simple. I just used the points I accrued from my Barclay Arrival Plus card towards the cost of the Airbnb. Right now it’s like a 70k point signup bonus, which is great. Dang, I need referral links! 😉

Now back to Guatemala. We ventured out to the Valhalla Macadamia nut farm today. It was about 25 minutes from our Airbnb. There isn’t a ton to do there, but just the quick tour and eating the “famous” pancakes at the restaurant made the trip worth it. 

Afterwards, we headed to Antigua and did some purse scouting, grabbed a few more groceries and headed back to the house. We lucked out and it still wasn’t raining by the time we arrived so we played in the pool for a few hours and then called it a day. 

Fun fact: Our tv keeps blacking out and when it comes back the language changes. It’s pretty hilarious. It’s also hilarious to hear my kids yell when the show was going strong in English and then switches to Spanish.

Now go earn them points and miles so you too can experience a weird tv that switches between languages, and of course all of the other awesome things that come along when you explore the world!