Taking some time off can give you perspective on life that's easily lost when you're caught up in the day-to-day. Freed from your usual concerns and constraints, you can get back in touch with what it means to be you. Or you can become someone completely different.
Municipalities and individuals have complained about the host of issues Airbnb listings can bring, from turning apartment buildings into de facto hotels and out-of-control orgies to discrimination.
One thing to consistently love about Airbnb, though, is how you can stay in fantastical structures for a night. Check out a few of our favorites below. If you find any of your own, let us know in the comments, but be warned that our out-of-office message might be on; that treehouse looks pretty tempting.
Spice Bus Your Life
Spice Girls fans have a lot to look forward to. There's a reunion tour making its way across the UK and a spot on the official Spice World bus if they can book it. Fittingly, it's in Wembley Park.
Bonita Casita
Stay at this pretty little casita in San Miguel, New Mexico, and you'll enjoy just spending time on the colorful patio but will also be in driving distance of amazing hiking trails, ghost towns, and a Mexican restaurant that is its own destination spot.
Cave With a View
Live the troglodyte life but with a chandelier. This cave in Nazelles-Négron, France, has walls that have stood the test of time and also Wi-Fi. You'll be in the center of the fairytale-like Loire Valley.
Book at Me
Running a bookstore seems charming unless you have to deal with all the real-world concerns. But if you're just doing it for a week or so, it's a vacation. The Open Book is the perfect way to cosplay small-town shopkeeper in Scotland. (You might also leave there engaged like Geek.com's Stephanie Mlot.)
You See Your Gypsy
The vast countryside of La Chabanne, France, that surrounds this gypsy wagon gives you plenty of space to belt out a Cher song. This wagon retains its romantic old-world charm but also offers new-world amenities like Wi-Fi.
King Me
Live out all your Game of Thrones fantasies in this Irish castle. Well, maybe not all of them. This Galway gem is a national monument and has much of its original, rustic charm.
You Spin Me Right Round
If there's any place to stay in a windmill, it's in Amsterdam. This one is filled with beams and light and beauty. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and room for bikes.
Really Trulli
This conical accommodation is a trullo. Trulli are common to the Apulia region in Italy, which is where this one is located, not far from beaches or forest walks. If you weren't already really truly in love with it, there's a treehouse on the property.
Saddle Up
Stay above the barn on this ranch in Morongo Valley, California, and you can practically call yourself a cowboy.
Get Schooled
This adorable schoolhouse stands on an actual School St. in Newport, Rhode Island. To see the historic town in full, you just have to walk down the block and board the trolley.
The Magic Bus
Don't let Into the Wild scare you off staying on a school bus. This bus is parked in north Portland and has all the amenities you could hope for, including spa and wellness services on site.
If It Fits, It Ships
If you want to be transported somewhere else, symbolically there may be no better way to do that than by vacationing in a shipping container. Or two, to be exact. This house sits just a short way off the shore in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. The boxy blue exterior holds a modernist dream inside.
Above It All
Is there any dwelling more magical or romantic than this treehouse tucked away in Atlanta? A living room, bedroom, and deck, all connected by rope bridges, comprise the treehouse. It's just nine minutes from downtown, but you'd probably never leave.
Beyond Thunderdome
Anyone who was a regular reader of the Whole Earth Catalog or an adherent to the principles of Buckminster Fuller might want to stay in a geodesic dome for a night or two. If so, this Joshua Tree spot is the place for you. The area itself is known for drawing artists and the spiritually inclined and the house suitably matches the vibe.
Anchors A-oui
Houseboats are charming. Paris is charming. Put them together and only the French would have a word for how wonderful it would be. This houseboat sits in the Seine and is centrally located to all you'd hope to see in the city of lights. It sleeps eight, so you can travel with a full caravan of friends and family.
Home Shell Home
You cannot stay in a pineapple under the sea on Airbnb, but you can live inside a seashell. The Seashell House is a spellbinding building in Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
The Plane Truth
Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef is a small town sort of in the middle of nowhere in France, but it's worth taking a plane to just to sleep on a plane.
Lord of the Things
If you want to live like Frodo, then there's The Hobbit House in Cambria, California. It's a cozy one-bedroom guesthouse in the host's backyard that's perfect for a quiet weekend in a seaside town.
Know Your Angle
If you're tired of being boxed in by common architecture, the Cubehouse in Rotterdam is the place for you. The building was designed by Piet Blom to maximize space inside while keeping a low footprint on the ground. The inside of the unit on Airbnb is spacious and sparse, but attractively designed and sunny.
A Humble Adobe
Going off-grid in Texas is not the most uncommon thing. But doing it in an adobe dome is. This self-sufficient structure is made of earth and operates with solar energy. Its location means you can hike the desert by day and gaze at galaxies at night.
Disappear for a Bit
Who's to say if this was truly Houdini's house? Some say the magician lived here, others say it was at a house down the road. Either way it is a stunning Hollywood mansion that sits on 5 acres. It's gated and fenced so you can have privacy while you explore the property's caves, tunnels, and deep-water tank.
The Pirate Life for Me
Pirates once prowled the Mississippi River and you can follow in their wake. This pirate ship sits on the river and is on theme outside and in. It sleeps four but for an extra fee you can use it to host a party of up to 20.
More Morocco
If you're staying in beautiful Morocco, you want the full feel of the place. That means staying in The Cozy Palace. Taking a room here means that you're a walk away from the medina of Marrakech and you have the option of enjoying traditional lunch and dinner onsite.
Bringing the Outdoors Indoors
One second you're standing in a very modern apartment building in the central business district in Melbourne, the next you're in an airy forest above it. This apartment is thoroughly modern where it counts (the kitchen and bathroom), a leafy dream in the living-room area, and has a bedroom that will have you sleeping among the clouds.
Life Is But an Airstream
You could buy an Airstream, painstakingly renovate it, and then save up to find a hilltop spot above LA to park it permanently. Or you could just stay here. This Echo Park-based Airstream is pristine, has a full kitchen and bathroom, and gives you a fabulous view of Los Angeles.