Avid readers of our blog will agree we have “paid our dues” on overhyped airbnb properties over the last year. The Helsinki owner forgot to mention that he cohabits the place and might need to pop in to get his clothes or shave each day or the fact that you can’t both use the toilet and washer at the same time else you may just flood the place. The house in Virginia forgot to disclose the young couple living in the basement who popped up from the basement stairs scaring the Jesus out of us (fortunately, these “property caretakers” proved quite helpful when the heater ran out of oil we admit). Or in London, the owner forgot to mention the free alarm clock at 4 a.m. of the garbage truck collecting 3 tons of beer bottles from the bar directly underneath the apartment when you just feel asleep at 2 a.m. when the lively nightspot finally stopped serving. Or the Munich airbnb owner who forget to tell us about her unbalanced upstairs neighbor who welcomes all incoming guests with clenched fists, screams, and threats while he bursts into the apartment illegally.

Yes, none of these extra property benefits were disclosed in glowing advertisements— these are special perks you just must uncover on your own. Yes, we have paid our dues. And it is all paying off in spades now. Yes, there are airbnb places and then there are Airbnb Heavens.

To say Kyle hit an Airbnb grand slam with this house would still be an understatement. The place is super— our Airbnb Heaven. Not only is this house on the opposite end of the island away from most of the island’s population and port but it is located on a relatively deserted bay (key important features for right now). Across the bay, there are the beginnings of a house being constructed but little activity going on. There is only one other house in the cove.  

It is a new development and the closest house we couldn’t hit with a good stone’s throw. It’s several stones throw away from where the house we have rented resides. The small gated community is only about a third built (all of 15 of its eventual 60 lots are developed), with the majority of houses on the rectangular road that is nearly half-mile long.   We will soon discover that the rectangle is the perfect outdoor track.

So the house is about as isolated as you could get.  Kyle says even he didn’t realize the house was quite this isolated from people when he booked the place.  Perfecto! Especially now. The house has an upper level with stocked kitchen, family room, 2 bedrooms, and an office. The best part is a giant outdoor deck overlooking the pool, bay / cove and ocean with a full complement of outdoor furniture.  The lower level has a similar layout with 2 bedrooms, family room and kitchen.  It actually works out nice for the kids with downstairs bedrooms to have their own kitchen.  

The downstairs unfolds onto the outdoor level which has a pool, BBQ and lounge chairs.  There is plenty of indoor and outdoor space to spread out and roam about.

A walkway down to the cove leads you to a peaceful bay where we stroll down and go swimming.  On our first trip, we see a sea turtle bopping around the cove checking out us newbies as well as a big crab scurrying about the shallow waters.  The water is bathtub temperature warm.

We spend the day unpacking and settling in.  Kyle points out that this is the first time we really get to unpack in 9 months. It’s a complete change of pace going from 100 mph of the past 2 weeks, well really the past 9 months, to a shelter in pace full stop here on the island.  We have been informed that Antigua operates on island time which means people are really not overly concerned with getting somewhere or doing something on-time. Things get done when they get done. And that is A-OK with us now. Put me on island time!

The only real drawback about the house is that the Wi-Fi is pretty slow.  It works fine for e-mail and surfing the web but in order to stream a movie on the Apple TV, everyone else has to turn the WiFi off on their devices. The owner told Kyle they are in the process of getting the WiFi upgraded and it may happen during our stay but she says, “you never know because people work on island time.”  This island time is apparently a very real thing.

There are a couple non-food related items that we could benefit from purchasing but not enough to make it worth calling Curtis over and venturing out from our isolated area to the other side of the island.  There is, however, an all-inclusive resort about a 15 minute walk away that has a gift shop.  We decide it’s better to go out now rather than wait until later in the stay especially as Curtis has informed us the resort is likely to shut down soon.  

So Kyle, Leanne and the boys head out and when we arrive with our face masks on and wipes in-hand, the resort’s front desk person’s jaw drops and she just stares at us.  With only 5 cases on the island, no one seems particularly worried about the Coronavirus quite yet.  “They’re staring at us,” Leanne whispers to Kyle.  “I’d rather get stared at than get the Coronavirus, wouldn’t you?” he responds.

Kyle picks up his postcards, buys stamps, fills them out and hands them over to the front desk clerk.  Kyle has mailed postcards from every city on the trip to 5 special people: his two nieces with challenging medical conditions, his mom, Leanne’s parents and our dear friend Annie whose battling cancer.  Its been a lot of work but Kyle was dedicated to this task no matter where we were, he sent our love so these loved ones could enjoy our trip too in a sense. Kyle regrettably informs them on the postcard that the “Huebner Worldwide Postcard Service” is being shut down until further notice.  As each day passes and cases rise, so does our hope that we can salvage the last few weeks of the year we set aside to travel the world.

We get some other “essential” items such as a water football, flip-flops, Antigua shirts, and key chains, pins and patches for the souvenir collections.  Kyle changes an Eastern Caribbean $100 bill for smaller bills to give each of the kids for their currency collection. Yes, the definition of an “essential business” or “essential item” will become a hotly debated topic in the coming weeks.

The rest of the day is filled with pool time, surfing the net, reading and generally doing nothing at all.  We celebrate our arrival with a sweet home cooked dinner.   We already feel our frantic nearly-Amazing-Race- level pace of the last 9 months becoming a memory.

It’s March 18th and the Coronavirus panic seems to be picking up a head of steam. There are 218K reported cases worldwide and 6.3K cases in the US.  All 50 states now have confirmed cases. The EU has closed its borders to the outside world for 30 days. Millions of people across the world are in lockdown. The second member of the US Congress has tested positive. Trump and the New York City Mayor De Blasio are in a political pissing match as New York City has become the epicenter in the US. Trump signs the first Coronavirus relief package that includes provisions for free testing and paid emergency leave. 

Countries around the world are racing to close their borders leaving US citizens stranded across the globe.  Since he has signed up for U.S. State Department updates, Kyle’s e-mail is getting flooded with border closings including the Eastern European countries that he originally tried to replace the Middle East segment with.  Kyle is tempted to send another flaming e-mail to the Albanian tour company rep saying, “well, who was right now?” but Leanne talks him out of it saying, “there’s no need to raise your blood pressure here in paradise.”

Now that we are safely isolated in Antigua, we begin to process the implications of the Coronavirus and the associated fallout as we watch the sunset from our deck. It is bittersweet and we think of all those impacted by all of this.