We could choose to spend a month literally ANYWHERE in the world (thanks to Airbnb).
You might be surprised to read that we selected Chicago to kick off our ten month adventure for our first month long stay. Having time with two of our sons and the Chicago branch of our family was a strong lure. As empty nesters we always look for opportunities to touch base with the fam. On our last trip in May we stopped in California and Portland to see our two other sons.
In addition, we need our shots for entry into Africa next year and we cannot get those in Mexico. This time period coincides as well with the culmination of almost two years of my (Ben’s) work in the climate adaptation and climate mitigation space via a huge bamboo reforestation in S.E Asia. I know that being in a new country at this point in time would be potentially too distracting. Chicago is a city we know well, which means ease of logistics and a good base during the time when I have a pretty significant work load.
We select an Airbnb primarily for the location. With one son in Wicker Park and one in Pilsen, we settled on a vintage apartment in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, just South of Wicker Park. During the selection process we are struck by just how many Airbnb’s in the city of Chicago are in high rises. We both prefer a smaller building at or just above street level.
The neighborhood we select is great for walking, with interesting architecture, Russian orthodox Churches and tree lined streets. Restaurants and cafes a short walk away. Chicago is all about the neighborhoods and this one is definitely a win for us.
The weather is incredible all month long! We expected some chilly days, but that never happened until the day we left! We had a month of glorious weather.
The month flew by.. I (Peta) felt like I get a good dose of extended time with my sons without the stress of knowing we are only here for a short time. A month allowed us to pace our get togethers nicely and be chill, without any real plans or set scheduled commitments. We shared many meals, at home and in restaurants, had one actual activity of kayaking the Chicago river together and then just got together with the kids whenever they could.
We put together TWO vlogs for our new youtube channel, and invite you to subscribe!
As always we welcome feedback, as we are learning as we go. Your comments are our tips for the hard work and time it takes to put these together, especially as we are neophytes at this!
Airbnb
Our Airbnb vintage apartment with original woodwork and stained glass windows. The kitchen is tiny but well stocked, the bed super comfy (important feature) and we even have a bathtub. (Being South African I grew up with bathtubs, not showers, so hot baths are always a treat for me.) We are within four blocks walking distance to Oren, and about a 15 minute drive to Adam.
Our Neighborhood: The Ukrainian Village
One of the primary features of Chicago is the diversity of its neighborhoods. Often branded around the initial wave of immigrants who populated Chicago, there remain big ethno-linguistic community groupings around these neighborhoods, think “Greek Town” or “Chinatown”… One such cluster formed around a neighborhood just south of Wicker Park, called Ukrainian Village. Ukrainian Village is a low-key neighborhood where residential brick row houses and townhomes co-exist with 4 turn-of-the-20th-century cathedrals.
Sunday morning church bells ring from all directions in our airbnb. Authentic Ukrainian eateries not surprisingly are found in this neighborhood as well.
Urban adventure – Kayaking the Chicago River
Empty Nest status: on hold for a month
One of the hardest things for me about our lifestyle is I miss my kids and having time with them. I am so proud of them all, they are mensches of the highest order!
And carrot cake after Ethiopian food for Adam’s birthday…
Chicago Family
Friends
Esco update
Our friend Philly who is taking care of Esco during our travels, sends us updates and photos of how he is doing. Seeing him and our beach, makes us feel a bit wistful, but we will be there soon enough. It’s great to know he is happy and doing well in our absence.
Youtube Channel – 2 more videos: Chicago!
And while Ben was working long hours with meetings at all kinds of ridiculous hours (coordinating with many different countries and time zones) we somehow still managed to scrape together two videos from our time in Chicago. We are really jazzed about finally starting a youtube channel, after being encouraged to do this by so many for so long, the Live Anywhere on Airbnb program, we are on, provided the needed impetus to get this up and running. And now that we have… we realize that a lot of the video material from our past travels never got seen by anyone but us, so we might include (as we have here) some flashbacks to our travels in Asia.
Farewell Chicago and thanks for a stupendous month!! Glad we left before the cold sets in. We are off (and currently in Tunisia, and if you are subscribed to our vlog, then you can already be watching our first video on our time in this new to us, country.
Thanks for reading, thanks for watching! Thanks for commenting.
Episode 4: Chicago!
Episode 5: Chicago part 2
We’ve subscribed to your Youtube channel and we’re enjoying your adventures! As you know I’ve been following your blog for years, but seeing/hearing you on Youtube has added a new level of getting to know you. Well-done!
Thanks Patti, good to know you are enjoying the additional dimension that video brings, as we are also enjoying the opportunity for a different format to our story telling. It is a lot of self imposed work though and we will see if we can manage to keep both the blog and the vlog going. Thanks for subsribing to our youtube.
Peta
Hi Peta and Ben,
Sorry for my long absence, due not at all to indifference but to my desktop computer crashing in July. I love my antique desktop with its ergonomically correct keyboard but have been stuck with my iPad which I only bought so I could read on it, FaceTime with our younger sonās family, and more easily see their private photo album. (Computer being repaired, hoping to have it back soon, whatever soon means to my repairman also known as my son who has his own too-full plate.) My iPad hates me, is certain I mean to write āsuppressedā when I mean to write āsurprisedā and itās impossible to write on a keyboard meant for a tiny doll. Plus, writing this message might prove a lesson in futility because this monster might demand a password I canāt find before it will post. So if you get this reply, youāll know how a tech moron finds occasional success and you may celebrate with me, or you may groan as everyone else does. At least I hope you giggle.
Youāve shown a more gorgeous part of Chicago than I ever knew existed. Your AirBnB is so lovely with its beautiful details and graceful furnishings. The best of course is having a wonderful place to work and a month to catch up with family and friends. Ben, your work is essential and promises a hopeful future. For those of us who care about the future of this planet more than the state of our personal wallets, you offer a possibility that our children and grandchildren might yet live in a self sustaining world. Thank you for your vision and your energy. Thank you both for your indomitable spirit.
Soon as the desktop computer is back, Iāll sign up for your YouTube channel. Yours will be my first .
Wishing you and your extended family (what a wonderful surprise to see Petaās mom, sister, and niece!) a happy, healthy, successful end of 2021, and may 2022 prove a positive turning point for the world. At least I know youāre heading in the right direction.
Now to see if this note, which took me 30 minutes to peck out, will post.
Shari you have us nodding our heads in agreement. and yes chuckling. We share the pain and have our own IT nightmares with passwords and vanishing content and technical challenges. Perhaps our computers are related. The good news is, your comments DID post. Bravo!
Our Airbnb in Chicago was great and perfect for our needs. We did blow our Airbnb budget a tad, as that was an relatively expensive stay. We will however even things out with our next stay in Tunisia and it was certainly worth it!
Re Ben’s work, he loves what he does and we have both been gung ho about climate mitigation since we saw the Al Gore movie decades ago. Ben’s work now is the natural evolution of our entrepreneurial efforts in Nicaragua with our bamboo housing business. Thank you for your compliments.
Good luck with your computer and getting it back and look forward to reading your comments on the youtube channel.
Peta
Fabulous recap of Chicago! I think it was the perfect choice to kick off your Airbnb adventure. So many ingredients that made up your visit and it allowed Ben to work. I am greatly impressed that you managed to put out two videos while you were there as well. Such an incredible job that videography and running a YouTube channel is.
It was lovely to meet you both and we full-heartedly hope we can do this again, for longer, to really connect and get to know you better. Thanks for the shoutout and links about my blog and book as well.
Enjoy the rest of your time in Tunisia. Iām looking forward to the videos. š
Thanks Liesbet, I was very thrilled with choosing Chicago. We actually had plans to be there around that time, before we knew we were selected for the Airbnb program. Of course it would have been tough for us to find accommodation especially as our Home Exchange credits are now down to one week left! So it all works out….
Honestly I am impressed too that we got those videos out! Hopefully as time goes on we will get more fluent at making these but right now, they are very time consuming, that’s for sure! Ben says he feels like he has TWO jobs now! Grrrr. Our first video on Tunisia is up and running…
So enjoyed meeting you both as well and getting to finally snuggle a bit with Maya. The only thing about being in Chicago is that there is always so much to do and with prioritizing family time gets really short really quickly. So, yup, here’s to our next get together!!
Thanks Liesbet.
Peta
Hi, Peta and Ben – I agree that Chicago was an excellent place to start this adventure. Your vintage Airbnb is gorgeous. And what better than starting with family? Glad that you added an Esco update.
I’m subscribing to your Youtube Chanel now.
Thanks for subscribing to our Youtube channel Donna!
Very happy with our choice of kicking off the Airbnb adventure. Chicago was of course competing with places we haven’t been before, such as the Greek islands, but hey one has to make choices. Can’t do it all!
Esco is doing very well and enjoying his life at the beach.
Peta
I have only been to Chicago once and it was when I was just starting out in my career (I’m retired now, so that was a long, long time ago š ). Your post and videos make me want to visit again… maybe for a longer stay so I can really get to know the city. I was wondering how Esco was doing so thanks for the update! I’m so happy that you had quality family time while you were there. And, how nice that you met Liesbet and Mark in person. I’m hoping they’ll get back to San Diego one of these days.
Janis, Chicago is a wonderful city to visit. We didn’t even spend much time in the actual downtown city part! With the art institute, the bean, the lake etc. Over the last few trips we have prioritized discovering new neighborhoods. Last time we stayed in the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen, with its gorgeous murals.
Just don’t go to Chicago in the winter. Although I must say, we both used to really enjoy the snow, but not the grey skies and bitter cold for months at a time.
Esco is doing very well. We get regular updates with photos and so on.. Look forward to seeing him during our visit in January.
Peta
You made a good choice with this city and this Airbnb. I love the vintage look to where you stayed and the neighborhood is unique as well. I haven’t been to Chicago in years, we used to go almost yearly. Once we start traveling again, maybe in 2022, we’ll keep this in mind.
Ally, thanks for your comments. The apartment was a really good example of the vintage style that flourished here.Most surprising from this neighborhood were the Russian ORthodox churches of which there were five! We went inside one, oops forgot to put the photos in our post! but it was a really beautiful interior.
Peta
I’m so glad you got to spend a month in Chicago with two of your sons! And both your rental house and its neighborhood look fabulous. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Ann, it was a really good solid month! We had a wonderful time and the neighborhood really delivered for us!
Peta
How wonderful to get back home to see your sons, mom and sister as well as many friends. The neighbourhood you stayed in and the apartment is so you. I love Ukrainian food as my family was from there, a long time ago. And was glad to see Esco is happy and doing well. He will be so happy to see you when you get back. I too recently went back to Alberta to see my kids, grandkids, brother and friends. It was good for my soul. I was only there for two weeks but managed to see many and do a lot, without getting stressed. I enjoyed the videos too. Well done!
Darlene, how interesting that your family hails from the Ukraine. It was fun walking around the neighborhood and hearing Russian being spoken by quite a few families, including kids, so there are still first generations living in the neighborhood. We didn’t manage to go to a Ukranian restaurant though, as we must first fill our quota of Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese cuisine!
“It was good for my soul”. Yes! Great way of putting it. Ditto.
Thanks for watching the videos and subscribing to our youtube channel. Stay tuned for upcoming videos from Tunisia.
Peta
Although my family lived in what is now the Ukraine (then called South Russia), they were German. Part of Catherine The Great’s manifesto to bring Germans over to her adopted country to farm the land. In 1911, at the onset of WWII and the Russian revolution, they immigrated to the Canadian prairies to once again work the land. I have no doubt we will be part of the group that goes to Mars to farm the land there one day!
This makes me so nostalgic for Chicago, especially in the fall. You picked a great neighborhood. Loved hearing about all the family stuff, too, including Esco! š As always, we missed you in Chicago by mere weeks, but we WILL connect somewhere … maybe Oaxaca at the end of the year/early 2022? Who knows? Enjoy Tunisia – it looks great so far!
Lex, interesting because we thought we would be there for Fall, which especially these days would be a real treat for us. However, the weather was more of an Indian summer, and Fall arrived after we left! Love the neighborhood, it was perfect for us.
We do seem to keep JUST missing each other. I’m sure our paths will cross somehow somewhere….
Loving our time in Tunisia so far. Stay tuned…
Peta
It’s always a good idea to start off such an extended travel in a place that we’re quite familiar with. It looks like every single day of your stay in Chicago was well spent — seeing your two sons and mother, connecting with a fellow blogger, meeting friends, and doing an outdoor activity, to name some. I’ve subscribed to your YouTube channel, and I love your photos from Tunisia that you posted on your Instagram. I think I would max out my memory cards when I visit the country one day!
Bama, Tunisia is a photographers dream. I did max out my memory card haha and had to start deleting older videos to make more space.
Chicago was wonderful, but right now feels a world away. It is so interesting when one travels how the center of the earth seems to follow and no matter where one is, that is where the center is while one is there.
Thank you for subscribing to our You Tube channel and thank you for the compliments on my photographs.
Peta
I so enjoyed your post on Chicago. Congrats on landing a great place to live in a fabulous city. We loved the architecture most of all when we visited the city for the annual Chicago Marathon. Here’s my post on it: https://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2021/10/23/running-his-200th-jim-miller-at-chicago-marathon-2021/
Best wishes for good health and great sight-seeing in one of the nation’s best!
Thanks Rusha we had a great time. Actually my son’s girlfriend ran in the last Chicago Marathon, just a few days before our month was up. Chicago is a great city with a lot to offer, as long as you avoid the bitter winters there! I’ll take a look at your post, thanks for the link.
Peta
For some reason, your notifications aren’t reaching me. I’ll keep an eye on it. I love Chicago.
Hmm not sure why that is.. hopefully it will rectify. Thanks for reading us and persisting.
Peta