Airbnb launches programme for people to spend a year travelling for free

Successful applicants can take three friends along for the ride

(Getty Images)

Airbnb has opened applications for a new programme which offers participants the chance to travel for free for almost an entire year.

The scheme will allow successful applicants to live in various locations around the world as digital nomads.

Called “Live Anywhere”, the project will select just 12 people to take part – but each one will be able to take up to three companions along for the ride.

The scheme will run from September 2021 until August 2022, with Airbnb providing listing suggestions, credit for accommodation, a travel allowance and local experiences.

In return, participants will be expected to report back to the home sharing platform about their experience.

Airbnb is looking for ways to improve its offering for digital nomads, who want longer stays to facilitate remote working.

It asks that applicants be “comfortable documenting your experience weekly and sharing that experience with Airbnb so as to potentially inform how the company can better improve its product for flexible, long-term living”.

Applications are open on the company’s website until 11.59pm EST on 30 June.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old and a resident of one of the following: Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), Chile, mainland China, Denmark, Dubai, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK or the US.

They must also have a conversational level of English, plus a passport that is valid until at least 1 February 2023.

Application questions include: “Why do you want to live anywhere on Airbnb for a year, and what excites you most about the opportunity to live nomadically and potentially inform the future of the Airbnb product?”

Applicants also have the option of sharing new ways of living and working they have already tried, “for example: taken your children out of physical school to ‘roadschool’ them while traveling, have worked remotely while traveling, do freelance creative work and seek a change of scenery for a longer period of time to create, interested in more flexible living arrangements than what has traditionally been available in the past”.