Staying Home

I turned 31 and something snapped. All of a sudden I started wanting to be home, all the time. Plans

or no plans, home became the preferred hang-out destination. Coffee, drinks, takeouts, cook outs, chilling, warming up, it was all best done at home. My closest friends also went through this similar transition somewhere between the ages of 29 and 32 and as of today we all clearly always want to be home. So much so that an ideal Friday is curling up with Netflix and a glass of Pinot Noir and an ideal Sunday afternoon comprises of multiple vodka tonics with jazz.

So what changed? Ofcourse the roads got busier, bars louder, restos became more expensive, queues and waiting lines longer, but more importantly our patience grew lesser and lesser. To the point that today going out seems to be a veritable ordeal replete with challenges of agreeing upon the right classy enough but not that steep place which will have happy hours but also the best cocktails in town and will elegantly serve not more than one cuisine but have something for everyone to order, will have the right amount of buzz but no screaming rich dudes of Delhi and absolutely no screaming kids (what kind of people bring kids to these places anyway?). Tall order. Finding the right place to hang out at on a Friday in Delhi requires advance planning of colossal proportions and for an organising maniac like me, extensive productive time spent on resto rankings and Zomato reviews. Usually with no success.

Enter staying in. Home, the environment where everything can be orchestrated to suit our tastes. We love staying home because it marries its comforting sense of familiarity with the surprise of creating new experiences, just how we want them. There's absolute control and limitless choice and the night can go on forever. There's complete abandon and perfect intimacy we can relax in being 200% ourselves, thankfully in flats. A residing state of perfection that today has found its reconstruction in vacationing trends around the world - homestays are the way we prefer travelling, no matter how far we go.

The easy charms of staying home.
Mexico City

We love homestaying for pretty much the same reasons. They are zero pretention and endless chill. No bell boys, no wake up alarms, no check out times. The voyeuristic, aspirational pleasure of staying in someone else's gorgeously perfect looking abode offered along with all the warmth, charms and conveniences of a home well run. Exactly how we would imagine our vacation homes to be. Homestays offer us the indulgence to live someone else's life, read their books, make coffee in their pots, swim in their pool and order their kitchen to suit our needs. An exhilarating feeling of being in control without really needing to be in charge. Something we can almost never do at our own homes.

A home away from home.

I don't remember the last time I booked a hotel while travelling by myself or with friends. It's almost always a homestay and there is so much joy in discovering the most unique ones. I normally choose a homestay to suit the mood of my vacation since there is no straightjacketing of experiences in homestays unlike at hotels. You can choose a bustling big pad in the centre of city and hitting the party scenes or a moody, introspective one outside city limits where you could write your book. You can choose to stay with an artist or a DJ or better still, a language teacher. Depending on the kind of vacation you want and the type of home and host you stay with, your holiday will be brimming with insider tips of just the things you want to do. I remember my host at a homestay in Sevilla last year casually introduced me to this quaint neighborhood bistro and even though I tried all the editors pick of restos all over Sevilla in my trip, I kept wanting to go back to the one he recommended. If you are sharing a home with stranger travellers, you are also most likely to meet other, like minded people who chose a similar experience and by that logic are similar in taste and will become and stay friends for the rest of your life. Finally, let's not underestimate the contentment of not having to pay unnecessarily for unnecessary frills, something that hotels pride in making their extra bucks on. Since I like to spend on my stays, homestays give me the opportunity of both spending and staying well minus the superficialities of overrated services. If you are the kind of person who almost never makes it to a hotel's breakfast and prefers communal dinners at home with the market's local ingredients, homestays are just the thing for you.

Chicken and chickpea tagine served with the local bread
Dar Finn, Fez

I have had the opportunity to discover some excellent homestays both in India and abroad and would love to share some of my absolute favourites with you in this post.  Do try to book them (a lot in advance) if you are travelling to any of these cities. Apart from the enviable list of advantages I've summed up above, they all come with my most important qualifier - having the best views.

1. Ourland Island Homestay, Alleppey, Kerala (India) - Tucked away takes a new meaning at Ourland Island. The journey to this hideaway resort involves a 2 hour car ride from Cochin airport, a 40 min sojourn through bright green paddy fields and finally a 30 min lake voyage in a rickety boat until you discover an island that gives solitude a new dimension.

The boat ride to Ourland Island

The cottages with independant sit outs and giant hammocks

The resort has 5 independant cottages and a tree house (where I close to stay) amidst a copse of bamboo trees which rests almost completely atop Kerala backwaters with an expansive view of just the sea and the houseboats and the sound of gushing water.

My permanent view from the tree house

There is nowhere else to go from here and once you are submerged in one of their giant hammocks perched halfway on water, there is also no place you'd rather be. Food comprises of local, pure, traditionally prepared Kerala delicacies with a hearty dose of coconut and frequent catches of the day.
There is a sense of unmatched tranquility at this resort and a vacation here is very likely to a lesson in self discovery.

Waking up to this.

Dar Finn, Fez (Morocco) - How often does one get to stay in an 800 year old riad nestled within Fez's intricate medina which has been under restoration for over 3 years? Morocco is a homestay lover's paradise. Amidst the labyrinth of its scurrying streets you are likely to chance upon age old riads which turn out to be secluded gems and house a different world inside. Built around a central pool or courtyard and open to sky, these architectural marvels offer the most authentic taste of moroccan living.  

The entrance door to my room that I wanted to bring back as hand baggage.

Dar Finn is one of those 'I'm feeling lucky' finds in magic city of Fez. Replete with lavishly decorated doors, intricately carved walls, zeliged tiles and fountains, Dar Finn is as luxurious as it is intimate. 

Moroccan beauty - zeliged walls and stained glass windows

Run by an old British couple who moved to Fez and made it their home, Dar Finn gives you a sense of cosy familiarity while bringing you bang in the centre to the mammoth maze that is Fez's old Medina, a UNESCO world heritage site.

A relaxing fountain is the perfect place for a round of evening mint tea, before being served traditional Moroccan dishes made with fresh food from the local souks.

The evening pool, next to the Honesty Bar

And while you are still marveling the beauitful four walls within which you stay, a rooftop lounge gives you unabashed access to one of the most beautiful sunsets of your life.

The view from top. 

3. Jilling Terraces, Nathuakhan (India) - When we arrived at our room in Jilling Terraces after what was a 1.5 hour hike up the mountains , the view was kind of like this and we were absolutely convinced we were home.

Modern, elegant rooms at Jilling Terraces

A 45 acre estate amidst 100 acres of lush forests, Jilling is that mythical mountain hideaway which springs out of clouds and becomes your modern home in a matter of minutes. Extremely tastefully done interiors with objets d'arts thrown around and attention to the minutest details in comfort and service, Jilling is once place you wished you didn't return from.

The vast forest estate, set in the clouds.

Unbound wilderness at your complete disposal, Jilling has these naturally instagrammable expanses where you can spend hours together reading, drinking, mulling and being one with nature.

A perfect mid-day, afternoon and evening.

Jilling Terraces is run to perfection by the generous caretaker of the property, Vimla ji, who will ensure your every whim and fancy is answered - tea, smokes, drinks and boys alike. Jilling allows every guest complete elbowroom to make it their own abode. We cooked with the cooks at its open kitchen and ate under the starlight sky huddled around fire.

Making woodfired pizzas in the open kitche

4. Casa Guadango, Positano (Italy) - As visually stunning a town Positano is, finding a homestay that does justice to its breathtakingly gorgeous views was a task, where to my utmost delight, I succeeded.

Perfect start (and end) to the day.

Casa Guadango is rife with all the allures of a typical southern Italian pensione. Ceramic tiles, all white rooms, brimming bougenvillas and a surreal view of Costiera Amalfitana.

10 minutes walk from Positano beach, this quaint little family run bed & breakfast is located in Fornillo, one of the quieter areas of Positano, and is a beautiful hike up cobbled streets from the main square.

Discovering Casa Guadango in Positano

A typical Italian breakfast (read giant jars of Nutella) is served on the property deck with scenic views of sun washed Positano city.

Breakfast is served with a hearty view

The rooms are abundantly resorty, pristine whites and pretty ceramic floors with cute touches like handpainted sceneries on the beds some great locally sourced coffee at your service with your own moka pot.

Whimsical rooms with private sit outs

While you spend the day absorbing the unbounded refined elegance of Positano or doing a day trip to Capri or Amalfi, its worth every buck to be back to your private sit out to enjoy a glass of Campanian red and to witness the dazzling colors of this city while the sun goes down on it.

Sunset splendor at Casa Guadango

No matter how far or close you decide to go in your next vacation, lean in favour of home-staying. It is an experience that will underscore your entire sojourn and when you find yourself wanting to stay in and discovering yourself more staying out and discovering the world, you'll know why there is no better place than home.