Last month I decided to take a spontaneous trip to London for the Christmas Markets. This was a bucket list item in one of my favorite cities so I knew I wanted to commemorate the moment somehow. Since I was going to be trekking solo and didn’t want to be the weirdo carrying the selfie-stick. I decided to look into hiring a photographer for a short session. Enter Airbnb Experiences.

Airbnb Experiences are activities that connect you to local hosts in cities around the world. They offer something for everyone is most cities. Homemade pasta classes in Italy, motorbike trips through Vietnam, desert safari in the UAE, Northern Lights hiking in Norway, etc. No matter where life takes you, Airbnb has an experience for you.

When researching London, I looked through a lot of different photography options that they offered. I read bios, looked at reviews, checked out Instagram pages, and compared varying aesthetics. I ended up booking my experience with a photographer named Chienyin. She’s a local Londoner who spends her free time doing content creation or chowing down on awesome food around the world. I felt like her profile was the most personable and when viewing her Instagram, her aesthetic and editing style was exactly what I wanted.

A few weeks before my trip, Chienyin reached out to me. She wanted to know a little more about me, what my trip was for, and anything, in particular, I wanted for photos. I thought this was a very important aspect of my experience. She easily could have taken me to the same 3 or 4 spots she takes all her customers. Instead, she took the time to ask me what I wanted out of the day and made choices to help benefit that experience.

The day of the shoot arrives and we meet by the iconic London Eye. We wandered about the bridge, chat about how I have limited experience with photographers so I might be awkward. She does everything she can to make me feel more comfortable, less posed or statue-like and got me laughing so things felt more natural.  We ended running into some inclement weather and one of our locations wouldn’t have worked as well when wet. Chienyin was a rockstar and extended our time together so we could get some more Christmas themed shots at a different location!

Overall, I had an amazing Airbnb Experience with Chienyin. The photos turned out beautifully and I was thankful to have had a tailored experience to my needs. She was a joy to work with and would recommend her to anyone traveling to London. If they’re anything like this one, I can’t wait to try more Airbnb experiences in the future!