Imagine my surprise on returning from Thailand to find a  phone message from the Assistant Producer of ITV News. She wanted to talk to me about my Airbnb experiences.  They’d found one of my Preloved Life posts on Google.

You can read that original post here which describes my first nightmare Airbnb guest's and their Sex and Haribo adventures.

I must say that experience almost put me off Airbnb entirely and my plan before flying to South East Asia was to take down my Preloved Life website. I felt it had served its purpose and that it was time to move on.

But I ran out of time, preparing a long haul trip is always frantic. Because ITV News was interested in my story I decided maybe others might too, so I’ve decided to keep my site active. That ITV News phone call has changed the direction of my life.

After a telephone interview with India, the Assistant Producer, a date was fixed for the film crew to visit my home. It was Wednesday last week when Emma, the Producer and India her cameraman and assistant arrived at my place. The equipment they brought with them was staggering, the biggest camera I’ve ever seen, tripod stands with tree trunk size legs and LED lights so bright you could light up a football stadium.

The film crew was with me for 6 hours. I couldn’t imagine why it would take that long but it did. First, my living room was transformed into a studio so that a full 30-minute interview under those bright lights could be filmed. Next up the producers organised cutaway footage of me making beds. I’ve never had to make and remake a bed 10 times. The cameraman moved around the attic filming every imaginable angle including closeup hand shots of me smoothing the sheets!

The hours of film will be edited and condensed down to a 4 minute ITV News news story to be aired on Thursday 30th January 2020, highlighting the growing Airbnb economy, including both the positives and negatives of Airbnb hosting.

I was surprised the crew wanted to come with me to Ipswich Community Radio Station. I have a weekly show broadcasting live from 1.00 pm every Wednesday. It’s like the BBC Desert Island Discs show, one guest and 4 songs. My guest was Neil Greenwood from Morning Gloryville, he was delighted to get extra publicity for his sober raves company. 

It was all action at the studio, they filmed the sound checks, the mixing desk and my interview with Neil. You can listen to the replay here on Mixcloud.

I’ve been an Airbnb host for 2 years now but I also provide Airbnb Experiences. For 2 hours you can come shopping with me around my favourite local charity shops. The film crew was keen to join me on a trip to one of my favourite charity shops, St Elizabeth’s Hospice Charity Shop, Holywells Road. It was a flying visit, I had to walk in, browse the racks of clothes and look at myself in the mirror, not once but many times. Filming is a painstaking process! I’m so delighted St Elizabeths Hospice will receive national coverage for the great work they do. 

A race back to mine to film Neil who was staying as my Airbnb guest. The light was fading so the filming took place in my garden, Neil and I sat at my garden bench, drinking tea and chatting. My first break all day, I really enjoyed my conversation with Neil about his early morning raves.

For the last hour the film crew took pictures of my home, the piano, my noticeboard in the kitchen, some pictures of Steve and I.

At 4.30 pm we all jumped into a taxi to catch the train to London, I was travelling onto a funeral in Wales. The next day the film crew would be repeating the entire process again, this time on location in Brighton filming more Airbnb hosts.

As a result of renewed interest in my blog, I’ve decided to keep writing but with a new emphasis on my Solo Life. I was looking for a new direction in 2020, it looks like I’ve found one.

I’d welcome any ideas or experiences you think I should try  as a solo adventurer.

Add your comments below. Thanks for reading, until next time  

#MyPrelovedLife : 13/1/20