Jennifer (top left), Rudi (top right), Elke (bottom left), and Beth (bottom right) hanging out in Beth and Jennifer's backyard in early 2023. Photo courtesy of JN Steinberg.
(CNN) --
If there were a major plumbing disaster, most Airbnb guests would pack their bags and ask for their money back, while their hosts would write off their earnings and try to forget about it.
But for German travelers Elke Thau-Montgomery and Rudi Thau, and their American hosts Beth Ann Moon and Jennifer Steinberg, a catastrophe at their Airbnb turned into a five-year friendship that spans a continent.
Beth and Jennifer, a couple living in Florida, first listed the apartment attached to their home on Airbnb in 2017. Beth and Jennifer are gay, and they were wary of possible homophobia from their guests (Beth jokes that she hid from the first bookers).
ANALYSIS |
Enjoy your Airbnb, but don't forget to do laundry and take out the trash
But guests from the United States and other countries came and went, and they were mostly reserved.
Elke and Rudi stood out from the start.
They were friendly and relaxed, arriving with a complimentary bottle of gin.
Elke and Rudi were drawn to Beth and Jennifer's Airbnb because of its location—near the Everglades, in the southern tip of Florida—and the inviting pool in Beth and Jennifer's backyard.
advertising
But what really sealed the deal was the Volkswagen Beetle parked outside.
The German couple thought that anyone who owned a VW Beetle would be on the same wavelength as them.
"Let's go there, they must be good people," Elke remembers thinking.
As Elke and Rudi presented the gin to their hosts, Beth went into the house and brought out another bottle from the same distillery, twice the size.
"We laughed at each other," says Elke.
"We hit it off as soon as they arrived," says Beth.
The two couples ended up sitting outside all night, drinking and talking.
"It was really the first time we had connected with the people who were staying here," says Jennifer.
"They were like us, we had a lot in common."
Dealing with a crisis
Beth Ann Moon (left) and Jennifer Steinberg (right) opened their home to Airbnb guests in 2017. Credit: JN Steinberg
But a couple of days later disaster struck.
The Airbnb's sewer stopped working.
To fix the problem, Jennifer and Beth had to call in some emergency contractors who quickly shut off the water supply and dug a giant hole in the backyard.
"They hammered on the outside, because the floor is coral rock," Jennifer explains.
"It was a big interruption. Elke and Rudi couldn't use the bathroom. It was a bad situation."
Jennifer and Beth apologized.
They expected their German visitors to be gone by the next morning.
"I think most people who rent an Airbnb would demand that we pay them back and get them a hotel," Jennifer says.
"I didn't know what to expect. And the next thing I knew, they were in our backyard building us a fire."
Rudi and Elke made it clear that they weren't going anywhere unless Jennifer and Beth wanted to.
The Germans were not affected by the mishap and found it more amusing than anything else.
Elke says they felt bad for their hosts and their plumbing problems.
The campfire was the first of a series of kind gestures with which Elke and Rudi hoped to cheer up a panicked Beth and Jennifer.
And instead of kicking out their guests, the crisis only brought the two couples closer together.
"They became our close friends," Jennifer says, "they knew we were upset. And they tried to do things in our house to make us happy. And they didn't go anywhere. They stayed with us."
An agreement was soon reached whereby Rudi and Elke could use the bathrooms in the main house.
Afternoons were spent sitting around the new fire.
The two bottles of gin emptied as the two couples spent hours talking about cooking, family, travel, their respective countries and cultures, and their thoughts on life, politics, and friendship.
"We all think the same thing: politics, culture and so on," says Elke.
"We connected and that was great."
Here is Elke teaching Jennifer how to make German apple strudel.
Credit: JN Steinberg
Elke and Rudi were avid travelers who always greeted Airbnb hosts with warmth and friendliness.
But they had never connected with anyone like they did with Jennifer and Beth.
"We hadn't had an experience like this before and we are very grateful for that, for making some wonderful friends out of it," says Elke.
"I'll tell you, I've never had that experience with anyone," Jennifer agrees.
"Because of our ages, we never expected to make such close friends this late in life."
As Elke and Rudi's trip drew to a close, plans began to hatch for Beth and Jennifer to visit Rudi and Elke in Bavaria.
Before the Germans left, the Americans booked flights for that same year.
The four parted ways as close friends.
When Rudi and Elke returned to Germany, Beth and Jennifer returned the money for their stay.
"We knew they wouldn't accept it if we did it while they were here," says Jennifer.
Most romantic relationships start out as friendships, according to a study
friends for life
Rudi and Elke have this maypole in the garden.
It is topped with an illustration of their loved ones, including Beth and Jennifer.
Credit: JN Steinberg
Several months later, the two couples met again in Germany as if no time had passed.
Jennifer and Beth loved seeing the country through the eyes of the people who live there.
They also visited Austria and the Czech Republic.
"Neither of us had ever been to Europe," says Jennifer.
"We've just seen the world and it's thanks to Rudi and Elke. There's no way we could have done what we've done and seen in Europe on our own."
From there, a tradition was established.
Every winter, Elke and Rudi spend a long vacation with Beth and Jennifer.
And in the fall, they return the visit.
Beth and Jennifer no longer rent out their space on Airbnb: it's reserved for Elke and Rudi, plus they've since adopted dogs.
Five years after their first meeting, they have formed bonds with each couple's loved ones.
Today Rudi, Elke, Jennifer and Beth look like one big intercontinental family.
"Even when we go to Germany, his family is our family," says Beth.
Rudi and Elke erected a homemade maypole (a tall wooden pole traditionally used at European folk festivals) in their Bavarian backyard, topped with a photo of their family.
Naturally, Jennifer and Beth are included in the illustration.
"It's a kind representation or symbol of our combined cultures and how we feel about each other as a family," says Jennifer.
They met on a night train in Europe.
They have now been married for almost 30 years.
Although the two couples connected from day one, they credit the plumbing mishap with cementing their friendship, at least in part.
"I don't know if I can say there was only one thing that was alchemy that clicked, because it just happened. But I think it was the plumbing," says Jennifer.
"Maybe we would have been friends anyway. But if we hadn't had a crisis to overcome together, it wouldn't have been the same."
"In addition to that chemistry between people, I think it's also a bit of the way we react to this little mishap with the plumbers," says Elke.
"Rudi and I try to take it with a lot of humor, because things happen, that's life."
Right now, Rudi and Elke are visiting Beth and Jennifer in the United States, and the group is busy planning a vacation to Croatia for the summer of 2023. When they're not physically together, they communicate via video conference.
They don't just see each other as best friends, but as family by choice.
And they are delighted to have traveled, and more specifically, that a travel mishap has brought them together.
"Travel and learn", sums up Rudi.
"You never know who you're going to meet," says Jennifer.
"Be open-minded and let people into your heart. These chance encounters can change someone's life, and Rudi and Elke have certainly changed mine. It's not always about romance. It's about people, about the energy they have and you never know".
AirbnbFriendship
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/PHW4JZYXX5CMRJOUD7MDB56UQY.jpg)
