Travel content creator Miss Trudy has made a comeback online after a short hiatus, and she has explained that she has embarked on a new endeavour hence her break from posting travel content.
The travel enthusiast revealed that she is currently involved in the real estate sector , and she is began an AirBnB business, which led her to take a break from sharing content.
“I’ve been missing in action. Life has been busy on my end, so I had to take a break,” she began, explaining her absence.
She was speaking in a YouTube video titled, “How I Quit Travel and Made One Million in My First Year on Airbnb,” where she shared what prompted her to switch career paths.
Miss Trudy shared that she was inspired by her father to invest in the real estate sector, propelling her to invest in an apartment in Nairobi’s posh neighbourhood of Kilimani.
She dreamt of earning passive income to support her content creation career, and venturing into the Airbnb business seemed like the perfect opportunity. By renting out her apartment while traveling abroad, she could make her dream a reality.
She hence invested in furnishing the apartment and the services of an interior designer to transform the apartment into a marvel. She then posted her pictures of the space on the booking platform, and within the first 24 hours of going live, she had secured her first client.
According to Trudy, the platform offers free marketing of a host’s space for the first three months on the website, so she took advantage of the offer and advertised her business on her social media platforms. The venture proved to be fruitful, earning her $1500 dollars(Kshs 195,000) from her first client who booked the property for three months.
” He booked the apartment for the first month and just like that , I made $1,500. It was amazing, I was so happy,” Trudy noted. Her second client would pay the same amount, and soon enough her property was among the most coveted on the platform. She was even awarded Superhost by Airbnb over its popularity.
“I’ve been able to make money from it. I just crossed one year on Airbnb, and it’s been an amazing experience. I’ve been able to make over $9,000(Kshs 1.17 million) in my first year on Airbnb. That’s not a bad investment,” she stated.
Despite the success, it has not all been smooth sailing. In the last two months, visitors have been evading the country over the anti-government protests, and this has affected the short-term rental industry.
“In the last month I have made zero dollars, and the previous month I made less than half of what I am used to making. People are afraid of Kenya because of what they see online about the protests. People have even asked me not to go to Kenya,” she stated.
She however urged her followers to venture into the business even without owning property by renting from landlords and property owners, as it also brings in high returns.