A note from the editor 10.30

As COVID-19 becomes the new normal and we’re all getting used to working from home, some of us are starting to reconsider where home should actually be.

Turns out we’re not alone, and the online rental company Airbnb has been looking at this too.

In the survey commissioned by Airbnb:

• 83% of respondents are in favor of relocating as part of remote working
• A quarter believe they will be able to ‘live where they want to and work remotely’
• One in five of those surveyed have relocated their living situation during the pandemic either temporarily or permanently
• 60% of parents are very or somewhat likely to consider working remotely and traveling with their children if schools continue to be disrupted
• Gen Zers and young millennials are most likely to believe they can move to a new location to work or study remotely.

Consequently, people are trying out new locations using Airbnb, the company said. “From July to September this year, there has been a 128% increase in guest reviews mentioning ‘relocation,’ ‘relocate”, “remote work’ and ‘trying a new neighborhood’ in comparison to the same time frame last year.”

In particular, people living in large cities are looking at smaller ones like Boise or even smaller. “Of folks who have relocated since the pandemic was declared, 24% of them say they moved to a suburb and 21% to a rural area, both greater percentages than those who say they moved to cities,” Airbnb says.

The result, Airbnb says, is that people who have the opportunity to work from anywhere are actively booking longer stays (2+ week trips) in small-to-mid-size cities with access to immersive natural surroundings and wide open spaces — and Boise is in the top 10 of that list.

But it works the other way, too. People living and working in Idaho are finding that they can choose to work from other locations.

This is all by way of mentioning that I am now working from Aruba.

No, I’m not kidding.

Travel is something I’ve been wanting to do ever since my daughter went to college, and since events and other in-person meetings are curtailed for the time being, the Idaho Business Review is graciously allowing me to take advantage of it. Aruba allows Americans to visit, didn’t require a two-week quarantine or restrict us to staying in certain areas, is safe, and has reliable internet. So here I am, at least for a while.

Honest, you’ll never notice that I’m gone.

But for Idaho to truly rank itself as a remote work destination, it’s got to do something about its broadband internet cost, speed and availability. Another survey, sponsored by Lawnstarter.com, found that Boise ranked third from the bottom nationwide in internet speed.

Keeping in mind that internet is typically faster in Boise than many other places in the state, that’s not a good sign.

What else is in the paper this week?

While I’m sunning myself in Aruba, Idaho is looking forward to the upcoming ski season, which is a major component of the state’s winter tourism. We have a Q&A with Brad Wilson, general manager of Bogus Basin, who just got elected to a four-year term at Ski Idaho, as well as a commentary from Todd Walton of the Winter Wildlands Alliance.

Catie Clark is back from her well-deserved vacation — she wrote about what it’s like to travel in a COVID-19 world — and she also jumped right back in to write about how you, too, can have a palatial estate in a vineyard without ever having to leave Idaho. Estates not your style? Our versatile freelancer Alx Stevens wrote about Bri at the Village, a 55+ community within walking distance of the Village.

Alx also wrote about how Idahoans interested in having their own small businesses can look at the world of franchises. Idaho small businesses also have more opportunities to learn as the Women’s Business Center opens new operations in Idaho Falls and in Moscow.

By the way, I hear the low on Friday in Boise is supposed to be 34.