Airbnb Kicks Off 'Adventures' With a Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip Around the World in 80 Days for Only $5,000

Ever wanted to take a trip around the whole world, but assumed you’d never have the budget to swing it? Well, Airbnb is giving you a chance at a bargain-basement price.

To kick off its new Adventures arm, which launched Thursday, Airbnb is running a mind-blowing trip to 18 countries for just $5,000. The “Around the World in 80 Days” trip is inspired by Jules Verne’s book of the same name, published in 1873.

Lucky guests will cruise along the Nile River in Egypt, go on safari in Kenya, visit bazaars, temples and monasteries in Bhutan and Nepal, hike to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, sleep under the stars in Australia, hike Japan’s sacred Kumano Kodo trek, walk across glaciers in Chilean Patagonia, soak in Iceland’s Blue Lagoon and more. Other countries on the 12-week tour include Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Thailand, China, Romania, England, the United States, Ecuador and New Zealand.

The trip is for people ages 21 and older and includes all transportation between destinations, lodging, meals and visas. You just have to book a spot and a flight to and from London, where the trip kicks off on Sept. 1 and returns on Nov. 19.

The catch? There are only six spots available, and Airbnb is releasing them two at a time. The company originally announced there would be eight spots, available at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on June 20, but has since released updated information. Three pairs of spots will be available between now and July, announced in different time zones around the world.

The first two spots will be released at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on June 20; the second two are bookable at 8:30 a.m. China Standard Time on June 26 (8:30 pm Eastern on June 25), and the final pair goes on sale at 7 p.m. Central European Summer Time July 1 (1 p.m. Eastern).

The adventure is operated by MT Sobek, a luxury travel company that’s been taking folks around the world since 1969. MT Sobek designed the trip specifically for Airbnb (you can’t book it anywhere else) and it’s valued at about $100,000 per person. Airbnb is offering it at such a discount because all Airbnb Adventures are currently capped at $5,000 per person.

All proceeds from the trip—the full $5,000 price tag—will go to the Malala Fund. Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin, founded the organization and work to improve educational opportunities for young girls around the world.

If you're not lucky enough to land one of the eight spots on this swoon-worthy adventure, check out the other trips Airbnb has already launched. Adventures range from one-night excursions to 10-day bucket-list trips. The overnight Trek and Homestay in Northern Vietnam ($82 per person), for example, brings guests on a hike to one of the area’s oldest Hmong villages, where they’ll stay overnight with a local family. A 9-day Himalayan Trek with Views of Everest with a guide trained in sustainable tourism costs $1,125 per person and includes stays at mountain guesthouses in view of the world’s tallest and most famous peak.

Like Airbnb’s other offerings, Adventures are designed by local individuals and companies who have control over the itineraries, prices and what they offer. Not just anyone can build their own trip and start taking guests immediately, however. Airbnb worked with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), an organization of tour operators around the world, to educate hosts on safety and best practices.

Airbnb Adventures offers more people than ever a chance to access adventure travel opportunities, the ATTA said in a press release about the partnership.

“Along with this expansion comes a greater opportunity to drive the benefits we know adventure travel can provide: a business argument for conservation, an engine of economic development in rural areas with particular potential for young people, women and underrepresented communities,” ATTA said. Plus, it gives people the chance to affordably experience “off-the-beaten-path travel,” which can transform people and motivate them to act with a new perspective on the world.

Airbnb has made it easier than ever to access “epic and transformational travel,” Airbnb’s VP of Experiences, Joe “Joebot” Zadeh, said in a press release. “Like Airbnb Experiences, people can escape their day-to-day and put their screens and devices away but now instead of just a few hours, they have the option to be fully immersed off-the-beaten-path, to push themselves out of their comfort zones and have experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

Ready for your next trip? Check out all of Airbnb’s Adventures here.