Stephanie Hays, of Chattanooga, and her husband Peter Woolcock, had been considering taking a year off work and traveling around the world with their nearly two-year-old son.
Little did they know that fate would intervene to push their plans along.
Hays was named this week as one of 12 worldwide participants - out of 314,000 applicants - in the "Live Anywhere on Airbnb" program.
Just like it sounds, the family can set its own itinerary and stay at any Airbnb locations in the world for approximately a year for free as long as they remain one to three months at each stop. There is also money for travel included in the program, Hays said. In return, the vacation rental company wants their feedback on the extended-stay experience.
"We are unbelievably grateful for the opportunity," said Hays, who is the director of brand experience at the Chattanooga Tourism Company.
For its part, Airbnb says the data collected by the 12 "Live Anywhere" participants will be used to to help the company design "future product upgrades and innovations on the platform to better accommodate nomadic living."
More Info
Read the full story on Stephanie Hays’ year ahead Monday in Mark Kennedy’s Life Stories column in the Region section.
Among the others chosen were a pair of artists from South Africa, a travel writer from Singapore, a doctor from the United Kingdom and a journalist from Argentina.
Hays, 35, said her family's itinerary will likely include Mexico, Italy and England, among other destinations.
She said she learned about the contest on Instagram a couple of months ago and she developed a website and made a video as part of the entry process. There were several stages of interviews, too, she said.
Hays, a Chattanooga native who attended Girls Preparatory School, and Woolcock, who is from England and runs a local after-school soccer program, are world travelers, having stayed in Airbnb locations in 19 countries.
The couple have also hosted Airbnb customers in their homes in London, Mumbai (India) and Chattanooga, Hays said.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com.