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My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes we've received over the past few weeks. But tonight it's my turn to say thanks. Whether we have seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people, in living rooms and in schools, at farms and on factory floors at diners and on distant military outposts, those conversations are what have kept me honest, and kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I have learned from you. You made me a better president, and you made me a better man. I first came to Chicago when I was in my early 20s. I was still trying to figure out who I was, still searching for a purpose to my life. It was in neighborhoods not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss. I can't do that. This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, and they get engaged, and they come together to demand it. After eight years as your president, I still believe that. And it's not just my belief. It's the beating heart of our American idea, our bold experiment in self-government. It's the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing; that we, the people, through the instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union. What a radical idea. The great gift our Founders gave us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat and toil and imagination, and the imperative to strive together as well, to achieve a common good, a greater good. For 240 years, our nation's call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. It's what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom. It's what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande, it's what pushed women to reach for the ballot, it's what powered workers to organize. It's why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima, Iraq and Afghanistan, and why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs as well. So that's what we mean when we say America is exceptional. Not that our nation has been flawless from the start, but that we have shown the capacity to change, and make life better for those who follow. Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard, it's always been contentious. Sometimes it's been bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some. If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history … If I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Iran's nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, and take out the mastermind of 9/11 … If I had told you that we would win marriage equality, and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens, if I had told y'all that, you might have said our sights were set a little too high. But that's what we did. That's what you did. You were the change. You answered people's hopes, and because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started. In ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy. No, no, no, no no. The peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected president to the next.
Last year, we released 150 upgrades to improve every aspect of the Airbnb service. Today, we are launching the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade including: Airbnb Categories – A new way to search that makes it easy to discover millions of homes you never knew existed. Split Stays – An innovative feature that provides more options for longer stays by splitting your trip between two homes. AirCover for guests – The most comprehensive protection in travel, included for free with every stay. ‘The way people travel has changed forever. That's why we're introducing the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade,' said Brian Chesky, CEO and Co-Founder of Airbnb. 'First, people are more flexible about where they live and work, so we've designed a new way to search with Airbnb Categories. Second, people are taking longer trips, so we created Split Stays to give you more options by splitting your trip between two homes. And third, we're introducing AirCover for guests, giving you the confidence to book knowing that Airbnb's got your back.' Airbnb Categories. Millions of people are now more flexible about where they live and work. But travel search has been the same for 25 years — you enter a location and dates into a search box. Most of us can only think of a few dozen cities to type into the search box, but there are Airbnbs in 100,000 towns and cities around the world. That's why we're introducing a new way to search designed around Airbnb Categories, making it easy to discover millions of unique homes you never knew existed. When you open Airbnb, you're presented with 56 categories that organize homes based on their style, location, or proximity to a travel activity. When you search for a destination, your search results are also organized by categories that are relevant to that destination. As you view different categories, the map intelligently zooms to show you where the homes are located. To create Airbnb Categories, we evaluate millions of homes using machine learning to analyze titles, written descriptions, photo captions, structured data from Hosts, and reviews from guests. Members of Airbnb's curation team review listings and hand-pick featured photos — so if a listing is in the Amazing Pools Category, the first photo shows a pool. Then, each category goes through a final check to help ensure consistency and photo quality. The 56 Airbnb Categories include more than 4 million unique homes that are made possible by our Hosts all around the world. Airbnb Categories organize homes by what makes them unique, which helps people discover places they wouldn't have otherwise found. This can help alleviate over-tourism by redistributing travel to new locations beyond the same popular destinations. Split Stays. In the last three months, nearly half of nights booked on Airbnb were for trips of a week or more. That's why we created Split Stays, an innovative feature that splits your trip between two homes. With Split Stays, you will typically see around 40% more listings when searching for longer stays. When searching a specific destination, Split Stays automatically appear in your search results. They also appear within 14 categories — including Camping, National Parks, Skiing, and Surfing — to inspire you to stay in two destinations as part of a longer trip. For example, when browsing the National Parks Category, Split Stays might suggest a pair of homes near Zion National Park and Grand Canyon. When viewing Split Stays on a map, an animated line visually connects the two homes to show you the distance between them and the sequence of the stays. Once you select a Split Stay, you're guided through an easy-to-use interface to book each stay, one home at a time. AirCover for guests. This summer, millions of people will travel for the first time since the start of the pandemic. That's why we created AirCover, the most comprehensive protection in travel. AirCover is always included and always free, and it represents the biggest upgrade to Airbnb customer service in a decade. With AirCover, you're covered by four protections every time you stay on Airbnb.