Adventure of a Vacation Home Exchange...

November 27, 2010

Well, my primary objective as I wrote in my last blog is to look at the A to Z’s of Vacation Home Exchanges….So being a bit of a literalist, at least, sometimes, I am going to go through the alphabet to share my thoughts about this fascinating element of travel! I also hope to answer questions from travelers interested in doing their own Vacation Home Exchanges!
Living in someone else's home WILL definitely add ADVENTURE to your travel plans and your actual trip! You will spend time communicating with your Vacation Home Exchange contact. (Usually one person is been the primary contact.)
The Oxford American Dictionary defines adventure “1. an exciting or dangerous experience. 2. willingness to take risks, the spirit of adventure.”
www.dictionary.com says “1. an exciting or very unusual experience.2.participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.3.a bold, usually risky under-taking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.”

Adventure has been an additional benefit of every one of my Vacation Home Exchanges, because I could not know exactly what to expect! It has been exciting, and very rarely hazardous.

In 2007 I arrived in Cheltenham, England, shortly after they had been deluged with terrible rains. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/floods/ Two days after my arrival, the water supply coming into the all of the houses in the area was cut due to major problems at the water treatment station in nearby Gloucester. The only water we had in the house was what was already in the pipes. Luckily there was PLENTY of both bottled water on pallets as well as tanks of non-drinking water readily available on every street corner.

By the time Kathy joined me from Minnesota, I had been without in-house water for 4-5 days. (And, of course, all of the restaurants and wonderful British pubs were closed.) As a former Girl Scout, I figured that everyone was “in the same boat”, so I was being as resourceful as possible, and not too stressed out by it! Kathy and I were scheduled to be in Cheltenham for two weeks; we had rented a car, so we were going to tour the lovely Cotswolds area. (Oops! We did have a blowout, as I managed to run over a curb, but I was going slowly enough so that it was not hazardous!) One Sunday, Kathy woke up, and she had had it with no water! So she called all around to area gyms to see which of them DID have water. She probably made ten or so calls, but she finally did find a gym where we could and DID go to take a MOST WELCOME shower. We left Cheltenham earlier than planned for London, since the water did not come back on while we were there. (It had gotten a bit “old”!)

So if you do embark on a Vacation Home Exchange, do plan to enjoy the ADVENTURE of it all!

Why Do A Vacation Home Exchange?

November 25, 2010
A Vacation Home Exchange is a fascinating way to bring additional adventure to your travel experience! It usually will take you from six months to a year to work out all the details, but ultimately you will trade homes with an individual or a family for an agreed upon time period! You not only have the wonderful opportunity of feeling like you live there-because you do-, but you also will save money on hotel rooms or rental homes.

Four years ago I did my first Vacation Home Exchange. A couple from Cheltenham, England, wanted to come to the Boston area to visit their son who was working in Cambridge, which is about ten miles away from my home. They contacted me, and I was hooked!
In this blog I want to share my experiences and help those travelers who are interested in learning more about Vacation Home Exchanges. To date I have done seven swaps. In addition to the aforementioned UK swap, I’ve been to Puerto Rico, Carlsbad, CA, St. Raphael, France http://triptosaint-raphael.blogspot.com, Rome, Sardinia, and Aguilas, Spain http://dt2010trips.blogspot.com

Vacation Home Exchanges are first and foremost based on a mutual trust! You will be in their home usually when they are in yours. (It is possible to do a non-simultaneous swap too, which I will discuss next posting.) During the planning stages, you will get to know your exchange people very well! You will be surprised how well you get to know them even through email, actually usually through email. IF you have any doubts or concerns about the person with whom you are communicating in terms of what they say or how they respond, RUN, don’t walk to terminate your conversations about your potential Vacation Home Exchange! (And I will discuss more about his later also.)