As I write this there is a sleeping cat on my lap. After growing up with cats in our home I spent college and graduate school feline-free. When I married and set up a home in Manhattan cats (and kids) soon followed. Living in New York City can be stressful. It is soothing for me to watch my cat working hard at nothing but relaxing. Now I feel that a house without a cat is not a home.
My pro-feline sentiments are not shared by most home exchangers. Nothing -- not even smoking, which can be done outside -- limits one's home exchange prospects like pet ownership. I can't even count how many promising vacation offers have evaporated when the swappers' attention was drawn to the first paragraph of our home's description, where it clearly states that we have two cats.
This reluctance to swap with cat-owners persists despite the steps we have taken to make caring for our kitties as effortless as possible. They have the self-cleaning litter box, the circulating drinking fountain with a one-gallon reservoir, and the automatic feeder that dispenses the right amount of kibble each morning. "Cat care" consists of five minutes per week. Our cats never venture outside (they are too short to push the elevator button) so they are declawed. They are both gentle creatures who do fine around new people. Barring allergies it is hard to see how swappers could be put out by co-existing with the cats.
Still, lots of people don't even want an animal in the swap home. This is something to really consider if you hope to do frequent exchanges. Some animals can be boarded successfully. Others may require specialized feeding, gross cage cleaning, shed all over the house or have emotional needs. It is not fair to expect the exchangers to devote their vacation to pet care.
I have been contemplating adding a non-feline pet to our household. As a home exchanger I am considering the impact this may have on our vacation lifestyle. If one wants to keep swapping, this is not a decision to undertake casually. The pros and cons of various pets will be discussed in a column to follow.
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Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
WHO WANTS A FREE VACATION AT YOUR PLACE?
Someone is eager to give you her house keys. Home exchangers all over the world agree to vacation in each others' houses every day. How do you target your swap offer emails to find the family who wants to exchange homes with you?
TRIP WISH
Most home exchange clubs let you specify which destinations interest you. Often you can make this a broad request, like "Italy" or narrow it down to a region such as "Tuscany" or even a specific town.
Exchangers can then search the listings to find those that list their own home town as a preferred destination.
For instance, I can get a list of home owners in California who want to visit Detroit. But what if few exchangers mention my town as a vacation spot that interests them?
First, remember that not everyone chooses to list their target destinations Others are open to all offers. The worst that can happen if you make an offer to someone who doesn't want to visit your town is that your offer won't receive a response.
FILLING YOUR DANCE CARD
The reader who wrote previously to ask if she should list her Tennessee home discovered that few people list Nashville as their vacation destination of choice. Should she be worried? In a word, no.
COMPLETE LISTING ARE RARE
On most swap club listings you can select just a few preferred locations. Many exchangers note their top 3 dream destinations. There is usually an option to list yourself as "open to offers" and most people select this.
SERENDIPITY
Home exchangers are an adventurous lot. Most experienced swappers have a story about an exchange offer they accepted just because the destination seemed interesting or the offer letter was appealing or the home looked nice.
Unless the listing specifies that the exchangers do not want to receive offers from your area, feel free to send a tempting offer email to anyone whose home interests you.
WHO TO CONTACT
Remember to approach just a few people per day and to answer every response you get back. People often send me a cut-and-pasted form letter then don't answer my response if they get a better one from the dozens of exchangers they contacted. Folks like that go right into my "bad" folder.
HOW TO "SELL" YOUR HOME
It is possible that no one has considered vacationing in your town. You can change that by sending out a brief, polite and enthusiastic exchange offer. Target it to just a few people at a time in your vacation destination of choice.
Let those new to the wonders of your home area know why they will have a great trip if they swap with you. Chances are that someone flexible and game to try new things will take you up on that offer.
BUT I'M SHY
You can also simply list your home and see what offers arrive in your mail box. Even if no one lists your town as a permanent "favorite", something may come up that requires them to visit the area. Someone's friend or cousin gets married in your town every day. Adults go home each year to visit their parents -- your neighbors.
GIVE IT A TRY
Home exchange club dues range from $0 to $99 per year. Whether or not your town is popular, why not try listing your home? The only thing you have to lose is a few bucks. You could gain the experience of a lifetime.
Monday, July 20, 2009
HOME EXCHANGE IS THE BEST BUDGET TRAVEL
If "free travel" sounds too good to be true you have never tried home exchange.
This winter we are going on vacation for more than two weeks. We will have the use of a three-bedroom house right on the ocean in California wine country and a late-model sedan. Our only fixed cost is airfare, and right now that's pretty inexpensive. And, as in the case of our own home exchange vacation, optional.
When the kids have a school break I'm the one who takes time off from work to hang out with them. If I have to use vacation time, then by golly I am going somewhere interesting. The nice thing about home exchange is that I can choose to go on an amazing vacation without spending more money than I do at home.
There are lots of great areas to visit within a few hours' drive of our home. If we want to escape the winter weather we can do so if we're willing to do two consecutive five-hour driving days or hop a cheap shuttle flight. This winter, however, we are going all out. We will fly across the country to spend over two weeks on the ocean in a coastal vineyard region several hours' drive north of Los Angeles.
We had hoped to do a swap this August, when our kids' day camp session ended. The hilarious folks at the New York Department of Education torpedoed that plan by declining to confirm school placements until just 11 days before school starts. Yes, we will find out at the end of August where our youngest is to start school the first week in September.
Time for vacation plan B. To avoid a winter of discontent we have arranged a December swap to someplace warm(er). Even though it is a peak travel time, we got tickets to Los Angeles for $179 per person, each way.
We are spending $1600 to fly our family of four round trip and pay for the gas to get to and from the airport. The beauty of home exchange is that our budget for the entire 16-day trip can be as little as the $1600 we are paying for transportation.
THE HOME EXCHANGE BUDGET
Here is how much we are paying for 16 nights of lodging: $0
Our rental car cost: $0. We will use the exchange couple's 2005 V6 sedan in exchange for providing them with unlimited transit passes.
Food: we plan to cook most meals at the swap home since it is located in a small town. We will have dinner out if we can find places that interest us.
Entertainment: the nearby monarch butterfly preserve costs nothing. Elephant seal habitat is free to visit. Watching the migrating whales from the ocean-side deck of the exchange home: also free. There is a famous local attraction we have always wanted to visit. Including its exorbitant admission cost in our budget, plus incidentals and dinners out will still let us keep our total vacation costs well under $50 per person, per day.
STAYCATION: ANOTHER WAY TO SAY NO-VACATION
No matter where you live in the US or Europe there are other home exchangers within a day's journey by public transportation or private car. By far the biggest chunk of our California home exchange budget is the airfare. No matter how tight your travel budget, if you have a tidy home and a transit pass you can go on vacation. A real vacation. It's called home exchange.
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This winter we are going on vacation for more than two weeks. We will have the use of a three-bedroom house right on the ocean in California wine country and a late-model sedan. Our only fixed cost is airfare, and right now that's pretty inexpensive. And, as in the case of our own home exchange vacation, optional.
When the kids have a school break I'm the one who takes time off from work to hang out with them. If I have to use vacation time, then by golly I am going somewhere interesting. The nice thing about home exchange is that I can choose to go on an amazing vacation without spending more money than I do at home.
There are lots of great areas to visit within a few hours' drive of our home. If we want to escape the winter weather we can do so if we're willing to do two consecutive five-hour driving days or hop a cheap shuttle flight. This winter, however, we are going all out. We will fly across the country to spend over two weeks on the ocean in a coastal vineyard region several hours' drive north of Los Angeles.
We had hoped to do a swap this August, when our kids' day camp session ended. The hilarious folks at the New York Department of Education torpedoed that plan by declining to confirm school placements until just 11 days before school starts. Yes, we will find out at the end of August where our youngest is to start school the first week in September.
Time for vacation plan B. To avoid a winter of discontent we have arranged a December swap to someplace warm(er). Even though it is a peak travel time, we got tickets to Los Angeles for $179 per person, each way.
We are spending $1600 to fly our family of four round trip and pay for the gas to get to and from the airport. The beauty of home exchange is that our budget for the entire 16-day trip can be as little as the $1600 we are paying for transportation.
THE HOME EXCHANGE BUDGET
Here is how much we are paying for 16 nights of lodging: $0
Our rental car cost: $0. We will use the exchange couple's 2005 V6 sedan in exchange for providing them with unlimited transit passes.
Food: we plan to cook most meals at the swap home since it is located in a small town. We will have dinner out if we can find places that interest us.
Entertainment: the nearby monarch butterfly preserve costs nothing. Elephant seal habitat is free to visit. Watching the migrating whales from the ocean-side deck of the exchange home: also free. There is a famous local attraction we have always wanted to visit. Including its exorbitant admission cost in our budget, plus incidentals and dinners out will still let us keep our total vacation costs well under $50 per person, per day.
STAYCATION: ANOTHER WAY TO SAY NO-VACATION
No matter where you live in the US or Europe there are other home exchangers within a day's journey by public transportation or private car. By far the biggest chunk of our California home exchange budget is the airfare. No matter how tight your travel budget, if you have a tidy home and a transit pass you can go on vacation. A real vacation. It's called home exchange.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
BUDGET TRAVEL BLAHS
It's summertime and everyone is feeling poor. National Public Radio show just aired a budget travel special. The guests and callers had many suggestions for traveling on the cheap. Each was less appealing than the last. There was that annoying "staycation" nonsense, which consists of sitting around your house, wishing you were somewhere else.
One man said he would go backpacking to save money, but "one or two days of backpacking is enough for me." Sounds great. The npr show reported that sales of camping equipment are up. They noted that it isn't upgraded equipment for avid campers, but basic, starter equipment that's popular. Seems the unenthusiastic hiker is going to have equally uneager company at his rustic campsite.
I kept waiting for someone to mention home exchange. Everyone was making do with unappealing options but the simple solution to their budget travel dilemma eluded them all. Home exchange.
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One man said he would go backpacking to save money, but "one or two days of backpacking is enough for me." Sounds great. The npr show reported that sales of camping equipment are up. They noted that it isn't upgraded equipment for avid campers, but basic, starter equipment that's popular. Seems the unenthusiastic hiker is going to have equally uneager company at his rustic campsite.
I kept waiting for someone to mention home exchange. Everyone was making do with unappealing options but the simple solution to their budget travel dilemma eluded them all. Home exchange.
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Friday, July 10, 2009
HOME EXCHANGE PERKS
Sure, a hotel concierge will help you purchase tickets to a play at a huge premium, but will she take you out on the town? That's what we're doing for home exchange friends we met by swaping houses with them in Toronto and upstate New York.
These home exchanges are over and may never be repeated but the couple from rural New York and the mom from Toronto are lovely people we are happy to count as friends.
Due to professional connections, we get tickets to every star-studded VIP opening night at Broadway's Roundabout Theater. We also get passes to the exclusive cast party afterwards.
When we found out that our Toronto swap buddy was in town and our New York state home exchange friends were moving away, we were eager to sieze the moment and share this fun event with them.
In the past we have sometimes arranged free tickets to a Broadway show for exchangers who were using our home.
Each exchanger's perk is different but always appreciated. Our own swap partners have offered us their own perks, such as free day camp for our children, access to a country club, an evening aboard a friend's yacht and so on
Don't fret if your country club membership lapsed or your yacht was towed for illegal parking. Another exchanger won our hearts (if not our waistlines) by leaving a note informing us that she had baked the exquisite home-made cheesecake in the fridge just for us.
Everyone has some sort of connection or talent. Use yours to make your home exchange partners' stay at your place a vacation they will never forget.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE (FROM HOTELS) DAY!
It's Independence Day here in the United States. Or for our British home exchange friends, Uppity Colonials' Day. Or something like that. We went up the coast for a seaside vacation. Most New Yorkers who want a breath of salt air prefer to go "Down the Shore" to the beaches of New Jersey but we always have to be different.
We find ourselves in coastal Connecticut. There are lots of financially depressed former whaling towns here in Eastern Connecticut. Some of them have cute historical downtown areas and harbors with seafood shacks, but unfortunately few home exchangers.
We avoided throwing any tea into the harbor, but we did have a great seafood dinner at Captain Scott's Lobster Pot in New London, which is a classic New England fish stand. We don't eat lobster but if we did we would be amazed at how cheap and fresh lobster is these days. The Canadian lobster processing industry collapsed along with the Icelandic banks. It's complicated.
Anyway, the next day's dinner was some of the best Italian food we have ever had at Paul's Pasta Shop. We ate overlooking the Thames River. No, not that Thames, the one in Groton, Connecticut, but sunset over the River was pleasantly scenic.
The downer in our family get-away has been the lodging. No home exchangers here. Instead we are all stuffed into one bland hotel room. It's especially sad because after we arrived we had a kind last-minute offer from the folks with the amazing house just an hour's drive from our place in upstate New York. We used their home for our last swap and when they decided to go out of town they let us know but their vacation came together rather late.
There is nothing like staying at a hotel to remind me about how much I love home exchange., This July 4th I resolved that my future will include as much independence from hotels as possible. Now I'm off to dump some tea in the hotel bathtub.
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We find ourselves in coastal Connecticut. There are lots of financially depressed former whaling towns here in Eastern Connecticut. Some of them have cute historical downtown areas and harbors with seafood shacks, but unfortunately few home exchangers.
We avoided throwing any tea into the harbor, but we did have a great seafood dinner at Captain Scott's Lobster Pot in New London, which is a classic New England fish stand. We don't eat lobster but if we did we would be amazed at how cheap and fresh lobster is these days. The Canadian lobster processing industry collapsed along with the Icelandic banks. It's complicated.
Anyway, the next day's dinner was some of the best Italian food we have ever had at Paul's Pasta Shop. We ate overlooking the Thames River. No, not that Thames, the one in Groton, Connecticut, but sunset over the River was pleasantly scenic.
The downer in our family get-away has been the lodging. No home exchangers here. Instead we are all stuffed into one bland hotel room. It's especially sad because after we arrived we had a kind last-minute offer from the folks with the amazing house just an hour's drive from our place in upstate New York. We used their home for our last swap and when they decided to go out of town they let us know but their vacation came together rather late.
There is nothing like staying at a hotel to remind me about how much I love home exchange., This July 4th I resolved that my future will include as much independence from hotels as possible. Now I'm off to dump some tea in the hotel bathtub.
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