Home Exchange Travels with Nicole I. Frank

FREE VACATION IN EXPENSIVE MANHATTAN?

2012-01-16T14:03:00.001-05:00

You may not have a concierge in your home but if you swap with a hospitable home exchanger you'll have one on vacation. The swappers who will use my apartment in March just wrote me an email about which NYC attractions pass they should invest $300 in.

Larger cities like New York and Chicago often have these multi-attraction passes. They feature all-inclusive admission to a mix of museums, historic sites and, well, tourist traps. For instance, several of the New York passes include admission to the local franchises of a British wax museum and a hall of reproductions of "unbelievable" oddities, most of which were probably fake in their original iterations. What either of these tourist traps has to do with New York City is unclear, except to prove what was said about the work of local tri-state area son P.T. Barnum: "A sucker is born every minute".

Your home exchange partner offers "local intelligence". I shared my opinion of the attractions passes with the swapper. Where else would you get the real story from someone you can trust?

"The Citypass and NewYorkpass are not good deals. You can go to all the included museums for free or pay-what-you-like. Details here:
http://gonyc.about.com/cs/museums/a/museumdeals.htm

"The Statue of Liberty isn't really interactive once you're on its island and the ride there in the tiny boat is nauseating. It's more thrilling to see the the statue for free from the Staten Island Ferry than on its island because the new arrivals to America saw it from a ship as well.

"The Circle Line boat tour is a long day and its most interesting views are also available for free from the Staten Island Ferry. Top of the Rock is more interesting than the Empire State Building but it's not worth buying the pass just for that. The other attractions offered with the pass are tourist traps. The passes also rope you into a whirlwind of tourism since they are only valid for consecutive days. Skip the passes."

I MAKE HOME EXCHANGE HISTORY!

2012-01-09T15:32:00.000-05:00

Not to brag, but I made home exchange history in 2011. I completed what has to be the most comprehensive swap in the history of home exchange. I traded my tiny tenement apartment in Manhattan for the following:

* FREE LODGING for two weeks in a luxurious Orlando house with a private pool
* TICKETS TO DISNEYWORLD, EPCOT, DISNEY STUDIOS and DISNEY STUDIOS for a family of four on three different days (we had our choice of visiting any and every Disney Park)
* USE OF A SAAB CONVERTIBLE for two weeks. It even had leather interior.
* DINNER OUT EVERY NIGHT AT 8 DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS

The only fixed expense we had during our trip was airfare. The only thing we traded was the use of our apartment. Can you top this swap?

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THE YEAR IN HOME EXCHANGE

2011-12-26T13:08:00.001-05:00

Home exchange made it into our 2011 holiday letter. Do Europeans send out general holiday letters? Many Americans do. Here's an example, from a Jonathan Coulton song:

This year has been a little crazy for the Andersons.You may recall we had some trouble last year.The robot council had us banished to an asteroid.That hasn't undermined our holiday cheer.

And we know it's almost Christmas from the marks we make on the wall.And that's our favorite time of year.
Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime, Where we're working in a mine for our robot overlords.Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime.[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/jonathan_coulton/chiron_beta_prime.html ]On every corner there's a giant metal Santa Claus who watches over us with glowing red eyes.They carry weapons and they know if you've been bad or good.Not everybody's good but everyone tries.And the rocks outside the airlock exude ammonia-scented snow.It's like a Winter wonderland.

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime, Where we're working in a mine for our robot overlords.Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime.
That's all the family news that we're allowed to talk about.We really hope you'll come and visit us soon.I mean we're literally begging you to visit us.And make it quick before they [MESSAGE REDACTED].

Now it's time for Christmas dinner - I think the robots sent us a pie! You know I love my soylent green.
Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime, Where we're working in a mine for our robot overlords.Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime.

We didn't have any news nearly that interesting to report, but we did make note of our 2011 home exchanges, as follows:

We are still enjoying vacationing by swapping homes with other adventurous travelers. In 2011 we traded homes with swappers in Montreal, Toronto and the Amish Country of Pennsylvania during our summer road trip to visit Grandma, Grandpa and the rest of the family Down South. Because driving 300 miles from New York to Canada is how most people get to Tennessee, right? We now have a new GPS so our next home exchange to see the family will be in Asheville, North Carolina this Spring.

One negative about holiday letters is the difficulty negotiating the line between informing others about the high points of your year and bragging. We accomplished such a home exchange triumph in 2011 that it was impossible not to sound smug about it...

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WILL 2012 BE THE YEAR IT ALL ENDS?

2011-12-19T12:45:00.000-05:00

Have you heard? 2012 may be the year it all ends. No, not the world, just my home exchange career.

2012 might be the year we stop doing home exchange. We are moving to a much larger apartment in June, but one that comes with a feature most exchangers won't appreciate -- a live-in elderly relative for whom we will coordinate care.

I have been doing home exchange since 1991. Now, as I prepare to enter my third decade as a home exchanger I am looking at not being able to exchange my home anymore. I am looking for creative solutions to this. In the mean time, if you want a perfectly-located swap home in an amazing neighborhood, get in touch before May, 2012!

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OUR TINY-HOME SWAP EXPERIMENT

2011-12-12T11:44:00.001-05:00

When I started a graduate school program my family downsized to a one-bedroom home near the university. We were surprised when swappers lined up to use our tiny walk-up apartment. Sure it is in the "Best Manhattan Neighborhood", according to "New York Magazine". But it's old, not renovated and no one would call it fancy.

Since our new home couldn't offer "plush" we compensated with lots of old fashioned home exchange hospitality. We left a welcome meal in the fridge, got them free theater or concert tickets through a discount program, amassed a library of useful info on places to go and things to do in the neighborhood and made sure we were available for help with anything the swappers needed.

More important than any of that was our flexibility. Because we have a weekend home available we were able to accommodate swappers pretty much any time they wanted to visit. We banked our days at their place against future travel.

Now I have completed my degree. In 2012 we will bid a sad goodbye to our cozy little home. While we are moving up to a much bigger and better place, we may never swap homes again due to an odd feature of our new home....

HOW TO DEAL WITH HOME SWAP EMERGENCIES

2011-11-14T13:21:00.000-05:00

We were locked out of the swap home, but as promised, the home exchangers called us back from France. They had called the locksmith themselves and he was on his way. The swappers told us where to find $300 in an envelope hidden in their office.

The locksmith took a look at the complicated mechanism on the home's front door. Over the course of the two hours it took him to fix it he taught us a few choice French words that were missing from my high school French textbook.

We paid him with the swappers' cash and put the receipt in the envelope with their change. If my exchange partners needed to fix something in our home I would have had to reimburse them or provide my own credit card number. I don't leave envelopes of cash around my home but I have exchanged with these swappers four times, so they knew they could trust our family.

It's important to think about how you would handle this from both ends before you swap homes. What if you had to pay $150 to repair something and couldn't reach the exchangers? And if swappers called you and reported problems in your home, how would you handle it? Before you answer, keep in mind that the cost of the locksmith was about what we would have paid for a day's lodging in Montreal. In New York City, where I live, it's half to a third the cost of one night's lodging.

The point is, it's a home. Things break. Be ready.

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HOME EXCHANGE LOCK OUT

2011-10-15T15:50:00.001-04:00

We were locked out of the home exchange because the door was broken. Our swap partners had left the phone number where they were staying in France. We also had the number of the owner's mother, who lived a few blocks away.

When we called the exchangers it was night time in Paris. They were putting their children to bed. Could they call us back in an hour?

EMERGENCY AT THE SWAP HOME

2011-09-04T05:00:00.001-04:00

Has anything ever broken at your home? The same thing can happen at the swap home. Both the home owner and the swapper using that home have responsibilities if something breaks.

When you use someone else's home you take responsibility for returning it in the same or better condition as when you arrived.

Remember, you are saving thousands of dollars per week on lodging costs (hotel, meals you cook at the swap home, laundry, internet access, phone, parking, etc). Think of the occasional emergency cost as a mere fraction of what you would spend at a hotel or resort vacation.

If you can't call the front desk for help, are you prepared to handle a repair? If you are swapping in a country where your command of the native language is less than commanding, what will you do? If you are able to get a repair person, s/he will need to be paid.

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LOCKED OUT OF THE EXCHANGE HOME!

2011-08-30T23:15:00.001-04:00

So there we were, in the pouring rain, with two tired kids, fiddling with the door of the home exchange house. The lock would not budge. Our swap partners were in Europe. The swap home was in Montreal, where our cell phones did not work and where surprisingly few people are fluent in English.

I speak some French, but my high school French teacher, dear Madame Gnassia, had neglected to drill us on the vocabulary associated with locksmithing.

This problem would never arise during a hotel stay. But it could certainly pop up at my own home. For me, home exchange is no different than caring for my own home. If I would be willing to deal with a locksmith at my own home I should do the same for the swap home.

Of course, at my place the locksmiths speak English. What to do?

DRIVING FROM NEW YORK CITY TO FRANCE

2011-08-18T22:16:00.001-04:00

Last weekend we drove to France from our home in New York City. No, we don't have an Amphicar that can transform into a boat to drive across the Atlantic. We are swapping homes in Montreal.

"Why does everyone speak French here?" my kids want to know. We are in a different country, I explain, and it really seems that way, with all the signs in French, the poutine at the greasy spoon diner on the corner and the brilliant Bixi rental bike program that lets me grab a bike at hundreds of locations around the city for just $5 a day.

Montreal is my favorite home exchange city. The home we are using is about 2,000 square feet. It has a small courtyard with a grill as well as two balconies off the bedrooms. My children each have their own bedroom. There are many benefits to home exchange, but there are drawbacks too, as we found out on our second day here.

ENFORCED HOSPITALITY

2011-08-10T12:55:00.000-04:00

I never really told you about our last home exchange. This was the swap where the exchangers wrote to me about a "minor problem" just before we were supposed to leave. The issue was the fact that their friends, who own a farm-stay business, had booked a family to use the house we were supposed to use at the same time we would be there.

As it turned out, the farmers found another lodging option for those guests. I was glad to hear it. Having to share a home with a family I have never met is not home exchange. In fact, it isn't even hosted hospitality exchange. It would just be awkward, or potentially unpleasant and it's not the way I choose to travel.

There was a positive outcome to this experience. I'll let you know about that next time.

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HOME EXCHANGE ROAD TRIP

2011-07-29T14:35:00.001-04:00

Even though we are running on one fewer income than usual, we will travel for a month this summer on just the cost of gas. It's all thanks to home exchange.

After we use past swap partners' big, remodeled horse house in Montreal's Plateau district we will drive to Toronto. We first swapped homes with that exchanger when our daughter was just an infant. That house is what Canadians call a Heritage Home, in this case a rambling Victorian with a basement apartment that means home exchangers are always welcome.

CHEAP SUMMER TRAVEL

2011-07-27T11:27:00.001-04:00

We just become a one-income family but we can still take a luxurious summer road trip thanks to home exchange.

We will escape the August heat by driving to Europe.

How long does it take to drive to Europe from New York City? Just six hours if, like me, you think of Montreal as France without the hassles.

We will be using a huge swap house in the Plateau, our favorite Montreal neighborhood. We have swapped with these exchangers twice before in the last decade.

Montreal is just the first stop in a three week swap vacation. More of our itinerary to follow.

DON'T HAVE A SECOND HOME? SWAP LIKE YOU DO

2011-07-26T13:08:00.000-04:00

Here's the thanks I get for turning my kids' godparents on to home exchange: they're in my apartment this week so their non-simultaneous home exchange partners can use their place during this peak travel time. Later this year my friends will use the swappers' huge house in Washington, DC. My friends are using my second home and it's letting them swap as if they own multiple residences.

You may only have one home but with a little help from your friends you can swap as if you own several!

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JULY 4th SWAP NEEDED

2011-06-23T08:50:00.001-04:00

"There is a minor glitch with our July fourth swap, easily solved". There was nothing confidence-inspiring about the beginning of this email. Worse, it was from the family whose house we were heading to for Independence Day weekend.

This non-simultaneous exchange was confirmed six months ago. Now, a week before the holiday weekend, there was suddenly a problem....

Summer Travel for Pennies

2011-06-20T09:33:00.000-04:00

Our Memorial Day get- away set us back under $200 for a family of four. That includes gas, tolls, recreation and dinner out each night. Oh, and lodging of course. We had a five bedroom Victorian house in a quaint Pennsylvania town.

The home exchange's neighbors are Mennonite. They dress in plain clothes and avoid modern technology. They bicycled over to make sure we had everything we needed and generously answered questions we had about the Amish families we had seen trotting by in buggies pulled by horses. Try that in a chain hotel.

EXPECTING THE WORST FROM HOME EXCHANGE?

2011-06-08T12:33:00.000-04:00

What's the worst thing that could go wrong with a home exchange? That's what reporters always want to know when they write about swapping. It just doesn't make for an interesting story to tell the truth: the vast majority of home exchange vacations are wonderful experiences and the things that go wrong with them are usually no big deal.

A BBC reporter recently wrote to me in a desperate attempt to find something -- anything -- awful to include in his documentary about swapping. He said there must be scammers and irresponsible people who had destroyed someone's home. He just couldn't find any evidence of this. Here is my response:

It might not make for a dramatic film but the worst thing reported is generally differing housekeeping standards. No one has reported major damage or theft. There is now home exchange insurance to prevent any loss.

The only scammers I have heard about are bad club owners. There have been people who hacked the websites of real clubs to steal personal info and people who set up fake swap club websites to steal credit card numbers.

My sister swapped with a French guy whose home was a filthy pig sty to the point where she had to leave and book a hotel.

My worst experience was with a Parisian whose swap apartment was a stinky bachelor pad with burlap wall paper and ugly shag rugs from the 1970's.

Anyway I have heard from hundreds of home exchangers and there just are not the sort of problems you are seeking. Sorry.

If I am wrong, please feel free to comment. Maybe the BBC will interview you.

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LET ME DESIGN YOUR SWAP LISTING!

2011-06-06T12:47:00.000-04:00

Your awesome summer swap is practically guaranteed if you get the home exchange expert to design your swap listing. Who is this Swami of Swap who will spotlight your home in the best light to receive tons of exchange offers? Me, of course.

As a fund-raiser for a local public school, I am offering to design and photograph the swap listing of a lucky home exchanger. I will throw in a free year's listing with a swap club. If you would like to bid on this or other packages, please go to the auction site, https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=136411561&browse=

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2011-06-03T13:23:00.001-04:00

Why do people watch auto racing? From what I can tell it's primarily for the crashes. Seems like that auto racing audience brings the same focus to home exchange. If you write a popular home exchange column you probably find yourself receiving emails like the one I got yesterday:

"Hi Nicole,I work for a travel show on BBC World News. I am making a film about the good and bad elements of home exchange. We have lots of testimony about how great home exchange is, so already our piece is very positive. However, I am trying to find someone who has had a nightmare with it - perhaps they've been scammed ( I know there are a few scammers out there), or just left with a load of damage to their home and not known where to turn.I just wanted to pick your brains really. Is there anyone you know of, who's had a problem like that? Any pointers would be very gratefully received.Thanks

Nice, huh? Britain's premier channel, the BBC, is desperate to find horrible experiences of home exchangers. All they could find is "very positive" testimony. No nightmares. How sad for them.

Organized home exchange is now in its 7th decade. I am a second-generation home swapper. Among the members of my family of origin and my own family we have a combined total of over 100 wonderful home exchanges and a few that were less than perfect. In every case, the swaps we did not enjoy were with folks whose house-keeping standards differed from ours. Big whoop. Have a cleaning service in, or buy some disinfecting wipes and break out the vacuum cleaner. In every case our swap homes have been much nicer than a tiny hotel room.

What would you tell the BBC reporter? Stay tuned for my response.

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ONE-NIGHT SWAPS

2011-06-01T11:40:00.000-04:00

Over Labor Day weekend I am doing two single-night swaps, even though they are against my idea of what home exchange is for.

To me, the benefit of a swap is getting to know an area, living like a local and meeting real people in the places you visit. That cannot be accomplished in a single night stay. However, I was contacted by a woman who lives in Pennsylvania, on the way to my kids' grandparents' home. She wanted a weekend in Manhattan, and seemed very nice and responsible. Her home is four hour drive from mine, which is too far for a relaxing weekend get-away when one has small children. But four hours is the perfect amount of time to drive towards grandma's place when leaving on a Friday after work.

The home she offers is not her primary residence so she agreed to make it available on the Friday before Labor Day weekend and the second Monday afterwards. That means we can get to and from the in-laws place without sleeping in a dirty, cramped hotel room.

Most of the time, someone asking for a one-night swap simply found the hotels in your area too expensive. In our case, a one-night swap will let us get a sense of the exchanger's area and allowed us to accommodate her request for a weekend at our place. It will be a first for us. I will let you know how it goes.

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ONE NIGHT STAY: HOTEL OR HOME EXCHANGE?

2011-05-07T11:08:00.000-04:00

Sometimes travelers passing through New York City want to use our home for just a night or two. I am always hesitant to accommodate this. Despite the fact that I think a one or two night swap makes no sense, I am actually doing one this summer. First I'll tell you what I don't like about one-night swaps. Tune in later to find out why I am making a rare exception.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH SWAPPING FOR JUST ONE NIGHT?

The interesting part of home exchange is "living like a local", falling into the patterns of daily life in a new place. You shop at the local market, see how neighbors greet each other, take in local events. It's like living someone else's life for a while.

Getting to know a new community cannot happen in twelve hours. When I get a request to use my apartment just overnight I know that the person asking is not really interested in home exchange. The chain of events goes something like this:

HOME EXCHANGE MATH FOR NON-SWAPPERS

Buy airline tickets to New York City en route to a nearby destination.
Not enough time to get from airport to destination in one day.
Search for a cheap hotel in Manhattan.
Find reviews for cheap hotels mentioning bedbugs, tiny/dirty rooms and shared bathrooms.
Realize that the only decent Manhattan hotels cost $200 per night or more and even these often have bedbugs.
Remember seeing that movie, "The Holiday", where two women instantly agree to give each other their homes, with a free side of sexy Jude Law.
Decide to "book" an over-night home exchange instead of a hotel.

PLUSES AND MINUSES OF ONE NIGHT SWAPS

From the perspective of the person requesting a one night swap nothing could be more convenient. They get a free place to stay and they only owe the swap partner one night at their own home.

The person receiving the one-night swap request is probably less enthusiastic. You have to make sure your home is spotless; have your home available on a single, inflexible day; and put the same energy into vetting, orienting and helping someone for one night as for a month. You are then entitled to a single night at the swapper's home, or more if they choose to be generous.

If your home is available because you were already planning to be out of town, the one-night swapper's presence prevents you from hosting exchangers for longer periods of time. Having a one-night swapper means plants go unwatered, pets unfed and you leave your home empty/vulnerable for a longer period than if someone were in your home for the entire length of your time away. This is true of your own home even if the one-night swapper makes her place available to you for a longer stay.

The attitude behind a one-night swap is "I only care about saving money". This is the wrong reason to do home exchange.

Despite my disinclination to do one-night swaps I am about to do two of them. What are the special circumstances?

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HOME EXCHANGE FOR FREE THEME PARK ADMISSION?

2011-05-04T14:25:00.000-04:00

We just spent two weeks in Orlando for free. You already know you can stay anywhere in the world for free by swapping the use of your home for the use of another family's place. We let first-time exchangers use our tiny Manhattan apartment in January. They cleared out of their second home in Orlando over the most popular two weeks of the year to visit Florida's theme parks, Spring Break in April.

After setting up our home exchange lodging I did not immediately remove Orlando from our list of desired destinations. As a result, offers for the Orlando area kept arriving in my email. Looking at the profile of one swapper I noticed that he was affiliated with a major theme park. Most people only swap the use of their homes for the use of someone else's home. We already had a place to stay in Orlando. Would this exchanger consider getting us free or discounted admission to his place of business, the major theme park?

Spring Break is such a popular time to visit Orlando that most of the theme parks prevent pass-holders from using even season passes. The entire length of our stay was a "black-out" period for all the available types of annual and discount pass packages.

Still, it was worth a chance. I asked the exchanger if he would consider getting us entry to the park in exchange for using our home during his preferred dates. It took a while for him to get back to me.

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ORLANDO SPRING BREAK SWAP HOME

2011-04-25T12:01:00.001-04:00

Granny and Pawpaw live in Florida now. Their senior residence is close to Orlando's theme parks but they have a one-bedroom unit.

No worries. We have a gorgeous 3-bedroom, 2-bath swap home near the attractions. It has its own pool as well as a billiards table.

The housing market is particularly bad in Florida. When we listed our home as available for a Spring Break home exchange we had five families contact us the first week.

Eventually I chose three of the many swap parties that I corresponded with. But I am only ever using one of their homes.

Why am I accommodating two other couples? Because doing so let me set up the ultimate home exchange vacation. Stay tuned...

LOVE AIRLINE FEES? TRY HOTEL FEES.

2011-04-21T13:46:00.002-04:00

Did you think airline fees were ever-more creative? Welcome to hotel fees! The New York Times had an article about hotels charging fees that were so ridiculous I had to check to see if it was an April Fool's Day joke. Nope.

Here's what the Times had to say:

"We all have pet peeves about fees. Some readers are livid about so-called groundskeeping fees and others by charges for things like that in-room safe that few people use. A nightly charge for housekeeping especially irks me. So let’s say I share my skepticism and cynicism with one business traveler, who wrote this after reading last week’s column:
“Like you, my wife and I have long left a tip on the bed at hotels as a tip to the person that cleans the room. However, last fall, in Manhattan we came back to our room midmorning. The room had not been cleaned, but the tip was gone.” "

One of the many joys of home exchange is no groundskeeping fee. As for housekeeping, I don't feel much like cleaning this large swap home when we leave so I am writing to the exchangers to see which cleaning service they use, or if they would mind if I hire a bonded cleaner to supervise before we leave. Who says you can't have the best of both worlds?

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HOME EXCHANGE SPRING BREAK CARS

2011-04-17T14:15:00.001-04:00

Taxi from the airport? Not for this house swapping family. Our exchange partner had his friend pick us up in a shiny new luxury sedan. The car company isn't paying me so I won't mention the brand but it rhymes with "burn, Hades". Sort of.

The exchangers had driven to their vacation at my home. Their vehicle was a huge 8-person SUV. Parking it in New York City would have cost them fifty dollars each day.

Instead of making them pay those crazy rates, I had parked my compact car elsewhere so they could use my indoor, heated garage space in midtown Manhattan. I gave the swappers free parking in exchange for the use of their car when I visited their home in Florida.

We entered the swap home through the garage. That is where I caught sight of the car the swappers were lending me for two weeks. It was the perfect car for spring break in Florida: a white convertible with all-leather interior.

Flying solo with two small children was paying off. Thanks to home exchange this was shaping up to be an awesome spring break.

WORLD'S LUCKIEST HOME EXCHANGER

2011-04-15T05:45:00.001-04:00

I am the luckiest home exchanger in the history of swapping homes. Also the craziest: I am not only in Orlando for Spring Break, I actually flew here solo with my two small children.

Actually, they were perfect, since they got to play non-educational video games for the first time throughout the flights. Yes, "flights". I actually changed planes with them. And the first plane was 45 minutes late.

Did you ever try to transfer planes in Atlanta? It is a huge hub so getting to another gate can mean running while praying. And my kids are not fast on their feet.

We landed 20 minutes before the second departure. In a rare instance of logic, the connecting fight was at the very next gate. With just minutes to spare we were on our way to Florida.

When we landed in Orlando our lucky streak went into over-drive. Though I know it isn't luck, it's home exchange.

Details of history's best swap to follow.

DON'T SWAP CARS YET!

2011-03-29T13:05:00.000-04:00

Our friends who we hooked on home exchange are excited about all their summer swap trips. What they are not so sure about is whether or not to use the exchangers' car. Here is what I told them:

It's important to sign a car contract. Samples are posted on some of the home exchange sites. You should ask the car owners to agree to limit your financial liability to the deductible, know how much the deductible is, make sure they have insurance and with whom, define who can drive the car and see if there are limits on milage or destination. Also important is to know where the insurance and registration documents are and figure out how to swap keys.

After mentioning this to the swappers, they found out that the exchangers were offering a luxury car, which enticed them to agree to use the car. In my case, the first car swap I did was for a late-model super-luxury car. Picking this lovely vehicle up from the airport where the exchangers had left it and driving around in circles in a strange town gave me the first and only migraine of my life!

On the other hand, nothing happened to the car.

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NEW SWAPPERS ARE WORRIED...

2011-03-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

When you tell friends about home exchange they either think you're weird or they become home exchange weirdos themselves. Here's an email I just got from dear friends of ours who just started swapping their Manhattan apartment:

I don't know how this happened, but we are setting up our 3rd home exchange for this year. Really. We have California in April; Chicago in May and in August a place in West Virginia I grew up going to for hiking. We're delighted. I am starting to look for exchanges for Boston. I am always looking for Boston or Cambridge.

The Chicago gal is bringing a friend. They have already made plans for a Broadway show and a concert. She writes us with updates every week. It's sooo cute. We need a car to fit 4 adults and 1 kid. So we are going to rent. Rent, well until we were offered her car. Anyhoo i don't actually know what type/size car that they have. So I am waiting to find out.

They have offered us use of their car in Chicago. I am hesitant and need some advice. Have you done this? I rent cars all the time and it doesn't bother me. I use my sisters' cars all the time. Somehow using someone's car - and a person I don't know, haven't met - makes me feel uncomfortable. I am not comfortable having people that I do not know use my car. I would not leave keys for my car in NYC. It's not that I plan to get into an accident. I was excited by the free parking - that was totally cool, but a car - oh my gosh it makes me nervous? So what do you think? Am I crazy not to go for this?

Is swapping a car different than exchanging homes? The new exchanger I know seems to think so. I have swapped cars and homes dozens of times. What about you?

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HOME EXCHANGE: THE BEST SPRING BREAK DEAL

2011-03-14T14:31:00.001-04:00

High gas prices got you down? Don't worry, home exchange! My home exchange guests will be staying for free at our apartment, located in the neighborhood New York Magazine researchers said was the best in Manhattan. They sent me a list of attractions they wanted to see and I found a deal for them on a pass that gets them in and lets them skip the line for all of their top picks, and more.

Like my swap partners, you can get from JFK airport to Manhattan for just $2.25 by taking the local bus to the subway station. For a more pleasant, quicker ride, I suggest paying the extra $5 to take the AirTrain to Jamaica. From there, you can take the E train into Manhattan, or for another $5 save half an hour by taking the Long Island Railroad straight to Pennsylvania Station.

With home exchange, an attractions pass and a bus ticket from BusJunction.com, a traveler can spend Spring Break week in Manhattan for no more than $50 per day, including transportation, lodging, attractions and food.

I suggested my guests consider a New York Pass, which gives you 3 days or one week of admission to the attractions most tourists want to visit. They have a sale right now until Monday. The on-line only sale price is $170 for 7 days. The pass lets you skip the line and gain free entry at 55 attractions. Some don't look interesting, many are located an inconvenient distance from Manhattan, others are tourist traps and still others are included despite the fact that they are free. Below are my top picks, not for "can't miss" places to see when in NYC, but only for places covered by the pass.

American Museum of Natural History
Bronx Zoo
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Central Park Zoo
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
Cloisters Museum and Gardens
Empire State Building Observation Deck
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Museum of Sex
Museum of the City of New York
New Museum
New York Botanical Garden
New York City Police Museum
New York Transit Museum
Radio City Music Hall Stage Door Tour
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Immigration Museum Ferry
Top of the Rock
Whitney Museum of American Art

My favorite museum, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, is not even covered by this pass. And many of the attractions above have free admission days, or accept a lower admission "donation" than the one they suggest. Folks who want to go to at least a dozen of the places above should consider the pass.

Another option is the CityPass. For $79 it provides admission over a 9-day period to just the attractions below:

HOME EXCHANGE IS GREEK TO ME

2011-03-02T13:00:00.001-05:00

Communication is key to home exchange, but what do you do if you don't speak the language of your destination? One thing you shouldn't do is write in English, run it through an on-line translation program and hope for the best. I just received a swap offer where the exchangers took that approach:

Dear Sir:We have seen the exchange offer in exchange houses. Indeed, his house would perfectly suit what we want. We are thinking of spending two weeks in their areabetween 15 June and 15 September. . The island is a paradise from which you can enjoystunning beaches and an extensive food. Our home can accommodate four people.Our children, ages eight and five years, will join us. If you feel that we can think togetherin an exchange
if you don´t know Mallorca, is the island where was born and lives Rafa Nadal, Jorge Lorenzo (MotoGP world champion) or Rudy Fernandez (NBA player). only problem is that people who come fall in love with the island and don.t want to go home.sure you test if it will repeat.too have an apartment 50 meters from the beach, if you want I can also send pictures.

In the case of the offer above, the swappers speak Spanish. My home exchange listing shows that I am fluent in Spanish, but the exchangers obviously sent the same mangled English text to dozens or hundreds of people. They didn't bother to look at my listing so they did not see that I would welcome their Spanish-language offer.

The result is not just poor communication. It is also clear to me that the line about "his house would perfectly suit what we want", which is meant to say that my house is perfect for their family, is hogwash. They are a family of four. My apartment is 400 square feet (37 meters square). In fact, my listing clearly says I will not consider four guests.

Did you ever send out swap requests and feel disheartened because you received few responses -- positive or negative? This is a prime example of a home exchange offer that I feel no need to respond to -- though of course I did.

So what can you do if you want to visit another country and cannot write an exchange inquiry in the target language? Suggestions to follow.

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HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY TO SWAP HOMES?

2011-02-25T12:28:00.000-05:00

How much should you pay to swap homes? Veteran home exchangers may be asking if this is a trick question. After all, besides the yearly home exchange club membership fee, home exchange is free, right?

We recently welcomed swappers for their half of a non-simultaneous exchange. Having them in our home cost us several hundred dollars. To me, it was a worthwhile investment. We will enjoy two weeks this Spring at their large home with a pool and game room near Granny and Pawpaw's home.

Why would it cost me hundreds of dollars to host swappers? Financial break-down to follow.

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MORE FROM THE BEDBUG SWAPPERS!

2011-02-14T12:38:00.001-05:00

After our swappers left, a package arrived from Europe. They had sent a movie set in our Manhattan neighborhood in the same kind of old-fashioned tenement building where our apartment is located. I was really touched by their thoughtfulness. This is the ideal home exchange gift -- they had really taken the time to select something that related to their stay at our place. Of course, the film was in their native language, which none of us speak, but it's the thought that counts. Along with the gift they had included a sweet note thanking us for making their stay so comfortable and special.

Home exchange is completely different from a hotel stay. The best part of home exchange is the connection between families from different places who would otherwise never meet. I took one look at that movie, set in the very period I had described to them -- when the building they stayed in was first built -- and knew that the swappers "got it". They understood what our home meant to us. It is a link to the history of my city, my family and even my ethnicity. I told the exchangers that one thing I like about my home, despite how humble it may seem, is imagining the generations of hopeful immigrants who had lived there before I arrived. Granted, our neighborhood is now so gentrified and trendy that a struggling New American would never be able to afford to live there, but bits and pieces of the area's rich heritage remain. I had shared that with the swappers and they had understood.

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BEDBUG SWAPPERS: THE CONCLUSION

2011-02-10T07:09:00.001-05:00

It was very uncomfortable to tell my swap partners they had to cancel their one-night stay in the illegal hotel they had booked. Sure, it was cheap: most of its clients were homeless people whose lodging was paid for by the city.

Despite the swappers' poor judgment I felt bad about forcing their move so I decided to arrange theater tickets for them, using my contacts in the performing arts.

The exchangers eagerly accepted my offer. They wrote back in charmingly eccentric English "You are a nice girl. It is we who should thank you. The hotel you recommend was very comfortable and so near your home."

I was glad to clear the air with the swappers. But I made a note to myself to make sure future swappers prioritized cleanliness and safety over finding the very cheapest hotel in existence.

THINGS YOU NEVER THOUGHT TO ASK ABOUT YOUR EXCHANGE

2011-02-04T12:45:00.000-05:00

A blog post from a retired home exchanger raised a swap concern that never occurred to me before:

We’ve swapped twice for the same elegant studio near New York City’s Columbus Circle. The bed, in a former closet, was a tight but quiet alternative to the previous week’s stay in a more spacious one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side. While we did have more room in the first apartment, the rumble of the Lexington Avenue subway line, which ran directly beneath the apartment, jostled us to sleep each night.

Though I am a life-long New Yorker I have never heard of an apartment on such a low floor that the subway rumble could be felt inside the apartment. Still, noise can be a huge problem in City apartments. People often describe the view, the amenities and the neighborhood but I rarely see mention made of noise.

I have been asked a few times if our apartment is quiet. In saying it is I provide specifics. I note that it faces the rear garden of the building and is offset from the street. There are no residential buildings facing our apartment so there is complete visual privacy in the bedroom. This is also rare in Manhattan. The building was built before the turn of the 20th century and the walls are a solid 12-inches thick. This insulates us from noise outside the building, as well as from our neighbors.

Asking city dwellers about noise is a good idea, and one that not many swappers think of. Until their first experience being unable to sleep at a noisy city swap home.

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FORGIVE ME?

2011-02-02T13:03:00.001-05:00

Would the home exchangers forgive me for making them change their first-night hotel reservation? The homeless shelter they booked that illegally offered unoccupied shelter rooms was cheap, but not worth the dangers, including infesting my home with bedbugs. I found the swappers a hotel that was a bit more money, but a lot safer, more comfortable and more convenient.

To apologize for making them switch I offered them tickets to a show at my expense. This was their reply:

"hi nicole

thank you so much for your gift, but i think we should thank you also for the change of the hotel for more than one reason: it was very comfortable and so close to your home."

I was glad to hear that my urging the swappers to use a real hotel had not soured them on swapping with me. Home exchange is about building a relationship. Establishing boundaries is one way to keep a relationship working. My boundary of no incoming guests from homeless shelters had been respected by the swappers. We were happy home exchangers.

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A HOTEL CAN RUIN YOUR VACATION

2011-01-31T12:49:00.000-05:00

Hotels can be expensive. So is eliminating the bedbugs that thousands of travelers are now bringing home from hotels. With thousands of travelers passing through hotels from exotic places, and with bedbugs now immune to many pesticides, infestations have exploded in recent years.

The hardest part is finding out which hotels are most risky. Repeated bedbug infestation is the dirty little secret of all hotels in major cities.

It's a secret that is hard to expose. That's why websites like Bedbug Registry have sprung up. Travelers whose vacations were ruined by bites and the fear of bringing the bugs home post their experiences.

Home exchange greatly reduces your risk of bedbugs. Residential buildings are not immune to the critters, but hotels by their nature are hotbeds of infestation as people bring bedbug-infested luggage back from places where bedbugs are common, and from other hotels with the same problem.

Hotel guests who have been "stung" by this problem have little recourse. One of the few things they can do is warn other travelers to avoid infested hotels. Here is a list of hotels in my area that have had bedbug infestations. Read it, then book your next home exchange.

Chelsea Star Hotel
300 W 30th St New York, NY

Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers
811 7th Ave New York, NY

Holiday Inn Express
15 W 45th St New York, NY

Buckingham Hotel
101 W 57th St New York, NY

Union Square Inn
209 E 14th St New York, NY

Eastgate Tower Hotel
222 E 39th St New York, NY

Hotel on Rivington
107 Rivington St New York, NY

Millennium Broadway
145 W 44th St New York, NY

Sheraton Manhattan Hotel
7th Ave & 51st New York, NY

Sheraton
7th Avenue And 51st New York, NY

Radisson Lexington Hotel New York
511 Lexington Ave New York, NY

Jumeirah Essex House
160 Central Park S New York, NY

SOHOTEL
341 Broome St New York, NY

Latham Hotel
4 E 28th St New York, NY

Hotel Parker Meridien
118 W 57th St New York, NY

New Carlton Arms Hotel
160 E 25th St New York, NY

The St Regis Hotel New York
2 E 55th St New York, NY

Ramada Inn East Side
161 Lexington Ave New York, NY

Westin New York Times Square
270 W 43rd St New York, NY

Quality Hotel
3 E 40th St New York, NY

West Side YMCA
5 W 63rd St New York, NY

Paramount
235 W 46th St New York, NY

Comfort Inn Central Park West
31 W 71st St New York, NY

Comfort Inn Manhattan
42 W 35th St New York, NY

Belvedere Hotel
319 W 48th St New York, NY

W New York Court
130 E 39th St New York, NY

Flatotel
135 W 52nd St New York, NY

Travel Inn
515 W 42nd St New York, NY

Warwick Hotel
65 W 54th St New York, NY

Club Quarters Midtown
40 W 45th St New York, NY

Edison Hotel
228 W 47th St New York, NY

Chelsea Lodge
318 W 20th St New York, NY

Murray Hill East Suites
149 E 39th St New York, NY

Milford Plaza Hotel
270 W 45th St New York, NY

La Quinta Inn Manhattan
17 W 32nd St New York, NY

Millennium Broadway New York
145 W 44th St New York, NY

Park South
122 E 28th St New York, NY

Hotel Newton
2528 Broadway New York, NY

Americana Inn
69 W 38th St New York, NY

Hampton Inn Manhatten Times Sq
851 8th Ave New York, NY

Hilton Times Square
234 W 42nd St New York, NY

Wingate Inn Midtown Manhattan
235 W 35th St New York, NY

Days Inn New York
215 W 94th St New York, NY

Hudson
356 W 58th St New York, NY

Seton Hotel
144 E 40th St New York, NY

Plaza Hotel
5th Ave New York, NY

Wellington Hotel
871 7th Ave New York, NY

Thirty Thirty Hotel - New York
30 E 30th St New York, NY

Excelsior Hotel
45 W 81st St New York, NY

Four Seasons New York
57 E 57th St New York, NY

The New York Helmsley Hotel
212 E 42nd St New York, NY

Larchmont Hotel
27 W 11th St New York, NY

Park Central Hotel
870 7th Ave New York, NY

Hilton New York
1335 Avenue Of The Americas New York, NY

Cosmopolitan Hotel
95 W Broadway New York, NY

Chelsea Hotel
222 W 23rd St New York, NY

The Waldorf Astoria
301 Park Ave New York, NY

Belnord Residence Hotel
209 W 87th St New York, NY

On the Ave
222 W 77th St New York, NY

Dream Hotel
210 W 55th St New York, NY

Hotel Pennsylvania Ave
401 7th Ave New York, NY

Grand Hyatt New York
109 E 42nd St New York, NY

Embassy Suites Hotel New York
102 N End Ave New York, NY

Sheraton Manhattan at Times Square
790 7th Ave New York, NY

W New York Hotel
541 Lexington Ave New York, NY

Portland Square Hotel
132 W 47th St New York, NY

Park Savoy Hotel
158 W 58th St New York, NY

Mayfair New York Hotel
242 W 49th St New York, NY

Soho Grand Hotel
310 W Broadway New York, NY

Hotel Riverside Studios
342 W 71st St New York, NY

Glenwood Hostel
339 Broadway New York, NY

West End Studios Hotel
850 W End Ave New York, NY

New York Marriott East Side
525 Lexington Ave New York, NY

Comfort Inn New York
442 W 36th St New York, NY

107 Street Hotel Corporation
237 W 107th St New York, NY

Iroquois Hotel
49 W 44th St New York, NY

The New York Palace Hotel
455 Madison Ave New York, NY

The London NYC
151 W 54th St New York, NY

The Gracie Inn
502 E 81st St New York, NY

Hotel Plaza Athenee
37 E 64th St New York, NY

Hampton Inn Manhattan Chelsea
108 W 24th St New York, NY

Four Points Manhattan Chelsea
160 W 25th St New York, NY

Holiday Inn Express Madison Square Garden
232 W 29th St New York, NY

Inn on 23rd
131 W 23rd St New York, NY

Park 79 Hotel
117 W 79th St New York, NY

Hotel Alexander
306 West 94th Street, New York, Ny 10025 New York, NY

World Hotel Incorporated
101 Bowery Ste 2 New York, NY

Westpark Hotel
308 W 58th St New York, NY

New York Inn
655 10th Ave New York, NY

Best Western Convention Center Hotel
522 W 38 8th Ave New York, NY

Times Square
255 W 43rd St New York, NY

International Student Center
38 W 88th St New York, NY

Dexter House Hostel
345 W 86th St Ste 10024 New York, NY

Hotel Mela
120 W 44th St New York, NY

Intercontinental the Barclay, New York
111 East 48th Street, New York, Ny New York, NY

La Semana Hotel
25 W 24th St New York, NY

Broadway Hotel
230 W 101st St New York, NY

Manhattan Hotel
273 W 38th St New York, NY

Washington Jefferson Hotel
318 W 51st St New York, NY

Envoy Club
377 E 33rd St New York, NY

The Kimberly Hotel
145 E 50th St New York, NY

New York Marriott Hotel
1535 Broadway New York, NY

Courtyard by Marriott Midtown East
866 3rd Ave New York, NY

West Park Astor Hotel
465 Central Park W New York, NY

Hotel 31
120 E 31st St New York, NY

Southgate Tower Suite Hotel
371 7th Ave New York, NY

Millenium Hilton Hotel
55 Church St New York, NY

Jazz on the Park Hostel
36 W 106th St New York, NY

Hotel Carter
250 W 43rd St New York, NY

W New York Times Square
1567 Broadway New York, NY

Riverside Inn
319 W 94th St New York, NY

Beekman Tower Hotel
Three Mitchell Place 49th Street & 1st Avenue, New York New York, NY

Bedford Hotel
118 E 40th St New York, NY

Hotel Pennsylvania New York
401 7th Ave New York, NY

Morningside Inn
235 W 107th St New York, NY

Hooters
211 W 56th St New York, NY

Hotel Chandler
12 E 31st St New York, NY

Ramada Plz New Yorker Hotel
481 8th Ave New York, NY

Hotel East Houston
151 E Houston St New York, NY

Armenian General Benevolent
55 E 59th St New York, NY

Westin New York
270 W 43rd St New York, NY

Roosevelt Hotel of New York City
Madison Avenue And 45th New York, NY

Milford Plaza
270 W 45th St New York, NY

Radisson Martinique on Broadway
49 W 32nd St New York, NY

Sunshine Suites
419 Lafayette St New York, NY

Swiss 1291 Hostel
337 W 55th St New York, NY

Club Quarters Incorporated
40 W 45th St New York, NY

Jane West Hotel
507 West St New York, NY

Courtyard Mariott
3 E 40th St New York, NY

Imperial Court Hotel
307 W 79th St New York, NY

Daniels Associate
767 5th Ave New York, NY

Radio City Apartments
142 W 49th St New York, NY

London NYC
151 W 54th St New York, NY

The Latham Hotel
4 E 28th St New York, NY

Hotel Parker Meridian
118 W 57th St New York, NY

Affordable Party Music
503 W 122nd St New York, NY

Ramada Plaza JFK Airport
Jfk Intl Airport New York, NY

Duane Street Hotel
130 Duane St New York, NY

Time Hotel
224 W 49th St New York, NY

Mandarin Oriental
80 Columbus Circle At West 60th St., New York, Ny, 10023, Usa New York, NY

Sohotel New York
341 Broome St New York, NY

Maritime Hotel
118 10th Ave New York, NY

George Washington Hotel
23 Lexington Ave New York, NY

Pace University
1 Pace Plz, New York, Ny New York, NY

Stratford Arms Hotel
117 W 70th St New York, NY

Corporate Suites Manhattan Office Space
275 Madison Ave New York, NY

Da Vinci Hotel
244 W 56th St New York, NY

Blakely New York
136 W 55th St New York, NY

Shoreham Motel
33 W 55th St New York, NY

Hotel Pennsylvania
401 7th Ave New York, NY

Mansfield Hotel LLC
12 W 44th St New York, NY

Holiday Inn Express New York City Fifth Avenue Hotel
15 W 45th St New York, NY

Holiday Inn Express New York City Times Square Hotel
343 W 39th St New York, NY

Omni Berkshire Place
21 E 52nd St New York, NY

Condenet
1166 Avenue Of The Americas New York, NY

The Buckingham Hotel
101 W 57th St New York, NY

Golden Gate Inn
3867 Shore Pky New York, NY

Cooper Square Hotel LLC
25 Cooper Sq New York, NY

Senton Hotel
39 W 27th St New York, NY

Hotel99
244 W 99th St, #10024 New York, NY

New York Marriott Marquis
1535 Broadway New York, NY

NYC Marriott East Side
525 Lexington Ave New York, NY

The Westin New York at Times Square
270 W 43rd St New York, NY

Hotel St James
109 W 45th St New York, NY

Ace Hotel New York
20 W 29th St New York, NY

Pottery Barn
600 Broadway New York, NY

Inn on 57th Street
440 W 57th St New York, NY

Hostel Fresh
330 W 95th St New York, NY

American Museum of Natural History
79th St New York, NY

Pod Hotel
230 E 51st St, #a New York, NY

Four Seasons Hotel Great Exuma Sales
110 E 59th St, Fl 24 New York, NY

Fusha West
311 Amsterdam Ave New York, NY

White House Hotel LLC
340 Bowery New York, NY

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PATCHING THINGS UP WITH THE HOME EXCHANGERS

2011-01-28T13:21:00.001-05:00

After buying a flight that didn't get in until midnight, my incoming swap partners showed bad judgment by booking their first night in New York City at a "hotel" that rented rooms to both naive tourists and overflow guests from our City's homeless shelters. The scary part was that it took some convincing for them to change their reservation to a real hotel.

I don't meet non-simultaneous swappers during the wee hours of the morning, so those who insist on arriving at that time do need to spend a night at a hotel. That is something we agree on before they arrive. However, I am not in the habit of telling my guests which hotel to choose. In this case it seemed as if the swappers might leave a memento of their visit in the form of bedbugs provided free at the homeless "hotel". I felt I was within my rights to ask them to switch their reservation.

Still, I felt bad about forcing them to do so when they were obviously enamored of the homeless shelter's low, low rates. I decided to make it up to them. Here is the email I sent after they confirmed the reservation I made for them at a legitimate hotel but before I met them:

Hi X and Y

Thanks for confirming the reservation. You will be much more comfortable than at the homeless shelter hotel. I spoke to Z at the hotel. He says check out time is 11am but they will store your luggage until the afternoon. I can meet you at the hotel lobby at 3:30pm. Will that work for you?

I am sorry for the inconvenience about the hotel. I would like to get you theater tickets as my guests to a very funny Broadway show. It is a very visual comedy so I think you will enjoy it even if you are not used to going to the theater in English. I can get tickets for The day after you arrive. Info is below. If you would like to go, please tell me as soon as possible because I don't want the tickets to be sold out.

See you Monday,

I hoped that providing them these tickets, which I was able to purchase at a student discount not available to the swappers, would smooth things over between us after their unwillingness to change their reservation. Home exchange is about person-to-person interaction not available with most travel modes. I hoped I would like these people, even if I disagreed with their hotel choice. I waited to hear how they felt about this gesture.

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HOMELESS HOTEL HORROR?

2011-01-19T12:56:00.035-05:00

There is no way my incoming home exchangers were staying in my home after spending the night of their arrival in a homeless shelter posing as a hotel. But their response when I revealed the true identity of their "hotel" was disconcerting. They were more interested in saving money than avoiding bedbugs.

My first, tactful contact was not effective. My second email laid things on the line: confirm a reservation at a legitimate hotel or do not plan to stay in my home.

The direct approach worked. The swappers emailed me to say they had canceled the homeless shelter reservation without penalty and provided their credit card number to book a decent cheap hotel down the street from my home.

After the swappers' bizarre unwillingness to cancel the illegal hotel, my trust level was low. I called the new hotel and asked if the reservation I made was secured with a credit card. I had made the reservation in the exchanger's name and provided my own credit card. The clerk would not tell me the last four digits of the card, so I could not be sure my card was removed from the reservation. But he did read the name of the current credit card holder listed on the reservation. Since it included the middle name of the swapper -- which I did not know -- I knew he had actually given his info to the hotel.

The exchangers' poor judgment really set off alarm bells for me. It is one thing to book a room without bothering to read the warnings about the hotel that are all over the web. It is another thing to want to go ahead and stay in a homeless shelter for fear of losing a few dollars on a reservation. However, now that the swappers had done what I asked I felt duty-bound to honor my commitment to them. Unless they did something else stupid...

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HOME EXCHANGE TOUGH LOVE

2011-01-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

First my incoming home exchange partners had booked a room at a homeless shelter "hotel". Then they balked at canceling their reservation, claiming they would not be able to get a refund. Putting myself in their shoes, I might be suspicious if folks whose home I was about to use told me just a week before I was set to arrive that my hotel choice was unacceptable. But this couple didn't have to take my word for it that the "hotel" was illegally renting rooms meant to keep homeless people off the street. The truth about the illegal hotel was all over the internet. In fact, of 500 hotels in Manhattan that were listed on the website they used, this "hotel" was ranked in the bottom 10%. That should have been a clue for the Europeans. But it seems price was more important to them than any other factor in choosing a room.

This was not making me eager to swap with them. If I had to spend one night at a hotel before starting my swap and locals informed me that it was really a homeless shelter with a few extra rooms for tourists I would thank them and take my bedbug-free luggage to a different hotel, not quibble about having to cancel the reservation.

It was time for some tough love with my European swap couple. They could confirm the hotel room I had booked for them at a discount or they could find another place to stay. Their judgement was not making me feel confident about letting them use my home.

Here's what I told them:

If you want to cancel the use of my apartment I understand completely. If you want to use my apartment or cancel using it (either way) I need to know by tomorrow at 5pm New York time. If I do not hear from you by that time I will take it to mean that you want to cancel the use of my apartment. I need to know by that time so I can cancel the hotel I booked for you down the street from my home.

If you do want to use my apartment you also need to give the new hotel your credit card number by tomorrow at 5pm. If you want to use my apartment you must stay in the hotel I booked or another real hotel in the area, not the homeless shelter uptown.

I looked at the site you used to book the homeless shelter room. When you call customer service a recording says you can get a full refund by going in to your itinerary and clicking "refund". If you can't do that you can email them in advance to let them know they are advertising an illegal "hotel". New York City has very strict laws about what is and is not a hotel so they will have to give you a refund.

Below is the refund info from the website you used. I need to know what your plans are as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Nicole

I don't know if the exchangers didn't believe me about the fact that their hotel choice was a homeless shelter, if they didn't want to pay a few bucks more to stay at a real hotel, if they truly believed they could not get a refund, despite the stated policy of the booking site they used, or if they just didn't want to be bothered to switch reservations. I also did not care.

Cancelling a scheduled home exchange is a very bad thing to do. Home exchange is based on trust and the ultimate betrayal of trust is cancelling a swap for any reason. In fact, I kept my commitment to complete a non-simultaneous exchange the week after my mother passed away. Despite my grief I found another place to stay and welcomed my swap partners instead of canceling the exchange.

In this case, I was not about to get bedbugs just because these European swappers were cheap or lazy. It was my way or the highway for the Europeans. Would they choose to hitch hike or would they call the hotel with their credit card? My vacation plans -- and theirs -- hung in the balance.

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CONFRONTING THE SWAPPERS

2011-01-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

Homeless shelter to my swap home? No thanks. I had told my incoming European swap couple the truth about the cheapie "hotel" they had booked for the one night I could not accommodate them. It was a Single Room Occupancy residence for homeless people. I insisted that they confirm a reservation I made at a real hotel just a block from my apartment. I even got the exchangers a discount rate since they chose the cheapest lodging they could find, despite the many internet warnings about its many horrors.

"Dear nicole

you should know that we have already paied the reservation because we have booked it by an official site for hotel bookings (www.XXX.com).

We've been very surprised by your e-mail. We normally don't use to sleep in houses for homeless or something like that. We also think that an organization like [the booking website] should avoid to have that kind of structures among its chances.

So we need you to be shure of what you said because we're going to loose the amount of reservation (about 110$)

Write us an soon as possible.

Tank you"

On the one hand, the swappers clearly understood what I was saying. But their assertion about being unable to cancel a reservation at an illegal "hotel", with more than a week's notice sounded suspect. A quick check of the booking website they had used revealed a policy that any reservation could be cancelled up to 24 hours before it was to begin.

The exchangers might be confused but I was not. They could confirm the hotel I had reserved or find another one they liked that was an actual hotel. I gave them the good news that their reservation was refundable and again insisted that they find a less dangerous place to stay. What would they choose to do?

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HOME EXCHANGE DAMAGE CONTROL

2011-01-06T13:12:00.002-05:00

My heart sank when my swap partners told me they had inadvertently booked a room at a homeless shelter "hotel". They were due to arrive in less than two weeks. Canceling a home exchange, particularly when the exchangers have booked plane tickets, is a grievous sin. However, their poor judgment required decisive action.

I am very sorry but you cannot stay at that hotel. The hotel you chose is a single-room homeless shelter. The city pays the building to give overnight places to stay to people who have no place to stay. It is not a hotel. It is illegal for them to rent to you as if it were a hotel. Bedbugs are a big problem in cheap hotels in the USA. There are no bedbug reports for the hotel I booked. If you stay in the homeless shelter you may get bedbugs or other bugs in your luggage and bring them into my home. Please cancel the reservation.

I booked a hotel down the street from my apartment instead: Hotel (Redacted). I got you a discounted rate of XXX which is only $35 more per night than the hotel you booked. The manager is Mr. X. It is a 2-star hotel. Confirmation number is XXXXXXX. Phone number is XXXXXXX.

Please let me know that you will cancel your stay in the homeless shelter so I can feel comfortable having you in my apartment. If you do not want to stay at the hotel I booked please let me know another hotel you chose that is safe and clean. If you do want to stay at the hotel I booked please give them your credit card and confirm with me as soon as possible that you did so. Thank you for understanding.

I did not want to cancel this exchange, but if they did not move to a decent hotel I would have to do so. Actually, I did want to cancel this exchange. It really irked me that the couple was so focused on paying as little as possible for lodging that they would make this poor choice. The fact that the hotel is a homeless shelter is all over the internet, on every travel rating site and even on the reviews on the site where they had booked it. English is not their first language but they had been emailing me in English for months and their language skills were certainly sufficient to understand the fact that this hotel was rated among the bottom 10% of all Manhattan hotels on TripAdvisor.

Home exchange is supposed to be about getting to know people in the places you visit, and living the way they do. People who do it just to save money are missing the point. I got the distinct impression that this was the swappers' only motivation and it bothered me.

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HOME SWAP IN A HOMELESS SHELTER?!?

2011-01-04T12:59:00.000-05:00

In preparation for meeting my European home exchangers I casually asked them which hotel they were using for the one night our home was unavailable at the start of their visit. Their answer seriously freaked me out. They had reserved a room at a homeless shelter.

A homeless shelter? A place where people with no housing sleep on cots in a big room? Let me explain. The swappers reserved their room through one of those websites that offers discounted hotel rates. The place they picked was half the price of the next cheapest option. This must have seemed like a great deal to the swappers.

The reason the "hotel" was so inexpensive is that it is actually not a hotel. It is a "Single Room Occupancy Transient Residence" which is a fancy way of saying "homeless shelter". The place they chose is notorious for illegally offering empty rooms as "hotel rooms" while charging city tax-payers for housing homeless people at sky-high rates.

I could sound altruistic by saying I was concerned about the swappers' safety among desperately poor transients. Or I could sound politically aware by expressing my concern that the "hotel" was displacing homeless people who really needed the rooms when ignorant Europeans were willing to pay cash for the same accommodations. But that wasn't what worried me.

If the swappers came to my home after staying in the homeless shelter I expected them to bring bedbugs with them.

In case you haven't heard, bedbugs are now a huge problem for travelers. Some of the noxious chemicals that killed the bedbugs have been banned. The wily bedbugs have adapted to other poisons. I don't know that the homeless shelter hotel had bedbugs, but I was not about to find out. It was time for some tough love with my swap partners....

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HOME EXCHANGE DISASTER!!!

2010-12-29T13:06:00.001-05:00

Hey, cheap people! You, maybe? Saving money is not the main reason to swap homes. I don't like to exchange with people who are so focused on avoiding travel costs that they cut important corners. Like the folks heading here in January to use my home. I am in the process of trying to avert a home exchange disaster with people who are either cheapskates or way too adventurous.

Here's what happened. A couple from a very attractive area of Europe asked to do a non-simultaneous swap. They had already purchased their air tickets so their dates were inflexible. This is never a good sign but I agreed to the exchange. However, I use my apartment on days my children attend school, so I had to ask the swappers to begin their stay one day later than they wished. Their flight was getting in late at night. Could they stay at a hotel for one night? I would welcome them the following day.

Sure! No problem!! Home exchange confirmed!!!

They are due here within two weeks. We were discussing how to meet and I casually inquired about which hotel they had reserved for that first night. Their answer horrified me and may just sink this exchange....

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WHO WANTS TO SWAP HOMES?

2010-12-27T13:12:00.023-05:00

My place was Home Exchange Central today. First, swappers who are using our second home stopped by. I had arranged Broadway theater tickets for them and needed to give them the voucher. They say they are having a wonderful vacation at our place, and they brought enough warm clothing from their temperate West Coast home to deal with the foot or more of snow currently falling on New York City.

Later in the afternoon, a home exchange friend stopped by for a hair cut. Not from me, but courtesy of a former employee of a trendy salon who now makes house calls. I was amazed that he showed up in the blizzard. While he cut my kids' hair, his wife and I chatted. She was eager to swap homes, had been for some time, but didn't know where to start.

Bravely putting modesty aside I suggested she check out the archives of this blog. She is a doctor of acupuncture. I was not surprised that someone who was open-minded about something Americans view as "alternative medicine" was also so interested in home exchange.

There are a lot of people out there just like the acupuncturist. The concept of home exchange instantly made sense to them, but they aren't sure how to get started. I am going to scour my blog archives for some recommended newbie reading.

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TIME TO PLAN YOUR NEW YEAR'S SWAP

2010-12-21T13:35:00.000-05:00

In less than two weeks we will be ringing in 2011, ready or not. So it's time to plan your New Year's home exchange, right? Well, yes, if the New Year you're thinking of occurs 13 months from now. And yet I have received two swap offers just this week asking to use my place starting as soon as next week.

I often hear from people who complain that they don't receive positive replies when they send out swap requests. Timing is everything, folks. Disappointment is practically guaranteed if you ask for an exchange with such little notice. The issue is not just that home exchangers snagged my home last summer for the popular Christmas-New Year's period. I feel that asking to use my place moments before the most desirable Manhattan home exchange week of the year shows poor planning and impulsiveness, two traits that are undesirable in a home exchange partner.

The exception is if someone lists a "last minute offer" or puts their home on a site like Guest Vessel, which offers non-simultaneous swap homes for use when the owners are out of town. Failing that, aim for three to six months notice for a domestic exchange, or six to nine months if you are traveling internationally. Good luck lining up your dream swap in the New Year.

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SWAP FOR KIDS

2010-12-14T16:47:00.001-05:00

I just started swapping stays at my Manhattan apartment for donations to my kid's school auction fund raiser. It is the school's main fund-raiser. The proceeds off set cuts in government funding.

Already, generous home exchangers have made tax-deductible donations of a customized original song, an autographed poster from a new hit movie, and 30,000 frequent flier points.

Kind people often write to tell me they enjoy this blog. If you are one of them, please consider a donation to the auction. This blog is a non-commercial public service. If you value it, a donation would be a much appreciated way to show it.

TRADING MY APARTMENT FOR A SONG

2010-12-09T13:05:00.000-05:00

I just traded away my swap home for a song. The next home exchange guest I welcome won't trade the use of my place for an opportunity to use his home. Instead, this working musician is going to stay in my apartment in exchange for writing and recording a personalized song.

After all, home exchange is about a fair trade between two families. I do not want to visit the swapper's home town. However, my son's public school holds a yearly charity auction to cover cuts in state and local school funds. So I'll make the same offer to you that I made to the songwriter: make a tax-deductible donation to the auction of an object or experience and you can use my apartment whenever you'd like.

Click on the headline of this article to bid on the school's auction or find suggestions of popular donation items. Or email me directly via my profile. You can make a 100% tax-deductible donation to the school and get free lodging in New York City's best neighborhood in return.

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SURVIVING THE CONSECUTIVE SWAP

2010-12-01T12:27:00.000-05:00

Should you accept a home exchange offer if other exchangers will use the swap home before or after you? Yes, but follow some simple guidelines to protect yourself.

AVOID HE SAID/SHE SAID

You face the same risk a home-owner faces from doing two or more consecutive home exchanges.

Any damage or loss experienced by the home-owner may be attributed to you. That could be the case even if the problem is the fault of the swap family that uses the home immediately before.

This may sound paranoid but it couldn't hurt to take some "before and after" photos.

To make sure there is no confusion about when the photos were taken, use a method that clearly demonstrates on which date you are shooting the pictures.

People sometimes hold up the front page of that day's local newspaper. This method shows the photos were taken sometime on or after that date but it isn't sure fire proof of the date. You could be using an old paper at a later date.

A better idea is to email yourself a copy of the photos taken on the same day of the newspaper used in the shot. The "sent" date on your email proves when you sent the pictures.

Having photos to show the condition of the home lets you prove if things were pristine or not when you arrived and left. Damage left by other swappers can't be blamed on you.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

2010-11-22T00:16:00.001-05:00

Our tiny Manhattan swap home may be humble, but no end of offers keep pouring in. Now that I can retire to my relatives vacation home on the weekends we have complete flexibility to offer our apartment any time. We downsized when I went back to graduate school and now inhabit a home that is 75% smaller than what we were used to.

There are advantages to living in a small home. You can clean it quickly and easily. Everything is at your fingertips. We don't surround ourselves with clutter -- an item comes in, another goes out.

Small is starting to look beautiful to me. That's why I trotted down to the MecaWorld exhibit in Manhattan's Meat Packing district this weekend. I saw their "Modular Luxury Housing". That means they take the strongest cargo containers made and finish them with beautiful, high-quality surfaces. You can buy a ready-made home for around $40,000 including plumbing, electrical wiring, gorgeous bamboo paneling and solar panels.

Place this beauty on a "temporary foundation" and you won't ever pay a dime in property tax to own this modern masterpiece with kitchen, living room, bedroom and good-sized bathroom. If you have been wanting to get into home exchange but are not sure you want foreigners in your bathtub, consider one of these beauties. You'll be swapping with no sweat in no time.

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2010-11-11T10:29:00.001-05:00

More questions from the "Home Exchange Travels with Nicole Frank" mail bag:

Hi Nicole,

Really enjoying your blog. Thank you for all the information. I am wondering if you have had any experience with back-to-back exchange. I have an agreement with a family in Belgium this summer for two weeks. A couple days ago I received an offer from a family in France. I am considering exchanging with one family for the first two weeks in August and the other the last two weeks of August. I guess my concerns are 1. Relying on my cleaning person to prepare the house between the two families 2. should there be any damage to my house, what would I do if both families denied having caused it.

Have you ever done anything like this? Both families seem to be ok with it.

Best,

Randy Frazier

Hi Randy

Our honeymoon was a home exchange Grand Tour of Europe. We completed four different home exchanges over the course of two months. It was a wonderful experience and we did not have any problems with having multiple swap groups in our home. It is wise to be cautious, however. You have identified the two main issues in doing back-to-back or "consecutive" exchanges with two or more families.

Here are the things I suggest swappers keep in mind when they host two or more swap groups back to back.

WORK UP TO IT

Consecutive exchanges, especially when they involve foreign travel, can be tricky. Try a single, simultaneous local weekend swap to iron out the bugs before you take on a more complicated home exchange. Our home exchange honeymoon was an intricate patchwork of travel logistics. It also occurred after I had already done two dozen shorter, simpler exchanges and knew what contingencies to expect.

HAVE EYES ON THE GROUND

Enlist a friend or relative who knows your home to thoroughly check every room in your home for damage after the first swap family leaves and before the next group arrives.

PROVIDE A GUIDE

The person who checks your home cannot remember every detail. Take clear photos of the rooms of your home so your house checker can make sure nothing is amiss.

REMOVE PRECIOUS ITEMS

It is always a good idea to lock away anything you don't want touched or broken. When hosting two back-to-back swap families it is especially important. You won't have to worry which of the families broke your Ming vase if no one can access it.

CALL THE RENTAL CAR COMPANY

Needless to say, consecutive car exchange is a no-no. Either plan for only one car swap or find another transportation option. Cars are often damaged in parking lots or on the street so a swapper could use your car and not even know that a ding occurred. You won't want to approach exchangers after your vacation to try to track the source of car problems they may not know existed.

FIND A KENNEL

With multiple swap groups, don't force your pets to adapt to new strangers every week or two. Relying on one family to take proper care of Fido and Fluffy is already somewhat risky. Someone's travel plans may get changed, or the exchangers could disappear on day trips. You won't want to wonder exactly who forgot to feed the pets over the course of the weeks or months you are on vacation. Free pet care is a big benefit to home exchange but consecutive swaps make it less appealing.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS

Remember, you have home-owner's or rental insurance (right?!?). Whatever your insurance deductible might be, it is less than the cost of a month of European hotels. Most damage done by swappers is minor and people almost always take responsibility for it.

WHAT IF YOU'RE ON THE OTHER END OF THE DEAL?

Are you heading off to a swap home before or after another group of exchangers? Stay tuned for my tips to protect yourself in those situations as well.

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WOULD YOU DO THIS HOME SWAP?

2010-11-08T10:13:00.001-05:00

Is a time share week a valid thing to offer for home exchange? I just had an offer to swap my New York City home for a week at a time share complex in Bermuda.

My only experience with time shares is an aborted week at a run-down time share complex in Italy. The only week my host could book was in September, just before the place closed for the season.

We arrived at 1pm to find a large number of friendly, happy staff members. Unfortunately, they were only friendly to each other. Their happiness stemmed from the fact that they had just settled down for a three hour lunch.

Not a single one of them had any intention of interrupting their meal to check us in. One staff member gruffly told us to go away and come back at 5pm.

The time share resort looked abandoned in a "summer's over" kind of way. It was located in its own rural compound with nothing of interest near-by.

The desolate atmosphere, combined with the thought of relying on the inhospitable staff, fore-shadowed an unpleasant introduction to Italy. We hopped back into the rental car and didn't look back.

Maybe the time-share in Bermuda is charming. I am not going to risk it. Has anyone reading used or offered a time share as a swap property. Does the idea appeal to you more them it does to me?

BIGGEST HOME EXCHANGE FEARS

2010-10-26T12:53:00.002-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, let's talk about fear. The fear of first-time home exchangers, that is.

Here is a bunch of questions from someone who may be questioning her relative's sanity for agreeing to a home exchange:

My cousin in Maryland is considering home exchange with a family in France. I have so many questions about this (it's her first time home exchanging).. What about the safety of your home? Do you allow the people to drive your vehicle? (Considering that she's exchanging with another culture and we have a lot of weird laws... is that a safe thing to do?) What are the biggest concerns?

To answer your last question first, my biggest concern as an experienced home exchanger is that your cousin's first swap will take her thousands of miles to a very different culture. If her home in Maryland is attractive to French swappers it will certainly appeal to exchangers closer to home. Can she do a long weekend swap somewhere within driving distance? Home exchange is not like checking into a hotel. Your cousin should work out the bugs, and the butterflies from her stomach, when she isn't fighting jet lag or trying to read a French Metro map.

As for the other questions, her home is safer with someone in it when she is away than if it were vacant. Make sure the swappers understand your perspective on safety. We often host people from rural areas where they are not used to locking their apartment door. New York City has the lowest crime per person of any large American city. Still, it is against my best instincts to just leave the front door unlocked, and I ask swappers to make sure to lock it.

Does your sister have home-owner's or renters' insurance? She should. She can also buy home exchange travel insurance through KnowYourTrade.com.

Do I let exchangers drive my vehicle? I own a car, but would never subject any home exchange guest to the nightmare video game that is driving in the heart of Manhattat. My most common vehicle is a New York City subway car. I am afraid that folks who spontaneously try to drive one of those vehicles end up in jail. I sometimes swap unlimited transit passes for the use of others exchangers' cars.

Your cousin will be tempted to swap cars because car rental is very expensive in Europe. I would only swap cars with a signed contract from the exchangers, and a clear understanding about insurance, deductibles and other legal concerns. I am much more comfortable having people stay in my home. I have never had a ticket or accident in two decades of driving, but that's not very common.

Tell cuz to read this blog! She can at least avoid repeating some of my mistakes. Let me know how her swap goes.
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LOTS OF QUESTIONS

2010-10-22T12:58:00.000-04:00

The mail bag here at Nicole Frank's Home Exchange Travels has been bursting at the seams. Here are some great questions from a new reader:

My cousin in Maryland is considering home exchange with a family in France. I have so many questions about this (it's her first time home exchanging).. What about the safety of your home? Do you allow the people to drive your vehicle? (Considering that she's exchanging with another culture and we have a lot of weird laws... is that a safe thing to do?) What are the biggest concerns? I know I'm asking a lot of negative things, but I figured the positives are great already - you get to go to a place without having to pay for a hotel, you have a vehicle without having to rent it, you have a home that you can cook in rather than a hotel, you get the local culture yet most of the time close enough to the area where you want to go to... I'm eager to learn more :)

Lots of thoughts on these many questions. Veteran home exchangers, before I weigh in, what do you think?

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RECRUITING NEW HOME EXCHANGERS

2010-10-14T10:14:00.001-04:00

My Columbus Day cook-out party featured the weirdest home exchange discussion I have even had.

It was the first event we had for parents from my kindergarten student's school.

I communicate with a lot of people about home exchange through this blog and via my role as a media spokesperson.

What I try to avoid is non-consensual interactions. I try not to proselytize about home exchange to folks who may not be interested. Which is most people. So no one at my child's school knew about my secret home swap identity.

Then someone who knew I am secretly Home Exchange Mama spilled the beans. The resulting conversation usually touches on topics like Am I Crazy? Don't People Destroy Your Home? Why Would You Do That? Does Anyone Steal Things? And: I Would Never Let Strangers into My Home.

Not this time. All the parents at my bar-b-que were fascinated by the idea of home swapping. Half the couples present said they were considering doing home exchange. Others knew about the concept and thought it was a great idea.

I was surprised at how much enthusiasm this group of New Yorkers had about home exchange.

Why them? Stay tuned for my brilliant hypothesis.

SECRET HOME EXCHANGERS

2010-10-11T21:33:00.000-04:00

Today is the holiday known in most of the USA as "Columbus Day". When I worked in Berkeley, California, the same holiday appeared in our vacation calendar as "Indigenous People's Day". There are some things I really miss about Northern California.

The weather, however, is not one of those things. Still, we had a bar-b-que for friends this weekend and got lucky with a warm, clear day.

Many of the guests were families from my kids' school. They know me as Junior's mom. They did not know of my secret identity as Super Home Exchange Mama.

There is a reason for that, and for the odd reaction I got when they learned who I really am. More on this to follow.

ELECTRIFY YOUR HOME EXCHANGE PARTNERS

2010-10-06T20:55:00.000-04:00

We have a home exchanger coming later this month from Europe. I asked him if there are items he needs at the swap home. He asked if I have an electrical outlet adapter that would let him plug French appliances like his electric shaver into American outlets. Sure I do!

I found the adapter kit I bought when I went to Europe a few years ago. It has an adapter for every country. It is made for American appliances to be plugged in to the adapter, then plugged in to the wall outlet in another country. It is not made for European appliances to be plugged in to American outlets.

OK, so logic is not my strong point. Obviously the adapters I bought to use with American appliances will not allow my European guest to use his appliances in the US.

The exchanger asked if I needed any products from France. I said yes, please bring me an adapter for my guests to use with EU appliances!

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FEED THOSE HOME EXCHANGERS

2010-10-04T14:04:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I mentioned that I left the home exchangers booze.

It is also nice to leave swappers an easy-to-heat meal. This is a lot tougher. Are the exchangers vegetarians? Vegan? Perhaps they avoid carbs.

My solution is to provide several options that can be used separately. An example would be soup, a bag of pasta, and a high-quality shelf-stable entree.

The most crucial food item to leave accessible is something for the morning. A few tea bags, coffee (and a complete set of items needed to make it), bread, cereal and milk.

These basic items make the difference between exchangers in your home feeling cared for or sad.

Have you ever watched a desperate spouse attempt to filter drip coffee through a paper towel? I have. Be humane: leave the coffee filters on top of the coffee maker.

Whether you correctly identified the swappers' food preferences or not, show them they are truly welcome by leaving at least a few basics.

The thoughtful treats swappers have left just for us is another way home exchange is nicer than a hotel.

Hotels will leave you snacks but paying $5 for a can of soda from the mini fridge isn't my idea of hospitality.

If your swap partner does not welcome you to use a specific food item, plan to replace it. We keep a shopping list of every item we use and are certain to leave new items before we go.

I generally assume that condiments like mustard or ketchup are available to be used but not depleted.

Veteran home exchangers, what is your policy on replacing things?

DRUNKEN HOME EXCHANGERS

2010-10-03T00:47:00.001-04:00

We have home exchangers at our place this week and they may be drunk. We were once welcomed to a swapper's home with a note directing us to a celebratory bottle of champagne in the fridge. I don't even drink but it was such a nice gesture I have tried to recreate it ever since.

I don't assume that anyone else drinks so I make sure to put a bottle of sparkling fruit juice next to the champagne.

These days, craft breweries can be found in much of Europe and North America. A chilled six pack of local beer is a nice welcome for travelers who want to experience regional flavor.

Unless you are exchanging your home through the Mormon swap club, that is.

WHAT SWAPPERS ARE PLANNING NOW

2010-09-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

This week I have had a flood of requests from home exchangers who want to spend New Year's Eve in New York City. NYC bills itself as the Near Year's Eve capital of the world. Many people include watching the New Year's Eve countdown ball drop in Time's Square to be a lifetime "must do".

Like me, a lot of New Yorkers are eager to get out of town in late December and escape the holiday crowds. Just in the past week I have had New Year's Eve swap offers from France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Canada, and Australia, among other places.

If you have your heart set on a swap for a one-day event in a specific city at a peak time of year, waiting until just three months before that date to propose an international exchange is risky. I sometimes get offers a year or more in advance, and I am simply not able to plan that far ahead. But I would need a lot more than twelve weeks' notice to arrange travel to Europe.

It isn't too late to land a New Year's Eve home exchange in Manhattan, but it isn't terribly early, either.

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THE HOME EXCHANGE WORLD MOURNS A LOSS

2010-09-17T11:33:00.000-04:00

We have lost a fixture in the world of home exchange. Organized home exchange clubs started in the 1950's. Teachers from the United States and Europe took advantage of their shared summers off and professional connection to trade homes for long vacations.

Recently, one of the original swap clubs announced the death of a major pillar of home exchange. The paper-and-ink, snail-mailed catalogue of swap homes is dead.

Your reaction may well be "huh?" Only old-time home exchangers like me will even remember this home exchange institution. The two oldest swap clubs used to create bound directories of their members' home listings. To save on postage, each member got to post one photo of the swap home, a list of dates when they would like to do a home exchange vacation, and a confusing line of incomprehensible icons or abbreviations representing amenities found in the listed home.

By the time these catalogues came out, once or twice per year, the listings were no doubt out of date. Using these paper listings was tedious. You could send letters requesting swaps to dozens of families. You might receive one response, and have to set up the swap based on that single letter from the swap family.

The internet changed this model. Suddenly we could email other exchangers, trading information and questions instantly or over the course of weeks or months. Web-based home exchange clubs allowed members to post photos of every room in the swap home. There was room for narrative descriptions of the home, the neighborhood and the family. Internet-based clubs allowed sortable searches for houses only, or for ever three-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, or only for swap families with kids.

At first, owners of catalogue-based clubs insisted on their sites that their approach was better. Until recently, they still claimed that only a small percentage of home-owners outside of the United States had internet access. Considering that you can find an internet cafe everywhere from coastal Nicaragua to rural China these days, this excuse finally failed.

The catalogue-based clubs have modernized by slowly switching to the methods of the upstart internet-based clubs. They are now almost indistinguishable from modern swap clubs. As much as I hated the catalogues, they had their use. For one thing, they provided a directory to contact swappers one had exchanged with previously, whether or not they had renewed their membership.

If you happen to have a swap club catalogue, save it. This is the end of more than 50 years of history. Trees everywhere may thank us, but we will never again savor the excitement of paging through a thick book of free vacation homes. Rejoice and mourn. The swap club catalogue is well and truly dead.

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SWAP SEARCH TURNS DESPERATE

2010-09-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

Evil Kristin W. agreed to a Huntsville, Alabama swap, then stopped answering calls and emails a few days before the start date. If a blonde Southern art student with a small child ever wants to do a home exchange with you, you have been warned.

Finding a swap in the rural South of the United States is difficult. The largest home exchange club has more than 11,000 members in the USA. But there is not a single swap home listed within an hour's drive of the medium-sized city I need to visit.

In desperation I turned to a free classified ad site that I have successfully used for everything from selling a car to renting an apartment. In a year of posting and re-posting my swap offer I had two legitimate responses. Both of those families got cold feet right before the home exchange was scheduled to begin. That has never happened when I arranged a swap through a home exchange club.

My search has now turned even more desperate. Perhaps it is being trapped in this tiny hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Maybe I just like a challenge. I have turned to an entirely new method of finding a swap home in this area. Stay tuned for details.

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FAMILY TRAVEL TRENDS

2010-08-31T11:47:00.001-04:00

It is almost back to school time. Where were families vacationing this summer?

Americans stuck close to home. Domestic travel has increased as the economy and increased security measures make international flights less than relaxing.

Families have been flocking to a surprising new vacation area. Yesterday National Public Radio reported a huge up swing in family travel to...Manhattan.

Television is apparently a big reason for this. Food programs about gourmet shops and restaurants, sit coms showing our nightlife, and reality shows about hopeful young designers are set in Manhattan. They reflect the city's glamorous image better than gritty 1970's cop dramas did.

NPR followed one family from Nashville, the exact area where I have tried in vain to find a vacation trade for my perfectly-situated Manhattan apartment.

The family spent $30 per day having breakfast coffee and fruit at a giant coffee shop chain. Dinner out was $83. Their hotel cost $250 a night and the four of them slept crammed into one room.

After a week their vacation costs were $3000. They could have saved $2000 just by swapping homes with me and making coffee in my kitchen.

Wake up America! And not in a hotel room!!!

BEFORE AND AFTER SWAP HOME PIX

2010-08-28T21:40:00.001-04:00

You should have seen how awful our new apartment was when we moved in. I didn't take many "before" photos -- it was just too depressing. We rented it "furnished" which ended up meaning "containing lots of junk and covered with greasy grime."

After scraping away a quarter inch of cooking grease from the tops of the kitchen cabinets and tucking the lease-holder's treasures under the bed we set about making the place habitable.

Here is what the bedroom looked like when we got the place, as photographed through the kitchen doorway:

Notice the dirty day-glo green paint on the kitchen wall, the plywood shelf unit on that wall, the stickers and band aids covering the doorway wall on the right, and the crowded unfinished built-in cubbies.

Worst of all was the unpainted pine sleeping loft that was only long enough for a small child, yet too high and unsafe for said child. Hand-made of rough wood, its side slats the perfect size for a little head to stick through. The wooden loft was less than four feet high but built right against the window providing fire escape access. In an emergency it would have been almost impossible to get out through the narrow gap between the window ledge and the bottom of the loft. On the window are ugly safety grates which were uncovered except for dirty sheers.

With the permission of the family from whom we are subletting, we made a lot of changes. We only have a two year sub-lease, and we do not intend to renew. Yet we needed the place to be habitable for those two years. Since we neither own this apartment nor hold the lease we were not interested in sinking much money into decor we could only enjoy for two years. Here is the final change:

I scraped every sticker off that kitchen wall. Then we painted it a sage green-gray. We used a light color of paint to make the place seem bigger and brighter. Using matching fabric that looks like raw silk we made a gathered skirt for the cubby unit. It is attached to the wood with small "cafe" curtain rods.

The windows now have Dutch-style lace curtains that let light pass through while hiding the safety grates. The unsafe short loft was disassembled and replaced with a regular twin-sized loft bed. Under the loft is a reading chair and child's desk with a wall-mounted lamp. The bare floor is covered with oriental carpets, with the broad antique floor planks peeking out.

You can see the curtain rod near the window above the ceiling. It has velvet floor-to-ceiling curtains that extend all the way from the window at the far left to the window at the far right. At night they block light. In the daytime the windows are covered only by the lace curtains but the velvet curtains hanging along the wall between the windows produces the illusion of a wall of windows.

Finishing this room meant only re-purposing rugs and curtains we already had. The fabric for the new cubby skirt and the matching skirts for the uncovered kitchen storage and sink came in under $25. With paint, curtain rods, the loft, our new mattress and so on we have kept our redecorating budget between $1000 and $2000. A lot to invest in a place we will leave in two years, but necessary for a home exchanger. The more "after" photos I have posted on my exchange home listing the more swap requests have poured in.

Home exchange saves me at least $1000 per week on hotel and restaurant costs. I have already made back the money I spent in free home exchange travel.

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NO HOME SWAP FOR ME

2010-08-27T08:43:00.002-04:00

Having been betrayed by an aspiring home exchanger who changed her mind I spent last night research my hotel options.

They are not good.

My relatives live in a rural area in Tennessee. It is exactly the kind of region where people worry that no one will want to swap. Well, I do.

My in-laws always host us but now that my kids are bigger I know we will all be more comfortable with a but more space.

Since absolutely no one swaps in this area we looked to nearby Huntsville, Alabama. It is a relatively large city with many aerospace workers who moved there from elsewhere. But there are no home exchangers.

That is why, against my better judgment, I put an ad on craigslist.

After a few months of nothing but scam emails I was finally offered a place in downtown Huntsville. We confirmed the swap in May and reconfirmed just four weeks ago.

When I asked for final details on key exchange everything changed.

SAD HOME EXCHANGER

2010-08-26T14:07:00.001-04:00

Today I did something I detest. I made a hotel reservation. It makes me a sad home exchanger.

The swap was all set up months ago. After trolling various swap clubs to no avail I had finally landed a home exchange near my in-laws' tiny Southern town.

To do so I broke my own rule and posted a swap offer on a free classified ad website.

Now, with no confirmation after three emails to the family that had agreed to the exchange I am reminded why it is best to swap only through a swap club.

More on this when I have dried my tears.

PROMOTE YOUR HOME EXCHANGE VACATION DATES

2010-08-23T10:34:00.000-04:00

Your home shines in the swap listing. The photos show it at its best. You list every amenity. But if your proposed home exchange dates are not convenient no one is going to swap with you.

Exchangers just contacted me requesting a November swap. They didn't specify which dates interested them. Since they are from France they may not be aware of the events that occur in our area in November. So I didn't just tell them which dates are available. Instead, I explained why the week I am suggesting is the best possible week in the entire year to visit our area. Of course, it is co-incidentally the week that I happen to be available to go on vacation.

Here is how I wrote back to suggest swap dates:

In November our home is available from November 19 to 29. That is a very popular week in NYC because it is the first week of the holiday season. There are beautiful holiday shop window displays for Christmas. You can see the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. It is also the week of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, which is spectacular.

The day after Thanksgiving (Nov 26) is "Black Friday". That is the day the Christmas sales start. The shops compete to bring people in with very low prices. You can buy a television set for $50, a computer for $75, etc.

Here are some links to describe the November events:

Thanksgiving Parade: http://www.nyctourist.com/macys_parade1.htm

Holiday windows: http://gonyc.about.com/od/christmassights/tp/holiday_windows.htm

Black Friday sales http://manhattan.about.com/od/eventsandattractions/a/blackfridaysale.htm

If I had just said "our home is available in late November" the exchanger might have decided they preferred earlier dates. Because I took a bit of time to educate them on what is happening at the time I prefer to swap it is much more likely that they will accept the offer.

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Get a Job on Home Exchange

2010-08-14T12:50:00.001-04:00

Buenos Aires is tops on my home exchange wish list. One offer I recently got from a family in Argentina offered free use of their country club along with the swap.

The most tempting part of this offer was the free Spanish-language day care provided by the country club.

We could have a relaxing month in the Paris of Latin America. And by the time we left our kids would be fluent in Spanish.

The first home exchangers were teachers. Teachers have summers off and a desire to learn about new cultures.

But teaching isn't a high-paying job. Back in the 1950's some clever educator realized that teaching colleagues all over the world were a community that could swap homes for free vacations.

Teachers of foreign languages naturally embraced this new way to keep up their fluency.

Today home exchange is still a great way to hone foreign language skills. Living in a new country helps you learn quickly in a language immersion environment. This can give any job seeker a tremendous advantage in the job market.

WORKING THAT HOME EXCHANGE

2010-07-31T22:27:00.000-04:00

Can you really get a new job thanks to home exchange? Absolutely. The low cost involved with home exchange can allow you to take some time to learn a new skill. That could translate into an exciting career. Home exchange is popular in places around the world with unique traditional crafts. One home exchange hotspot is central Mexico. Towns in that region are famous for their silver-smithing. A swap to an ex-pat hub like San Miguel de Allende would allow you to visit silver workshops all over the region, take classes or apprentice directly with a jewelery-maker.

This approach could have you learning to make hand-made soaps in the lavender-growing region of Provence, France. Or you could master Italian cooking in Tuscany on home exchange. Perhaps you want to become an entrepreneur, importing unique goods you find in outdoor markets in Turkey. Learn to make craft-brewed beer in Belgium. Home exchange gives you the opportunity to grow as a world traveler and to "follow your bliss" by transitioning to a more rewarding career.

There is an even more important way home exchange can pump up your career prospects. More to follow.

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GET A JOB ON HOME EXCHANGE

2010-07-22T14:41:00.001-04:00

Can home exchange lead to your dream job? Yes, through many routes.

Home exchange is ideal for for people with flexible schedules. Those with such leisure time include teachers, students, retired adults and the unemployed.

Unemployment or retirement benefits may not stretch very far but, depending on where you live, home exchange can be as inexpensive or even cheaper than staying home.

In fact, home exchange can help you hone the skills you need to change jobs entirely. Watch this space for details.

THE "KEY" TO HOME EXCHANGE

2010-07-19T13:22:00.000-04:00

You forgpt something when you oriented the swap family to your home. The instruction manual you put together tels them where to find the fuse box, when to water the plants and how to operate the home theater system. You left a list of your favorite restaurants, brochures from local tourist attractions and guidebooks for your area. Thanks to your consideration, the exchangers had a wonderful stay at your home. But on the last day, crisis struck.

That's because you forgot to tell them what to do with the keys. This is a common oversight. It is important to determine whether you want your home left locked or unlocked, and share that request with the swap family. Then they need to know what to do with your house keys.

It's common to have swappers mail the keys back to you. But don't have your house keys sent to your house. Having a set of keys in an envelope with your address on it is too much of an invitation for mischief. Anyone who opens your mailbox could walk right into your home. Instead, have the keys sent to your work address, or to a friend's home.

Providing a self-addressed, stamped envelope increases the chances that your keys will make it home safely. The afore-mentioned self-addressed envelope should be a padded or tyvek envelope to make sure the keys will not get lost in the mail. We had swappers who mailed our keys in a regular envelope. The envelope arrived totally empty, with an irregular hole in one corner. The keys had worked their way out of the envelope and disappeared forever. If our keys were the kind that could not be replaced we would have been very annoyed.

Many devices are available to help you hide or securely store a key. Real estate agents use a box they hang on the doorknob with a code to open the box. The key is stored inside. There are also fake rocks that can be placed in the yard that have a secret compartment for the key.

Hiding the key under the front door mat or in a similarly obvious location is an invitation for your home to be broken into.

Having swappers meet with your friend or relative to pick up and drop off a key is the safest option. Even if you can't meet the exchangers, your key coordinator can make sure they seem responsible. However, make sure your key coordinator is herself responsible. An unreliable key person can lead to unhappy, stranded home exchangers, desperately trying to get into your home.

Don't forget the "key" to home exchange: knowing what to do with the home exchange key.

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KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THE EXCHANGERS

2010-07-18T22:12:00.000-04:00

Your swap is a few months away. Should you keep in touch with the home exchangers during that time? Absolutely. But how exactly to do it is another question.

We are welcoming two different home exchange couples this Fall. I collect info about my neighborhood as I come across it. A recent article in the New York Times travel section spotlighted not just the area where we live but the actual street. I emailed the article to our future swap partners with a note telling them which of the shops and restaurants in the article are closest to our home.

Sending exchangers info about fun things to do in your area keeps up the connection. You can make sure the swappers are still looking forward to their vacation at your place. You also show exchangers that you are hospitable and looking forward to helping them enjoy their trip.

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A HUGE HOME EXCHANGE MISTAKE!

2010-07-16T13:05:00.000-04:00

Eeek! A home exchanger I have been writing to just sent me a scary email. It reads, in part:

I will let you know the exact dates tomorrow once we get the flight.

As I wrote back to her: Wait!!!

No, no, no. You do not buy tickets then confirm the home exchange dates. You get a confirmation as to when the other family will make their swap home available, then you buy the tickets. This is an alarming mistake on the part of these swappers. Their assumption is very concerning. Don't make the same mistake. Dates first, flights second.

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BEST PLACES TO SWAP HOMES

2010-07-14T12:52:00.015-04:00

Travel sites often list the "Hottest Vacation Destinations". Home exchangers should be looking for something a bit different. You're not going to find a swap home in a "hot" vacation spot because what travel editors usually find enticing about a destination it its newness, exotic location, remoteness and so on.

Being on home exchange is more than vacationing. It is discovering how people live in other places. So I was interested to find the annual Money magazine list of the best places to live in the United States. Why not find a swap home on this list and experience real life in a "best place"?

Needless to say, my hometown of Manhattan is not on this list, which is geared towards inexpensive places to live and work. But if you're looking for a swap in "real, small town America" this list is perfect for you. Here are the top 25:

1Eden Prairie, MN64,000
2Columbia/Ellicott City, MD155,000
3Newton, MA82,000
4Bellevue, WA124,000
5McKinney, TX125,000
6Fort Collins, CO141,000
7Overland Park, KS175,000
8Fishers, IN69,000
9Ames, IA60,000
10Rogers, AR57,000
11Plymouth, MN76,000
12Highlands Ranch, CO98,000
13Woodbury, MN58,000
14Carmel, IN67,000
15Eagan, MN64,000
16Allen, TX84,000
17Shawnee, KS61,000
18South Jordan, UT51,000
19Broomfield, CO55,000
20Apple Valley, MN50,000
21Missouri City, TX75,000
22Irvine, CA208,000
23Cary, NC130,000
24Rowlett, TX58,000
25Gaithersburg, MD59,000

You won't find swap homes in every city on this list, but a map search will show towns nearby so you can broaden your search perimeter. Good prospects include Newton, MA; Fort Collins, CO; Irvine, CA; Cary, NC and Gaithersburg, MD.

If you are a home exchanger who is lucky enough to live in one of these towns, be sure to highlight your area's award as a 'best place" right on your home exchange listing, or even in the headline describing your home.

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WELCOME BACK, OLD SWAP PARTNER

2010-07-12T08:01:00.000-04:00

This weekend we welcomed Toronto swappers to our new apartment. We have known this family for five years. In that time they have become friends. Now we have a new, smaller apartment, which they found adequate. They just bought a vacation home in Mexico and we are already discussing a future exchange for that property.

When you get to know home exchanger partners you can develop life-long friendships. Our home becomes their home, and vice versa. It's a wonderful feeling to have friends all around the world. That is something which is possible in home exchange but not in hotel travel. The worker at the concierge desk is being nice to you because he wants a tip.

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ENTICING SWAP HOME PHOTOS

2010-07-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

This is a view of the fireworks from our living room window on Independence Day. I added it to my exchange listing, hoping to lure swappers who want to see the holiday festivities up close.

Even though I got about 50 excellent photos of different types of fireworks I chose just one that I liked. The focus should always be on your home. People who visit our place can see fireworks like these on New Year's Eve, July 4th, Labor Day, Gay Pride Day and a few other holidays, but those are just a small fraction of the days swappers may stay in our apartment. I would rather they notice the furnishings, amenities, etc.

There is really no way to tell if shots like this will have any effect, unless someone writes asking to use the apartment during holidays when our city has fireworks and noting their interest in the pyrotechnics. Still, it can't hurt for you to post similar photos that show exchangers what special events are like near your home. Give it a try.

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SPECIAL EVENT HOME EXCHANGE

2010-07-05T19:40:00.000-04:00

Home exchange is the perfect time to experience local holidays or other special events. My country's birthday was last night. In the US, Independence Day is often celebrated with fireworks displays. We have picnics or grill hot dogs and hamburgers.

Our swap home has a front-row seat to four of the six barges from which New York City's fireworks are launched. We saw an amazing display, right from our living room window. I took several photos of the "rockets' red glare" and the silhouetted skyline in the foreground. You can bet I am going to add at least one of those shots to our swap listing. I will annotate the photo with text explaining that holiday fireworks can be seen from our apartment.

This is the sort of special event that any swapper can highlight to add interest to a home exchange listing. What holidays or unique events are celebrated in your town?

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NO HOME EXCHANGE SHOULD BE WITHOUT ONE...

2010-07-04T07:54:00.000-04:00

You may be a hospitable and experienced home exchanger, or you might be looking forward to your first swap. Either way, there is something crucial missing from your home exchange tool kit.

You already leave clear home systems instructions for the swappers. Those are your notes about how to use your appliances, find the fuse box, turn off the water in case of a leak.

Exchangers also appreciate the list of restaurant suggestions and "where to find it" directions to the nearest super market, post office, hospital and so on.

Before you leave for your swap you always put out maps, guidebooks and brochures on area attractions. You write the exchangers a welcome note and make sure there is a simple supper for them in the fridge. There is one crucial item that is missing.

It just occurred to me that I don't leave a first aid kit for swappers. And I should. The moment home exchangers walk into my apartment they should find a fully-stocked emergency box.

Here is what the American Red Cross says you need in your first aid kit:

2 absorbent compress dressings (5 x 9 inches)
25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch)
5 antibiotic ointment packets (approximately 1 gram)
5 antiseptic wipe packets
2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)
1 blanket (space blanket)
1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
1 instant cold compress
2 pair of nonlatex gloves (size: large)
2 hydrocortisone ointment packets (approximately 1 gram each)
Scissors
1 roller bandage (3 inches wide)
1 roller bandage (4 inches wide)
5 sterile gauze pads (3 x 3 inches)
5 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches)
Oral thermometer (non-mercury/nonglass)
2 triangular bandages
Tweezers
First aid instruction booklet

Honestly, this looks a bit like overkill to me. Do the swappers really need a CPR barrier? If my child needed CPR you can bet I wouldn't be hunting for the first aid kit to see if there was a barrier in there.

The point is, home exchangers should not be hunting for your first aid kit. Leaving at least basic first aid supplies where they will see them the moment they walk into your house could save a life, or at least save your couch from blood stains if someone breaks a wine glass in the living room.

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THE MOST IMPORTANT OBJECT AT THE HOME EXCHANGE

2010-07-02T10:50:00.001-04:00

There is only one crucial item you must buy to upgrade your home for swapping. I'll give you a hint: you exchange partners will spend most of their time in the room where this item is located.

No, you don't have to get new stainless steel appliances for the kitchen or put a hot tub on the patio.

I'm talking about your bed. Nothing gives you as much bang for your buck as a comfy bed.

We can't fit many special features into 400 square feet. To make the place special we bought a new luxury mattress and equipped it with ultra high end sheets.

Home exchangers spend one third of their lives in bed. Making the bed luxurious gives swappers the sense that the entire apartment is nicer.

Home exchangers who sleep on a lumpy or rock hard mattress will dislike their swap experience no matter how welcoming you are or how beautiful you home.

You may not want to invest in a new mattress. But you can invigorate your old one with the simple addition of a foam mattress topper.

Blended cotton/poly sheets
are easier to care for. Too bad! Have at least one set of high-end cotton or linen sheets available for your swappers.

People have strong options about pillows. Providing at least one fiber full and one down pillow per guest.

It is not difficult to give swappers the impression that your home is comfortable and luxurious. Just direct a little attention to the sleeping quarters. The rest of the home will take care of itself.

DID OUR HOME SURVIVE THE EXCHANGERS?

2010-07-01T05:49:00.000-04:00

Before the swappers left I went to our apartment to say goodbye and get back our house keys. The swapper was looking embarrassed. She pointed our that she had spilled juice all over our large new rug. She immediately took our her wallet and asked how much the rug cost.

This is exactly what a home exchanger should do if she breaks something. We should assume that something will be damaged while s swapper uses our home. After all, we often break a glass or other item in our own homes.

The gracious thing is to forgive the swapper and not take any money if there is an obvious way to repair or replace the broken possession at a reasonable cost. If the object is past its service life or prone to the kind of breakage experienced by the swapper we might also forgive the debt.

In our case, this was a brand new rug but it was also an Ikea special. I asked the swapper for $50, or half the price we had just paid for it.

Aside from this little glitch everything we well. The exchangers loved our location and were comfortable in our apartment. They left it very clean. I was only a bit annoyed that they chose not to wash their sheets and towels. I had asked them to do so and they left at night so they had plenty of time.

Am I the only one who washes the sheets and towels I use before I leave the swappers' home on the last day? I'm starting to think I am asking too much.

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HOME EXCHANGE KITCHEN: THE BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS

2010-06-28T00:10:00.001-04:00

I should have taken more photos of the new apartment before we started fixing it up. It looked, well, a lot different. I only took a few shots but maybe they will give you a sense of the work we did. Here is the first project we tackled, the kitchen.

KITCHEN

On the left is the kitchen "before" renovations, on the day we took possession of the apartment. The place was rented "furnished" because that entitles the lease-holder to additional rent. What this meant for us was a lot of donations of unwanted items (with permission of the owner) and a LOT of cleaning.

Note the pot rack over the stove, lack of counter space, day glow green paint and general clutter. All the cabinets were unpainted. To the right of the fridge were wire milk-crate style boxes with visible groceries in them. To the left of the stove you can see the broom/mop storage area. On the shelves to the left of the stove cutlery and kitchen tools are stored in old tomato cans.

Here is the kitchen afterwards. We painted everything in a sort of light blue with some gray and some green tone to it. Since the apartment is so small everything wall surface is now painted the same color. This lets the eye flow instead of chopping up the space.

Notice that we moved the fridge away from the stove. We had to flip the freezer and fridge doors to do this. We added a butcher block cart, a revolving spice rack and utensil bins. We lowered the vintage paper towel and foil holder (the metal box above the butcher block).

A small apartment needs to be as organized and space-efficient as a yacht. Note the pot holder rack on the stove and the kitchen towel hooks on the fridge. We chose the smallest possible microwave, in the same color as the stove and fridge. A big difference between the two photos is the lack of clutter "after" compared to "before". It looks a lot brighter even though both shots were taken with the same camera and same light.

COST

What we spent on the items in this photo was:

microwave: $38
revolving spice organizer: $10
paint & brushes: $35 (kitchen only)
hooks for towel/mitts: $3
cutlery caddies: $10 (Ikea)
butcher block cart: free from a friend but in pieces. Ikea had free replacement hardware.

Total: $99 with tax

For under $100 we made a big difference in the kitchen. Most of that was just cleaning and giving things away. Getting your home ready to swap need not be difficult or expensive. More before and after shots to come.

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COMING SOON: BEFORE AND AFTER SHOTS

2010-06-26T01:59:00.000-04:00

I'm preparing a series featuring the "before and after" photos of our new apartment. Just wish I had taken more "before" shots. It was too scary at the time. Stay tuned for more...

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MUSEUM-QUALITY DECOR FOR OUR SWAP HOME

2010-06-25T13:09:00.000-04:00

Many museums offer high-quality reproductions of elegant furniture from their collections. At my new swap home I looked to a museum for decorating ideas. We are not emulating a gilded Louis the XIVth chaise or the chandelier from Versailles. No, our tips come from a more humble source: The Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Our new apartment is in an authentic century-old tenement building just a few blocks from the unrestored turn-of-the-century building that houses the Tenement Museum. The layout of the Museum and the apartments inside it are almost identical to our own home.

The Tenement Museum has several apartments that are renovated to show how people lived during different eras in New York City history. In the apartment from the 1870's I saw a shelving unit similar to the one in my own tenement apartment. The shelves had lace doilies hanging over the lip of each shelf and lace curtains on the windows. We recreated this at our own home.

Having decor from the turn of the 19th Century helps me feel connected to the generations who lived in this home before me. Some of those long-gone inhabitants might have been my own relatives. From the 1800's through the mid-20th Century, the Lower East Side was home to waves of immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy and Jewish Eastern Europe.

I fell in love with the authentic New York details of this apartment the first time I laid eyes on it. I even like the fact that this building, created before anyone had indoor plumbing, has the bathtub in the kitchen. When my own mother was a teen-aged college student she lived in a similar apartment. It always sounded so exotic that her bathtub was in the kitchen.

Back in the late 1800's the Tenement Museum apartments rented for $8 per month. Half a century later, my mother paid $18 per month for her similar "cold-water flat". Today, the market rate for an almost identical apartment is only $7 per month -- for one square foot of floor space. To rent the entire 400-square foot place for one day costs more than my mother paid for an entire year's rent.

My home is definitely humble. It is small and not opulent. No one would mistake it for the Palace at Versailles. But it is my own little piece of New York City history, and I am happy to share it with other home exchangers.

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THE KINDNESS OF HOME EXCHANGERS

2010-06-22T19:43:00.001-04:00

Sniffle, sniffle. I am slowly getting over my wounded pride, thanks to your kind comments about yesterday's blog post (below). The trauma I sustained came from the reaction of our first home exchange guest in our new apartment. She took one look at the place then described it as tiny and cave-like *muffled sob*.

For those who still want to leave nice comments to help my morale, don't hesitate! You can click on the title of this blog post to see the photos of my new home and vote with your comment. Was the home exchanger right, or would you be happy staying in our small, yet lovingly fixed-up home? Perhaps it would tempt you to know that we are on the best street in the best Manhattan neighborhood. This is not my subjective opinion or a boast, I am just noting the conclusions of the statisticians at New York Magazine, who recently ranked every NYC neighborhood on factors like restaurants, shopping, transit, parks, etc).

As the family member who did most of the renovations reminds me, the photos that are currently posted do not reflect the most recent touches -- we have painted the wooden storage unit which is visible in the photo of the loft, reorganized the closet and fixed up the kitchen a bit more.

If this had been my first-ever home exchange instead of my 53rd swap since the age of 8 I might never swap again. Who needs their home criticized, especially when one has just spent a month fixing it up.

Because the building that houses the apartment is well over 100 years old we decorated it with antique sheet music from the turn of the century. I gave pride of place to a 1920's framed song book about the state where the home exchanger resides. It's a subtle touch, and I didn't expect her to notice, but I also didn't expect her to be so negative. Perhaps chocolate would help...

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OUR FIRST NEW APARTMENT SWAP

2010-06-21T18:04:00.000-04:00

Boo Hoo. The home exchanger said something mean about our apartment. We have spent the last month fixing it up. Just before the swapper arrived we had it professionally cleaned. I collected a bunch of info about our area including articles on local attractions, menus from nearby restaurants and some guide books and maps.

The swapper came in and praised the apartment's cleanliness. I joked that I would give her a tour of both wings of the apartment (it is a 400-square foot home). She noted that the home is indeed small and that the tour she would give me of her home would take a lot longer because her home was so much larger. That did not offend me. I imagine that almost every American who does not live in Manhattan has a larger home than this one.

The comment that struck me as not so nice was when she told me "We got started late asking for a swap so we didn't have much choice." This part was true enough. She just contacted me last month about a swap that started today. Most exchangers begin searching for an exchange several months in advance. The problem was when she went on to say: "We were offered this place or another tiny apartment on the Upper West Side that was as dark as a cave. I figured one cave was as good as another."

I wasn't thrilled about having our little home, humble as it may be, described as a cave. It has two regular-width floor-to-ceiling windows in the bedroom, and the only thing one sees from those windows is sun and a lovely mimosa tree which is currently in bloom.

Home exchange is about offering generous hospitality but it is also about graciously accepting that hospitality. I linked to photos of our swap home above. Does it look like a cave to you?

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HOME EXCHANGE COMMENTS

2010-06-19T11:57:00.003-04:00

This is one of those blogs where the moderator (that's me) has to approve your comment before it is posted. Don't let that stop you from leaving a comment. I do this only to filter out the dozens of fake comments I get each day.

These are messages that have some slight relationship to the topic of the blog but are signed by someone like "Gulf Coast Beach Font Properties". The sole purpose of these posts is to advertise something which, based on the company's marketing choices, is probably a scam.

If you are a real home exchanger with ideas, questions or thoughts to share, don't hesitate to post a comment below. Just don't sign it "Florida Swamp Real Estate Sales".

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