Home Exchange

On this Cinco de Mayo*, 5th of May, I’m borrowing a Spanish phrase I’ve always loved, “Si, se puede!” or “Yes, you can!” It’s my rallying cry to tell you, “Yes, you can home swap!” Sometimes in life I think we need someone to tell us that we can achieve our goal: we can run that race, … Continue reading »

Vacation season is just around the corner. If you’ve scheduled a home exchange you must be getting really excited! Over the next few weeks I will post a series of three articles about what you can do to prepare for and welcome your home exchange partners. This week’s focus is the Welcome Letter. We all … Continue reading »

When visiting Colorado in March, spring skiing must be on the agenda. My husband, Stan and I made a last minute decision to visit our son in Denver for Easter. Our daughter decided to change her plans and meet us in Denver as well, so suddenly our vacation would include the entire family. I was … Continue reading »

Home exchange vacation has been a way of life for my family since the year 2000. We’ve traveled to eight countries and enjoyed 14 home swaps. When I talk about home swap, and I love talking about home swap, I find that there are three secrets that people appreciate most, so I thought I’d share them with … Continue reading »

Recently I was asked, “What’s your favorite off-the-beaten-path destination?” Immediately I recalled a fortified village or bastide in southwestern France named Domme. When my husband and our two children stepped through the 13thcentury arched gateway of rock wall it felt like we’d entered another time. Narrow cobbled streets cleaned by a summer rain, cozy honey-hued … Continue reading »

Any sentence that contains the word travel gets my attention; I immediately think vacation or home exchange, and I especially think fun! But today I’m using the word travel to address my weaknesses, er, my challenges—the aspects of travel that I need to improve upon. So I share with you my 2013 travel resolutions in … Continue reading »

Have you ever dreamed about traveling somewhere for several months to write, create, or simply think about things other than the mundane? Perhaps even take a sabbatical from your job and your every day life? But who could afford such a luxury? You! I interviewed the founder of Sabbatical Homes and with her ideas you … Continue reading »

Hong Kong. Quick, what images pop into your mind: the view from Victoria Peak, delicious dim sum, shopping? Yes, all those exotic mental pictures fill my mind too. However, I have a few others. I think about the flat where my husband, Stan, and I lived when we were first married, I recall the ride … Continue reading »