The true test of a great home exchange is whether or not you can imagine living there. Preferably in the actual swap home but certainly in the home exchange destination.
SWAPS THAT FAILED THE TEST
If you have been reading these home exchange columns for a while, you will remember our Worst Home Exchange ever. That was an exchange in Paris with a tiny, smelly, ugly apartment in an unsafe building with a psycho neighbor. Being in a depressing exchange environment like that can sour you on a destination. Hard to find nothing interesting or pleasing about Psris, but that nasty exchange home made it possible and we haven't been interested in visiting the City of Light since then.
I LEFT MY BACK IN SAN FRANCISCO
We had a well-situated exchange apartment in San Francisco. Near Nob Hill, it was convenient to everything we wanted to see and it had amazing views. But it was a tiny studio apartment: not ideal when one of us had insomnia and the other had jet lag. Even worse, the only bed was the world's most uncomfortable sofabed.
I lived in the SF Bay Area for 13 years and largely agree with the locals' rather hyperbolic description of San Francisco's environs as "The Best Place on Earth". But one night on the torture-rack bed in that cramped swap apartment and I was ready to get back on the airplane.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
These were the only really disappointing home exchange experiences we have ever had. After almost 40 swaps, those odds are pretty good. And the exchanges we have had during this trip have been perfect beyond our wildest expectations.
I can absolutely imagine living in Vancouver. Even if we can't have this excpetional swap home. It has all the beauty and mellow vibe of San Francisco, a similarly mild climate and equally evolved perspective on treading lightly while enjoying the lovely natural setting that surrounds the city. It seems like a very livable place.
WAS IT A GOOD HOME EXCHANGE?
How do you know your home exchange was successful? If you find yourself wanting to drop in on a real estate open house, that was a good home exchange.If you check out different neighborhoods, trying to decide where your next swap or future home should be located, that was a successful home exchange.
Most telling: if you would love to swap again, that was a good home exchange.
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