We are staying in an amazing home in Southern California. Our 10-day vacation is costing us nothing but airfare. Well, and the $15 I spent on plumbing supplies at the hardware store. And the $50 the tire place wanted to patch the swapper's tire, which he thought was fixed, but was leaking when we got the car. Oh, and the screwdriver and hardware to fix the cabinet door that was off the hinges.
When we got here, two of the five toilets in this house were not working. One of them just needed the chain re-attached to the tank flap. It was a simple job to fish around in the tank for the chain and bend it so it would not slip off again. The downstairs toilet was stopped up when we got here. All it took was a plunger to get things moving again.
This is the first swap where we have had to do minor home projects. But that is all part of living in a home. Yes, in a hotel room I could call the front desk and have someone else lift the lid of the toilet tank and reattach the chain. But I would then be trapped in a generic hotel room where thousands before me had expectorated, or worse, onto the bedspread.
Here I have over 5,000 square feet in which to spread out. The only reason I had to repair two toilets is that I am in a house with five of them. We fixed the kitchen cabinet because we have a full gourmet kitchen at our disposal.
Even the couple of hours I spent dealing with the exchanger's tire isn't a big deal. I would never have been able to rent a luxury European minivan at any price, and I am driving this one for free. Well, almost free. When we picked it up at the airport it had an almost-empty tank and was, well, "a mess", in the words of the swapper himself. We are driving it back to the airport and leaving it for the swapper with, of course, a full tank. And I spent several hours today browsing shops while it was hand-washed, waxed, vacuumed and detailed. If someone lends me a car, returning it in perfect condition is the least I can do.
Are you really interested in home exchange? Think it through. To me, doing a few minor home repairs and making sure whatever is lent to me is returned sparkling is nothing. It allows me to leave the swapper's home and possessions in better shape than I found them. That is the essence of home exchange. If you cannot stand the thought of ever having to call a plumber while on vacation -- or serve as one yourself -- call a hotel. But if you figure, "no big deal, I might have had to do the same work if I had stayed home" you just might be a home exchanger.
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