Over the years I have told hundreds of people I know about home exchange. Often, creating a new swapper is simply a matter of introducing this brilliant vacation concept to someone who never heard of it before. Most people reject the idea due to concerns about having someone else use their home, or because they think their home will not measure up. But for some people, home exchange is the travel style they have been waiting for all of their lives.
Friends of mine have been trying to coordinate a swap for two years. A busy graduate school schedule and other life transitions kept getting in the way. Earlier this week I received an email from them asking if they needed to empty out a drawer for exchangers to use during the swap. Their first-ever home exchange is this weekend, to Montreal.
I must admit, I am vicariously excited. I envy them that first home exchange moment, of putting a stranger's key in their lock and swinging open the front door. Almost inevitably the feeling I still have at this first moment is "I can't believe I get to use this amazing home for free."
My friends did well selecting Montreal for their first exchange. It is close enough to home (within a day's easy drive) that they can abort their vacation if there is any problem. And Montreal is both reassuringly familiar and delightfully foreign.
I hope they have a great time. And I feel confident their swap partners will enjoy their own end of the exchange. I don't recommend home exchange to just anyone. Doing so would not strengthen our community. My friends are responsible, clean, hospitable people with a large apartment in a nice new building. If they paid careful attention to their exchanger partners' photos and email signals they will find much in common with their counterparts in Montreal. I can't wait to hear about their first swap.
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