Thursday, June 26, 2008
Several years ago, when the kids were around 9 and 12, we traded houses with a couple from New Mexico for Spring Break vacation. They had placed an ad in our local newspaper, seeking to swap abodes with someone in the area where their grandchildren lived. Their goal was to find responsible people who could care for their dogs, cats and two horses while they were away. Our motivation was an inexpensive ski vacation. We both got what we bargained for, and then some.
We exchanged letters and photos, getting to know each other and the geography of our respective homes. After negotiating schedules with a few long-distance phone calls, we settled on arrival and departure dates and - in the end - our vacations came off without a hitch. My kids still have fond memories of feeding apples to the horses and chasing the dogs around the mountainside. And I will never forget our luxuriously- appointed, adobe home-away-from-home. (We definitely got the better end of that deal.)
In their July issue, Travel and Leisure magazine provides readers with great online resources for vacation home swapping, as well as other ways to find "the world's best free stuff"' like concerts and movies, skiing, museums and zoos, and even bicycles (Denmark) for travelers on a budget....and that's about everybody these days.
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