My husband John and I had a passion for travel even before our retirement in 2016. To reduce costs for longer trips and widen our opportunities we decided to list our lakeside cottage in Nova Scotia on a popular home exchange website. For an annual fee, we get a listing on a website with thousands of members around the world and have wonderful experiences staying in homes, villas, apartments, and cottages, while saving a great deal of money and making new international friendships.
Our first two exchanges, done with beautiful homes in New Zealand just before retirement, totally convinced us that this was the way to travel. Walking the tropical trail from our beach house on the North Island, eating avocados and lemons from the yard, and having a roasted lamb dinner with wonderful hosts in Rotorua, was like a dream come true. Since that first trip, we have exchanged homes in 9 countries, 4 states, and 3 provinces. We have stayed in 15th-century village houses and 16th-century converted barns in France, gated Portuguese villas, Irish country cottages, an Arizona golf apartment, a Vancouver Island home, and a country finca on a walnut farm in Spain - and many others.
We have hosted lovely, well travelled people from many cultures and been to places that only the locals know about, with the guidance of the people we exchange with.
In return, we have also been given the opportunity of sharing Nova Scotia with our new friends and they have loved their Canadian experience. European travellers are especially happy to spend time with nature by the water, as lakeside homes there are rare and costly. Exchanging isn’t limited to second homes, and many families exchange their primary residence.
The Covid years put exchanging on hiatus, but in October 2022 we were back in Portugal, and this Spring we had 2 lovely exchanges in Normandy and Brittany, joined by our daughter and niece. Juno Beach on VE Day was very special. This week we will clean and prep the cottage for guests from Herefordshire who we have been communicating with over the winter. Another adventure for us to look forward to when we go to their home next spring.