Home Exchange For ‘Soon To Be’ Retirees
Lots of home exchangers, as retirement looms close, start wondering if continuing to live in, or in close proximity to a large metropolitan area is such a good idea. While they were working, city life may have been attractive, but in retirement do they really want to continue fighting the traffic and dealing with the rush on a day to day basis? Maybe retirement could be so much more enjoyable in a slower, more tranquil setting.
Another consideration is expense; the cost of living in a big city is usually significantly higher than in a small town, so this as well could be a point worth consideration.
Home exchanging can be enormously helpful in the process of deciding just where to move to. A list of possible locations is a good starting point. From there begin the process of setting up short-term home exchanges to places on your list. Usually, a long weekend is more than long enough for you to evaluate somewhere. Live in a house in a real neighborhood, shop in the local markets, eat out in local restaurants, chat with the locals and neighbors. It won’t take long for you decide whether a location is right for you or not. Frequently intuition plays a big part and you will quickly develop a “nose” for what you want.
For the most part, folk usually retire within the country or state where they have previously lived, but even if your aspirations lead you beyond those horizons, fact finding home exchanges could still be an important tool in your decision making arsenal. Vacations spent in Puerto Vallarta or the Amalfi Coast are one thing; pulling up your roots and moving lock stock and barrel to Vila Verde or Castiglioncello could be traumatic.
A fact finding home exchange could turn out to be invaluable. Here at ExchangeHomes.com I spoke recently with a lady who, for years had dreamed of retiring to the south coast of England from Manchester. She took part in a number of exploratory home exchanges and quickly changed her mind – the reason she gave was her feeling that she would find it unexpectedly difficult to strike up friendships with the people she had encountered in the south. She and her husband completely changed their plans and looked instead at Cumbria and the Lake District, did a couple of home swaps and decided a move to Keswick would be right for them.
It’s also worth remembering that a well chosen retirement location could provide a wealth of opportunities for future home exchanges.
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