Two pairs of members immediately spring to mind: the first are in Southern California with homes in Newport Beach and Lake Tahoe; the second are in Europe with homes in Greater London and Boulogne. From what I’ve heard, both sets treat each others homes as virtual ‘second homes’ and constantly arrange weekend exchanges.

But now, with the cost of travel quickly becoming prohibitive, I’m hearing more and more that many members are relinquishing their usual long term annual vacation in favor of several weekend, or possibly four day home exchanges much closer to home.

One member I spoke with yesterday was very positive about making this shift in arrangements. She and her family live in a Philadelphia suburb and in past years have exchanged to Hawaii, Vancouver, Mazatlan and Dublin. This year they have already completed a weekend home exchange to Bridgeport and they are planning a second exchange shortly to Washington. She said they are currently looking to arrange a fall exchange to upstate New York, possibly for four days.

She said if the price of air travel becomes more affordable again, they would like to make a home exchange to Paris, but they are a family of four and with the cost of everyday living skyrocketing, such a trip is currently way beyond what they can afford. She agreed that even driving the distance involved in a weekend exchange costs twice what it would have done not too long ago, but for them it’s still within their means, especially since they traded in their gas guzzling SUV for a four cylinder Toyota.

Talking with her reminded me of a post I made a year ago in this blog covering my own weekend home exchange experiences. You can read it by clicking  Here!.

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