She reminisced and said that she had first joined ExchangeHomes.comwhen she was 52 years old and her husband had been alive. Together they had taken part in home exchanges all around the world. Her husband had died in 2002 and after a hiatus of a couple of years she had resumed home exchanging in 2005.

This year Laura had exchanged with Mexico, but she had found the flight taxing and subsequently she had undergone knee surgery and recovery has been slow and difficult.

She felt she had no recourse other than to cancel her listing with us, or at least put it on hold.

Our conversation jolted me into thinking: ExchangeHomes.com first began promoting home exchanging back in 1986 and in the intervening years we’ve accumulated an impressive band of Lifetime and renewing members who’ve been with us for 10, 12, 14, 16 plus years just like Laura. It really is a sad thought they many of them may soon find that traveling is no longer a pleasure for them.