I’ve been lucky to enjoy some amazing travel adventures this year. And as the year draws to a close I took a look back at all the home exchanges I’ve done in 2016.
It turns out this year did not include any simultaneous exchanges where we stayed in someone’s home while they stayed in ours. That was not for lack of trying, but for the trips that my wife and I took together I was unable to find anyone who wanted to visit our city on the same dates we were planning to travel. And due to my preferred method of travel planning, generally based on super cheap ticket prices or award availability, I was locked in to my travel dates. Fortunately, through the points-based swap sites I use I found the lodging needed and only stayed in a hotel once this year (unsurprisingly, Fairbanks, Alaska is not a hotbed of home exchange options).
Below are my home swaps from 2016, in chronological order. Depending on how you count it, this is 8 or 9 swaps (there are two happening for the holiday trip, but they are at the same time through different exchange sites).
Hosting a business traveler
Lisbon for a few days
Santiago with a fabulous host
Edinburgh staying in a castle
House on a Scotland Loch
Las Vegas visit with friends
Disappointing points stay in Rome
Holiday home exchange
And with these trips I’m up to 55 countries visited as counted by the Matador Travel Map:
Matador map of countries I have visited
It’s been a fun year!
great year sure !
I hope your 2017 will be as good as 2016 for you 🙂
55 countries ! not bad ! I’m “only” at 22…