Vancouver is a great city. It’s got water and mountains, lots of cute neighborhoods, and it’s very walkable. There are parks to bike through and paths along the water. And best of all, a great food scene. So I was happy to hear from a couple in Vancouver interested in a weekend home exchange. They reached out back in October of 2018, and we found some dates in March that worked for both of us. And we both put it on the back burner, planning to work out the details like key delivery closer to March.
Since confirming the exchange, the HomeExchange.com network was integrated into the Guest to Guest network and technology platform (under the new name Home Exchange). This exchange was originally through HomeExchange.com. I ended up with two homes listed on the new Home Exchange network, one from each of the newly integrated networks. I kept the more complete one active, but unfortunately this exchange was attached to the less complete one. That caused a few annoyances, but at least I was still able to communicate with my swap partner. Out of fear of all the technical issues on the integrated Home Exchange website, we took our discussion to gmail.
When I first started home exchange it was with a weekend swap. Just a short drive from our home (at the time) in San Francisco. We visited Monterey, a cute beach town with a phenomenal aquarium. Our swap partners there knew we were new to home exchange and hesitant about it. So they suggested we meet in their home before driving to ours. That was a simple way to exchange keys and also establish a personal connection. It was a great weekend, complete with free passes to the (very expensive) aquarium. And the couple became regular exchange partners for us until they moved away a few years later. I’m looking forward to getting back to easy convenient simultaneous weekend home exchanges.
Comfy living room in our Vancouver home for the weekend
This swap in Vancouver was in a neighborhood we hadn’t previous explored. And just a few blocks from the waterfront, it was perfect for morning runs and afternoon wandering around the city. I found some new favorite restaurants in this area. And enjoyed the convenience of a metro station just a short walk from the flat.
Waterfront just a few blocks from our Vancouver weekend home
I look forward to planning a few more weekends in Vancouver, and other nearby destinations. These short home exchanges are a great way to enjoy a low-cost mini-vacation.