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| Jun. 25, 2005. 01:00 AM |
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Opening new doors
Exchanging houses is great way to cut costs, get
acquainted But finding a perfect match can be work, writes
Susan Pigg
SUSAN
PIGG
When Torontonians Jamie and
Meagan McIntyre made their first overseas trip with
their two young sons, they were delighted to be picked up at
Dublin airport by a stranger and whisked off to a place with
all the comforts of home.
"It was a well lived-in house," says Jamie of the suburban,
four-bedroom home that they arranged through the HomeLink
International house exchange program.
"There was marker on the wall — and that was really nice because
we didn't feel like we had to keep our kids handcuffed the whole
time we were there. It was pretty comfortable."
There was also a change table, lots of toys to keep the McIntyres'
then one- and three-year-old sons entertained and a backyard
where the boys could burn off steam at the end of a day spent
strolling the streets of Dublin or sightseeing in the Irish
countryside.
"It was like walking into somebody's life," says McIntyre of
the swap, much of it arranged via the Internet, that saw his
family live in Elaine and Sean Flynn's home in the leafy Dublin
suburb of Drumcondra, while the Flynns, and their four kids,
lived in the McIntyres' semi in the Danforth and Jones Ave.
area.
Thanks to HomeLink, the McIntyres arrived to a warm Irish welcome:
Elaine's sister picked the exhausted family up at the airport
and then showed them around their new home away from home. There
was food waiting for them in the fridge and, over the next three
weeks, they met many of the Flynns' relatives and friends and
had lots of invitations for drinks and dinner.
"I've never been on a vacation and met so many people. It's
so much more a personal kind of trip," says McIntyre of his
first house exchange experience.
One member of Intervac International Canada, another major house
swap organization, describes home exchanges as "a cultural experience"
and "an act of international trust and co-operation" far beyond
just free accommodation and, in many cases, the use of a vehicle.
That pretty much sums up why such a warm welcome awaited the
Flynns on their first visit to Canada in the summer of 2003.
Since the Irish family arrived here a few days before the McIntyres
left for Ireland — a common overlap in the world of house swapping
— both families went up to the McIntyres' family cottage in
the Muskokas for a quick and classic Canadian getaway.
Each family included vehicles in the swap, so the Flynns used
the McIntyres' minivan to take their kids to Niagara Falls and
Canada's Wonderland. But the Irish family spent the remainder
of the month just getting to know Toronto — and chatting over
the fence.
"My Greek neighbours had them over just about every single night,"
Jamie McIntyre says with a laugh. "It was funny to come home
and find out that Elaine and Sean knew our neighbours way better
than we do. They are still in contact and still call each other."
McIntyre, a teacher at George Brown College, bought "the gift
of adventure" — a one-year, $160 HomeLink membership — for his
wife Meagan as a Christmas present three years ago.
Then the couple took pictures of their Langford Ave. home, wrote
a detailed description — noting its proximity to the subway
and downtown — and registered the property in HomeLink's catalogue
of some 13,000 homes around the world.
The family planned to spend a year looking for the ideal overseas
destination and property, but got so many queries about their
Toronto home, something about the Flynn's email offer caught
their eye.
Within a couple of weeks the McIntyres had exchanged a number
of friendly emails and phone calls — they liked each other and
felt both houses would work — and settled on a four-week summer
jaunt. It helped ease the McIntyres' nerves that the Flynns
had done two previous swaps, with families in the Boston and
San Diego areas, and all had gone well.
In fact, the Dublin trip turned out so well, the McIntyres tried
to organize a swap this summer to Canada's east coast, but found
by the time they started in March, most properties were already
gone for this summer.
It's been about 50 years since HomeLink and Intervac — the two
biggest international organizations with "offices" in Canada
— were founded by teachers keen to find a cheap way to get away
for the summer break and see the world.
But since then, a host of other professionals have signed on
— doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, scientists — who not only want
to save money, but also to become immersed in the community
and the culture of the countries they plan to visit.
The two organizations simply provide listings of homes, they
don't check them out, match vacationers or set dates. Members
do that heavy lifting themselves, all of it made much easier,
and quicker, thanks to the Internet.
While both agencies claim they seldom get complaints — and if
they do, it's usually because a home isn't as clean as it appears
on the Internet or the vehicle is on its last legs — they will
refuse future membership to the offending party.
In a worst-case scenario, where one member of the exchange has
to cancel at the last minute because of a death in the family
or an unforeseen medical emergency, both agencies have been
known to work together to try to find an alternative home. Sometimes
a sympathetic member with space to spare will offer up their
own place, said an Intervac official.
"We have friends who almost quiver every time we tell them we're
doing another house exchange. But we make our first connections
with people far enough in advance that we've gotten to know
them pretty well and they've gotten to know us. We're pretty
secure by the time we go on our trip that they're pretty much
like us," says Nancy Forbes who, with her husband Jim, is planning
their 16th house exchange, scheduled for next September and
this time in Wimborne, on the south coast of England.
"We've only had good experiences. And we've met some really
delightful people."
The retired Vancouver couple has visited many cities in the
United States and Canada, Spain, Belgium, Scotland and a host
of other countries that they say they probably would never have
seen if they hadn't decided years ago to swap their four-bedroom
home and, now, their two-bedroom condo with its view of Stanley
Park — prime Canadian real estate in the world of home exchanges.
The only "problem" they've experienced is the disappearance
of white terry faceclothes, which seem to be a big hit with
European visitors to their home.
"Now I just make sure I have extras," she says.
While HomeLink has about 1,100 members in Canada and Intervac
has about 450, both say membership remains somewhat static because
of fears the house will be damaged or family heirlooms stolen.
To be safe, most members lock up their china cabinets or have
a room where they lock their most precious possessions.
"Most members are adventurous people who see their home as a
bit of a jewel that can be bartered. They wouldn't think of
going into someone's house and taking things. They treat a house
the way they expect their home to be treated," says Jack Graber,
who has done a number of home exchanges himself and runs HomeLink's
Canadian operation out of his North Vancouver home. HomeLink
has representatives in about 25 countries around the world.
The McIntyres are still members of HomeLink and get regular
email requests from people wanting to stay in their Toronto
home.
"We've been pretty passive in the whole thing," says McIntyre.
"We just kind of wait and see what offers come in. Every year
we get about 10 of them from all over the world — from Australia,
from England, Denmark, some from the States. Then we say, hey,
we never thought of going there."
For details on HomeLink International see http://www.homelink.ca/ or email exchange@homelink.ca
Susan Pigg is Associate Travel Editor at
the Star.
Additional
articles by Susan Pigg
Reproduced with permission - Torstar Syndication Services
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