Manhattan Home Exchange
at Global Home Exchange
Vacations to Manhattan New York
can be tons of fun, but they sure aren’t cheap. By the time you shell
out for the hotel, hotel surcharges, cabs, subways, parking, car rentals,
taxes, meals, attractions, entertainment, souvenirs, and all those
inevitable miscellaneous expenses, you might feel like your wallet’s
just been run through a blender.
Home exchange is a practical
vacation alternative where you agree to swap homes
for a holiday. Most travelers to Manhattan New York think of
booking a hotel whenever they travel. There may be many reasons for this,
but the biggest among them has to be that most people do not think they
have any options. A Manhattan home exchange provides travelers with a
no cost accommodation option.
Manhattan
Home Exchange
We
wanted a vacation and wanted to save money through exchanging
homes. So in late April we started responding to home
exchange listings in New York City.
After
we e-mailed 40 Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx and Long Island home
exchange listings in New York City we soon discovered that
April was rather late to start looking for summer home exchange
partners. Most New York home exchangers
wrote back stating that they had already found an exchange and
several shared they received 100's of exchange offers each year
from around the world. Manhattan home swappers literally had
a pick of any destination they wanted.
That's
when we started looking at alternatives. We wanted a home
exchange to New York City, but because of our late start we didn't
think our opportunities of finding a swap to Manhattan was overly
great.
That
is when we started looking at nearby areas, within easy commuting
range of New York City. We wouldn't have all the
conveniences of being in Manhattan but would be near enough to
enjoy New York City. After going through the Connecticut and
New Jersey home exchange listings on Global and it's partner club
Exchange Homes we spotted several possibilities. At 3 pm on
a Sunday afternoon we sent off our first inquiry to a community
just 12 miles from Manhattan, Montclair New Jersey. We had
several other inquiries that we would send out later that evening.
Within
19 minutes of sending the inquiry, Judy and Ken responded
that they were interested in a home exchange. The next day,
after exchanging several emails, photos, discussing travel dates
and what to do with pets an exchange was arranged. Their
home was 2 blocks from a commuter train to Manhattans Penn
Station. We would have easy access to New York City and the
effort to finding this exchange was rather minimal.
Over
the next two months we exchanged emails, letters, brochures and
pictures. We agreed to buy our plane tickets together on the
same day, and with both Judy, our exchange partner and I looking,
we found a terrific airfare on a non stop flight using Cathay
Pacific Airlines. We also agreed to swap cars.
They offered a Volvo and Honda CRV - we had a Honda Accord.
We had planned to take a train and subways to see Manhattan,
Brooklyn, Long Island and the Bronx areas of New York City,
We would use the car to visit the Hudson Valley in New York State,
the New Jersey Shore and Amish Country in Pennsylvania.
In
early August we flew from Vancouver BC to JFK airport
in New York City. Ken, our exchange partner met us at the
airport and transported us to their home in Montclair. On
the way we drove through Manhattan and viewed the many sights in
their colorful night lights. The next day Judy, Ken and
their two University kids flew off to our home.
The
exchange home had three stories, several bedrooms and was located
in a quiet tree lined neighbourhood.
With
being near to Manhattan but not in it, we had the freedom to
choose to take a nearby train to visit the city or take the car
and drive to areas outside the city. This was really great
for us. The home exchange saved us 100's of dollars a day
just on free accommodation. We ate most of our meals out,
but enjoyed stretching out in the large home, with free
access to TV, internet, phone calls, printer and computer.
It
seems like every home exchange we go on we forget something. In
our past home swaps we left behind maps, sunglasses and luggage
keys. Not to be out done, on this exchange I left my
hearing aids at home, and on our way back we discovered that we
left behind luggage at Judy and Kens home. The luggage
contained our camera, money and car keys.
What
a great way to vacation. We enjoyed free accommodations, a
free vehicle to drive, and our total vacation costs were
minimal.
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