58 comments

Making Money while Taking Vacations

Well, we’re home.

As you may or may not have been aware, the Triple M family has been on the road since way back in June. We had a blast. Everyone is sun-kissed and skinny from being outside playing so much all summer.

But aside from these obvious benefits, I got another surprise when we returned from this six-week trip: a healthy pillow of cash had built up in the bank account while we were away not working. Usually people have to save up to TAKE a vacation.. they don’t save up while TAKING a vacation. How did this happen?

As it turns out, it was just the usual combination of thinking about things in a new way, to shift the balance of life away from spending and towards earning.

The first factor was renting out my own house. When you own a house and you go away on a long trip, you’ve got a huge asset sitting there not being enjoyed by anyone. As my own trips grew longer after retirement, I started wondering if it would be practical to rent the house out to a trusted person or family so they could pay me for being away.

It turns out it WAS practical! If you know enough people, and combine it with a little social networking or even Craigslist searching, you may be able to find a fantastic tenant to take care of your house for you, and pay you handsomely for the privilege.  In our case, another family we met through our son’s preschool lives abroad most of the year, but spends every July in the US. Our house is a good candidate for a short-term rental – fancy yet relatively uncluttered since I like doing renovations but not buying objects. So it was easy to sweep away embarrassing personal  belongings and hide them in the basement and have the place looking like a classy hotel for our tenants. Net Income: $2000.

The next factor was finding affordable transportation. Since we live almost 1800 miles from our extended family, it is a hell of a drive. But the wife and son bypassed the driving by picking up a good sale on one-way flights to Canada. On departure day, I dropped them off at the airport, then continued East in order to drive myself separately (normally I would fly a distance like that, but for a long trip and with the requirement of bringing a vanload of tools, I found it more practical to drive). I camped out in the van for the first night (Iowa), and visited a friend the second night (Chicago). After that I reached Canada. So all accommodations were free. Including plane tickets, gas, and an allowance for wear on my older, self-maintained vehicle, we’ll say Net Travel Cost: $1000.

Once in Canada, I did the rounds of visiting but also helped various people out with construction projects. Because I enjoy the work, I ended up doing several thousand dollars of carpentry work on a cottage for free. The inlaws were so grateful, they gave us all food, drink, and even paid for the gas required to drive the tools to Canada and back. Net benefit of food, drink, and gas: $1000

Since we were so busy doing family-oriented things, we found we did not have to buy anything at all on this trip. No Disneyland tickets, no shot glasses, no high-heeled shoes. The things we brought in our backpacks were all we needed.  But we did still make one decadent purchase: a $100 sushi meal with good friends in downtown Ottawa, where everything is rather expensive. Net discretionary expenditures during entire trip: $100

On the way home, the whole MMM family drove together, taking several days to do it and staying with family except the last two nights (note to self: need to make friends in Iowa and Nebraska to round out future trips). We got a little crazy and got pricey hotels both nights for a total of $250. Net travel-home cost: $250

So the vacation looked like this:
Income: $2000+$1000 = $3000
Expenditures: $1000+100+250 = $1350
Net Profit: $1650.
And meanwhile, while we were off spending nothing and enjoying life, the July and August rent checks rolled in from the rental house, adding another $4800. With no mortgage and virtually no credit card bill this month, all of these new employees get to stay. What a great vacation!

My point in all of this is not really to describe details of my own vacation, but rather to illustrate the mindset that can help any Aspiring Mustachian or Early Retiree get further in their own recreational plans. Although the vacation industry tries to encourage us to spend as much as possible, experiencing a new place actually does not have to be expensive at all. If you look at each step of the trip and figure out how to maximize the fun and cut out unnecessary costs, you too can probably travel virtually for free. And if you are taking a longer trip, I would definitely recommend using your home or apartment as an income booster for the duration.

What were your most frugal vs. most expensive vacations so far? Does the level of fun correlate with the level of spending, or is it actually an inverted relationship sometimes?

  • Chrissy August 5, 2011, 8:34 am

    Renting out your place for a long vacation is a fantastic idea. My parents have been doing this for years. They’re part of a home exchange network, so one up the renting it out and actually just trade like-for-like accommodation or will host others and be hosted.

    My husband and I only just had our first rental experience last year. A was looking for a flat in our building for her parents to rent for a few weeks. She was pregnant and they planned to come over to help with the newborn. Thankfully the dates tied in well, and we were able to recoup nearly all of the hotel expenditure for our own holiday. We’ve also discussed coordinating holiday dates going forward to take advantage of the set-up again. Win-win!

    Reply
  • Ginger August 5, 2011, 11:33 am

    I like it. Why did your son and wife fly instead of camping out with you?

    Reply
    • MMM August 5, 2011, 1:10 pm

      Good question.. we were originally planning to drive together, which would have been even more frugal, but these affordable flights came up and those two decided they were eager to get started on visiting the grandparents right away, rather than taking a leisurely week of driving and visiting with me to get there.

      The extra cost is actually even less than the price of the tickets, since when driving alone I can roll for 12 hours, then sleep in the back of the van. With the family, we can only comfortably travel 6-8 hours, and then either need to find somewhere to camp and set up a tent, or get a hotel at $60+ per night. In the future I envision a compact diesel VW vanagon-type vehicle with a flip-up bed area above the roof.. then you get cargo capacity AND sleeping capacity, all in a package no bigger than a minivan which uses less fuel.

      Reply
      • Marcia @Frugal Healthy Simple August 5, 2011, 1:18 pm

        Our neighbors have a camping van. It’s not frugal particularly (I think those things, new, are about $80k), but they use it constantly and they can now say it sleeps 7. We went camping with them. It was so windy that our tent kept blowing away. Even if we tried to block the wind with the cars. So my husband and son slept on the downstairs of their van. The five of them slept in the pop-up – admittedly, three of the five were aged 5, 3, and 6 months.

        I slept in the back of the Matrix. We folded the seat down. Sometimes it pays to be short.

        Reply
      • photogdave July 19, 2014, 7:32 pm

        A Vanagon camper is an excellent mustache-mobile! I’ve had two over the past 10 years (upgraded to a syncro three years ago) as my only vehicle. I bike to work and bike or walk for errands etc. so wear and tear is minimal as it’s just used for awesome FREE camping trips and FREE accommodation on road trips.
        I think Vanagons are especially mustachian because:
        They provide a kitchen and a bedroom every time you camp or road trip
        They are fairly simple mechanically and therefore easier to self-maintain than modern cars
        There is an incredible online community for technical support, parts and fun events
        They hold their value very well and in many cases actually APPRECIATE
        The camper models can be registered as RVs and get cheaper insurance
        They have an incredible amount of interior space so even the full camper models can be used to haul tools, building supplies, furniture etc.
        You never have to buy a vacation home – your van is your vacation home and you can move it to whichever beautiful spot you like
        They look cool and make people smile

        Reply
  • Kristin August 5, 2011, 12:21 pm

    It looks like this choice was better than a “staycation” great article

    Reply
  • Marcia @Frugal Healthy Simple August 5, 2011, 1:24 pm

    Most expensive vacation: Hawaii. We’ve gone 5 times now. The most recent vacation was probably $4000 for a week.

    Cheapest vacation: long weekend wise, it’s surely camping. For a longer vacation, it’s probably the trip we took driving around Arizona. Probably $1000. Gas and a few hotels added up.

    Both these trips were this year.

    OH, wait. We took a train to Santa Fe, NM over the holidays one year. Our friends’ parents have a house that they only visit in the summer, so we stayed there for $100 – the cost of a nice dinner out (we bought them a gift certificate). The train tickets were $400 for the three. Food was probably another couple hundred. So that’s more like $700.

    The older I get, the more I appreciate the low-key vacations – I look forward to camping, and have thought about buying a teardrop trailer that you can tow with a regular car. The older my husband gets, the more he would rather go to Hawaii. So…there’s a problem there. Except I do most of the travel planning.

    About once a year or every two years, our travel is simply a trip to visit family on the East Coast. It’s usually a 10 day to 14 day trip, and generally costs $1800-$2500. With 3 plane tickets, rental car (or other transportation for the 8 hr drive between families), and parking at the local airport – it’s pretty hard for us to go much below that. We have to buy very little in food because we are always staying with my parents or his. And no hotel.

    I have considered renting out our house. Or more – on occasion, I think my neighbors or friends have visitors in town the same time we are away. Even without getting paid, I’d love to have someone trusted “watch” my house while i’m gone.

    Reply
    • MMM August 5, 2011, 1:45 pm

      Hey, don’t you live in coastal Southern CA? If so, I might know someone who would like to rent your house during some portion of the winter season while you’re on a trip – ME!! We often spend a few weeks somewhere warm in December or January to break up the Colorado winter.

      Reply
      • Melissa Wannabe blogger March 12, 2014, 11:17 am

        I live in California .. But I’m a renter…. I dont know how much you’d like to stay in an apt … Plus I believe most apt have a clause about subletting .. :( .. But that would have worked out great since we went on a long vacation to Michigan This past december where my husband is from for 3 weeks…it would have been great to make back the money we spent on flights… Everything else was really inexpensive since we just stayed with his parents…

        Reply
      • Dannielle September 24, 2016, 3:07 pm

        2011? Well heck, I’ll try anyway. Let me know if you & the family ever need a spot to stay in Northern CA!

        Reply
      • SoCal Mom May 30, 2018, 2:47 pm

        Hi! I’ve just discovered your blog and am obsessed with it! With three young kids, the only time I have is to read it on my phone while waiting in line, at lights, etc, but I’m working my way through all the articles. I know this was posted years ago, but we live 3 miles from the beach less than an hour north of San Diego. If you ever want to house swap, I would love that! Our only issue is that we we can’t go for long periods of time since my hubby still has a full time job…working on that. :) Anyway, just throwing it out there in case you are ever interested! LOVE your blog, thanks for all the amazing articles!

        Reply
    • Bob August 14, 2011, 1:54 am

      Marcia,
      Renting out a place for vacation use works both ways. Instead of spending so much on your next trip to Hawai’i, try finding a vacation rental, like mine on Kauai (check the link). Check out the services of sites like airbnb.com, too! It”s well worth the savings and there are often great benefits (savings) when you can make some meals in your own kitchen, instead of eating out for each one.

      Reply
  • Jess August 5, 2011, 4:00 pm

    Interesting idea…have you ever rented a room in your house to vacationers while actually still being present? Sort of along those lines, my husband and I have considered buying an inexpensive condo in Conway, NH since housing is down. We live in New England and enjoy hiking in New Hampshire during the summers, but there is a year-round market for vacation rentals there because of skiing in the winter and hiking/mtn biking in the summer. Wondering if we would be able to rent it out enough weeks to break even…to me the upside of doing vacation/short term rentals is that you’re not having to evict people, and you’re paid up front.

    Reply
  • Frugal Vegan Mom August 9, 2011, 6:28 pm

    I’m surprised to hear you describe your house as “fancy” – photo home tour post please! =)

    Reply
    • MMM August 9, 2011, 10:49 pm

      Haha.. well, not fancy in the McMansion with 1-acre lobby and fake waterfall and special exotic brands of kitchen appliances sense. But still fancier than I could justify purely in a practical sense. At least I did most of the fancification myself, however. Someday I may have an excuse to put up some pictures – especially once I start the Renovation/Construction side-blog.

      Reply
      • Erin the Aussie November 19, 2012, 3:02 pm

        Hi MMM, Just wondering if this side blog ever happened? I’d love to read it!

        Reply
        • Mr. Money Mustache November 19, 2012, 3:13 pm

          Thanks Erin! .. it didn’t happen, since I tend to just post any renovation things that I write about, right here on MMM. Maybe when I’m not raising a young ‘un here at home and there is more free time to build things, the reno stuff will step up further..

          Reply
  • Carl November 4, 2011, 5:12 pm

    You might want to consider a website like couchsurfing.com where you can easily stay for free in nice places when you’re travelling across… well… the world.
    I’ve yet to use it to stay for free (I’m lucky in that I have friends/family in several European countries) but I have hosted people many times in my house just outside of Denver.

    Reply
  • Clint April 4, 2012, 10:36 am

    I wonder if this is applicable to places not really considered vacation spots or near vacation spots, say High Point, NC?

    Reply
  • Brittany May 16, 2012, 8:47 pm

    Good question, I’m not too far from you in TN. Definitely not a tourist spot but nice enough

    Reply
  • Elkbark May 25, 2012, 12:13 pm

    If sleeping in the vehicle is a comfortable option for a long trip, or a short stay in a place away from home and friends, Here’s a companion tip: Find a local gym and request a low-rate one day membership, or better yet a free trial day. In this way, you can keep up a work-out routine while on the road, and have access to a shower without the ugly hotel bill.

    Reply
    • Reverend May 25, 2012, 11:13 pm

      This is why god invented the Vanagon (or Mazda Bongo)! :)

      Reply
  • OWHL July 13, 2012, 7:21 am

    I was homeless in Hawaii for 7 weeks. Only spent around $1300 or less in food costs. Slept in a cave, on the beach and in parking garages. Bathed in the ocean and always walked.

    Reply
    • Chris April 16, 2019, 3:27 pm

      This seems like an interesting experience. Did you ever write about the experience? I’m sure it’s not just as simple as “go to Hawaii, be homeless.” There must be some tricks to the trade you picked up while there.

      Reply
  • BLynk May 21, 2013, 9:13 pm

    I was born a Mustachian, loving the game of living the best life possible while spending the least and requiring little. I am 29 and “retired” about half the year, living in New York City on about $500 a month ($300 rent for a great space in upper Manhattan). I just paid off my graduate school loans a year after graduating and I have my dream job: accompany international visitors around the United States for three weeks at a time. I get to meet fascinating people and am reminded of the importance of human relationships over material things every day. I am a year-round biker (originally from Minnesota, where the winters are cold) and my friends tease me because I bring tupperwear to restaurants and dinner parties for leftovers. But all this has helped give me the freedom to take risks and take advantage of opportunities that arise.

    I also LOVE traveling—the kind of traveling where you maximize meeting people and minimize spending money. This complex, problem-solving game of planning my travels as efficiently as possible brings me immense joy. I am about to leave for a 13-week, 13-country adventure through western Europe, the Balkans, the Gulf, and north and east Africa, which has rung in a grand total transportation cost of $2100. I know people in each country I’m visiting (thanks to my international college and my current job), as well as being a couch surfing advocate. There will be some food costs, gift costs, visa costs, and experience costs, but it should easily ring in under $3500, what many people would pay in mortgage during that time (or what some people pay for rent in New York each month!)

    I am so happy to have found the Money Mustache family. I cannot stop spreading the word!

    Reply
    • Hacksaw November 21, 2013, 6:14 am

      Why would you bring a tupperwear to a restaurant? Don’t they usually provide you with a to go container if you so desire?

      Reply
      • Mr. Money Mustache November 21, 2013, 10:53 am

        Because you can wash and reuse tupperware containers – restaurants usually give you disposable foam ones.

        Reply
        • BLynk November 21, 2013, 11:40 am

          BINGO! Using reusable containers creates substantially less waste. One of the goals driving my lifestyle and several Mustachians, I presume, is leaving a small footprint on the earth and a big heartprint on the relationships and connections with the people in our lives.

          Reply
          • Kira July 15, 2014, 3:10 pm

            I’m going to turn that into a plaque!

            “Leave a small footprint on the earth/and a big heartprint on loved ones.”

            Reply
          • PAULA September 5, 2014, 4:16 pm

            Blynk!
            First time commenter but I live in NYC as well and so i had to ask! How do you pay 300 in rent? Would you be willing to rent out when you are traveling? Lemme know.
            MMM: I have been reading your blog for a couple of months and now starting from the very first one and catching up quickly! Frugal at heart and big saver but not very knowledgeable about where to invest my stash and have my employees grow! My husband is the one with loan debt and car driving expenses. I could live without a car easily… We talked about saving since we are both employed and start paying his loans. Any suggestions on where/how to start? I would love to hear your input. Whenever you can! Thank you. Time to keep reading the next post!

            Reply
          • Greg November 10, 2015, 6:37 am

            BLynk, THAT is profound and I love that thought. Excellent. :-)

            Reply
    • Tara June 7, 2016, 6:08 am

      Hi BLynk,
      Curious how your trip worked out. I love to travel as well and loved traveling in those countries! I’d also love to hear any economizing tips that you learned while on your journey. I spend about 2 months a year traveling overseas (I too do it on the cheap–staying with friends/ hosteling/camping, cooking or eating cheaply (and usually not in restaurants), seeing all of the free sites first and determining if the pricey ones are really worth it, free tours, etc. I economize in every other aspect of my life so that I can have the luxury of traveling while I am young enough to enjoy it. If you found other ways to make your travel dollar stretch, I’d love to hear about it! Thanks!

      Reply
  • Brooks June 1, 2013, 9:13 am

    I’m heading to Guatemala for a month this summer (my first attempt at working remotely!)

    I thought about renting the house at a discount to a friend that would like to live downtown (I’m within 10 minutes walking from all of our bars and restaurants, so wouldn’t they all?!?)

    After reading, you’ve made me think it’s possible!
    I’m also planning to potentially put on AirBnB as well and hope to find a long term renter.

    Reply
  • Cattis September 26, 2013, 12:18 pm

    This is a great idea, I plan to rent out our house next summer. This summer we spent a total of 5 days at home during our 3 weeks vacation. I´m also thinking about (and saving money) to update our little cottage to a summerhouse for us, that way we can let someone rent our house during the summer, live simple (without rinning water and electricity- like camping) and make some nice money! We love it when we go camping in the summer, if we do this it´ll be like camping the entire summer. That´s how I plan to sell this idea to my family :) my kids will love it! Greetings from Sweden

    Reply
  • Edith October 7, 2013, 12:38 pm

    You’d like couchsurfing, if you don’t already use it.

    Reply
  • Caely November 14, 2013, 9:21 am

    My husband and I live in central Iowa and would be happy to host the MMM family when passing through. Drop us a note any time!

    Reply
  • Michael January 29, 2014, 9:46 am

    Great blog thank you, I’ve started reading from the first post and thoroughly enjoying. Really appreciate your openness and honesty.
    I’m curious if you recommend any kind of standard agreement when renting out your home short term, or do you go for a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ (apologies ladies), or have another way of doing it.
    Please keep writing, I’m getting so hooked on this, I don’t want to completely catch up to the newest posts!

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache January 29, 2014, 6:33 pm

      Yeah, we did use a standard lease for that one-month period. These were sort of acquaintance-friends rather than extremely close friends, so it seemed appropriate. With closest friends, it would be a different story (and rent might even be free depending on the situation).

      Reply
  • Getting there February 9, 2014, 7:42 am

    One of the cheapest and most enjoyable vacations that I had was on a vacation farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. This was 20 years ago, so I forget the details, but the daily rates were ridiculously cheap, and included home cooked food by Mrs. Farmer for 3 meals a day, and horseback riding twice a day. They also lent me one of their kids bike when I wanted to take a ride. I spent all day outside walking and talking to the horses, goats and cattle. The accomodations were spartan but comfortable. Most Canadian tourist guides have a section on vacation farms.

    Reply
  • Eva February 21, 2014, 11:43 am

    About 10 years ago, while we were living in Germany, my husband met up with some of his buddies in London for a long weekend. London is an expensive place for a weekend, so I decided to see how cheaply I could travel somewhere. I researched train tickets and got the cheapest fair I could from Stuttgart to Prien-am-Chiemsee (a nice German tourist town on Lake Chiemsee near Munich). Once in town, I went to the local tourist bureau for a cheap room at a B&B. I got a very nice room in someone’s home, with an ensuite shower and even a mini-fridge. I went to a local bike shop and rented a cheap 3-speed bike for the weekend (knowing it was mostly flat in the area), to provide myself with some transportation. I didn’t stint on doing things, which included a 27-mile ride around part of Lake Chiemsee. It was a wonderful weekend and one of my fonder memories.

    Reply
  • John S. March 5, 2014, 10:47 am

    I actually moved into my family’s vacant vacation house two years ago and started doing weekly rentals on my condo in Boston. I made consistently $5,000/month and was booked solid from April through November. It has become a GREAT business for me and I have received such positive feedback from guests. Its great you can create such incredible memories for people while making a boat load of cash at the same time :)

    Reply
  • Amazing Alice May 16, 2014, 3:40 pm

    Well in a few years when I am fully retired we will house swap Mr MM. How do you like Australia ? Sunny Queensland of course! We live in the country and only a couple of hours from the air port. Sounds fun :)

    Reply
  • Loren Graft September 13, 2014, 3:25 pm

    Another frugal idea for minimizing travel expenses is a membership in a Friendship Force club. These clubs are usually run by empty-nesters but anybody with a spare bedroom/bathroom can do it. Friendship Force members house visitors from other clubs in exchange for a visit with members from a club in a desired location. My parents-in-law have done this for years (and still going strong) visiting number of countries and places in the US. They end up paying only the travel expenses and various tickets for local attractions. In exchange they host for a week (once or twice a year) visitors from other clubs and their local club takes care of the visitors’ entertainment. A lot of the trips are at least two weeks long but usually the people visit more than one place, i.e. stay with members of 2-3 different clubs in different locations.

    It is amazing that this program is not very well known. I have no idea how many clubs exist but it is not difficult to start your own Friendship Force club if there is none available around you. Once you are a member of the force you can even join groups from other places for their trips if they happen to have availability.

    It is not making-money-vacation by earning more but by spending less :)

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache September 14, 2014, 6:39 am

      Sounds like a great resource – like an old-fashioned version of couchsurfing.org?

      Reply
      • Loren Graft September 14, 2014, 1:41 pm

        Exactly. Except that the hosts are eager to entertain you and spend time with you :)

        The idea behind the Friendship Force was to “provide opportunities to explore new countries and cultures from the inside by bringing people together at the personal level”. My parents-in-law are very people oriented and enjoy having visitors just as much as they enjoy their visits with others.

        And it is true that Friendship Force is old-fashioned. It was started about 30 years ago long before the web existed.

        Reply
  • mansharda April 3, 2015, 12:04 pm

    Any ideas on how to rent out a house with pets during longer vacations? We have two dogs and a cat. Right now we pay a house/pet sitter every time we leave to go out of town. It’s a lower rate than boarding them ($25 a day) but would love to earn income instead of it being an added expense.
    Love your blog, btw. Am inspired and am going through every post from the beginning.

    Reply
  • Arik Peterson September 16, 2015, 12:54 pm

    We live in Iowa, Des Moines. If you need a place to stay, you are more than welcome. I only ask that I can pick you brain on how to get to a great lifestyle similar to yours.

    Thanks,
    AP

    Reply
  • AJ February 23, 2016, 11:36 am

    Those are some great ideas for saving money/making money during vacation. However, you and the family were not exactly experiencing a new place at all. While it is nice to do trips like that, it isn’t always what we want or are able to do. I don’t have family and friends all over the country and I don’t want to limit myself to that kind of trip. Maybe in future articles you discuss ways to take trips with less money. I guess I’ll see.

    Otherwise, I think it would be a great thing that I (or someone else) could blog about.

    Reply
  • Brook W May 6, 2016, 11:37 pm

    My favorite cheap vacations are camping with my Hennessy Hammock. I put on a backpack and pack food and a small double burning wood stove. I recently took a 5 day vacation for $14 in food and $10 and bus fare. It was one of the best vacations my life along the coast North of San Francisco.

    Reply
  • Ross June 1, 2016, 11:59 am

    Reading this and realizing it is from five years ago, but you certainly have a place to stay in Lincoln or Omaha, NE anytime. Loving the blog, all the best.

    Reply
  • Abby June 20, 2016, 10:51 am

    You guys!! AirBnB has really taken off and is a GREAT way to make some extra cash while away from your home! It’s also a great resource for yourself when on vacation. We were able to go to Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico and the surrounding areas (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Valladolid) on just $1300 spent in TOTAL for a week. We did that by racking up flyer points on a travel credit card and renting out an AirBnb apartment for only $30 a night. The rest of the money was spent on food and sightseeing.

    Reply
  • linda July 12, 2016, 10:15 am

    Mansharda,
    When you home exchange, the family will look after your pets. Once I exchanged and the family loved looking after my rabbit.
    Linda

    Reply
    • Sylvie from Montreal February 11, 2017, 3:29 pm

      I agree! For us (family of 4 Swamis), home exchange has been the only way for years. We love travelling, and while we don’t make money out of it, it is muuuuuch cheaper than the conventional way. We also find that we get a greater sense of the city/region/country by living in a real house or apartment, and our two children are becoming quite the world citizens ( and good, adaptable travellers at that). The insurance company actually prefers home swappers to an empty house, and our cat feels better for keeping in his own territory. Winning all the way! And yes, I love it so much that I get all preachy about it! 😃

      Reply
      • Matt October 25, 2017, 3:07 pm

        Hi Sylvie,
        I’d love to swap houses with you! We live in a beautiful Victorian with updates in Bellingham, WA. Lots of nearby natural beauty, 1hr from Vancouver BC, and 90 minutes from Seattle. How does one get into house-swapping?

        Reply
        • Renee Puvvada February 10, 2021, 8:40 pm

          Check out homeexchange.com

          Reply
  • Brenda December 24, 2016, 8:24 am

    It’s five years later but you have a place in Iowa!

    Reply
  • Tinian Crawford September 27, 2017, 12:03 pm

    My mother recently sponsored a family trip to see the family in Belgium, 2 weeks overseas and I was barely able to spend $100! BTW, that money was all spent on beer to bring home ;). We are so incredibly fortunate to have such amazing family that not only paid for us to go to Belgium, some of them put us up for the stay and my uncle, who is a highly successful business owner in the Netherlands, bought us all a three night stay at a beachside hotel! Plus we got to party with the family! Life is good!

    Reply
  • Brock August 1, 2018, 9:39 pm

    My fiancé and I live in Omaha, NE. You’re welcome to stay any time!

    Reply

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