Rosie is a loyal member of HomeExchange and has been a part of the community since 2015! She has gone on five exchanges so far and is currently on exchange in Australia at Kathryn and John’s home. Rosie has a stunning home in Hawaii that is sure to take your breath away.
Where did you go on home exchange?
Right now Jaden and I are in Queensland, Australia hosted in a home for a month for GP.
There was so much ease and delight communicating and connecting with John and Kathy. We continue to connect and share stories about our experiences.
How did you choose your destination and home exchange?
Traveling to Queensland and then to New Zealand has been a desire we have talked about for several months. Because our timing got away from us, we were not able to create simultaneous exchanges, but are being hosted in 3 different homes with HomeExchange. While we are traveling we are also renting our home, hosting people in our home through HomeExchange, hosting a friend, and we also created a non reciprocal exchange.
When we were looking for a home, we filtered in HomeExchange for homes with photos and 80% response. Then I looked for calendar availability and deleted homes owned by people with children (unless it was a second home), and location specific work, etc. Then we both looked through the homes that could have availabilities and chose those that we felt energetically resonant with, and sent these homes a request.
The Sunshine Plaza in Maroochydore, Queensland, a shopping center that sits atop a river
What was the conversation like with your host?
We had email conversations and they sent us their house notes, then the 4 of us got together on Skype to get to know each other, talk about hosting details and get questions answered. There was so much ease and delight communicating and connecting with John and Kathy. We continue to connect and share stories about our experiences.
It is such a blessing to be “at home” when away
What happened when you arrived at your home exchange?
As we arrived at the home about midnight, they had left in the morning so we did not have a chance to meet. There were lights on and they left some food and special beverages for us, knowing we would have a hard time finding a restaurant during the 1.5 hour drive from the airport. The home was sparkling clean, the home notes very thorough, and lots of info about places of interest. We easily began to feel ‘at home’!
A group of kookaburras socializing with their new neighbors
How did exchanging your home influence your vacation?
There is no comparison, really. It is a such a blessing to be ‘at home’ when away. Vacation rentals are more impersonal, usually involve multiple shorter stays, and are costly. And we have found that we have often been very disappointed by a reality that is very different than what the photos suggest.
A beautifully painted rainwater catchment tank
Tell us about what you saw during your trip.
We have only been here a short time. We have found Jaden’s favorite store on the whole planet–Bunnings hardware–more massive and full of more beautiful and high quality goods than either of us has ever seen (you can tell we do indeed live like locals!). We are both having fun feeding the kookaburras that look with plaintive eyes until we respond, as they are used to coming by for ‘a bite’ in the late afternoon. Having a pool to swim in daily or more is such a delight. And of course, there are the gorgeous beaches, and several great farmers/craft markets. I am hoping to get to Tin Can Bay where wild dolphins have come in the morning for several years to connect with us 2 leggeds and get some breakfast fish before they swim off back into the deep ocean.
