Cohousing-L Mailing List: Exploring the Option of Home Exchange for up to One Month

[David E (dave]

We would like to experience living in another part of the country as a
local (not just a tourist) while learning about another cohousing
community. At the same time, we would offer that same opportunity to
the person whose house we’re staying in.

This would be a true swap (or house exchange) for a set period of time
(perhaps 2 to 4 weeks). Doing this with other cohousers offers many
advantages to all involved, including:

- We would each have a community who would welcome us and help us
adjust to our new temporary home.
- We each would return home with a fresh perspective on another
community and perhaps have some wisdom to share.
- There’s an element of trust and shared values.
- Being able to participate in common meals where we're visiting would
give us all a chance to interact with our new temporary neighbors.
- The host communities would also benefit by meeting new people who
can bring a fresh perspective to the community.

We live at Shepherd Village cohousing located in Shepherdstown, WV
(part of the Washington, DC metropolitan area). Downtown DC is about
90 minutes from our small university town. Our village is a 5 minute
walk to a cute downtown and there are nearby places to enjoy nature
including hiking & biking trails and kayaking on the river.

If you might be interested in a potential home swap (with us or
someone else), feel free to get in touch with me so we can start a
discussion. If there are others who might want to explore this idea,
we could also arrange a group Zoom meeting to chat more about the
possibilities.

We’re fairly flexible in terms of time of year and Covid might impact
when we all feel comfortable traveling. There would be no exchange of
money, rather, we would each open our home so that lodging would be
free. We could discuss the use of a car depending on the distance
we’re each traveling (either we both drive or fly). I look forward to
hearing from you.

This is still at the exploration stage and I welcome your feedback!

David