Share Your Vacation House

For me the summer starts this week. It is a little later than in the past, usually I like to take my first big trip of the year in May, when everyone is otherwise occupied with children and school, and the weather is a bit more reliably cooler, but things conspired to delay it this year, and truly, the spring got off to a rocky start, so maybe it all works out in the end. One thing that I have done far more frequently since the pandemic began, but have done to some extent for two decades, is to rent out people's extra houses--the short term rental of a place that has all the components of a home rather than a hotel room is something I have loved. It allows you to be in places for a moment that you could never afford--and wouldn't necessarily want--for a short period, to have all that they have to offer with none of the hassle. We will be doing some of that over the next three months with a variety of people, and I am really looking forward to being away, to relaxing in someone else's space. A year ago we entered the other side of the equation, having a house we rent out, and last winter I got a window into what you can gain as a home owner--we arrived to find that someone had done a winsome snow sculpture across our front lawn! So much fun!