Will Work for Wine

Now that we are retired, the big challenge is to arrange the maximum amount of travel for the minimum amount of money.  We did a pretty good job last year, taking advantage of deals to arrange a few almost-free trips to Vegas, and also road-tripping to Reno and Santa Barbara.  Some generous friends purchased a vacation home on Molokai and invited us to join them, not once, but twice last year.  And another big-hearted family included us in their escape to a luxury vacation-club villa on the Big Island of Hawaii.  We enjoyed the jet-setting life on a Priceline budget.

This year, I decided to list our home on a vacation-swap website and see where that takes us.  Just by telling friends of our plans, we've already got a couple swaps in the works to San Francisco and Santa Barbara, and I haven't even listed the home for exchange yet.

The most creative swap this year, I think, will be our just-finished will-work-for-wine vacation.  We enjoyed the accoutrements of a resort-like vacation, in a beautifully landscaped, gated community in Southern California.  Our suburban resort included tennis courts and hiking trails, as well as our own lush back yard complete with outdoor fireplace and waterfall spilling from the Jacuzi into the pool.

This four-bedroom villa served as home-base for the week, giving us a chance to reconnect with some old friends we hadn't seen in years, and partake in a zany-fun Passover Seder with family and new friends.  We were even lucky enough to be in town when our own San Jose Sharks were there, and caught the game against the LA Kings at Staples Center.  (Although we were not lucky enough to catch a winning game.)

As if that weren't enough fun already, we were greeted upon arrival at this lodging, with our friends' version of the hotel mini-bar:  an extravagant offering of luscious wines.  Fifteen bottles to be exact--even we could not make it through all those in just a week, although we made a valiant attempt.

The explanation for this swap:  two doggies, three kitties, and one fish.  Our stay included daily evening strolls with the dogs, unlimited kitty cuddling (for those that would cuddle), and an occasional peek at the fish to make sure he wasn't floating on his back.

But the best part of this "working" vacation?  Despite the availability of several huge-screen TVs, we spent the entire week without watching even a nano-second of talking-heads-news shows.  No wonder I felt so good at the end of the week!

And just when I was wondering how we were going to land our next vacation, this same family asked us to join them again at their luxurious vacation club, this time in Tahoe.  Not a bad start to the second year of retirement.

Comments

[Analise]

You've given me some new ideas for getting even more traveling into our calendar. I also love the challenge of figuring out how to save on traveling costs.

[Jules @ Lovely Las Vegas]

How awesome! It's like the movie, The Holiday. As for your vacation swap, it sounds fabulous. Gotta give it a try sometime.

[sara]

You may stay in the lovely, modern, Architect Designed, San Jose Mansion for 6 weeks this summer. The price is free and the rewards are unlimited. Neighbors on both sides have dogs and you don't even have to feed them or walk them unless you want to.

[Judy @ StrawCottage]

I have to get different friends! :)