Calabogie Home Exchange

When we registered on the home exchange site two years ago, we were allotted guest points that we could use to stay somewhere without doing an exchange. Ray and I could have accumulated extra guest points by letting people stay in our home when we were away, but we haven't chosen to do that. The …

Ray’s Ride, Part 2

After Ray's initial 128 km cycle day, his second day - at half that distance - should have been an 'easy' ride. It wasn't. Day 2 - Lucknow to Brucefield (65 kms, total kms: 193) He faced the same extreme heat and humidity as on day one, but with a strong headwind added in. Then …

Montreal Home Exchange

Last summer, we were surprised by how many home exchange requests we received from Montreal. Almost none from Toronto or Ottawa, but plenty from Montreal and a few from Quebec City. At the time we had little interest in visiting Montreal, but this year, with Nick and Megan living there, we took advantage of the …

Things I enjoy that make me unhappy

October has been gorgeous so far, with the leaves changing colour and perfect temperatures. In theory, I like this time of year, but my body seems to know what's coming and, like a bear preparing for hibernation, I start sleeping more and I stock up on carbs as though food will be scarce over the …

The Cheerleader and the Captain of the Football Team

You know how in teen movies there's the pretty, popular girl whose outward confidence is just a cover for her insecurities, jealousy and desperate need to be the centre of attention? That's Juno. And you know the big, beefy guy on the football team? He's loud and boisterous, but not too bright? He likes to …

Home Sweet (someone else’s) Home

We had our first home exchange this weekend with a couple who live in the Thousand Islands near Gananoque. Because our homes are only an hour and a half apart, we overlapped the front end of our exchange and spent a bit of time getting to know Dan and Maureen - a lovely retired couple …

Trading Places? Exploring home exchanges

A headline in last week's Toronto Star read, "EVERYONE I KNOW IS BLUE. EVERYONE." It sounded a bit extreme, but it's probably a fair assessment. One line that hit home for me referred to "a tendency to states of longing, poignancy and sorrow, an acute awareness of the passing of time...the recognition that light and …

Pet Sitting Tips

I wrote about Trusted Housesitters in a previous post, but that was before we'd actually tried it. Now that we've completed four pet sits - three in England over a 5-week period and a 9-week sit in France - we've picked up a few tips. Last spring, a Hollywood casting agent named Amberlee got in touch …

Barefoot in the Sand

For our final week in France, we stayed closer to home with no major adventures planned, but as the week drew to a close, Ray could resist no longer. He had to at least try to reach the summit of Pic d'Anie (8,225 feet), so he headed out for a final climb. He didn't quite make it …

Mountain magic

La petite train d'Artouste, Europe's highest train, chugs along at an altitude of over 6,000 feet through the French Pyrenees. The narrow gauge railway was built in the 1920s, originally to provide access to hydro-electric power stations in the Ossau Valley. Today it's been converted to a tourist train. We had a clear, sunny day so we …