lauren_s_kahn

I'll be off on a home exchange (house is east of downtown San Jose) in a week. It will be my first time to Central America and I am so excited. Gonna be in the sun for Thanksgiving.

Costa Rica is will be my 55th home exchange since 1990 (over 20 have been in Europe, 7 in Australia, 2 in New Zealand and the rest in the US & Canada). I will be blogging the trip here:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...mber-2013.html

I haven't done a lot of research on this trip and am just winging it. I know I am going to do a float/whitewater day trip (depending on back), walk through the jungle to see the monkeys and birds and go to the beach. I am open to suggestions if anyone has a list. I will have a car and will spend an occasional night out to tour but mostly will be based in the house to save money.

I hope to be able to help others once I return.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

A word of caution: None of these attractions is just down the road. The Caribbean coast is 3-4 hours away; the Pacific coast is a minimum of 2 hours away. The closest "jungle experience" is the Rain Forest Aerial Tram, about an hour north of San Jose. Remember also that for anything west or north of San Jose, you have to get across the city if you're on the east side. (You don't say where "east of downtown San Jose" you'll be.) San Jose has very heavy traffic, especially during rush hour. That part can add 30 ... 45 ... 60 minutes onto a trip, depending on traffic.

There are several attractions in the Central Valley, the valley that surrounds San Jose. Most of these are an hour or so outside the city.

West: Poas Volcano; Doka Coffee Estate (coffee plantation tour); Sarchi (artisan town); Butterfly Farm

North: Cafe Britt (coffee plantation tour); Rain Forest Aerial Tram; La Paz Waterfall Gardens (about two hours north)

East: Irazu Volcano; Orosi Valley (a charming lowland valley)
For a rafting or float trip, the outfitter will pick you up and drop you back at the end of the day. They don't do pick-ups from private homes. When you book the trip, tell them where you'll be staying and ask them to recommend the nearest hotel for a pick-up. You just wait in the lobby that morning for their van.

What I tell everybody is that Costa Rica looks disarmingly small on a map, but it takes more time to get around than you think it will. Map out your days carefully if you plan to be based in the city and do some advance research before you get there.

lauren_s_kahn

I know I am going to do some driving. For rafting, I may go out to where the trip starts and stay over night. It isn't a problem. I know I can't see everything in 4 weeks.

Thanks for the advice.

schmerl

Just took a brief look at your blog. WOW...you provide a wealth of information!

Pat_Hewitt

Hi Lauren,

I just looked at your blog. Wow! I think you are my new hero!

My wife and I have successfully exchanged our small Monteverde house twice. We are actually building a small rental unit at our home in New Orleans this year. The idea being that we have a Costa Rica and a New Orleans exchange to offer. When retirement comes, we want to do exactly what you are doing.

A couple of things to mention. We tried two different exchange services. The one based in the US, was weak on European options. We joined a European based service, and received a lot more offers.

Regarding the rafting in Costa Rica. I wouldn't bother with the day of car rental and hotel when you go rafting. You are needlessly adding expense and time.

It is much more convenient to take the day trip. Though you may have to get an early taxi to a San Jose pick up point. Rafting will cost you $80 too $100 , depending on the river. That includes transportation, breakfast, lunch, and guides. I think that Rios Tropicales is your best choice from San Jose.

Have fun! I have bookmarked your blog for future reference.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer more advice.

Warm Regards,

Pat Hewitt
Travel Professional

lauren_s_kahn

I have a car exchange with the home exchange, so I do not need to rent a car. I will check out the company you recommend.

I probably will drive to the put in rafting point myself. I use homelink.org, Intervacus and homeforexchange.com

If you read into my blog, you know I have a lot of problems with homeexchange.com.

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...anagement.html

I have not been involved with any of the other gazillion home exchange websites, but, generally, the more members a site has, the greater the chance of getting a deal. Insofar as homeexchange.com, I do suspect that they inflate their numbers by leaving up listings for members who have left the site. Whatever you do with them, make sure you do not give them your credit card number. They have been charging cards without permission to extend memberships. There are a lot of complaints on the web about that and I have had some email as well concerning that practice. Since I am no longer a member (I joined for one year several years ago and left after getting nothing out of the site), I do not have personal current information, but just anecdotal information from others.

Before signing up for any home exchange service, you should research just where their listings are. If you want to go to Israel, and the site has maybe 3 listings there, your chances are slim to none. Home exchange works best in developed areas such as the US, Canada, Western Europe, Australia & New Zealand. Listings in Eastern Europe are growing but still slim. Insofar as Africa, Latin America and Asia are concerned, you are lucky indeed to get anything there. I was dumbfounded when I got the offer in Costa Rica and it took me maybe 3 minutes to accept ("You pick the dates. I'll go with whatever you want."). There were exactly 3 homes in Costa Rica listed with Homelink. The people wrote to me because their son lives nearby and they wanted to have a family Thanksgiving and I have enough room for all of them. I generally advertise my house for up to 5, but there are couches that open if there are others for a short period of time.

Next summer I tentatively have deals in Krakow and Warsaw in Poland. I say "tentatively" because one family has been asking a lot of questions about the cost of airfare. Until airline tickets are purchased, you never know with exchanges. I just wrote both Polish families 2 days ago. No response from Krakow--which is not good. I did tell them both that, if they wanted to cancel, now was the time to do it and not after Christmas. I had a post-Christmas cancellation last year and it was difficult to find a replacement.

I think your strategy with 2 homes is a good one and it can give you a great deal more flexibility but I would not use a second home enough to justify the cost.

glover

Wow 55 in 25 years - very impressive! You're my new hero too!
We're in DC also, so get a fair number of offers. But we've only succeeded in arranging 5 so far over as many years. All have worked out just great, however. I'm going to take a look at some of those other sites as well. . . Have you noticed how these sites merge etc. Without doing much registering and paying only one time years ago I've become part of digsville,
love swap, Exchange Zone, 1st Home Exchange, and Global Home Exchange. That being said 3 of the 5 we've done came via Craigslist.. ..

lauren_s_kahn

Arrived in San Jose on Nov. 15th and will be here thru Dec. 15th. Haven't done a whole lot yet. Just follow the blog if interested. Looks like my next exchanges will be during July & August in Poland.

annetti

Lauren, I would love to read about your home exchange in CR, so if you plan to continue your blog here on fodor's, I will follow along. Wishing you another great home exchange. Annetti

lauren_s_kahn

I have a blog on weebly.com. Here is the link:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...mber-2013.html

There is lots of general information available on home exchange on the blog. I have done it many times in the developed world (US, Canada, Europe, Australia, NZ). This is my first time in Central America. To tell the truth, I was more excited about Costa Rica than I was about last year's deals in Europe as Europe is old hat.

I will be off in the rain forest for the next couple of days without the lap top. Next update on the blog should be Nov. 20 or 21.

I like your adventures too!

annetti

Lauren, could not find you on weebly.

annetti

Too bad, you're not posting here!

mlgb

I'm not having problems with the Altercocker's links.

Fun reading!

lauren_s_kahn

Annetti, the link is posted above, but I will post it here just for you. If you click on it, you will end up on my Costa Rica blog. However, if you look around the site, there is tons on other trips. I am not using my own name on weebly, so, if you searched that way, you would not have found me.

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...mber-2013.html

mlgb: Enjoy.

mlgb

You have quite the sense of humor Altecocker. Have a good time in Arenal.

I think I stayed at La Paradera without a reservation.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...e_of_Alaj.html

I also was at Arenal Observatory Lodge but that is more of a schlep.

I went to Baldi Hot Springs (discount tickets were available from some of the stores at La Fortuna falls). Everyone tells you that Baldi is terrible but as far as I was concerned it was just fine, there were lots of different pools and fun people watching. However I don't recommend buying the dinner.

lauren_s_kahn

I tried to get into the Arenal Observatory Lodge but it was full. Thanks for the tip about Baldi. My back needs a hot spring.

annetti

Thanks, Lauren for providing the link. I'm enjoying reading about CR. Not the usual home exchange experience. Youare certainly the intrepid traveler! Definitely not an alte cocker. I haven't heard that expression in yrs. It was a favorite of my father's. Someone used it today in the lounge. Twice in one week! Keep writing and I'll keep reading.

lauren_s_kahn

No not the usual home exchange experience. Really an unusual destination to get a home exchange and I feel lucky to have snagged it. They wrote to me because I live near their son. I would be willing to do it again with them but not for 2 years. I ziplined twice out near La Fortunata--really fun for someone who won't go on a roller coaster.

Back in San Jose now. I had torrential downpours all the way back from the Arenal volcano area. You drive slowly to survive. Lots of potholes in Costa Rica caused by torrential rains. They have their issues with potholes just as we do with freezing and thawing in the Northeast. Always people walking in the road as there are no sidewalks in the countryside. You only average 30km per hour in the best of situations when you balance off the occasional "speedy" road such as the Pan American highway with the other roads (such as gridlock in San Jose, dirt roads in the countryside, etc.). The fastest speed limit I saw was on the Pan American Highway--90 km per hour (54 MPH). It did not last long. If you take your time, you arrive.

Insofar as driving is concerned, Istanbul was the worst. I took one look at the traffic and never touched the home exchange car. It was like bumping cars in the amusement park and I wanted to live.

One easy thing on this one is that I am exchanging with Americans who live in Costa Rica. So, everything here is well explained in English and no need to explain how the washer works, etc. Those things can cause a lot of headaches as you know.

Next up looks like Poland next summer in between visits to the doctor about my back (The AlteCocker bit).

I ended up at the Hotel San Bosco in La Fortunata. It was fine with me. Rather than spend money on the hotel, I spent it at the Tabacon Hot Springs and ziplining. Ha!

annetti

Lauren, I hope your cold is better - my home exchanges are so tame compared to yours.



mlgb: I believe we may be neighbors. I live in LB, too.

lauren_s_kahn

Actually, the cold turned into nothing. I got cold medicine from the pharmacy. I took a few pills and then stopped them because the problem just stopped. Probably some sort of virulent allergy.

Just back from visiting the authors of http://twoweeksincostarica.com/ I got to know them through twitter and email after reading their book (a must for anyone going to Costa Rica). The book is a fun read. They are now down in Costa Rica long term doing a series of house sits and deciding if they are going to stay. They are also writing a book about travel in Panama. The couple visited me in San Jose overnight and I spent two nights in their current house sit in Puerto Viejo. We mostly went to the beach and ate at a couple of nice restaurants. My blog now needs a major update because I did not take the computer with me and the Kindle Fire I did take is too limited for blog updates. I'll be working on the update tonight.

Each home exchange is an adventure, but it is one that you make for yourself. At my current age, I figure I better travel while it is still possible. Sooner or later it won't be.

People have been confused about my mentions of San Jose. When I refer to "San Jose" in my Costa Rica blog, it is definitely the capital of Costa Rica. I don't live in San Jose, California! I live in Northern Virginia when I am not home exchanging.