Wandering around someone else’s home and in their space is far different from wandering around a hotel room where there is rarely anything worth contemplating, deeply or superficially. But in someone’s personal home, it is as if you come to channel them because by the time you get there, you have a good sense for them with back-and-forth communication…Once you arrive, all these small vibes continue to flood in and reverberate through the home. Things that really tell you who they are and by now you are curious as heck, all demarcated by the art on the walls, spices in the pantry, coffee selection (Illy or Folgers?), coffee makers (stove top espresso or elite Nespresso machine?), even the wine and other alcohol they drink, or don’t drink. Books on the bookshelves and the authors (poetry, fiction, memoir, and in what languages). Even the bric-a-brac around the house, usually acquired on their travels, will unravel stories about who they are in sometimes fascinating and always interesting detail by screaming stories at you. I am always intrigued by this aspect of home exchange travel and this was no exception. Here is what I discovered about the owners of the home where I would spend the next 10 days.
