When discussing lavish vacations and experiences with my mom growing up, she used to tease me, explaining that I wasn’t in fact a Kardashian, and that maybe it was best to set my sights a bit more moderately. It has always been a treat to have been exposed to incredible travel, as my childhood best friend and her family had taken me around the world since the young age of 11. They exposed me to the kind of travel that most only dream about— experiencing the most unique cities and over-the-top hotels.
Fast-forward to the reality of life, and those lavish excursions were put on hold—life got busy, you could say. We both built our own individual families and my best friend’s parents were then taking their own kids and grandkids on vacations around the world. My life was steeped with the demands of a fast-paced career, raising babies, and the extraordinarily high expense of day-to-day living in the Bay Area. In stark comparison, the kind of travel I was shown until college looked very different than what I was able to do as a grown adult. I stayed hopeful, however, that one day I too, would be able to show my family some of the unique places and gems around the world that I’d been shown once upon a time.
Then I found ThirdHome, or more accurately, it essentially found me. I kept seeing it pop up on social media, but I wasn’t yet convinced it was for me. It’s a newer home sharing exchange site, whereby home owners can rent out their home to other home owners who are doing just the same. I had just purchased a beautiful Sonoma Estate which was dedicated to my mom, Grandma Gaga, and to me, there was no other vacation home that would be comparable to my own dream vacation home. Yet, after a taking a zoom call with thirdhome where they showed me some of their incredible luxury homes from all around the world, it was then that I got nostalgic for my childhood travel and my hopes to give that to my children one day were once again, reignited.
When I learned about their reserve homes, these absolutely insane treasures in every corner of the world you could dream of for traveling to, I started to entertain this as being a viable travel option for my family. Initially, I didn’t love the idea of having strangers in my home, however, after perusing their incredible list of gorgeous homes, it was then that the idea of the home sharing concept became a little more desirable.
We are a family at 6, so therefore hotel rooms no longer work for us. We need a home that affords the space and tranquility that we strive for when all vacationing together. I started to lean into the idea. We ended up signing up for thirdhome after looking over their surprisingly low booking fees and not to mention their key exchange program which was really logical and unlike what I was thinking where you actually swap a home for another home at the same time (a la the movie, The Holiday). This is not the case. You travel on your terms, to the homes and locations that you desire, on our own timetable.
These are fabulous, signature vacation homes that sit vacant for many weeks throughout year. The program just capitalizes on that opportunity and offers an affordable option for more people to share in experiencing such luxury. Share your home when you are not using it, and in return, travel like a Kardashian— without the Kardashian bank account needed.
We have shared our home with two families thus far and they could not have been more lovely, appreciative, and tidy. There’s comfort in knowing that those people using your home have also opened up their vacation home to similar guests, understanding and respecting the process. This concept affords a level of regard and pride of property that I don’t believe I would ever get from a traditional renting basis.
We also just committed to our first trip which will be a castle in Carmel. This happens to be a private Clint Eastwood reserve that is absolutely a home we would have never splurged on before joining thirdhome. I look forward to reporting on our first thirdhome vacation soon enough. So, until then…