Do we want to exchange short term, long term or somewhere in between?

Back when we began to consider exchanging our home, we considered the possibilities. Do we want to exchange short term, long term or somewhere in between? Of course, we kept coming back to the same conclusion.

Yes!

Yes, to short term. Yes, to long term. And, yes, to somewhere in between.

Short term for us meant a long weekend up to a week somewhere. Of course, the practicality of travel comes into play for short term exchanges.

For example, where we live in Western New York, many people like to come down from Toronto to shop in the Fall, especially when the exchange rate is favorable. Even when the exchange rate isn’t favorable, they still make the trek across the border to shop.

For people who live in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), a shopping trip to the US can be a very, very, very long day.

Traffic getting to one of the three US border crossings and the lines just to get through customs can take a lot of time.

Torontonians can get lodging, stay the night or two and head home after the weekend. A stay of more than one day increases the amount of goods they can bring back to Canada duty free, which makes the trip more worthwhile. Essentially, they turn the trip into a long weekend adventure.

Many Western New Yorkers love Toronto. We would be happy to experience Toronto without having to pay for the expense of a hotel.

In addition, Toronto has great public transportation, but it is not friendly to automobiles. Having a home base where you can park your car is an important luxury. Downtown hotel parking is like parking in New York City or any other world class city. Space is a premium and using the space to park a car is very expensive.

Thus, likeminded Buffalonians and Torontonians are ideal “long weekend” exchange partner prospects.