VRBO (travel tips!)

Most recent vrbo in southern arizona

do you know about it??  if not, you are missing out!  unless we are traveling in the motorhome, we rely on vrbo (vacation rentals by owner) for an awesome complete home (with view!) in whatever area we are visiting.  there are other vacation rental sites as well like homeaway and vacationrentals.com, but vrbo has by far the most extensive network and greatest selection.

 our first vacation rental was about 5 years ago in washington right on the straight of juan de fuca.  we loved having the privacy of an individual home and really enjoyed all the little amenities that it offered.  plus it can be much less expensive than staying at a nice hotel! since then we (or me by myself) have stayed at lots of other homes in different areas.

the homes are posted by owners, although some have managers that handle everything for them.  you can contact them by email or phone to ask questions.  since each one is individual, there is a wide range of different prices, policies, etc.  they all post pictures – some are pretty sketchy and some are so extensive you can visualize every room before you see it!  some owners are very accommodating and responsive…. others not so much, so there is some risk involved.

Taos, New Mexico

Julian, San Diego county

Palomar Mountain

Nederland, Colorado

here are a couple of tips for finding your dream home (even if only temporarily!):

do your homework (it's fun!)  look at the other available homes in the area, compare prices and amenities before making a decision ( i usually end up spending tons of time on this, but have been so happy with my choices in the end!)

read the reviews – but realize that each one is just one person’s opinion!

decide what factors are non-negotiable for you.  for us, it’s usually pet-friendly, VIEW and privacy.  we are not picky about the rest if we have those!

if you can travel off-season or mid-week, you can usually save $$.

sometimes owners are negotiable with their price.  in some cases, i have worked out deals in return for taking additional pics and/or writing up a positive review of the place.  we have also been successful at times with having the owners waive the cleaning fee by leaving the place just as we found it.

This one on Lake Michigan was really run down on the outside

But who cares??

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 if you want to try it and have questions, let me know (my email is in the "about")

 now that we are thinking of venturing beyond the confines of the usa, we have discovered a whole new WORLD of vrbo out there!!  We'll see where it leads us.....

Meditation hut at the Taos rental