Crowdsourcing Christmas - Day Four

We're sweetening the pot. Four days in and we're overwhelmed by all the great ideas. Now we are starting to search flights, travel times and accommodation in earnest.

So here it is...in an effort to entice you to connect us with your overseas friends, we are offering CASH AND PRIZES (no wait, just prizes) to the person whose idea or connection we ultimately use.

We promise to bring back the coolest, most vivid, most evocative souvenir we can find, just to thank you for your efforts. Or at least a really good bottle of wine.

So...who wants to play?

Crowd-Sourcing Christmas DAY TWO

We are thrilled with all the ideas we are getting on Facebook. The following locales have been suggested: Bhutan, Budapest, Barcelona, Brazil, Bali, Greece, Venice, Hawaii, South Africa, Australia, Dubai, Prague, Tokyo.

Maybe it will come down to a vote?

We've also had offers to connect with friends in Whitehorse, Nepal, Japan, the U.K. and various American cities. Best offer so far: Canary Islands, Spain! An open invitation to a friend's home. But hoping for something that doesn't require three separate flights!

Two interesting ideas: David C. suggested a long train ride in a sleeper car (east or west?). Lindsey F. suggested we show up at the airport and fly to the cheapest overseas location. Love both of these!

Here are a few of our limitations:

-We can't do Africa without our kids;

-We can't do Greece as it's been promised to our youngest;

-We don't want a flight that takes longer than a day, because our holiday time is limited;

-And let's be honest...we'd prefer a suggestion that involves free or very cheap accommodation - swaps welcome. (We're happy to keep our hosts in wine and good food!)

We'll keep you posted as we narrow things down.

We want to hear from you!

Cheers,

Kathy and Mike

Crowd-Sourcing Christmas

Today Mike and I started Day One of our Christmas adventure. We are letting our friends, via social media, determine where we travel over Christmas this year. Our plan is to show up at the airport or train station ready to travel on December 26th (passports, carry on and credit card). So far on Facebook, we've had amazing suggestions ranging from an African Safari and the Greek Isles to Hawaii and Barcelona and beyond.

We plan to blog most days about the progress we are making in deciding where to go. Ideally, we are looking for more than ideas; as experienced Home Exchangers, we're looking for introductions and invitations! We'd like referrals to friends for house sits, couch surfs or spare room layovers. We have a lakefront cottage that might be an enticement for a summer getaway for an interested foreigner...

So, what do you think? Do you know someone, somewhere, who would love the company of two grateful Canadians just after Christmas? Decent conversation, some maple syrup and good wine guaranteed.

Now, any takers?

Kathy and Mike