A Case for House Swapping
My Experience as a Kindred Member
I’m always excited to engage in conversations that provide me with a deeper understanding of myself and the people around me. I’ll likely ask about your Zodiac sign; I’m a Gemini sun, Libra moon, and rising, in case you were wondering. Lately, I’ve been deep-diving into Human Design, and discovering that I’m a Manifestor rocked my world! Additionally, I’ve been curious about numerology, the belief in mystical connections between numbers and events.
During a recent Google search, I found an article on Apartment Therapy titled, “Address Numerology: Unlock Your Home’s Hidden Personality.” From this read, I learned that my apartment is number nine. Compassion, acceptance, and community are the adjectives used to describe a number nine house.
According to the article, “Everyone is drawn to the number nine home’s vibe—it has a loving energy that attracts touch-ins and visits from everyone, from all over the world (in numerology, the number nine is an “international” number).”
It’s fate that my number nine apartment in Brooklyn is where I joined the members-only house-swapping community, Kindred. Last January, my friend Amanda sent me a text that said, “You should do this when you have long stretches out of town,” with a link to livekindred.com.
For someone who loves New York, I leave a lot. I travel frequently to visit family and friends, coupled with a handful of work trips a year. I agreed to shoot my shot and apply for a Kindred membership. By mid-February, I received an email saying that my application had been accepted. From there, I created a profile about myself and my apartment.
Kindred operates on a system of swaps and credits. Hosting a member in my home earns me credits, which I can then use for future stays or evenly swap with other members. When I book a stay with credits at another member's home, I am responsible for the cleaning fee, which is typically a couple hundred dollars.
During a work trip to Amsterdam last September, I hosted my first guests. Once the visit was confirmed, I was added to a group chat in the Kindred app with a couple from Austin. Before their arrival, I created a manual outlining access to my building, apartment quirks, and kitchen items that were fair game. Kindred also sent a welcome kit with essentials including sheets, towels, a duvet cover, a lock box for my keys, a kitchen sponge, a bath mat, and a toiletry kit for my guests. I worked with the concierge to schedule cleanings for my apartment. You’re able the utilize the cleaning service they provide or a person who you already work with.
This process required a lot of trust. Despite being a person who rarely speaks to strangers in the wild, I was preparing for two strangers to stay at my apartment while I was in a foreign country. I liked the idea that were all on a Slack channel together and I had a group chat with the people who I was hosting. I believed there was an incentive for them to treat my home with respect because these people had also listed their home on a website for strangers to stay at. We both had something to lose. There was also the practicality aspect, before taking a trip, Kindred verifies member identities with government-issued IDs. They also connect with members on social media, and send photographers to the homes of members to ensure images are accurate representations of their home. For insurance purposes, Kindred provides $100k in host protection.
Detaching from material things was also part of the experience. I love my apartment, a lot of items in it are from my travels, finds from Facebook Marketplace, or thoughtfully selected by Elaine, who helped me decorate. Everything isn’t replaceable, but I needed to trust these people to be respectful of my belongings because I was tasked with doing the same for them.
My first guests were lovely. There were minimal issues, minus my upstairs neighbors being loud, but such is New York City apartment living. After my week-long trip in Europe, I came home to flowers, a card, and most importantly a freshly cleaned house. I loved my first experience as a host. I was ready to try my hand at staying at someone else’s home.
My first stay at a Kindred member’s home was last September during a trip to New Orleans. After watching Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour via Instagram all summer, I bought a ticket. A group of friends was also flying down for the show, but their housing plans were solidified before I finalized my plan to go. Hotels are already insanely priced in New Orleans, add Beyoncé to the mix and my funds were insufficient. A couple of weeks before the concert, I browsed Kindred, in hopes that someone could host me. I found a cute one-bedroom apartment and requested to book it immediately. The host quickly accepted my request, I paid the cleaning fees and my stay was confirmed!
Once the concierge added us to the group chat, my host broke the news to me that she had a cat. Fun fact about me, I’m very allergic to cats and for the most part, I don’t enjoy them. I want you all to know how committed I was to this Beyonce bit because I spent my own money to cohabitate with a cat. The host left me with a list of her neighborhood faves and a warm welcome. In true NOLA fashion, she told me I could drink any liquor that was already open in her bar. Cat aside, this Kindred stay saved me hundreds of dollars.
In November, my family came to New York for Thanksgiving and I booked a Kindred in Fort Greene. I let my parents stay at my apartment, while my sister and I had our own space to catch up and hang out. In this case, Kindred saved my parents hundreds of dollars on a hotel during the peak tourist holiday season in NYC.
My most recent stay was in Chicago. My aunt and uncle live in the city, so I usually snag a few days on their very busy guest room schedule. For this visit, I was in town with a group of friends during St. Patrick’s Day weekend, so we needed our own space. I booked a Kindred for the four of us in Lincoln Park. The location was perfect. We were near the train, restaurants, coffee shops and bars for a fraction of the price that even staying at an Airbnb would have cost us.
As I’m typing this, I’m on a flight to Vegas for a work trip and there is a Kindred member from Philly checking into my apartment this afternoon. I’m heading to LA next month and I’ve already booked a Kindred in Culver City.
I’ve had such a positive experience with Kindred so far and the community it fosters. A member in NYC, who happens to also be a chef, hosted a group of us at her apartment. Tasneem, one of the co-founders stopped by and spent some time with the group. I loved meeting other members, hearing about their Kindred experiences, and having the opportunity to discuss the vision that Tasneem and her co-founder Justine have for the company.
So far, my only complaint is that I once stayed a someone’s house who had the flattest pillows that I’ve ever encountered. But if that’s my only complaint, I consider it a win.
The app has recently expanded to Europe and I cannot wait to try that out this summer. Watch this space! And if Kindred operates in your city, consider applying. Who knows? If you ask nicely, I might even slide you a referral.
xx
Ugh wish I could partake but as a constant roommate haver, it’s not as feasible