Our Minimalist Home Is Making Our World HUGE - Find Out How

[@thevecchios15]

My husband and I hope to be moving to Madeira in March 2023. We are super excited and can't wait to start our 2nd half of life! This is a great idea.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Dawn! Congratulations on your plan to move here in 2023 to start your second half of life! We wish you much success!! Thank you for watching and commenting. We appreciate it! Cheers! M&D

[@ahjacobs1967]

It’s brilliant! Our neighbors have done this stateside and overseas several times and have had wonderful experiences and saving a lot of money.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello there! That’s great to hear! It’s such a win win situation! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel! Cheers! M&D

[@cookmaster3626]

Pretty neat idea with the Home Exchange program. A great way to save on travel lodging expenses while your home is empty.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Cook master! Exactly, it’s a win win situation for both parties. Our first one was super successful and we are excited to try another. Thanks for watching and commenting! Cheers! M&D

[@Track_Us_Down]

Our world keeps getting bigger and bigger! This is “the freedom that comes with it” 😊 Please like, subscribe, and let us know your best house swap ideas. Have a great weekend and, as always, Track Us Down! - D & M 🌎

[@tinglestingles]

Parque das Nações is really good and the mall Vasco di Gama is nearby. Plus, the advantage of the Oriente bus/train/metro station. Usually, our entry point to Lisbon if we're going shopping or to the airport.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Tinglestingles! We are loving this area for all the reasons you mention. The mall is amazing and full , like it’s 1985! It has such a nice alive feeling. The metro and train are handy and so far we are loving Lisbon! 💜 As always, thanks for watching! Cheers! M&D

[@carleenc4968]

Stories from the Isle (seat) - all puns intended. Loving your positive energy - also acknowledging what you have learnt from your host in Lisbon. So generous and humble. Here's to many more Happy Trails at TUD🥂

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Carleen! Thank you so much for watching our videos and for your kind words! Our hosts here in Lisbon were amazing and we are so grateful! While we were busy trying to make our place feel impersonal - like a hotel, they showed us to up that and make it MORE personal to the guests! She is so crafty and creative she made a little bag and painted Home Swap on it for me! Pretty sweet! Thanks for watching and supporting the channel! Cheers! M&D 💕

[@carleenc4968]

I appreciate how your replies always place a name to the responders - it's a small acknowledgment that even in a digital world we can still TOUCH each person we interact with. So you get my vote for adding personal touches versus generic hotel-like experiences. Best wishes forward. Sweet dreams.

[@cbenson513]

What a great idea! You two continue to ace early retirement. Your ability to shift to minimalism and keep Villa Doce easy to "lock and leave" are a great fit to home swapping.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Chris! 🌎Thank you so much for watching and for the kind words! We love that- “ lock and leave” That is our goal - to be mobile and ready and travel with ease. This was an excellent experience at home exchange and we are for sure going to continue to travel ! As always, we apply our support! Cheers! M&D

[@davisdenton]

Doug and Monique, we appreciate you sharing your Second Half of Life with us! Due to you and It’ll Be Fun, we added 5 days onto the end of our guided tour of Portugal and will fly from Porto to Madeira today. Without your videos, Madeira would not have even been on our map and as Beth and I plan our retirement, we have been so impressed with how you have executed yours. We hope our paths cross, maybe even on this trip if you have returned from Lisbon. Thanks again for all the work it takes to produce these videos and know it is so appreciated.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello David and Beth! How exciting that your coming to Portugal and that’s great that your visiting Madeira. Isn’t it funny how Madeira is such a secret? We had not heard of it either… I think maybe just Madeiran wine! Lol. Thanks for watching and for the kind words. We are enjoying sharing our Second Half of Life on this channel and love that others are maybe thinking about the next 50 years a little differently as well. Have a wonderful time and thanks for your support! Cheers! M&D

[@MagentaOtterTravels]

House swapping is very interesting. We also chose to be minimalist in furnishing our second home in England. When we aren’t there, we rent it out fully furnished. But we do have an owners closet where I keep our personal stuff locked up for the 8 months tenants are living there !😉 But I don’t think I could manage to get our home in Texas minimalist enough to rent out. I have been considering it though! Great video! Made me think. 🤔 Cheers! Dara

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Dara! Hope all is well with you guys! Thanks for sharing what you do! We are also open to the idea of renting out our place as you’ve done while we are elsewhere. Ha ha! Yes the “ main” home is way harder- I think back and there just would of been way too much stuff and personal things to make it possible! Thanks for watching! Cheers! M&D

[@chrismedeiros3201]

Doug & Monique, thanks for sharing another informative video. Home sharing seems like a great idea to aid in traveling expense! I especially like the tips you learned from your home exchange friends! All those little touches to welcome those who are staying at your place as you stay at theirs. Very nice.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Chris! Thank you for watching and we are glad you found some value in the information. Yes! This lady is talented at crafts and creative! She’s got me beat as I work hard in those areas!! But yes- we were working so hard on making it impersonal to feel clean and hotel like, but we learned that beyond that, is to make it feel personal for the guests arriving! They put out slippers for us!! Amazing!! Thanks as always for supporting the channel! Cheers! M&D

[@erichenderson6077]

Such an awesome opportunity and great video! I believe you guys have a dog, what accommodations were needed to be made for her / him?

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Eric! Thank you for watching and for the kind words. Yes we have Leo the vizsla! We found a great dog sitter - check out our video The 5 people you need to meet to succeed. He picked him up and brought him home. He also sent videos daily and excellent communication. Cheers! M&D

[@stephenjarzombek2903]

Whoa...are you still there? We were in Parque das Naçoes from late Sunday afternoon until we checked out Monday at noon to fly home to Chicago! Easy walk to the ibis hotel from Oriente, where we got off the AP train from Porto. Thank goodness we walked around then to see the neighborhood and Vasco de Gama mall even though we were pretty tired, rather than in the rain on Monday morning. We had a fantastic meal at Tacho do Pescador along the river. I completed my goal of eating "the Portuguese Seafood Trinity" of octopus, grilled sardines, and choco frito there, as we couldn't find choco frito in Porto. Soup, two large meals with a big mixed salad, served with more fries and rice than we could finish for €33. It's such a contrast from the Parque Eduardo VII/Avenidas Novas area where we stayed for 4 nights before heading up to Porto.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Stephen! Thank you for the detailed comment! Love it! It’s too bad we missed each other! You are absolutely right with the great walking and restaurants in this area. We are fortunate to be here. Love that you finally ate the Portuguese trinity!! Congrats! Hope you had a good trip home, and as always we thank you for your ongoing support! Cheers! M&D

[@stephenjarzombek2903]

@@Track_Us_Down LOL given our past interactions regarding "tracking you down" it would have been way too funny to have run into you by accident, right? Has anyone called out to you on the street after watching your content here?

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Steve! Yep we have been tracked down in the street! It’s pretty funny.

[@stephenjarzombek2903]

@@Track_Us_Down Proof that the internet has shrunk our world dramatically.

[@danman311]

Thanks for the continued look into living a great second half of life. I’m wondering did you board your dog during the swap or are they taking care of him as well during your guest’s stay at your place? 🐶

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello there! Thank you for watching and for the kind words. We did find a dog sitter. Check out our video “ 5 people you need to succeed “ . He’s great, and Leo is well cared for. As we learn more about home exchange- some people do so with pets. Isn’t that great? Cheers! M&D

[@claudiodepaiva4484]

Excellent move (home swap). Kindly share the company you will use for organizing home swap. Great tips guys. Keep on enjoying your second half of life. You two are an inspiring force.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Claudio! Thank you for watching and for the kind words. We appreciate it. When we decide what company we are going to use, we will for sure share that information. Right now we are researching different ones and this home swap was on our own! Cheers! M&D

[@MagentaOtterTravels]

Ooooh bike rental! Let me know how that goes, Monique! 😉

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Dara! Happy to report it went well! I’m did however walk ( not bike) into a glass door and have a huge black eye! 😵‍💫 lol! Cheers! M&D

[@MagentaOtterTravels]

@@Track_Us_Down oh noooooo! I hope the black eye heals soon! That’s what cover up is for in the meantime 💖

[@johnparsons3454]

We plan to come for a week in April. We also plan to stay at Quinta da casa blanca. It looks non americanized and is a moderately short walk to central Funchal. Is this a good spot?

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello John! The Casa Branca area is quite nice and well located. It’s a good choice! You will enjoy your time in Funchal from that location. Well done! Thank you for watching and supporting the channel! Cheers! M&D

[@twoamericansandadog7212]

My wife’s immediate reaction: “I love it. We’re going to be best friends when we move T Madeira. They are my style.” I guess she wants a Patreon subscription for a gift. One issue for us: getting off the island with a small dog… :-)

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello new best friends!!! We love that feeling when people just get you! So thank you for the kind words. You are fortunate to have a small dog. If your dog can go under the seat, then you are good to go on and off the island. Leo would travel in cargo, so we wouldn’t do that unless were coming to the mainland for longer than than a few weeks. He is with an amazing dog sitter. We shared all the info in our video “!The 5 people you need to succeed “ Thanks for watching and commenting! Cheers! M&D

[@twoamericansandadog7212]

@@Track_Us_Down Actually, from the little research we did, Easyjet and Ryanair (the best options from FNC in most cases) don't allow pets unless he or she is a service dog. He is, but not with the European organizations they require. Ugh! That said, TAP (and SATA Azores, which we are using to get to Funchal from JFK) have pretty accommodating policies. TAP will allow you to use about 8,000 miles to transport pets (or pay, I would guess). We will be going on a little sojourn during our Madeira trip to the Children's Book Fair in Bologna March 6-8 (my wife is writing kids books about our dog and his best dachsund friend Vienna) and TAP will likely be our airline. We will watch the "The Five People" video tonight because yes, she would love to find someone she can trust with Happy once we settle in paradise. ;-)

[@kboek8173]

@@Track_Us_Down We plan to head to Portugal next year but I, unlike my husband, refuse to leave our 90 pound labradoodle. How hard was it to find a rental and to travel with a dog?

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello there! Travel- well you become “ those people” with a giant crate ! Check out our Dog in cargo videos, we go into detail. And finding a rental with a dog can be tricky. It’s not impossible, but not super easy. Sorry for late response, comment’s in response to comments get buried , and I just saw this today. Please feel free to contact us via email is you want to talk further. Cheers! M&D

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello there! We flew TAP and it was excellent. If we plan to leave the island we will use TAP to take Leo. As residents, we only pay 85€ regardless of the TAP prices ( clarify- we get money paid above that amount back) . Cheers! M&D

[@tracychesney4303]

Really great, you two! We’ve had similar ideas and plans ourselves! In Lisbon, you’ve already likely been there, but in case you haven’t - do check out Time Out Market, which is a fabulous food market. Honestly, the best Pastel de Nata I’ve ever had. All chef-run food outlets. Definitely worth a visit! Looking forward to more reports of your travels! A really fun video as usual, Doug and Monique!

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Tracy! Thank you so much for watching and for your suggestion! We will check it out! The home exchange has been a great experience! Hope all is well with you both! Cheers! M&D

[@SerendipitySpoke]

I am curious to learn more about home swaps as you discover more about the process. I had thought that might be a good way to travel. I had seen a couple who travels and cares for other people’s dogs through a pet sitting service… so that definitely interested me as well. They suggested taking gigs more locally to help build up reviews. There is a fee for the service they use… but I think you could quickly recoup it off one stay.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello there! Thank you for watching and sharing that information. That’s very interesting what they are doing. It’s another example of a better way to see the world and travel and is a win win situation for all involved. We are looking at companies so far that charge a yearly subscription amount and you can home exchange within the year as many times as you would like. We haven’t quite decided to join yet. This experience has been great and maybe we’ll get a few under our belt simply from contacts we have made. Thanks for watching! Cheers! M&D

[@ruinunes8251]

Interesting concept. Does it mean your visitor has to take care of your dog? Or does Madeira have a pet hotel nowadays?

[@rickchandler2570]

I’m interested in how you’re handling this myself. We’ll have a dog when we move to Portugal and she gets car sick so she may not be going on a lot of adventures with us unfortunately.

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Rui! Believe it or not I have seen on the home exchange sights, that people do organize it to have the other guest watch/walk/feed their dog or cat! We found a pet sitter on Madeira. If you watch our video “The 5 people you need to meet to succeed. “ We share that information. He’s great and Leo is happy! I think Madeira does have a pet hotel- with mixed reviews. We found this company and we are happy. Leo is our baby and we need to know he’s well cared for! Thanks for watching! Cheers! M&D

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Rick! Depending on where you are relocating in Portugal you may actually have many options. There are pet sitters who will come to your place and feed/ walk your dog. Leo needs constant love and attention and wouldn’t do well alone. We share all the information in our video “The 5 people you need to succeed “. The company is across 🇵🇹! We also have a couple videos on traveling with a dog. Thanks for watching! Cheers! M&D

[@MamaLlama007]

Great idea to exchange homes!

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello! Omg it was fabulous! Two couples got each a great holiday , introduced to new places/ restaurants and foods and all FREE! It was amazing! Thanks for watching and commenting. Cheers! M&D

[@MamaLlama007]

Did your pup stay home or daycare or travel with you?

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello! Leo stayed with an amazing dog sitter here on the island. He sent videos and pics daily and messages. At a cost of 20 € a night, Leo was loved and well cared for. Thanks for watching and commenting! Cheers! M&D

[@sineadmcwalters3645]

So interesting. We travel a lot, a lot. I’m a retired teacher, my husband is soon to be retired, so this is a great idea for us too. Contact us if you’re interested in a house in the beautiful southwest of Ireland, 45 mins from a big airport, panoramic Atlantic Ocean view in an old town.Sinéad

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Sinead! Nice to meet you! We are very interested in Ireland! Please send us an email at [e-mail]. Let’s talk!! Thank you for watching and silly the channel. Cheers! M&D

[@peteregonzalez]

Hey guys. We’re thinking of traveling to Madeira during Easter 2023. Want to swap? We live right outside of Princeton NJ. Want to swap?

[@Track_Us_Down]

Hello Peter! Ha ha! House swapping is amazing and that’s certainly intriguing 🤔! Not sure if that timeline would work for us- but please keep in touch via our business email and who knows? Gotta love NJ!! Thanks for watching and commenting! Happy Holidays 🎄! M&D