After a long, hard-working 2010 and a brutally cold month of January, we’re announcing a special contest giveaway for this first of February 2011. Our favorite home exchange site is giving away two (or really, 40,000) things and you could be the very lucky someone to win them.
The big ticket item (promising memories to last a lifetime) is a free year-long membership to HomeExchange.com—or a second free year if you’re already a member—AND a $200 Visa Gift Card. (Don’t refresh the page. You’re reading this correctly. We know, it’s pretty super.)
We recently interviewed the founder of HomeExchange.com and were reminded of why we love to travel, especially when it means living like a local and paying zilch for a beautiful home someplace exotic around the world, or just a quick train ride away from New York City.
If you’d like to have 39,000 homes at your disposal and $200 in your pocket, enter to win by doing the following quick and easy things:
1) Follow us on Twitter and tweet this message (if you already follow us, just tweet!):
“Win a free membership to HomeExchange.com plus a $200 Visa card! Just follow @offManhattan and RT! http://bit.ly/FrEeMoNeY”
OR
2) Sign up for our email list. (If you’re already a subscriber, you are automatically entered for a chance to win the giveaway.)
At the conclusion of your first home exchange, an editor from offManhattan.com would love to hear a bit about your experience, so we hope you won’t be shy when it comes time to share the details of your exciting journey!
You can do 1) and 2) to be entered twice, and tweet once a day to be entered multiple times to increase your chance of winning. Deadline is Tuesday , February 8th at 11:59pm EST – a winner will be chosen at random and announced the next day. Good luck!
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram