Monastic timeshares

As you may be aware, I enjoy traveling.  Literally, that is what, in part, searching for thin places is about.

So on a mini-Isle of Iona reunion a couple of years ago, one of my more vollies and I traveled about Texas and on another fabulous island, Galveston we birthed the idea of Monastic Timeshares.  It's like sofa surfing, but with that monastic, holy flair.

While in Galveston, on Broadway we found an old, historic mansion for sale.  It was a 6 bedroom, seven bath home that had survived the storm of 1900.  We had a fabulous discussion about how we would operate a bed and breakfast for those seeking a holy retreat in an amazing setting.  It was located about 45 minutes south of Hobby Airport in Houston, and clearly not nearly as laborious to access as getting to Iona.  The only snag, well not the only snag, was that each of us wanted to have the blue bedroom. The larger issue was the price.  Which was a teeny bit more than our combined incomes, for the next 20 something years.

But the idea was born.  Monastic timeshares.  We decided that we each had "starter" homes for our timeshare, and could recruit more participants.  So a home in Brisbane, Australia, Bossier City, Louisiana and Galveston, Texas.  We worked on recruitng a member of the Iona community, but I am afraid that our extensive knowledge of squatters rights in the UK may have scared him off the idea.

Its a very cool idea.  To travel throughout the world, searching for the thinnest of places, staying with folks of a simliar bent.  That makes searching all the more enjoyable.

This could become a thinner place