Tristan Chen had lived in northern Canada her whole life. She was born to Taiwanese parents who’d left their home country many years before her birth. As a family, they’d once taken a trip to Taiwan, but Tristan didn’t remember much about it. She’d only been six years old.

In her twenties, after her dad had passed away, Tristan had often thought about revisiting Taiwan. As an adult, her Chinese was passable enough to get by, even if she wasn’t fluent.

Life happened, and before she could act on her plan, she’d hit thirty. Recently laid-off from work, she’d collected enough unemployment insurance to sit on her laurels for a year or so, before needing to find a new job. Single, with no children, no pets and no major responsibilities other than paying rent, that vacation in the country of her forefathers started to look more and more appealing.

Rather than using traditional means to find cheap airfare and accommodations, she opted for a search on a travel website made by and for her peers. Tristan identified as queer. For those who prompted her, she was more than willing to clarify that she exclusively dated women. She was out but didn’t feel the need to tote rainbow flags, or shout it from rooftops. However, she quite liked the comfort of being among other queer people. She was quietly feminist and proudly lesbian, and so, booking her travel arrangements on an exclusively lesbian and female-identified porthole, was an attractive option.

Lezfriendsworldwide.com was a place to look for short-term homestays and apartment swaps. Remarkably, Tristan was only one of two people placing an ad to swap a Canadian apartment for something equivalent in Taiwan. At first glance, there didn’t seem to be a huge array of options, so she contacted a few people who hadn’t precised which country they wanted to trade their Taiwanese dwellings for. Three girls responded, but one wasn’t thrilled about how far North Tristan lived. Taiwan was a warm country, and the girl wasn’t prepared to don a parka and knee-high boots. Another hopeful outright admitted she’d wanted to go to England, but had forgotten to specify this in her ad. The third girl had not decided where she’d like to visit, but was up for new experiences.

Tristan used the website’s handy chat function to ask this candidate questions in real time. Two nights in a row, Tristan chatted with the girl identified by the username chris80chris. She sounded easygoing and funny, and knew a bit of English. Conversation seemed to diverge from the original topic quite easily, but neither girl seemed to mind. However, when Tristan casually asked why this person thought she might consider traveling to Canada, there was a long pause. Tristan learned that although chris80chris was down-to-earth and chatty, she was still a stranger, and strangers had every right to guard their privacy and secrets.

Nevertheless, the pair seemed to be a good match for their desired housing swap. It was a bit scary to trust a stranger to move into your house while you occupied theirs. Then again, Tristan thought a lot of trust went into traveling abroad in general. She was ready for an adventure and she could tell just by text on a screen, that her potential swap-mate felt the same.