Issue1 TasteBound compressed - Flipbook - Page 33
Trade the urban jungle for the jungle-jungle in Tulum, Mexico
Justine Palefsky
Co -fou nder of K i nd red, San Francisco
Frustrated by the cost and ethics, Justine set
out to radically change the way we travel, building
a home-swapping community of some 140,000
households – across the EU, UK, US, Mexico and
Canada – rooted in reciprocity and trust
I never set out to build a travel company – I just wanted
to travel differently. Back in 2021, my co-founder Taz and
I were both craving a way to live more globally without
the huge price tag or the ethical discomfort of traditional
short-term rentals. We were informally swapping homes with
friends using a Google Sheet and thought: what if this could
be something bigger? What if travel could be more human,
and more responsible – and radically more affordable?
Trust isn’t part of our model – it is the model. Allowing
someone to stay in your real home is an act of vulnerability,
so we built Kindred as a community where everyone is both
a guest and a host. That shared experience creates empathy
– and accountability. Everybody’s got skin in the game.
People expect socks in the drawer and family photos on the
wall. No anonymous bookings. You’re not renting – you’re
exchanging. And that changes everything.
We wanted the experience to feel human, not transactional.
There’s no tiering system – a night is a night, whether you live
in a studio or a townhouse. You earn nights by hosting and
use them to stay elsewhere. We provide a host kit with bed
linen and guest toiletries, so if you’re flying across the world,
you know the sheets will be clean and the home ready. We
also coordinate professional cleaning, which is covered by the
member who is staying in the house. All in, it typically works
out at around 10% of the cost of a comparable rental.
In a recent travel survey, 57% of people who used short-term
rentals said they were concerned about the impact on local
neighbourhoods. There aren't enough housing units for
properties to be treated as revenue-generating assets. With
Kindred, there’s no empty house. You step into someone’s
real home, and straight into the rhythm of the community.
Last year, I did a home swap with a filmmaker and
cinematographer who, it turned out, had been President
Obama’s personal videographer for all eight years he was in
office. I stayed at her place in Brooklyn, surrounded by White
House mementos – framed letters, iconic photographs, even
a Camp David sweatshirt hanging casually on a hook. It felt
like stepping into a living museum – I was so honoured she
trusted me with her space. When I arrived, I noticed a Mary
Oliver poem pinned to her fridge – the exact same one I have
at home. You start to realise how much you might share with
someone who, on paper, seemed very different. Last week, I was
back in New York and took her to lunch. It felt like seeing an old
friend, even though it was the first time we’d met. livekindred.com
TA S T E B O U N D
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