We all know by now there are no free rides and if a deal sounds too good to be true, it is, right? Well…one family from Fort Meade, Md. is putting their own spin on that bit of conventional wisdom.
First Army Division East Surgeon Lt. Col. George Kyle's wife Gina is not one to shy away from a challenge and her family wouldn't have it any other way. Her adventurous nature won them an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii, courtesy of Home and Garden Television (HGTV).
Gina Kyle, a long-time fan of HGTV saw an ad on the HGTV website recently, asking, 'How would you like a paid vacation on HGTV?'
"Who would pass that up?" quipped Gina as she reflected on the application process. "I figured I didn't have anything to lose, not even a postage stamp, and a lot to gain. So I wrote and submitted a picture, never expecting to get a call.
Three weeks after they submitted the picture, the Kyle family spirits had begun to decline, and their hopes of being selected were not high.
"I thought the application was a waste of time," admitted Lt. Col. George Kyle. "Based on the description of the show, it looked like a great opportunity, but I simply felt that we were not the type of family they were looking for."
About that time, the Kyles received a letter from HGTV, expressing interest in them and requesting a 10 minute video of the family answering various questions and showing them in their favorite rooms of their house. The video would show the Kyle's at home, both at work and at play, allowing HGTV to get to know the family better.
"A lot of the families cast had some type of human interest story -- adopting three children, never been on an airplane before, never been on vacation, that kind of thing. That caused us to doubt they would pick us," he said. "Remarkably, they liked that we are a military family, the fact that we have a daughter headed to college next year, and this was probably our last family vacation together."
Kyle stated that making a winning video required a lot of planning and effort from everyone in the family.
"The video task was fun," he said. "We got each family member's main points they wanted to emphasize and made a brief outline so it would flow well. One of the rooms we chose to highlight was the basement family room. We rehearsed a couple times before making the actual video. Even our dog Roxy made a cameo appearance."
According to HGTV's Lisa Sutton, the Kyle family was selected out of several candidates based on the fact they came across as a fun, likable, casual family whose interests fit the location HGTV was planning to feature.
Upon finding out that they had won, the obvious response from both Kyles was shock, followed by a sense of the unknown.
"What had we gotten ourselves into?" was the next question that passed through Kyle's mind.
What they had gotten themselves into was an experience of a lifetime that started a few months later with the cast and camera crew for HGTV's 'House Hunter's Dream Vacation' coming to their home, filming them as they were shown winning the award, the camera crew spent the next few days in their home, filming them as they worked and played as a family.
After being selected, Kyle, an Army surgeon, immediately contacted his supervisors at First Army Division East and notified them that he would be taking some time off, which wasn't a given. Being the command surgeon and medical officer for a command of more than 6,000 Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve Soldiers and civilians, Kyle is considered "mission essential," and his presence is normally required to provide medical oversight as the Division mobilizes and demobilizes Reserve Component Soldiers for deployments around the world. .
"I was a bit anxious at the prospect of taking nearly two weeks off but the moment I informed the Chief of Staff, his first comment was, 'wow, that's great,'" said Kyle.
With his chain of command's approval, the Kyle family was ready to play host to the HGTV Dream Vacation cast and crew.
"I didn't mind the television crew at my house at all," stated Gina. "We got to see a whole new perspective of how a show is produced. It takes a lot longer than what we see on television, but who were we to complain, after all, we were going on this awesome vacation. We had a fabulous crew. They were very professional, friendly and efficient."
While Gina was perfectly comfortable with the HGTV cast and crew, that ease wasn't shared with her daughter.
"I was nervous at first," admitted Lindsay Kyle . "After the first few questions, it wasn't so bad. The director had a good sense of humor and the crew was nice. That made it fun."
After the filming was complete, it was time for fun and excitement.
With their bags in hand, they left their home in Maryland for 10 days on the beaches of Hawaii. Once in Hawaii, they were shown three different luxurious vacation homes to choose from to spend their Hawaiian holiday enjoying world-famous beaches and lush rainforests.
"The best part [of the vacation] was paddle-surfing," Kyle's son Elijah exclaimed with great enthusiasm. "That was something completely new, and I felt like I could go as fast and as far as I wanted without restriction."
"Being in Hawaii was great," agreed George. "The filming phase was a neat experience too. We all gained a new perspective on how much work goes into a single 30-minute episode. The best part came when we, as a family, spent time together enjoying the house, the local area and the cultural activities."
And because the vacation was sponsored by HGTV, the choices also played a big part in the Kyle family vacation.
"All three houses were beautiful and unique in their own way," said Lindsay. "One was more formal, one had great access to a beach and one was very comfortable and had a pool. I would have been happy with any of them."
Gina agreed that all three where very good selections to choose from.
"My favorite part of the house that we chose was the privacy," she said. "We really didn't have a bad choice. Each one had their own unique qualities."
When asked which of the three homes the Kyle family chose, Gina Kyle replied with a smile, "You'll have to tune in to see which one we chose and why."
The Kyle's episode of House Hunter's Dream Vacation will air in March.
First Army Division East, headquartered at Fort Meade, Md., mobilizes, trains, validates, deploys and demobilizes Reserve Component troops. The division demobilized almost 27,000 service members in support of overseas contingency operations, such as Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn, at three mobilization training centers across the eastern United States in 2011.
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