Home exchanges; a cheap way to travel?
Many websites are now devoted to helping people who want to exchange homes, almost anywhere in the world. The idea is that if you want to go to France, and someone in France wants to go where you live, you connect on the web and trade houses. Sounds easy, and perhaps it is.
I was born in New Zealand and would like to go back there for a few weeks later this year or early next year. I am in the process of trying to find someone to trade homes with. I have paid for memberships to www.homeexchange.com and www.homeforexchange.com, to the tune of about $90 for both for a year. I chose those particular websites because they both list a lot of homes in New Zealand. The memberships allow me to email the owners of homes that interest me, and also put my home on the websites so that others might see it and contact me if they want to come here. I am pretty specific about where I want to go, but I see many listings where people are very flexible and are open to suggestions.
If you have a second home, then you may not necessarily need a simultaneous trade. It could be that you would vacation in France in May and the french family could use your second home in July. In my case, it would need to be at the same time, but it has the added advantage of giving me a housesitter and someone to feed my cats.
Of course, there are lots of questions, as you don’t know who the people are that would be staying in your home. Many sites have people who have exchanged a number of times, and some have reviews of the people and their homes. When I go back to New Zealand I am going to make it a point to meet some of the Kiwis I have contacted who might possibly trade homes with me at a later date. As I continue the process, I will post about it and let you know how it goes. I am in the very preliminary stages right now. If you have traded homes before, do me a favor and comment on this post and let us know how it went for you (please?)
March 20th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Home Exchange is a great way to travel. I have a free, non-commercial blog offering tips on home exchange travel and travel with kids and seniors: http://homeexchanger.blogspot.com/
March 20th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Thanks Nicole! I checked out your blog and you have some great advice. It sounds like you have swapped multiple times and it has been successful for you. I think it is something most people aren’t really aware of as an option when traveling. I may not be swapping this year, as the time everyone wants to come here is not a good time for me to leave this time. We will probably rent this time, but I am hoping to meet the people who contacted me when we are in New Zealand so that we know each other when we finally do swap. Joanne