Home exchanging as a means of affordable vacationing was
conceived in Europe more than five decades ago. It began with teachers in the
Netherlands and Switzerland swapping homes for their summer holidays. Over the last
twenty years it has really taken off and it is estimated that in excess of 60,000
travelers worldwide will take a home swap vacation this year.
Vacations will undoubtedly be very expensive if you need to rent a hotel room so why
not broaden your horizons and instead, stay in a private residence with all the comforts
and amenities of a home? Home exchange with someone or a family who wants to come to your
home!
Anyone with a home can participate in a home exchange. As an example, your home is in Florida
and you wish to visit London; by exchanging homes with someone in London your only expenses are
travel and meals.
You should also consider that, while staying in a hotel or motel you will very likely eat out
for the majority of your meals and this will also be expensive and will very quickly add up.
In contrast, exchanging homes provides the enormous benefit of being able to shop locally and
cook in a real kitchen, also providing a huge savings.
There are also many approaches you can take to finding a home exchange:
You can run classified ads in the area that you wish to exchange to
You can post to appropriate newsgroups
You can join one of the reputable, long established home exchange organizations
Home exchanges are based on trust. There is never a guarantee that your guests won't trash your
home, but there is absolutely no reason that they would. Think for a moment#151;they are trusting
you with the keys to their home, too. Are you planning to trash the home you hope to swap with?
In the 22+ years, ExchangeHomes.Com has promoted home exchanging, we have never had a
report of theft or malicious damage, and, as we point out on this web site, having someone stay
in your home can actually be safer than leaving it unoccupied while you go on vacation.
We provide you with a HUGE amount of information to help you consider a home exchange vacation (see links
to additional sections in the left-hand margin).
Through a variety of means, thousands of homes located in European countries, the
United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the Caribbean and many
other places are listed as being available. Their owners hail from all walks of
life: retired couples who have considerable flexibility when it comes to the
timing and adaptability of their exchanges, younger families limited by the
constraints of employment and school vacations, and single people of all ages,
traveling alone.
People who have exchanged before speak of the comfortable home setting, usually
located in a neighborhood away from "touristy" areas and city centers. They were
able to unpack properly, eat when they fancied, had coffee, tea and snacks on
hand. Valuables did not have to be taken with them where-ever they went.
A lot of members chose to include a car as part of the exchange. Although not
mandatory, the benefits are enormous. It is much cheaper to exchange than rent for
the period of a vacation and with gasoline so much cheaper in North America than
most European countries, the bonus of a car makes an exchange offer so much more
attractive.
For families with children it makes travel affordable and more easily managed.
When families with children of similar ages exchange homes, all their facilities,
playthings and local playmates are part of the deal!
For older people visiting family for an extended period it provides an opportunity
to preserve their independence. Parents and grandparents can visit for much longer
than otherwise would have been possible were they restricted to hotel rooms or a
spare room in their family's home. People on extended visits also find they very
quickly tire of constantly eating out. With a home exchange they can "eat at home"
as often as they choose and go out to a restaurant occasionally.
As an exchanger you become a transplanted local - part of the neighborhood - and
for many people, this transcends everything. Long term friendships are forged and
remain there to be built upon year after year.
We invite you to examine our many listings. If you have any questions we encourage
you to contact us.
