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No surprise, but I find my travel dreams are much much larger than my budget.  In my footloose and fancy-free days I have spent a year each in two countries: Israel and Greece. I feel it takes about a year to get to really know a country; its culture, holidays, customs, the way its people look at the world, etc. At this point, with two kids and husband who earns our family’s income at a 9-5 job, exploring a place for a month is about all I can imagine. Even with that amount of time permitting, the cost of staying somewhere for a full month would put any type of long trip out of our budget for several years to come. But then again….

A while back I vaguely remember hearing about house swapping. I decided to look into it a bit to see what people’s experiences have been. Swapping homes is actually a relatively popular way to explore just about anywhere. Aside from the cost savings of a hotel or vacation home, Sylvia Guermo says, she has been doing this because the unique places she travels often don’t have hotels or inns. People I have interviewed about their own experience, say they also enjoy traveling this way because the comfort of staying at a house is higher than coming home to a small hotel room. Also, in selecting your home you often end up conversing (by email or phone) with the people you will be swapping with, and may feel, when its done, as though you know them as a friend.  The home-owners often leave insider information for you, such as the best restaurants in town, great places to see, directions to the nearest grocery store, etc. During your long-term stay this can help you feel like you’ve gotten to know a town better.

Clearly there are many advantages if you are interested in house swapping. The negatives that I imagined hearing, such as the house was not clean, or the reciprocating family broke/stole things, did not come up in any of the experiences I  heard. Susan Lehman mentioned that upon return she found one of her pipes clogged, which cost about $500 to repair. The repair bill, she says, was still far cheaper than renting a hotel would have been. Several people advised to do your homework by asking lots of questions about the property to make sure its a good fit for you.

How do you find a match? Predictably, there are several fee-based services. The one most mentioned was Home Exchange.  Their website is easy to navigate. Simply put in an area where you’d like to travel and the personal page of the nearest subscribers pop up. The subscriber describes their own home, lists locations they would like go, best times for them to travel, whether pets are allowed or if they own pets, etc.  I noticed many subscribers list locations they’d really like to visit, but also list that they are open to traveling about anywhere for the adventure of it. Another well-established site is Digsville. Here the exchangers can actually rate their experience with their host.  Sherpa Exchange is a new company – their official launch date is March 20th. What makes them unique is that they do criminal background checks on each exchanger. (You must list your house to navigate the site.) They have let me know that if you register prior to the launch date your year’s membership is free. Registering after March 20th will require their $49 annual fee.  

Other services specialize in people who own vacation homes or property that is not currently occupied. This way it is easier to “bank” time, meaning you don’t have to be traveling on the same dates as your exchange partner. One such agency is The Vacation Exchange. You select a destination and the service will find an appropriate vacation home for you. You pay a fee each time you make an exchange. Trekadoo is similarly a vacation home exchange system, this one does not charge a fee, but since it is a new business there does not appear to be as wide a selection as others in terms of available properties.One person described a great experience she had using craigslist.

Is this something I could do? Yes, I could see us trying this as a way to explore a particular area. There were several listings that offered long weekend exchanges and not necessarily several weeks or longer. It is a huge leap of faith, giving access to your home to a family you’ve never met. Many folks even exchange vehicles. Still, the optimist in me sees how many positive responses I have found, and thinks this is a great opportunity to travel on a budget. I may choose a fee-based service over a free one for an additional layer of security (or perceived security). Those agencies that appear well established do have websites that make it easy to dream of places you could go to. If getting the time off is available, it may be fun to give it a try. What do you think?

To see more travel posts and local activities, see www.trippingwithkids.com