This Is One of the Most Affordable Ways to Travel
This Is One of the Most Affordable Ways to Travel

This Is One of the Most Affordable Ways to Travel

How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.

Diverging Reports Breakdown

This Is One of the Most Affordable Ways to Travel

Home swapping can be an immersive way to travel. The $235 annual fee for the service is about the price of one night in a hotel room. For people genuinely curious about how others live, a home swap can prove an immersive experience. You might even get ideas on how to redesign your home, as HomeExchange member Paige French did when she stayed at a Santa Barbara, California, home.“The minute you walk in, you’re transported into what it’s like to live somewhere else,” says Susan Lopez, a long-time member of the HomeEx Exchange. “We’ve gotten to meet friends and family…they’ll take us out for dinner or to a cultural event while we’re there,’ says Nicole Barry, who swapped her Gilroy home with a family in Maui for three weeks. “It really makes you feel like you’ve been there.” said Nicole Barry of the experience she had with the Maui family.

Read full article ▼
This Is One of the Most Affordable Ways to Travel

With travelers always looking for ways to connect with their destinations—and save a few dollars along the way—could home swapping be the key to a genuine experience?

In the 2006 rom-com film The Holiday, characters portrayed by Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz switch homes in Los Angeles and England, 6,000 miles apart. They easily find a romantic interest and integrate into a new community, all in one swoop. But is a Hollywood ending awaiting everyone who swaps homes?

According to several families who use HomeExchange, the answer is yes. This membership-based platform works in one of two ways: either a direct exchange between homeowners (or renters) during the same dates, or by using accumulated GuestPoints. For example, if you want to stay at a particular property, but the homeowners decline to stay at yours, but still offer up their place while they stay with family or friends, you’ll exchange your GuestPoints for the stay. No money is paid, and the $235 annual fee for the service is about the price of one night in a hotel room—yet you can literally travel the world all year long.

For people genuinely curious about how others live, a home swap can prove an immersive way to travel. You might even get ideas on how to redesign your home, as HomeExchange member Paige French did when she stayed at a Santa Barbara, California, home. She has been a member for 10 years and has completed 30 exchanges, listing homes in Charleston, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Continue Reading Article After Our Video Recommended Fodor’s Video

“It’s kind of like being at a B&B, but the people aren’t there,” explains French. “It’s a way to use the equity in your home for travel.”

Susan Lopez is another long-time member. She’s participated in 80 exchanges, listing her five-bedroom home near Laguna Beach, California. With the kids off at college, Lopez was itching to enjoy life as an empty nester by traveling. She thoughtfully includes surfboards, boogie boards, and golf clubs for guests’ use, and also suggests parking spots at the beach and which Mexican restaurants serve the best guacamole.

Knowing someone is keeping an eye on the home is a perk Lopez really likes. A few years ago, she received a notice from the water company that the water had been running for 24 hours, but she wasn’t home. She asked the HomeExchange guests to turn off the water for her.

“It turned out we had a pinhole pipe leak in one of the bathrooms and they hadn’t seen it,” Lopez says. “Not addressing it would have turned into a bigger problem.”

Opting out of a hotel and choosing a home likely means you’ve left the commercial, touristy parts of a city in favor of a residential neighborhood. That often leads to a deeper cultural immersion as you’re now surrounded by locals.

“The minute you walk in, you’re transported into what it’s like to live somewhere else,” continues Lopez. “It really makes you feel like you’ve been there.”

Nicole and Matt Barry recently swapped their Gilroy, California, home with a family in Maui for three weeks. They’ve been HomeExchange members for 10 years and completed nearly 70 exchanges.

“We were constantly texting and giving each other recommendations and tips,” says Nicole about her Maui trip. “They live next door to their family, so we got to know their family.” That wasn’t the first time this happened while using HomeExchange. “We’ve gotten to meet friends and family…they’ll take us out for dinner or to a cultural event while we’re there,” she says.

French had a similar experience when swapping homes.

“He made arrangements to have a block party with all his neighbors to welcome us,” she says. Leaning into their location and what it has access to has led to the Barrys receiving many exchanges.

“Our house is only a 45-minute drive to Santa Cruz and Monterey, and an hour from Pinnacles National Park,” says Barry. “We market our house as a great way to explore the Bay Area and the Central Coast.”

When the Barrys travel to see—and stay with—family over Christmas and New Year’s, they list their home on HomeExchange. Earning points while away not only gets them a house sitter for free but also puts them closer to another vacation where they have a free place to stay.

Swapping homes can drastically decrease the cost of a vacation, especially in expensive destinations. Two years ago, Lopez took her family to Iceland, where they stayed in a two-bedroom apartment. They could see the Northern Lights just by walking outside.

“Iceland is very expensive to eat or drive, so the home exchange was wonderful,” she says.

Allowing strangers to stay in your home can take getting used to. What helps is establishing rules and boundaries, such as locking rooms, closets, or drawers you’d rather they not access, or that hold valuable items. You can offer to exchange cars during a direct exchange, and either accept or prohibit pets and kids. You can also require pet-sitting while someone is staying in your home. Between Christmas and New Year’s, Lopez watched a family’s cat in their two-bedroom apartment on the 19th floor in Oahu. This was much cozier than a small hotel room.

“I prefer people just like us: two people, mild-mannered,” says Lopez. “I don’t want people hosting a bridal shower at my house. I always tell my neighbors before I go. My neighbors are retired. The minute someone pulls up in my driveway, I’m going to have a text.”

1. A HomeExchange property in Crete, Greece. Courtesy HomeExchange 2. And one in Miami, Florida.

Before she approves a stay, Lopez feels out potential guests during a FaceTime or WhatsApp video call, and also hosts a video orientation before they come. This ensures a seamless arrival. HomeExchange makes communication through the app easy, and you can always say no.

“Once you’ve done five or eight of these, you know what to ask,” says Lopez. “How many people are coming? What are their ages? Are you coming for a vacation or a wedding? Usually people are more than happy [to say why].”

If something should happen—like breaking an object or damaging a piece of furniture—usually there’s an apology and an offer to replace it. But you can also avoid this situation altogether.

“If there’s something you would be devastated if it were lost or broken, put it away,” says Barry. “We have done 60 exchanges, and the worst thing that’s happened is a broken mug.”

At one HomeExchange stay, the Barrys damaged a rug and felt terrible.

“My husband was making a fire in their fireplace, and a couple of little sparks came out and burned a few holes in the rug,” says Barry. “We felt so bad. It was one of our first exchanges.” They left money so the homeowners could replace it. “They laughed and said, ‘This is from IKEA and we’ve been thinking about replacing it anyway,’” she says.

Then, as it turns out, someone staying in their house broke a monogrammed wine glass and left more money than the glass was worth as a sincere apology.

“Everyone’s really respectful of each other’s spaces,” says Barry. “We’ve never had a bad experience.”

Since much of the joy in travel is meeting new people, that happens to many who use HomeExchange. French was surprised at how quickly she found a friend among her hosts.

“Six of us went to France and stayed in a farmhouse. They spent a day with us and took us to their favorite city, and we explored the town together,” she says. Now, when that family visits their son in Charleston, they meet French for dinner, and she has even lent them her car for the week.

“It’s a certain type of person (who uses HomeExchange),” says French. People who are adventurous and enjoy meeting new people.”

Source: Fodors.com | View original article

Source: https://www.fodors.com/news/hotels/why-home-swapping-might-be-the-most-affordable-way-to-travel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *