The Home Exchanger

Finding a House Swap in a Small Village

Like everything great, home exchange isn't for everyone. We received a message from someone interested in  swapping their home on the Outerbanks of North Carolina for a home in Tourtour, a  town in Provence located about one hour north of Nice. Now, there's nothing wrong with having a specific city in mind when looking for a home exchange... if the city is Florence or Paris or London or New York or San Francisco or another large city where there are hundreds of people interested in trading their home.

But, when your desired destination is a small village with only 481 inhabitants, you really can't be assured that you will be able to trade your home with someone in that place.  Now, if you are open to finding a home exchange in the general vicinity of that town, then house swapping could be a great way to vacation there. After all, there is usually a major city within two or three hours from most towns in the United States and Europe. For that reason, if you are able to target a region, rather than a specific village in that region, you have a great chance of arranging a fabulous vacation exchange. However, if you need to be in a specific village with a small population, you're probably better off staying in a hotel.

Agree on a Backup Home Exchange Plan

Our first time members will often ask us for advice in planning out their home exchange. One of the tips they find most useful is the most difficult to do. That is coming up with a backup plan in case one of the parties to the exchange has to back out at the last minute.

Whether it's a sickness in the family or another unforeseen event, it can happen that one party cancels on the other. Therefore, it's a good idea to come up with a backup plan in the early stages of contact between the two parties. One idea is for a friend of family member living nearby to agree to take in the exchange partner in case they are not able to. But, whatever the plan, it's better to get it out of the way early and in a way that both parties can agree on. That way, even if your exchange partner can't make it, you can still enjoy your vacation.

Home Exchange Makes Any Vacation Destination Reachable

One of the reasons we established this blog was to spread the word about trading homes on vacation. So, it's worth noting that when most of us sit around dreaming up where we want to go in the world, the cost associated with a hotel immediately stops our brain in its tracks. A country village in France. A wooded Swedish island town. Wherever you dream of going, the dream sequence often ceases once the $100 or $200 per night cost associated with a hotel becomes clear.

Swapping houses, though, can make it possible. By finding a good price on a flight to your desired destination and agreeing to trade homes, you can go anywhere you want. Think about it. And if you do, you might find yourself arranging your dream vacation.

The Wichita Eagle Features Intervac Home Exchange

Home exchange isn't just for folks living in the world's biggest cities. It's for anyone with a home, apartment or condo to swap that is interested in traveling and meeting  people from other regions and countries. Recognizing this, The Wichita Eagle  featured Intervac as a notable provider of low-cost travel:

I'm impressed that year after year, several vacation Samaritans continue to offer prices so low for benefits so great that you can't help but admire their selfless work... And as you learn the modest charge for participation in Intervac ($68.88 for a year Web-only membership), you immediately see that its managers are not inolved in this business to get rich. Read the entire article here.

Aside from our company, other valuable budget travel resources are mentioned in the article. For example, a low-cost specialist to Central America called Capricorn Leisure, is recognized.

One of the most common questions we are asked from people who live beyond obvious tourist destinations such as San Francisco or New York is whether anyone would want to swap with them  The answer is yes. There are people within communities around the globe that are interested in seeing lesser known parts of world. Their next trip may even take them to Wichita, Kansas.

House Exchange Agreement Form Tastes Differ

The vacation exchange agreement forms are beginning to trickle in. These are the forms we ask our members to complete and send to us after arranging a home exchange.  The forms are useful because they formally record the dates of the house swap as well any special arrangements such as car or telephone use between the exchange partners.

The specifics of those arrangements really depend on the people trading.  We offer simple home exchange agreement forms  for those that just want to record the dates and people involved in the trade. Others use a more detailed home swap form that includes information about how the home keys will be obtained or details about a possible car swap.

Jeri of La Jolla, California and Christina of Stockholm, Sweden opted for the simple home exchange agreement form when recording the details of their spring swap.  The entered their names, member numbers and dates of travel. They signed and dated the form and added in one other comment above: "We all agree to have lots of fun."

Open versus Closed Home Exchange Services

When choosing a home exchange company, it's important to know what you're getting. There are numerous differences between each one, but one of the major differentiators is whether they offer an open or closed system. This means whether or not they allow non-members to contact members.

We believe a members-only system is the best one. The issue came up today because a member of another home exchange company contacted us in order to contact one of the members of our company. We told him that we'd love to have him as a member and that if he wanted to contact one of our members, he should join the service.

That's because most of our members prefer to be contacted only be people who have taken the time and made the small financial investment of actually joining the same organization. Many of our members figure that if the person wanting to do an exchange with them hasn't even bothered to share information about their home in a catalogue or on the web with other members, why would they want to share their home with them. Furthermore, many of our members know that in case something goes wrong with their exchange partner, we always have a record of payment and contact information about each member. The same can't be said for open systems (or free bulletin boards) where members are encouraged to exchange with non-members, who aren't on record with the exchange company.

Extend AAA Coverage to Home Exchange Partners

Another vacation exchange agreement form has been filed indicating that another home swap has been arranged.  This one between couples in England and America is notable for two reasons.

First, both parties extended their AAA coverage to one another while they are trading their cars. This ensures that whether Dorothy and Bill of California or Peter and Suzanne of Hampshire run into automobile trouble while on exchange in May, they won't be left out in the cold. They can call AAA(or AA, as it's called in England) and get help.

Second, Peter and Suzanne's listing page lists only Great Britain as the place they want to travel to on an exchange. Despite that, they have arranged something in the United States. It shows that even if a prospective exchange partner doesn't list your region as one of their desired destinations, it's still worth contacting them about a possible trade. You never know if your offer will persuade them to change their original plans.

Traveling with small children

Today a woman in Chicago called to explore the advantages of home exchange when you have small children.  She is traveling to Madrid with her husband and 2-year old baby and they don't want to stay in a hotel and order room service or eat in a restaurant for every meal. They also didn't want to use an inconvenient laundromat or the expensive hotel laundry service to clean the baby's clothes.

There are many advantages to swapping houses when you are traveling with small children. By staying in someone's home, you have access to such conveniences as  kitchens, laundry rooms and backyards. Another perk is the opportunity to trade homes with a family that have a similarly aged child. This minimizes the need to lug so many toys. 

Scott Haas' book "Are We There Yet" amusingly details his family's adventures traveling through Europe...and the challenges of journeying with small children.

Avignon - Santa Fe Swap Arranged!

Home exchange can be a year round activity. But, for those with families and limited vacation time,  summer is the time to go away. Early birds have already begun to solidify their plans. For example, Simohn and her husband from Santa Fe have just agreed to  exchange their Southwest style home with a couple of retired professors residing in a small village outside of Avignon, France.

Thousands of these arrangements are made each year. Some are planned out months in advance, others just days.

What makes this one so exciting is that the French couple will host their previous house swap  partners from Portland in their current exchange partner's home in Santa Fe. Arlette and her husband became such good friends with the previous home exchange partners in Seattle that they stay in touch and will be reunited this year.

And Simohn and Jefferey will host some of their friends from England in their home swap partner's house outside of Avignon. House exchange isn't just an affordable and authentic means of travel, it's also a great way to make lasting personal relationships.

House Swap to Bridge Two Cultures

Home exchange is perfect for people with one foot in one culture and another foot in another. Take the example of a native French woman living in the United States with her American husband.  Most of her current life is in the United States with her husband and business, a French language school.  But, her previous life was in France.

To bridge the gap, she is interested in doing a home swap, rather than a hotel stay, in France. As she said, "I'd be paying more for a hotel and not having the experience you should have. " That about sums up the disadvantages of  staying in a hotel versus arranging a house exchange  when traveling for pleasure.