The Home Exchanger

Grocery Shopping

One of the big advantages to doing a home swap is that you have a fully-equiped kitchen in which to cook. This means big savings: you don't have to eat every meal out at expensive restaurants where the food quality is often unknown. We are planning to treat ourselves to a couple of good meals while we are here, but most of the day-to-day meals will be made in our "home".

Going to a supermarket in a foreign country is always an experience. Our local Irish store was no exception - the cereal, types of milk, bread, vegetables were all different than the garden-variety US versions, which is kind of fun. I was kind of annoyed to find out that you have to pay for your shopping bags (25 cents each), then bag your own groceries. But I was appalled to find out that you actually have to pay 1 Euro (about $1.30) for a shopping cart! The hell?

Still, we bought groceries enough for our first week's meals for about $75 - around what we would pay for one nice meal out. So the trip was a success.

St Petersburg Times Mentions Intervac USA

In an column advising Florida seniors how to save money, the St. Petersburg Times recommends home exchanging as a way to pinch pennies while traveling. There are other useful hints as well.

The Healed Rift between the US and Europe

Bush's Goodwill trip to Europe seems to be inspiring some humor among our home exchange members. We received an email from a French member that joked, "Now that Chirac and Bush have made up, why not do an exchange with us?"  Hee!

Seriously though, many of our members have asked whether Europeans are less likely to want to home swap with Americans given recent political events. And we also heard from Europeans worrying that Americans would not want to come visit them either. This did not come to pass, on both sides, which is a wonderful thing. One of the neat things about home exchange is getting to know other cultures and people. The more we know each other, the better we all get along!

The Trip Begins

This is the beginning of what hopefully will be a journey that coincides with the rapid growth of vacation exchange as a form of travel. The Home Exchanger blog is a great opportunity to share our views on home, hospitality and youth exchanges.

For travellers interested in experiencing another part of the country or world as if they lived,  rather than visited, there, vacation exchange is a great way to see the world. Most haven't heard of it. Others wouldn't consider it. But, trading your home or opening it up to visitors beats hotel accomodation in ways far beyond just price.

For home exchange devotees, this blog will answer commonly asked questions and serve as a place to share your experience. We encourage your participation.

For home swap newcomers or those who know about it but view this form of travel with trepidation, we hope you find the site enlightening. Maybe, just maybe, we'll change your minds.