Home-Swapping Makes for an Affordable Vacation

Tired of staying in (and paying for) hotels when you travel? Are you looking for a more intimate travel experience that immerses you in the “real life” of a destination? Maybe you should consider one of the fastest growing trends in travel - a home swap.

This past Thanksgiving, my family enjoyed a reunion in a gorgeous, six-bedroom beach front home in Charleston, South Carolina. And we didn’t have to rent it - it was basically free (we paid cleaning costs). It was a home swap.

The advantages of home swapping are many… furnished and comfortable accommodations, local neighbors, great locations, amenities like cars and bicycles, and of course, all the money you save on hotel costs. That’s worth the trip alone.

You’d be amazed (I was) at how many homes, domestic and international, are being offered for home swaps. There are more than a few websites dedicated to helping you find a match, like Home Exchange and HomeLink International, for example. You can choose to swap for a long weekend, 1 - 3 weeks or longer.

And you don’t have to own a mansion in Aspen or a condo in Manhattan (though it may help) to find someone that wants to stay in your home. Every town, city or country property is a destination for someone. The owner of a Tahiti beach villa, for example, may be curious about your neighborhood. Or maybe the owner of a luxury apartment in Paris wants to visit your hometown because they read about it in a magazine. You never know.