The Ins and Outs of House Swapping
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 10.14.08 | 5:36 PM ET
Budget Travel has some good tips, along with some reflection on the benefits and pitfalls of house swaps. “A born-and-bred control freak, I’ve always chosen my hotels after scouring magazine articles and grilling my friends for recommendations,” Joanna Goddard writes. “When you book a room that way, you know what you’ll get—and you pay for that reliability. House swaps, however, force you to take a leap of faith.”
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Ling 10.15.08 | 9:27 AM ET
I suppose you could do it with close friends, but its a bit difficult to bring yourself to trust a complete stranger with your house. I mean, human nature being what it is, you’re bound to be a bit careless with other peoples’ possessions.
Lois 10.23.08 | 6:21 AM ET
In response to Ling’s comment:
Arranging a home exchange generally takes some time - weeks, even months - during which potential exchange partners are getting to know each other through regular correspondence and phone calls until they both reach the point where they are happy with all the arrangements and feel secure in having each other living in their homes.
In fact, as you are in your exchange partner’s home at the same time they are in yours, this gives you both a very good incentive to take good care of the homes entrusted to you.
Trust me - home exchange works! But do visit my blog if you want more information, Travel the Home Exchange Way.
Cheers