Affordable International Vacations With a Home-Swapping Exchange

By Gary Orlando

So you like traveling to exciting foreign locations. What about the ambience of the motel when you arrive...seem kind of cold? How about if you could stay in someone's home? For your next vacation, instead of a boring hotel room, wouldn't you rather stay in an Italian villa, a Caribbean beach condo, or an English country manor? And wouldn't it be even better if you could stay there for free? Many travelers around the globe take trips to choice locales and enjoy their vacations from the perspective of local residents while staying in private residences, thanks to the services of international home exchange organizations. To join them, all you have to do is join a home-swap service (costing anywhere from $75 to around $150 per year), become a member, and list your home as available for exchange. Home exchanges are especially attractive for travelers on extended vacations or work assignments.

As a member of a home-exchange service, you can feel like a worldwide citizen, with your own residence wherever you happen to be traveling. Instead of staying in a dreary motel, you can live as a native in a private home. Get to know the neighbors and learn about the really good places to visit, not just the ones in travel brochures. See and experience life as local residents do. Relax in a furnished home or apartment; enjoy their yard, deck, or patio; use their entertainment systems; and even use their car. Cook your meals in their fully outfitted kitchen instead of always going out for expensive meals. In general, just make yourself at home! All of this can be yours for just a fair and equitable trade-meaning that while you are enjoying the use of someone's home, someone else is simultaneously using yours. Usually the only costs involved are the annual membership fee for belonging to the home-swap service, transportation in getting there and back, and any spending money you will need during your stay. Believe it or not, users of home exchange services experience very few problems with theft or property damage, because most people do a good job of respecting other people's property. Because members must pay an annual fee and allow others to use their homes, they don't usually list properties on a whim. After all, they are putting their own property on the line, so they have a personal interest in taking care of yours.

There are quite a few well-established home-exchange services out there, offering thousands of homes in over 100 countries, so you need to do some research to find one that meets your expectations. This is where experience counts in going with an older established firm. HomeLink (http://www.homelink.org) claims to have the largest database of members in the world, and they support this claim by publishing comparative information on their website. With representatives in most major countries, support and assistance in a member's native language are just an e-mail or phone call away. In the U.S., they maintain a convenient toll-free number, and if you have a problem overseas, all of their representatives speak English and can probably offer some assistance or guidance.

Intervac (http://intervac-online.com) has an excellent reputation, with over 10,000 members in 52 countries and a higher percentage of overseas listings than their competitors. Staff in 30 countries can assist you over the telephone, in person, or online. They are able to reach more people by providing searchable listings in printed directories and on the Web, and they facilitate direct and immediate contact between members.

Home-exchange services offer a variety of services and property locations, so if the idea appeals to you, be sure to take care in choosing a company. Be sure that information about members is not made public, and only other members can access your personal information or contact you. And make sure that the company you are considering maintains a standard non-Internet list of members, because in many countries, computers and the Internet are either not available or are just too expensive. So take your time, do some research to figure out which company will work best for you, and give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised to find out how easy it is to get going. Have a happy vacation, and make yourself at home!