Introduction
You want to plan a vacation for your family, and the same old trips to the one-hour-drive amusement park or the nearby tourist attractions have lost their novelty. Visiting a new, exotic destination is tempting, but the travel and accommodation costs may be unaffordable. The easy solution: swap home with a willing family and experience a vacation with no hotel rent or lodging charges and a chance to find a location off of the standard tourist tracks. Many home exchange websites are now available that make it simple for you to swap home with people from all over the globe, whether you want to plan a year in advance or in just months.
Step 1
Firstly, find the home exchange website suited to your needs. Most popular websites such as www.homeexchange.com require a yearly fee along with registration, while some like www.bobzio.com have free listing and membership for particular areas. Find the swap home site most suitable in terms of fees and listing of numbers of favored locations.
Step 2
Once you have registered, add your home to the lists and provide details about its location and features, photos of the house and living area, and personal details such as the ones that are required and will make your profile appear credible. Make your descriptions sound attractive so that someone who wishes to swap home in your locality will want to choose your home over other available options. Define possible time periods when you would be willing to travel.
Step 3
Search and browse the swap home directory for regions you wish to visit and select homes that interest you. Send contact requests to a large number of homeowners; this is because many of them may not respond and you want to keep your options open in the beginning.
Step 4
Connect on a more personal level with likely candidates prepared to swap home, and try to reach an agreement with them, keeping in mind their preferences as well as your own. Be clear about things to avoid misunderstandings and be upfront when you inquire about possible problematic issues like pets and bills.
Step 5
Moreover, finalize dealings with the most suitable homeowner. Provide all minor details they would require for moving into your home, and likewise, obtain all information you may need about their living place. At this point, you may have even become more like friends than acquaintances with those you are about to swap home with. Then book your tickets, pack your bags, extensively clean your house, arrange things for your guests’ arrival, and set off!
Tips
The home exchange vacation concept is not a new one, but has certainly taken off with its fast and easy dealing over the internet. When you swap home with people just like you in different places of the world, you not only get a more affordable vacation for your entire family, but make new friends, experience a new culture by actively living within it, are never far from homey comforts and have greater privacy and freedom to choose your activities than in a hotel or hostel. All you need is to be ready to swap home with someone who at first seems to be a stranger, and soon enough you will end your vacation relaxed, fulfilled, and having established lasting relationships with people otherwise unreachable in any other kind of impersonal holiday.
Sources and Citations
www.bobzio.com
