HomeExchange.com: Swap houses, skip hotel bills
Sunday November 2, 2008
There are plenty of Web sites that serve as useful planning tools for budget travelers. Home exchange sites allow you to swap homes with other travelers who want to avoid high hotel prices. Data bases connect travelers by geographic area, and after a membership fee is paid, each exchange is made without a fee. Take a closer look at home exchanges to see if this budget travel strategy could work for you on your next trip to a pricey location.
Mark, this works fine for people in larger, tourist oriented cities, such as SF, NY, DC and even Chicago, but woe we lusty travelers in Fort Wayne, my home, Omaha, Tulsa and the like. Few Parisiens or Munchner or even Ljublianii want to trade with us. Tisk.
Jim, that’s probably true most of the time, but not always. Some people from other countries want to look beyond New York, Miami and Las Vegas to see the rest of America, just as Americans spend time in rural France as well as Paris.
I hosted some German journalists one time who were fascinated with Amish culture. They drove 500 miles roundtrip in ONE DAY to spend some time in a very small Ohio town.
If you can find attractions within a short drive of home that people from another country would visit for a day or two as part of a bigger trip, that Fort Wayne-Paris exchange could work…but it does take a lot more effort.
About Home Swapping:
http://www.HomeForSwap.com, is a community website that allows users to exchange homes with each other, thus saving on hotel costs during their next vacation. In addition to saving on lodging costs, members are to find out that they can save even more since their free home also gives them access to other amenities for free, such as a kitchen for meals, a washer and dryer, and even DVD’s. Some residences have free internet access and amenities such as bicycles to take in the local sights. Some members even swap automobiles.
For readers interested in this travel alternative, we suggest they read through our 66 Practical Home Exchange Tips.
It’s a comprehensive list of home exchange tips to help find, arrange, and enjoy a perfect home exchange vacation.