In my previous post I introduced the idea of home exchange. It is one of the many ways to travel the world for free. Now I’m going to tell you about all the advantages.
1. Free accommodation.
Isn’t this one obvious? Paying for a hotel can be pricey. The good thing about Home Exchange that you get a whole house. This means a family or even two families can stay there depending on the number of bedrooms. Just imagine how much that saves for a family of 5 like us?
2. Save on renting a car
In many cases you are not only exchanging houses, but cars as well. No need to spend a fortune for renting a car, you can use the other families’. Of course this is not compulsory and depends how open the exchange partners are.Obviously you need to have insurance. In our history of homeexchanges we swapped cars 3 times. It all worked fine.
3. Use of TV, wifi, computer, sport equipment, toys, board games etc
The hosts usually leave a paper informing you how to operate the electronic appliances. You can enjoy all the comfort a house can offer.
4. Save on food by cooking in a kitchen
As you get a whole house and not just a small hotel room, you can cook in the kitchen. This can save you heaps of money.
5. Enjoy luxury
There are some really cool, luxurious houses on the site. We found pleasure staying in different people’s houses. In many cases we had a pool and jacuzzi to use, other cases we enjoyed the stunning view from the window. All houses are unique in a way.
6. Inside tips about places, events to visit
The homeexchange partners often leave a document about nice things to see and do. This is how we know about the annual sand castle competition in San Diego, or a local American car meet up in LA.
7. Tasting local food
It’s nice to leave some food specialty in your kitchen for the exchange partner. This is usually something that is typical in your country. We usually leave a bottle of Hungarian wine and some PICK salami.
In France we were welcomed by heaps in French cheese, in Switzerland we found the best chocolate ever on the table with a lovely note. It’s a nice gesture towards the other and a good way to taste local delicates.
8. No need to get a pet sitter
In case your exchange partner agrees you can leave your pets behind and they’ll feed them. We like animals so we don’t have problem with taking care of other people’s animals. We fed cats on some of our exchanges.
Sign up to home exchange through HERE!
(If you use my link I get some money from the company, but I wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t think it was a great way to travel. Like I mentioned before me and my family are members on the website and we love exchanging houses!)
Also make sure you read my blog post about the disadvantages as well, as everything comes with pros and cons!
Enikő
Hey, I'm Enikő! I'm currently an au pair and I want to share my experiences with you. I've travelled a lot in the past years. I'm gonna teach you how to settle in to a new country and get free accommodation anywhere in the world. Circle Enikő on Google+!
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February 1, 2017 at 7:31 pmSo interested in doing this, I’ve always just been a little weary of the security and how to properly screen. Thanks for the info Travel Hacker Girl!
Jay
February 1, 2017 at 7:58 pmHi Enikő – I’ve done house sitting for years, but have never thought of home exchange. With so many people interested in travel nowadays, it’s definitely another option I’m going to look at. ~~ Jay
Susanna
February 1, 2017 at 9:13 pmI had no idea there was an official company for this! I’ve done it a few times with family friends and would love to do this around the world. I think we’re going to have to sign up.
Liz
February 1, 2017 at 10:30 pmI was always a bit scared of this (you never know which people you may encounter and what they would do to your home) but your post made me more confident.
Karen
February 2, 2017 at 8:11 amIt’s a great idea – and you’ll experience the are more as a local, rather than a tourist!
Milijana
February 2, 2017 at 2:22 pmI have been thinking of using the Home Exchange for a while, but after reading your post I am quite sure I will be using it in the near future. It has so many advantages! And just to say, I have noticed surprisingly many beautiful homes on the Home Exchange site. 😀
Tamason Gamble
February 2, 2017 at 3:47 pmI really like the idea of housesitting but not sure a house swap would be for us. At the moment we make money renting our house out so that we can travel, if we take that element away and offer it to others for free we would have to pay the mortgage.
We are seriously considering house sitting this year though.
Katie
February 2, 2017 at 10:12 pmOh I had heard of home exchange but never really thought about the advantages apart from the travel element! but yeah I imagine you save a lot of money on food and travel and things to do too! Will definitely look into this 🙂
Annette Richmond
February 2, 2017 at 10:14 pmThis is such a helpful post! I’ve always wondered what Home Exchange was exactly. Thanks for breaking it down. Thanks for being so transparent as well. As you mentioned, everything does come with pros and cons.
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