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Trading Places: Home Exchange for FamiliesBy Lisa Anderson MannIt only takes a couple of rainy days cooped up in a 12 x 14 hotel room with bored, restless (and often whiny) kids, a sticky spill on the only bathing suit 2 days into a 7-day beach vacation, or a couple $10 bowls of Rice Krispies under the scornful eye of the maitre-de, to make even the most confirmed (pre-baby) traveler long for the comforts of home. But what if you could find the comforts of home--cheap--in the vacation spot of your dreams? Home exchanging can be an ideal (and inexpensive) vacation option for families. Laundry facilities, a fridge stocked with favorite foods, a back yard swing, and maybe even a kid next door to play with make a vacation with kids much more palatable. And if that backyard swing has a view of Lake Tahoe, well, who’s going to complain? The concept is pretty simple: you stay in a home in your vacation destination, while the owners (or renters) of that home stay in yours. Home exchangers frequently exchange cars as well, so the savings on lodging and car rental can quickly add up. Money Magazine estimated that a couple on a two-week Europe trip could save $2000 on lodging alone with home exchanging. But there’s a lot more going for the idea than just the money saved. Experienced exchangers say there is nothing like home exchanging to experience an area like a native--not a tourist. Opportunities to meet local people abound, and you can couple the comforts of home with an exotic locale: make yourself toast and coffee and eat it in your PJs rather than dressing for a high-priced breakfast in hotel coffee shop, pack light and toss your laundry in the washing machine, borrow your host’s boogie boards or picnic baskets for jaunt to the beach. Plus, you have built in house (and even, sometimes, pet) sitters. And, when you exchange with another family, your kids may have access to toys, kids videos, bikes, or computer games to help occupy them while you sleep in or relax. “The best vacation I ever had was a home exchange,” says home exchanger Debra Wells. “My daughters and I stayed at a condo in the Outer Banks--Kill Devil Hills--and had a great time. The kids loved staying at someone's home rather than just in a motel with a Gideon's Bible and bad plumbing, which has frequently been our experience. Everything is so much more comfortable. We could never afford a condo on the beach in July otherwise.” Kris Bertsch agrees. Bertsch spent 7 months in Europe with her husband and three small children. They arranged home exchanges for two months in Germany, two months in Spain, one month in Paris, and one in Bordeaux, and finished with England. “They were all were awesome experiences,” she says. “To this day, I can not tell you which was best. The following summer, my family and I exchanged in Richmond, Virginia for a month. It was another fantastic experience.” With a home exchange, instead of memories of overpriced meals, cramped hotel rooms, and cranky kids, you'll come home with an intimate view of life as it's lived somewhere else, and perhaps, a little vacation money left over for your next trip. If You Try ItPlan ahead. Many home exchangers make arrangements six months or more in advance. Last minute or long weekend exchanges are done all the time of course, so don’t give up if your vacation is next month, but remember you will be coordinating not just your families schedule, but your exchange partners as well. Be flexible. Flexibility is a plus in home exchange. Be open to offers. One of the best exchanges I’ve done was to a destination it never occurred to me to consider. Your partner’s home may not be what your expected, and there will be no concierge to find you a different room. Your exchange partners may talk you through the foreign washing machine directions by phone, and you may find amazingly helpful and friendly neighbors; but you’re better off going into the exchange with a sense of adventure and a fair amount of flexibility. Find potential exchange partners. People have arranged exchanges through friends of friends, distant co-workers, or want ads, but by far the easiest way is to turn to the print or online directories put out by home exchange listing companies. You can list your home for an annual fee and see who contacts you, you can search the directories for swaps that appeal to you and contact the owners, or some combination of the two. Start by browsing through the listings for the destination(s) that interest you, and compile a list of the exchanges that sound appealing. Contact those people, asking them if they’d be interested in an exchange. Let them know when you would like to travel and for how long, who you are traveling with, and describe your home and the local attractions. If you have a listing, refer them to the listing page, or offer to send photos. Initial contact is most often done by email for internet home listings, and postal mail for print directories. Those that are interested will usually get back in touch within a week or so, and from there you narrow it down to one exchange and begin the process of getting to know your exchange partner. I’ve done exchanges after only 3 or 4 emails; with other partners we’ve gotten to know each other so well that we exchange Christmas cards, gifts, and letters years later—even though we’ve never actually met in person. By email, phone, or postal mail, or a combination of all three, you’ll work out all the details of the exchange. During this stage, over-communicate. For example, will you exchange cars? If so, make sure you spell out any restrictions that either you or your insurance has–they can drive your car, but their 18-year old son may not, etc. (Usually, your insurance will cover your exchangers as guest as long as you don’t exchange money, but check with your agent, just to be sure.) Also, specify early any iron-clad requirements that you may have. If you don’t allow smoking say so, even if you specified it in your listing. If you are allergic to cats, are in a wheelchair, can’t drive, or have a fear of heights, say so early on. They may have gotten a cat since they posted their listing, or that photo that looks like it’s a ground floor in the center of Chicago may really be the 8th floor five miles off the bus lines. Mention any serous idiosyncrasies of your place as well—it comes with a live-in boarder, the dog bites men with beards, whatever. They may well find it charming, or at least tolerable, but you don’t want to spring any surprises on your partners late in the process. Don’t commit until you’re sure. People new to home exchanging most often worry about breakage, theft, or the cleanliness of their exchangers. However, according to the listing agencies, those kinds of complaints are very rare. The most common complaint occurs when an exchanger backs out of an arrangement, leaving their partners with airline tickets and nowhere to go. In the planning stages for my first exchange my exchange partners and I played ticket-chicken. For a couple weeks, we exchanged information on the best airfares we’d found, asking each other every few days “did you buy your tickets yet?”--each waiting for the other to commit to non-refundable tickets first. We finally both blinked on the same day and bought tickets. Since then, I’ve found it easier to just say, “Ok, we’re ready to do this. I’d like to buy tickets, but first I wanted to confirm that these dates and this exchange work for you.” Some exchangers feel more comfortable writing up a letter of agreement; samples are available on the home exchange web sites. Leave instructions. Write up a short operator’s manual for any appliances in your home. Turning on the heater or VCR or using the microwave may seem obvious to you, but for someone unaccustomed to it—especially if it’s not in their native tongue—it can be a frustrating. Leave instructions for any pet or plant care you expect your partners to do, anything you want off-limits to your exchange partners, and leave a map to local attractions, the grocery store, etc. Get ready. If you have valuables or breakables that you are uncomfortable leaving, lock them in a cabinet or leave them with a friend. By this time, you’ve made arrangements for an exchange of keys, but if you are not overlapping, leave a spare set with a friend and the friend’s phone number with your partners, just in case something goes awry. Clean up, leave fresh linens, some closet space, and a welcoming note and perhaps a little food so jetlagged visitors don’t have to forage immediately for groceries. Enjoy yourself. Treat your host's home as if it were your own, leave it the way you found it, and relax. If there’s a problem back home, your guests know where to find you. For More Informationwww.Homeexchange.com www.Digsville.com Intervac Global Home Exchange HomeLink International Vacation Homes Unlimited Home Base Holidays |
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