I wanted to talk about home exchange because it has changed our world of travel so much. Have you seen the movie The Holiday where Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet trade homes? Well that’s where I first heard of home exchange. It would be many years and finding the movie again before we finally took the plunge. I felt like I was actually in a movie when we stepped off the Euostar and made our way by metro to our first home exchange in Paris. PARIS!
Photo Credit Marko Kudjerski from Toronto, Canada
Home exchanges is exactly how it sounds, you trade homes with another person. Home exchanges can be simultaneous meaning you trade homes at the same time. Or non-simultaneous meaning you trade homes but at different times. Or non-reciprocal where you go to their home but they don’t come to yours or vice versa. Many of the home exchange organizations have some sort of program where you can host without going to their home and earn a “token” of some sort that you can then “spend” in exchange with someone who agrees to accept it. There are many different organizations for home exchange that you can find with a quick google search. The two places I have worked with are Home Exchange and People Like Us. I have also used Guest to Guest but they have since merged with Home Exchange. There is a fee for Home Exchange, and People Like Us will also be adding a fee.
Home exchange is NOT about a free vacation. Yes it does make travel more affordable, and is one of the great benefits, but it also lets you visit and experience someplace like a local rather than a tourist, develop relationships and make new friends with likeminded people, visit places you may never even heard of before, or have the opportunity to visit the place of you’re dreams.
Our first exchange was with a company called Guest to Guest (now Home Exchange), and we used points earned by signing up as well as by having a family from New York come stay at our home. We spent those points in Paris! We stayed in a lovely historical apartment in the 17th arrondissement. We didn’t meet the owner in person, but had several emails to discuss the exchange, and with her many excellent reviews I was more comfortable finalizing the exchange. I was a little worried it might not be what I expected, but it was exactly as pictured, and far more charming than I could imagine. She had someone meet us in person, who lead us through a decorative metal gate and onto a private pedestrian road. She showed us around the apartment and handed off the key for our amazing place to stay for the next week. I really could not have asked for more.
Aren’t you worried about letting a stranger stay in your home? That’s the most common question I get asked about home exchange and what my husband had the most reservations about in the beginning. I recommend a lot of discussion, and communication before you agree on an exchange. Become facebook friends, get to know them, build trust. If there are previous exchanges, look at the reviews. Only agree on an exchange when you have agreed to the terms and have gotten to know them well enough to be comfortable. We have only had people treat our home with respect and care.
We loved the 17th arrondissement, it is a nice non-touristy location, with real Parisians going about their daily lives, it was truly like living as a local. It has great metro access to anywhere in the city and all the sights, great restaurants and cafes, markets, and boulangeries, what more could anyone want? The city, the sites, the people, the wine, the food, oh the food, cheese, fresh baguettes, pain au chocolate, macarons and our amazing home exchange. I loved Paris way beyond my expectations. It was one of my favorite trips I have ever taken and I can’t wait to visit again!
