I’ll have to admit, this is an idea that I haven’t personally tried (but would love to!)
Everyone knows that hotel costs can really eat into your vacation budget, especially with a family. The kind of low-end semi-flophouse that might have seemed terribly adventurous to a single, backpacking traveler is just not going to cut the mustard when you travel with kids. Those tiny little garret rooms for two in Paris simply do not fit three or four.
The concept behind couchsurfing/hospitality exchanges creates real opportunities to meet people and travel to all sorts of places, but at this point in its development, couchsurfing appears to be geared towards singles.
I’ve been reading a lot lately about home exchange programs — there’s an article here on the new Disney site Family.com. Home exchange companies like Intervac have been around a long time, and there’s great information on my RSS feed from the Travel the Home Exchange Way blog, part of UK company Home Base Holidays.
If you don’t want to go the swapping route, then investigate renting a home during your travels. My blogging compadre Darren Cronian of Travel Rants also runs a home/villa rental business, Worldwide Holiday Homes, with a variety of properties available across the globe. The Perrin Post has a whole section on villa/apartment rentals.
You can even get close to the land and explore agritourism farm stays worldwide, or maybe take your house with you in an RV.
Think beyond the hotel room next time you travel.
Update 7 May 2007: The ever-useful Budget Travel Online has an article on unique hotels and alternative lodgings.
Technorati tags: travel, family travel, home exchange
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{ 4 comments }
I run the only non-commercial home exchange blog at HomeExchanger.blogspot.com. It’s a wonderful way to travel and I want to help new swappers get into exchanging on the right foot.
Home exchange is the best way to travel. We have just returned from two almost back to back exchanges in different parts of the world. We would not have been able to do it if not for the free lodging and money saved by eating in.
The two exchanges were completely different; a city apartment in Florence and a ranch in Mexico. We would have never even thought of visiting a ranch if the offer had not come through home exchange.
There are over 60 home exchange clubs to choose from. Each has its own personality. Know Your Trade has rated and reviewed all the home exchange clubs, in addition to giving tips on how to make the process easier. We are now running a contest called “Capture the Crown” that offers a free membership in one of the clubs.
Know Your Trade is a great place for you to continue learning about all that home exchange has to offer.
Hi Nicole and Exchange Queen,
Thanks very much for stopping by and offering your insights. One of these days I’m going to try this out!
I’m rather ashamed to admit that I hadn’t heard of the house swap thing until I saw the film “The Holiday”. The initial thought of handing my house over to strangers doesn’t sit comfortably, but if I was to look into it further and knowing that there are exchange organisations I might be convinced to try it one day … perhaps
)
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