Whether you're a traveler on a budget or a sky's-the-limit adventure seeker, swapping homes with relative strangers poses several key advantages.
Maybe you're tired of impersonal, pricey hotel accommodations; maybe you want a connection at a choice destination. If so, vacation home exchange offers amenities that exceed the obvious benefits of a free room and sometimes car.
A vacation home exchange involves trading homes, either a primary residence or a second home, with strangers who you learn about through a Web site.
Louisville residents Pat and Woody Hipsher are members of Intervac USA, www.intervacus.com, an online service for vacation home traders. It currently has 10,000 subscribers in 52 countries.
Membership costs $65 per year and allows users to surf listings and contact homeowners from across the globe.
"A swap can take up to six months to arrange because your timeframe has to match with theirs, and both homes have to offer similar attractions," Pat said.
Once the date has been set, homeowners prepare for guests by removing clutter and freeing up space in dresser drawers and closets. Hipsher leaves take-out menus and flyers pertaining to local points of interest.
The Hipshers have made six trades in 10 years. A travel highlight occurred when they swapped for the home of Rich and Jane Jolley, a British couple, in exchange for their former Boulder home. The Jolleys' neighbors had the Hipshers in to share a meal, and their extended family treated them to warm welcomes at the local pub.
"When we were in France the same thing happened," Pat said. "We were invited by friends of the homeowners for dinner. They spoke very little English, and I've only got some high school French. We were in their home for two hours, and our language struggles created a real bond. It was wonderful."
She said France is a difficult destination for finding swaps because of the country's lengthy vacation benefits.
"They're typically looking to stay somewhere for six weeks, so it can be tricky to accommodate that kind of time," she said.
Digsville, www.digsville.com, another home-exchange vacation site, features thousands of listings in 53 countries and costs $44.95 for a year's membership. The user-friendly site offers tips of the trade and home swap stories from its members.
The Hipshers' worst experience involved their Ireland exchange. The young man staying in their home was picked up on a DUI charge and later trashed the bicycle they had left on loan. He later paid to have it repaired. The incident caused the Hipshers to give priority to families instead of single individuals and raise the question of insurance.
The Digsville site is reassuring and says most insurance policies cover individuals driving a car with the owner's permission, but cautions home exchangers to leave signed permission slips and to double check with agents on policy specifics.
"It is a leap of faith," Pat said. "But that's also part of the fun."
Longmont residents Ellyn and Mark Hilliard became interested in home exchange after seeing the 2006 movie "The Holiday," a romantic comedy starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz that sports the tag line.
Ellyn logged onto www.homeexchange.com, the sponsor site for the film, where membership privileges cost $99 per year. Since joining last November the Hilliard home has received two dozen hits, and she's already completed four exchanges. Her family has enjoyed the flexibility of non-simultaneous swaps because it's allowed them to meet every family and made the exchanges easier to accommodate.
Prior to face-to-face introductions, phone conversations and e-mails with photo attachments are a way of getting to know the families who will live in your home, Ellyn said.
"Exchange is reciprocal so you want to leave the place immaculate and hope you will find the same at the other end," Ellyn said. "But incidents do occur, and you have to be prepared for that."
During her stay in Rotorua, New Zealand, Hilliard set the host family's electric tea kettle on the stove where the plastic bottom quickly melted.
She said the cultural snafu caused Ellyn and her daughter to go shopping for a replacement. That same trip they took the host family car out for a drive along the coast, with stops in the wine country along the way.
In Rotorua, Hilliard stayed in a lakeside home with a dock and wrap-around deck. Her own 4,000-square-foot home rests on a 5-acre parcel in Boulder County, and its million-dollar amenities contribute to her home's exchange appeal.
Other home exchange Web sites include www.exchangehomes.com. In business since 1986, when they published listings in three directories every year, the company went online in 1994. This site offers a one-year membership at $39.
Intercambiocasas.com Coupon Codes, Intercambiocasas Coupon Code, Intercambiocasas Discount, Intercambiocasas Promo Code, Intercambiocasas Promotional, Intercambiocasas Promotions, Intercambiocasas Promotion
Jomashop.com Coupon Codes
Dermstore.com Coupon Codes
SkinIt Coupon.com Codes
TotalPetSupply.com Coupon Codes
Zagg Coupon.com Codes
Davismicro.com Coupon Codes
Supermediastore.com Coupon Codes
IntercambioCasas.com Coupon Codes
Joesnewbalanceoutlet.com Coupon Codes
