What is home exchanging?
Home exchanging is the vacation alternative when you temporarily swap your home, apartment or condo with someone 
in another part of the country or abroad. No money is exchanged, only your home. Quid pro quo, tit for tat, mi casa es su casa.
How do I find people who want to home exchange?
You will discover many companies on the Internet that provide a database of people like you who are looking to exchange homes. One company has 40,000 listings in 147 countries; another offers 2,000 listings in 70 countries.
What if I live in an unglamorous city?
What is unglamorous to you might be charming to others. Perhaps someone from Paris is planning to attend a conference in your city. Maybe a man in Rome wants to visit his cousin who lives a few miles from you. Think positive and make an offer! E-mail several offers. Dream.
Where can I learn more about home exchanging?
There are almost 70 home exchange organizations around the world; the United States is home to about one-third of them and the others are sprinkled around the world. Annual membership fees range from free to over $100 USD.
What do I do with my valuables when strangers are living in my house?
Items like jewelry or sterling silver are easily stored at the home of family or friends. When we lived in Europe for five months and traded homes with five different families, my jewelry box and sterling silverware sat in a cupboard at my girlfriend’s home.
Safe deposit box at your bank.
Is there a closet in your home that you can lock? Secure your private papers or valuables there and lock it up.
Do you have to speak the language?
Many people throughout the world speak English. E-mails I receive from foreign countries warm my heart. Often their use of the language is not perfect but because they try, they endear themselves to me. If you speak a second language, say Spanish, and want to visit Madrid, go for it and write to home exchanger prospects in Spanish. Muy bien.
