House swaps offer a unique and more afforable way to travel

My friend’s questions pour out after I mention our 10th house exchange, which we did in England followed by two weeks in Europe. How do you do that? Can you trust strangers in your house? Or do you lock up all your valuables? Is it hard to find someone to trade with?

With rising hotel and flight prices, vacationing with free accommodation is an increasingly popular way to travel. Unlike sites focused on a business transaction between individuals or a home rental agency, no money changes hands between home exchange partners.

My husband and I are Intervac Home Exchange members. The oldest and original house swap network, Intervac provides secure access to the profiles of more than 30,000 members in 50 countries. Our annual membership of $129 offers me peace of mind and even when I’m not actively searching, my profile and photos remain on the site for others to consider.

I estimate we saved more than $6,000 for accommodation alone during our U.K. stay. Staying in a house swap, eating some meals in and use of the owner’s car reduced our holiday expenses. Our food and transportation costs were similar to those at home in British Columbia.

We also economized in London by using public transportation and locating free things to do, such as visiting the national galleries and national museums. Another idea is to purchase passes for either the National Trust or the English Heritage Foundation, which allow entry into sites around the U.K. Our National Trust Touring Passes paid for themselves after only two visits.

Though home swaps appear to be a current trend, Intervac has been facilitating them since 1953 when a group of teachers from different countries wanted an alternative to the high cost of rentals or hotels during sabbaticals and summer travel. That exchange was such a great experience, the idea caught on.

Now, numerous agencies offer a variety of search platforms and options for the different types of exchanges available. Each platform or agency will have its own appeal for home swappers: For example, Noad caters to remote workers while HomeExchange is billed as the world’s largest network.

Be sure to find a site that fits your lifestyle and expectations. It takes patience and flexibility to organize mutually agreeable details for a house and car swap. We work with Intervac, a midsized international organization because it has a Canadian site with representatives available for direct communication. Other reputable platforms offer insurance, guarantees, support and assistance in case of cancellations and emergencies to ensure safe, dependable exchanges.

Each agency has different options for the type of exchanges available, which can range from simultaneous travel to one member remaining in their home to host the other. Read the fine print and talk to your house and auto insurance providers. Adding drivers to an auto policy has specific requirements, so know before you go. My advice? Start now, do your homework and be prepared for the unexpected.

Before our recent trip, I looked for a house in England’s North Counties hoping to be able to walk between York and the Lake District. With limited options and still no swap, I accepted an offer from a home in South London.

I talk about the economic advantage of swapping but it’s not the only reason. There are other reasons travellers may want a home, not a hotel, at the end of a sightseeing day: healthy food, a good bed, reading on the patio, clean laundry and days off to relax. A home base can offer a more authentic and environmentally friendly way to travel and become a way to experience cultural differences.

Travelling in England should have been easy, we reckoned, as there was no language barrier, but there were baffling expressions we had to navigate, such as signs for “no fly tipping,” (which means illegal garbage dumping) and “wheelie bins” for garbage containers. At times, even simple tasks were perplexing, such as when the local butcher and I couldn’t understand each other’s accents.

Be prepared for a lengthy process. It can take months to to find and negotiate arrangements with a partner in the right location. Due to that time investment, lasting relationships between partners are not uncommon – I’m still in touch with our 2011 partners from Germany.

After 10 house exchanges, we aren’t planning any more long-haul flights, so we plan to remain in North America. We have a tentative arrangement with a Colorado couple for the fall. We met in Paris, and when we told them about our home exchange experiences, they asked, how do you do that?

Special to The Globe and Mail