Continuing with the idea of reducing stress, which is probably the leitmotif behind almost every vacation, we present you another advantage of home exchange: the possibility to travel light. As you go to a home, used daily by another family, chances are you’ll find everything you need so there’s no need to bring that extra luggage we usually carry when other lodging options are used. Of course you have to check with your home swap partner what things are available for you to use, and you probably have your own “musts” you bring with you everywhere you go, but a lot of weight may be off your travelling shoulders if you decide to swap homes.

To make it more appealing to you, here we list some advantages of travelling light:

- It will save you some money now that airlines charge you for almost everything you bring.

- Eliminates CO2 emission from the extra weight travelling along with you, helping fight global warming.

- Makes your trip more flexible, any transportation is easy accessible with a small bag, so your choices are widened: plane, train, bus, and even walking! Sometimes you get faster from one terminal to another using your own feet.

- Reduces time spent on baggage checks.

- There are less chances your luggage will get lost or misplaced.

- It makes packing back and forth a lot easier, especially on the way back  when you don’t want to pack (of course you may have a few extra pounds from souvenirs, but that’s OK).

The home exchange community continues to grow worldwide. Some of the main reasons for this tendency are savings and flexibility, but there is another trend that deserves to be mentioned: world climate change awareness.

“Green travelling” has two main premises: 1.- Avoid increasing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during the trip, and 2.- Preserving the environment you visit. As we have mentioned before, home exchange seems like a perfect option for sustainable travelling, because:

There is no additional CO2 released into the atmosphere by any means during the swap, as you live as if you were in your own home.

You can decrease the CO2 emission due to transportation to your destination if you also include car exchange in the package, as you may travel by train or other mean of public transportation. Keep in mind that planes and cars have the highest rate of CO2 emission per traveler. Also, you may reduce the environmental cost of transportation by travelling nearby and visiting areas where things that interest you the most are within walking distance (for example: the beach, the ski slope, the market, etc.)

By consuming local food and cooking yourself, which are feasible choices when you have a complete kitchen in your destination, you do not increase the emissions from freight transport to move “ingredients” around. For example, if you eat local seafood in a coastal town, it probably only “travelled” a few miles (or “yards”) to your plate.

Go green! Go swap!