Everyone deserves to spend time relaxing once in a while and that’s why vacations should be planned so that they are as unique as the person that needs to relax. Some people need excitement to get away from their daily duties, some people need to spend their vacations quietly, maybe sleeping more than they usually do, or reconnecting with family and friends, or just a combination of sun, sea and sand.

What about you? Are you looking for an exciting vacation? Do you prefer quiet destinations to unplug from the city rush? Are you counting the days to get to the beach? What about a romantic escapade to an uncrowded small village? No matter the preference, the right place is accessible through home exchange.

Whether you are planning a family vacation, a few days by the beach, a touring time in the city, an adventurous vacation trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, etc., there is a home in HomeForHome with all you need to complete your custom made “vacation pack”. Even a romantic honeymoon trip may be waiting for you in a home exchange. What would be more romantic than having a complete house for two? No crowded hotel or resort. Just a couple, having their first morning breakfasts in the kitchen with no schedule or timetable, moonlight dinners in the terrace or garden, if you can imagine it you can have it in your swap.

Combinations are also possible. For example, you may have a romantic getaway to an important city, combining the tranquility of a residential area for your “alone” times and the proximity of downtown areas, easily accessible, with cultural attractions, nightlife and entertainment. Get ready to swap and enjoy!

Image by Yaron Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of the main advantages of using HomeForHome as your home exchange site is that the registration is completely free. Many people write our Help team asking how does the system work because they can’t believe they don’t have to pay anything. Unlike many other free services, quality is not compromised in HomeForHome and we are always looking for ways to improve the service we provide to our users. We care for every member that joins the community and we try to make it as easy as possible for them to become successful swappers.

As our community expands, we keep looking for ways to improve the site’s functionality and we welcome comments about any details that could make the service we provide a better one. We have our team checking the forums to answer your questions about the service or technical problems, replying to every message you send using the “Contact us” feature, and reading carefully your suggestions so that whatever mean you choose to express your thoughts, your voice is heard. We care.

We have a very important concern right now and it is the fact that some users are not taking care of their accounts as we expect them to. By this we mean that requests and questions from other users are not being answered, which is disrespectful, inconsiderate and wastes time from users that want to make home exchange their main mean of travelling. To find a proper solution to this situation it is important to consider as many ideas as we can and we want to hear your suggestions. We will look into every idea to find the choice that helps the community grow stronger and makes HomeForHome live up to your expectations. We look forward to hearing from you.

Money by Danilo Rizzuti

Oh well… The economy seems to be struggling still, recovery seems to be taking a break in a distant location and we need to keep thinking about lowering our budgets and saving for rough times. As we have mentioned (maybe too many times now), home exchange is by far the best solution for a low cost accommodation during vacations and trips of any kind. With HomeForHome you can reduce this line of the vacation bill to a nice and round zero. Besides, it does not imply a cut in the quality of the place where you will be enjoying your time away from home, which would certainly happen if you opt for other inexpensive lodging deals.

Off season deals are also a good way to lower your vacation budget, for example, right now most European destinations should be uncrowded and probably prices are not as high as in the summertime. Another advantage of off season travelling is the reduction in the time spent waiting in lines at most attractions and tourist sites, which allows you to visit more places.

Adding to the savings, another option will also help you support your local economy: travel to a destination in your own country. By doing this, you will probably reduce the cost of transportation and also your money won’t leave borders. If you look around the web, you will find several resources that can help you find the right destination for you, but if you really want to get into domestic travelling we would like to recommend you Britain Express - UK travel and heritage guide.

Britain Express is one of the most complete online travel guides dedicated to the UK we have found so far (we are open to more suggestions, of course) and it covers anything from accommodation to specialized  travel services. Attractions, tourism guides, heritage information, events, photos, maps, trip planning tools, travel directory… You name it, it’s there.

So, take a moment to visit Britain Express and then come back to HomeForHome to find a swap match for your next trip to Britain’s best.

We say it over an over: home exchange has advantages for all. What about seniors and people just retiring? After a lifetime of tight schedules, retirement brings along a completely free agenda, will you miss this chance to take that long, long, long vacation you always dreamed about? Paris, Rome, Madrid, New York, Australia, South America… It does sound dreamy, but there’s also the budget to consider, specially when “crisis” is still around … The solution? Home exchange.

With HomeForHome’s free registration, the accommodation cost can drop to a stunning zero! Plus, the benefits of staying in a home, like access to a full kitchen where you can cook your own meals and keep your favourite fruits in the refrigerator, adding money to the savings list and keeping your eating habits in a “healthy” level. Car exchange would be another “extra” that could release you from car rental fees and additional insurance but that depends on your own preferences. But there’s another advantage yet: home exchangers often allow pets to stay in their home, so if you have a four-legged family member (or it has a beak) and you are not willing to leave him behind, home swap has the solution for you too.

If you are in this age group, use your flexible schedule to find your perfect home swap match, give it a try, maybe start with a nearby exchange and get to know your country’s own beauties before you embark on the worldwide home exchange experience.

Spain has the largest number of listings in HomeForHome. We have previously featured Barcelona and Malaga, two highly desired Spanish destinations, but there are several other pleasant destinations just waiting for you. An advantage of such an exchange would be the opportunity to practice a foreign language. We said it almost a year ago:

“The best way to learn a language is to get yourself in a country where it is spoken. This way you really drench yourself in the culture, you are constantly absorbing new vocabulary from the road signs, the posters, the conversations you over-hear on the metro – and most importantly of all – you make friends you can talk with.” (28-01-2009)

To maximize the gain and fully absorbs the daily conversations, it would be a good idea to start the immersion in advance. Fortunately, the Internet provides us with such wonderful tools these days, we can do this at home.

For example, for those wishing to try home exchange with someone in Spain or other Spanish speaking country we found this great website called Lenguajero, that not only allows you to practice your Spanish skills but also has some great tools and resources to help members expand their vocabulary and improve their writing. Lenguajero allows English and Spanish native speakers to interact and have conversations in both languages.

Lenguajero has a growing community of over 4000 members, split equally between English and Spanish learners from USA, UK, Canada, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and other countries. If you check out this site and its blog, you may also find some advice on living and travelling (maybe through home exchange) to South America, so it’s a learn-learn deal!

Home exchange offers great opportunities, and it is quite a simple deal: you agree to exchange your home with someone and you both expect to find everything as you left it when you return. However simple, home exchange is a serious deal. You shouldn’t take it lightly. There are important things that need to be considered because it is a system based on trust and you need to know the other party on a certain level to trust them with your home (even if it is your second home). Communication and understanding are the key to succeed at swapping.

Compare the places you have stayed during your previous vacations to your own home, you’ll probably arrive at the conclusion that your home is far better equipped than any place you’ve ever stayed in during your vacations, so what would you be willing to do to get this extra comfort with no cost at all? Wouldn’t you be willing to take some time to get to know the people you’ll be sharing your house with and let them know you too?

Communicate, take time to learn about your possible swap partner’s preferences and see if they match yours. Start with the information they share in HomeForHome, but dig deeper. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t be afraid to set some ground rules about things that can and can’t be done at your house during the swap. Eventually, you will find a partner that makes you feel comfortable with them staying at your home. Be patient. Until that moment comes, don’t feel pressured to agree on an exchange that doesn’t satisfy you. Chances are you will have to pass on some offers, so be polite and say no gently until you find your match.

Home exchange is suitable and has opportunities for all: retired people, families with children, couples and, of course, single people. Whether you are a single person planning to travel alone or with a group of friends, HomeForHome has tons of offers for you to find the right place (or places) to stay during your vacations.

Being single gives you the flexibility to adjust to several different situations that would not work for families with small children, or kids that already attend school, or couples that need to arrange their weeks off work to match.

Flexibility is an advantage when it comes to find a good exchange match. Why not? Maybe you can save some money on lodging and use it to add a couple of more destinations to your trip. Usually, travelling solo is not as affordable as travelling with a companion, but home exchange may set you free from “single supplements” so enjoy!

Check out HomeForHome and find your swap!

Home exchange has many advantages over other ways of travelling. One of them is the opportunity for families with small children to stay in a child-friendly environment. A home is a much better environment for a kid than a crowded hotel or a vacation rental that only has the basic service items.

Kids have to deal with so many adjustments as they grow up that staying overnight away from home can be somehow stressful if they are still going through toilet training or starting to sleep in their own bed. Consider this issues as you plan your swap so you have enough time to prepare your child.

For toilet training it is easy, just remember to bring the potty chair and remember to be patient if there is an “accident” while your child is still adjusting to the new house.

To prepare your child to sleep in a different house, there are some fun activities you may get him involved in. If you have a young child, you may buy a travel bed and let him play in it for a few days before you travel. Most children enjoy having a portable bed, because some are tent-shaped and have enough room for them to play inside. There are several options to choose from, most of them have inflatable mattresses and are easily set up to get a comfortable bed anywhere you go.

To get started, visit HomeForHome to find exciting home exchange opportunities.

Home exchange offers you the opportunity to celebrate a holiday or a special date while you are swapping as if you were at your own home. Christmas, New Year, a birthday or an anniversary are all dates that deserve a celebration and we usually have some traditions for them we can’t do without. However, many traditions pose a minor accident hazard that we must prevent.

Our first example will be the Christmas tree. Many of us enjoy decorating the tree with our family, and after we take turns to place the ornaments, we delight ourselves by turning on its lights. Isn’t it just beautiful? But the Christmas tree may originate a fire if you don’t take some preventive measures, like ensuring it doesn’t dry out, keeping it away from heating sources like the fireplace, or making sure the lights are in good condition as well as the wiring to avoid a short circuit.

Other usual decoration elements for many celebrations are candles, and as any device that may start a fire they should be taken into account to prevent undesirable moments. Don’t leave a burning candle unattended. Keep burning candles away from curtains, table cloths, wooden furniture, or anything else that could catch on fire. Another danger is to light too many candles in a closed environment and end up with poor indoor air quality.

There are many other possibilities, so please make sure you take measures to enjoy celebrations during your swap without any mishap. Visit HomeForHome to find a location for your next celebration!

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).