What happens if I have pets?

We can find some pet friendly hotels where animals are admitted and welcome. But this is not the rule, rather the exception and all those nice services of dog sitting, special food, animal activities have a cost.
If we love our pets o we simply consider them as a part of our family maybe the hotel is not the best option.

Home swapping instead could be the answer: a home away from home is right there, waiting not only for you but also for your pets.

In each offer we clearly specify if pets are admitted. And obviously where animals are welcome we can bring them along without any additional cost. So apart from saving the hotel cost (which is quite a lot of money) we can happily go on holidays with our pets. Our dog, our cat will be really pleased of going to a new place where it can also have a good, peaceful nap if we decide to go out for some special occasions.

Our cats

Cute dog

Another possible option would be that of exchanging pets…That is: taking care of our swappers’ pets while they look after ours. If we both agree and we are both used to pets and we know how to feed them properly and how to make them feel at ease and safe…Well, the thing is easy and probably also optimal for the animal in question since they can comfortably stay at home (especially in case of a long journey where they would possibly suffer a little…).

Isn’t that great?

While you exchange your house do you exchange cars too?

About half people exchange cars during a home swap, but it is entirely up to you. If you want to, if you need to, if you think it is opportune…

I can tell you that the convenience is absolutely sure and evident. I’m going to show you why…

Give a look to the prices reported below…

I checked on a couple of web sites the prices you get when you want to hire a car: I verified the cost of a reservation in three different countries (Italy, Spain and USA) during a period of 7 days.

What I found…

Small car

Bigger car

Big car

Car rental offers examples:

Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type.
For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence while in Barcelona you get it for a price that varies from 118€ to 159€ (in my “experiment”: from 22 to 29 of October).
Getting a car in the United States, let’s say at JFK New York airport, would cost even more: the 7 days option in October (variable car size) costs from 411 to 434 €!

…Plus the petrol…

Checking the reservation of the same car for the same destinations (to the same hiring conditions) with Hertz, the cheapest options are:
• 151.21 €, to hire a car in Barcelona
• 186 € for Florence
• 231.44 € looking for a car to hire in New York City, JFK Airport.

I would definitely suggest that when we exchange our house it would be very convenient exchanging cars too.
This would be a further and considerable save of money on the global cost of our vacations.

Luckily, in the end, we still can find some ways to save money without giving up the pleasure of holidays and relax!

Stay tuned, further advice about how to be comfortable and happy during your home swap holiday is coming soon!

When we do a home exchange there is only one rule: leave the house or the flat as we found it.
This seems a well-advised rule under the sign of mutual respect and good manners.
But when we swap our house with someone what happens to the food?
Did you think about it? Leaving the fridge empty is quite easy (one has just to eat everything! ;)), but what about our feed in the cupboard?

Our cupboard...

No rules have been written about that (like: “it is forbidden to touch the food!” “stay away from my supplies!”,”Do not eat my chocolate!”, etc.), though one could think of doing it.
Personally I think that it’s much better not having written rules and following the good common sense… Besides how much food can we accumulate? Tons?!? I don’t really think so…
However…If we focus on how much we’ll save in hotels thanks to the home swapping it will be anyway a good deal (also because we’re going to eat our swappers’ feed).
Rather I would suggest that a food exchange could be extremely interesting (and obviously tasty!)
An option could be that of giving free access to our “ordinary” supplies (only if there’s a mutual agreement between the two families) or we could think of something more original instead.
What would you think of preparing a typical food tasting (of your area or country)?
When could we have a better occasion to know the gastronomic tradition of a region?
Think about it…Going to a stranger land, staying in a real house instead of a hotel room and finding on the table (or in the fridge…) a taste of typical food of the place, selected and suggested by “native people”. And, above all, without spending as much as we would if we went to a fleecing restaurant for tourists or in a very expensive gourmet shop…
This little gesture would assure an original taste of the food of the area, directly selected by its people and, therefore (nearly 100% sure), “on the beam”.

Think if to the family who’s coming to our place we left a black pudding (without telling them exactly what it is…;) ).

Black pudding

Or if the Spanish family where we’re going to left us a succulent “butifarra”?

Butifarra

Or a delicious “ensaimada”?

Ensaimada de Mallorca

What if our Italian family left for us a soft “pandoro veronese”…?

Pandoro veronese

Or a mouth-watering “pastiera napoletana”?

Pastiera

…Or a “polenta”?

Polenta trentina

Or…?

Wouldn’t it be original and somehow amusing? A food exchange.
And the same could be done with wine, beer, seasonal fruit (all things that last for some time)…
What do you think about this idea?

And what about you? What would you leave to the family you are going to swap your home with?
How would your welcome taste be?

Let me know!
Cheers,