Someone could ask why it is best opting for a home exchange instead of vacation rentals.

Well, the advantages are evident and quite important: The cost: vacation rental properties are very expensive (hundreds of pounds per week) while house swapping is for free. Furthermore people often exchange cars too, which is a further conspicuous saving of money.

• • A real house will surely be better equipped (as for high chairs, car seats, play-stations, furniture, books and cds) than a rented one that has to be cleaned and emptied very often.
  • An inhabited house normally offers the advantage of helping us to get closer to the culture and the habits of the “native” people. It will also be more likely that we get to know neighbours, relatives or friends of our swapper family. It’s like having a taste of a second life (as we already said in a previous post)
  • The home insurances assure that occupied houses are less exposed to the risk of being robbed. Therefore it is definitely better having our swappers inside the house since they will surely take care of it as if it was their own house (and we will be doing the same with theirs).