“Swapping homes with strangers on vacation makes us feel the world is different”
- Victoria Scheer
- BBC News in english
Inviting strangers to live in your home may seem at first like the opposite of a relaxing vacation, but for some travelers, a home swap is a rare move worth trying.
“It’s like going on a date for a house,” Liz Barlow told me.
Now 70, a semi-retired management consultant, she has done 31 home swaps and estimates she has saved more than £20,000 on accommodation costs.
She and husband Ivan Greenaway, 72, first tried swapping homes in 2015 but were skeptical.
Liz clearly remembers thinking, "Is someone going to destroy my home? Steal my stuff?"
“It’s a really big deal at first, until you actually do it.”
Their first house swap found them a detached bungalow in Australia, and a trip to South Africa landed them in a cliff-top house filled with chic wooden furniture.
However, one place that Liz, from North Yorkshire, England, still dreams of is a cabin deep in the Alaskan forest.
“Sitting on the patio and looking out at the woods is truly breathtaking,” Liz said.
“We were there for two weeks during a heat wave. We went to the local fair and rodeo, and on my birthday we walked with the reindeer, which was awesome.”
For Liz and Ivan, swapping homes means integrating into someone else's lifestyle, which sometimes comes with special requests.
“When we lived in Alaska, the owner of our home told us what she would like us to prioritize saving if an earthquake occurred,” Liz recalls.
“Not her family photos, not her jewelry, but her patchwork.”https://gillspaste.com/sstvsu6tg?key=3c6a2f0c348249bd18222793323d13fd
The concept of home swapping dates back to the 1950s, when teachers began looking for an affordable way to travel during their summer vacations, but for most people, it was the 2006 romantic comedy The Holiday that brought the concept to the masses.
Rebecca Pyatt was inspired by the film, in which Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swap homes over the holidays, to try it out while teaching in the Seychelles in 2017.
“This way you can not only enjoy the fun of vacation, but also experience other people’s lives and culture,” she said, now 35.
“You can go to a hotel in Paris or Rome, but it feels a bit artificial and you don’t really get a sense of what local life is like.”
Rebecca has also managed to capture some Hollywood magic in her home swaps, such as when she and a friend stayed in a house in Mexico that was used by the crew of Spectre.
“It was a huge house, right on the beach, with an infinity pool and its own chef,” says Rebecca, who lives in Hornley, West Yorkshire.
“It’s incredible, the master bedroom is so spacious, it has a balcony and an open bathroom and you can look out over the ocean.”
Unlike Airbnb, she said, the process of starting a home exchange is much longer and requires a lot of time to build a profile.
“The longer you’re on the platform, the more exchange invitations you’ll receive,” she explains.
"You can't just book someone because they have a slot available. Everyone has the right to say no."
Although Rebecca hasn't had any negative experiences, she says there is still a risk of a home exchange being cancelled at the last minute.
Sites like HomeExchange often offer members alternative exchanges or other accommodations if problems arise with their plans.
Like many other travel companies, HomeExchange has seen a significant increase in business since the end of the pandemic restrictions, and now has 200,000 active members worldwide, 5,600 of whom are from the UK.
"As tourism picks up, we're seeing more people trying to exchange homes," said communications manager Jessica Poillucci.
“The cost of living crisis and inflation have made travel unaffordable, and we’ve seen a shift away from Instagram-centric travel patterns towards a desire to experience things like the locals do. Home swapping offers a perfect solution.”
For people like Liz and Rebecca, home swapping is based on mutual trust and "belief in the goodness of human nature."
Rebecca said she was not worried about theft or damage because the "benefits far outweigh the risks".
“The money we save far outweighs what we would have otherwise spent on repairs,” she said.
"I don't have anything of special commemorative value. They are all material things that can be replaced if they break."https://gillspaste.com/sstvsu6tg?key=3c6a2f0c348249bd18222793323d13fd
"My nightmare"
However, for Charlotte Hindle, who co-runs travel media company North East South West with journalist Simon Calder, swapping homes is a "nightmare idea".
“It’s really hard to invite strangers into your home,” she said.
"I think the Airbnb approach is much better because it's a separate room or property that you have control over and you don't have your personal belongings around."
To make the process smoother and safer, she advises people to check the contents of their home and consider insurance policies and risks.
“You don’t want to be accused of stealing,” she said.
"If you don't know these people, you need to think about all the checks and measures that are in place to ensure safety. When was the last time they checked their water heater? Or have their portable appliances been tested?"
“If it’s just your personal home, sometimes you overlook these issues.”
Photographer Kate Abby said that unlike booking a hotel room with just a few clicks, swapping homes can require considerable effort and work.
“It does require a lot of preparation, like more cleaning than usual,” said Kate, who lives in Pateley Bridge, near Ripon.
"When you go on holiday you can just shut the door and make the bed."
However, the 53-year-old photographer said swapping homes gave her family the chance to travel further away from typical holiday destinations than traditional travel options.
“Sometimes we go places we wouldn’t otherwise go because you’re limited by your options,” she said.
"We once went to a valley in the North York Moors National Park, which is not far from where I live and I've never been there and wouldn't choose to go there, but it was really beautiful."
Home swapping isn’t for everyone, but for keen swappers like Kate, Rebecca and Liz, it offers a chance to visit holiday destinations that might otherwise be out of their reach.
“We’ve been to Alaska to watch brown bears fishing in the river, and we’ve seen beluga whales in Hudson Bay in Canada,” Liz said.
“We’ve had some great experiences.”555
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