Home exchange - Wikivoyage, the free collaborative travel and tourism guide - Échange de maisons — Wikivoyage, le guide de voyage et de tourisme collaboratif gratuit

Thehome exchange is an original travel and vacation formula born in the 1950s. The first house exchanges took place between teachers Europeans. Then the idea was emulated around the world. Organizations specializing in bringing together home exchange candidates have emerged. Originally, exchange proposals were published in printed catalogs. With the advent of the Internet, these publications were gradually abandoned in favor of online catalogs.

Understand

During a home exchange, a family, French for example, lives in the house of another family, Canadian for example, and the latter occupies the house of the French family. To carry out an exchange, people must register with a specialized organization. The current global leaders are HomeExchange, GuestToGuest, Homelink, and Love Home Swap. Exchange partners correspond primarily via emails, then phone to sort out the details of the exchange, and agree on the timeframe, duration and the terms of the exchange. This step is important because it creates a relationship of trust between the people who exchange.

It is possible to make an exchange whether you are an owner or a tenant. The exchanged accommodation can be a house, an apartment, a studio, a second home or even a mobile home. On some sites have even found yurts and barges. The system is open to everyone: students, single people, couples, families, retirees. This formula allows significant savings on a vacation budget. It represents an alternative to classic tourism, an original, friendly and authentic way of traveling and discovering other regions / countries and other cultures and is part of a sustainable tourism mode. It allows you to travel while immersing yourself in the daily life of residents of the visited country.

Home swapping is very often associated with a car swap. It is also possible to make hospitality exchanges.

Home exchange sites

• GuestToGuest  – free site available in 7 languages ​​for the exchange of houses and apartments around the world. (last update Dec. 2015)
• HomeForHome  – free home exchange site. Site in several languages. (last update Dec. 2015)
• Love Home Swap  – Multiple home exchange offers for vacations / Apartment Barter across the world. Site in several languages. (last update Dec. 2015)
• Planet-Swap.com  – free service in four languages, home exchange. (last update Dec. 2015)
• Barter house  – the world's oldest vacation home exchange network with 24,000 members in 110 countries (statistics November 2008). (last update Dec. 2015)