Innisfree Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Has anyone done home exchanges? How plausible is it to think about a someday-post-Covid, long-term (3-6 month, maybe more) home exchange in order to travel in the UK and Europe? Or other ways to keep costs down? I'm thinking about after dh retires. Our kids would (hopefully) be independent, but welcome to come along for whatever time worked for them. Home exchanges sound good to me because we'd be happy to be based in one spot, and flexible about where that spot might be. We could do lots of day trips, and a fair number of longer trips, without the cost of paying for lodging every.single.night. We could largely cook for ourselves. We could get to know a community. When we reached the end of our tourist visa time, we could go do the same in another country. Our own home is nothing spectacular, but it's comfortable, in an area people come to visit. We could exchange it for a period of time, or rent it. We would probably not be interested in hostels at this point in our lives, but would be open to short term home rentals, depending on cost. Working would probably not be an option, but volunteering might be. Anyone else interested in this sort of travel, or already have experience with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 I secretly harbor this dream also. Rather than home exchange I'm hoping we can swing a short term rental or long term AirBnB. I would love to spend extended time in Italy and Spain. Sigh. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 11 minutes ago, SusanC said: I secretly harbor this dream also. Rather than home exchange I'm hoping we can swing a short term rental or long term AirBnB. I would love to spend extended time in Italy and Spain. Sigh. Oh my, Italy, yes. But I have to figure out *how.* I am convinced this is possible, but have to work out the ways and means, kwim? I'm a planner. This way I get to extend the enjoyment the loooongesst possible time. 😉 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domestic_engineer Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 No personal information here, just enabling ...... You're also describing "slow travel", and Google may have something to say about that. Also, you could teach English overseas, although I typically hear of young people doing this and not retired people. But why not?!? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 7 minutes ago, domestic_engineer said: No personal information here, just enabling ...... You're also describing "slow travel", and Google may have something to say about that. Also, you could teach English overseas, although I typically hear of young people doing this and not retired people. But why not?!? Thanks, this gives me good ideas for research. Yes, I could have fun teaching English, I think. My impression was that getting those jobs in Europe was pretty hard, but it's worth looking into. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 (edited) You might take a look at a site like Trusted Housesitters as well....they match people who need a housesitter with people looking for a place to stay (generally no money exchanges hands; stuff like who pays utilities on long stays is negotiable). We have an RV, so we've never done the housesitting end of things, but we've found housesitters for our own house through them, and it's been a great experience. We do long trips in summer, and we've had the same family here for three years, staying between a month and two months. ETA: generally there's pet care involved, so you'd need to be okay with that. Edited September 1, 2020 by kokotg 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 4 minutes ago, kokotg said: pet care I guess this would depend... musing... If we were in a city with plenty to do locally, that would probably be fine for a month or so. Might even add to the fun. We're used to looking after all sorts of animals. Then we could move on to somewhere without animals, to enable us to travel more. That's a good idea, thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 I would like to do that one day too. Are you interested in New Zealand? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 I have long thought this would be great, too. I don’t think much of the check-box type of usual European travel. I love immersive travel, which requires chunks of time to really do it properly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 We've done something like that twice. We spent 10 weeks in Santa Barbara and 3 months abroad. Both times we just rented out our house short term and then used the money to help rent a place in our destination. We didn't have much flexibility with dates and no flexibility with location, though. We listed our house as a short term, with a one or two month minimum, requirement on a website once and actually found someone through word of mouth once. If you have flexibility, though, you could list your house and plan your trip after finding a renter! We never were able to perfectly cover our travel time and had our house empty for at least a few weeks each time. Actually, when we went abroad, we had a catastrophic flood in our house that necessitated canceling the rental contract and a major remodel when we got home. Sigh. But we still don't regret that trip and would do it again in a second if we could. Just with a housesitter for the few weeks at the beginning before the renter came. Probably three months is a good time period to dream about as most countries won't let you stay without a visa for longer than that. And three months is long enough to feel like you are experiencing a lot of local culture. 🙂 Emily 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeachGal Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 I used to belong to a travel forum and knew people who travelled this way through Home Exchange. They got to know one another very well and were like a big family. It’s very much relationship based. If you want to do this, check out the Home Exchange website. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 I think we should just organize it as a hive thing... 😉 Homeschool friendly homes! :) Who wants to loan their house to the zoo (9 still at home) in exchange for a lovely Iowa vacay -albeit a little destroyed by the derecho?! :P 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 5 hours ago, kiwik said: I would like to do that one day too. Are you interested in New Zealand? Absolutely! But I may have to work on dh a bit, he's all about ancient European cities. But hey, I've got a few years to persuade him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 1 hour ago, BeachGal said: I used to belong to a travel forum and knew people who travelled this way through Home Exchange. They got to know one another very well and were like a big family. It’s very much relationship based. If you want to do this, check out the Home Exchange website. I've been looking there, and a couple of other similar sites. It's fascinating. Getting to know each other does seem crucial, since you're trusting each other with your homes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 2, 2020 Author Share Posted September 2, 2020 45 minutes ago, BlsdMama said: I think we should just organize it as a hive thing... 😉 Homeschool friendly homes! 🙂 Who wants to loan their house to the zoo (9 still at home) in exchange for a lovely Iowa vacay -albeit a little destroyed by the derecho?! 😛 Between us all, we could cover a lot of territory! I'm afraid you all might be a bit cramped in our house, though. You could pitch some tents in the yard...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 (edited) Rabbit Trail: Watch "Enchanted April" (1991). This trailer is a bit of a spoiler, but the movie is wonderful for daydreaming of a month rental on the coast of Italy. Edited September 2, 2020 by Beth S 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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