There's just one tiny hitch: While you are splashing in the pool in San Diego, sightseeing in London or hiking in Colorado with your kids (and grandkids), the owners of your temporary vacation manse will be making themselves and their kids at home in your house. Welcome to the fast-growing world of home exchange. Families also trade pets, vehicles (saving even more by not paying kennel fees and for rental cars) kids' toys, grown-up toys like surfboards and even friends.
"I'm addicted," says David St. John, a New Smyrna Beach, Fla., businessman whose kids have been able to use the ski gear owned by the Colorado family they've traded with via Home Exchange. Those Colorado kids, in turn, used the St. John kids' boogie boards and other beach toys.
Besides the obvious savings, the St. Johns said they couldn't afford to take the kids skiing otherwise. "There is everything you need," says Shanna St. John, a teacher. Unlike a rental condo, the kitchen is fully stocked with staples. You've got plenty of room to spread out and the host family makes sure you not only have a list of their favorite restaurants, local attractions, doctors, dentists and babysitters, but also puts you in touch with neighbors
"In London, we became really good friends with their friends," said Dr. Brock Fisher, a San Diego anesthesiologist and an enthusiastic exchanger. Home exchanges have been around for decades, but the Internet changed everything, said Ed Kuchins, founder of Home Exchange (www.homeexchange.com). "The savings, especially with young children, is really amazing — more meals at home, a washer and dryer and no need to ship or cart around strollers, cars seats, porta cribs, etc.," said Helen Bergstein, the founder of www.digsville.com, which has seen a 25 percent increase in family listings in the past three years. Now the weak dollar — for those pining to go overseas — and the faltering economy have made the idea even more appealing to Americans looking to save money, as well as to Europeans who want to come to the United States where their Euros are worth so much more. (Visit www.homelink.com, www.intervacusa.com or www.knowyourtrade.com to decide which club is best for your family.) All you pay is an annual fee to use the site. At www.homeexchange.com, for example, the fee is less than $100 for as many exchanges as you'd like to arrange. You deal directly with your exchange partners and can create a contract stipulating what is included (pet care, for example) and what's not. By the time the exchange happens, says Fisher, you've e-mailed and talked on the phone so much you don't feel like strangers anymore.
"You are not just getting a place to sleep, you are creating a relationship," said Nicole Feist, a New York mom with two young kids. She's exchanged more than 40 times and now writes a blog about the process, offering tips at HomeExchanger.Blogspot.com.
Swapping homes with strangers is a matter of trust. Karen Lavin, who lives in suburban Los Angeles, admitted she was skeptical at first about having strangers in her house. But she quickly became a convert, exchanging last summer with an American-British family who wanted to spend a few weeks near her family in Los Angeles.
Some exchangers say they end up in homes far nicer than their own. That's fine, as long as you are honest about your home. "Don't oversell your place," said Fisher. You don't want anyone to be disappointed when they arrive. And make sure to take care of the place as if you were house sitting for your boss, suggests Nicole Feist. "If you aren't a neat freak, pretend everyone else is and act accordingly," she says.
Eileen Ogintz, a resident of Fairfield County, invites questions, comments and stories about your family travels. Write to Taking the Kids, 578 Post Road East, #566, Westport CT 06880, or visit www.takingthekids.com.
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