Growing Older: Affordable travel through home exchanges

By Sandra J. Cohen and Roger Cormier
Oakland Tribune

What if during these challenging economic times you could travel anywhere you wanted for about half the normal cost? Countless seniors and baby boomers are doing just that thanks to home or hospitality exchanges.

They do so by using websites such as Homeexchange.com, Intervac Home Exchange and Global Home Exchange, which usually charge a small fee to list homes. Even before listing your home, you can scan the sites to get a feel for it. Once you've listed your home, you can contact -- or be contacted by -- potential exchange partners to trade homes for an mutually agreed-upon period of time.
Home swaps also often include such amenities as the use of a car or computer, or access to an area health club or community pool. Because you're not in a hotel room, you can further save money by eating some meals "at home."
A hospitality exchange (not offered by all companies) is similar except homeowners host each other in their homes at designated times.
What if you don't own a home? Explore partnering with relatives or friends willing to list and exchange their homes. Most exchange homes have two or more bedrooms, and people often team up for such travel.
How can you trust total strangers to stay in your home? More than 250,000 people a year make successful exchanges. The logic and experience is that if someone turns over their home to you, they will treat your home the way they expect  you to treat theirs. Many people have done exchanges regularly over the years and report no significant problems.
Exchanges usually are made well in advance of planned travel. Before you propose or accept a particular exchange, you can research and select what appear to be your best options. Prospective exchange partners usually share practical information about everything from public transportation to local shopping to what to do and see nearby. In the process, they get to know and feel comfortable with each other. In nonsimultaneous exchanges, you might meet the local partner who may be staying at a second property during your visit.
While communicating about the exchange, those involved often become friendly and sometimes even treat each other as family.
Lucky for us, listings in the Bay Area -- which ranks high internationally as a place people want to visit -- have a competitive advantage. When you reach your destination, you'll hardly have time to pinch yourself to make sure you are really there and haven't broken your bank. You will be too busy settling in, exploring and enjoying what once had been only a drea.