In the past when you traveled and were looking for lodging you had a choice of which hotel to stay in.  Then, 25 years ago Vrbo was founded and 15 years ago Airbnb was founded.

That has given the traveling public an additional choice of whether or not to rent someone else’s home or apartment. 

More recently I have come upon another choice – namely, to exchange homes or apartments. Some call it house swapping.  They live in your home often at the same time you live in their home or apartment.

But it turns out that home exchanging as a business has been around for some time. 70 years ago HomeLink was the original company to get into home exchanges.

Other companies in the business include Love Home Swap, People Like Us, and Home Exchange.

Home Exchange claims to be the largest with over 100,000 homes in 133 countries. There are other players in the same space, including Third Home, Switchhome, Trusted Housesitters, Couch Surfing, Wwoof, Homestayin, and more.  These companies usually require a modest annual fee to participate on line with other participants.

The reason I mention this is that for the first time in my life, I am giving home exchanging a try.  For the past week or so I have been living in an apartment in Paris.  At the same time the Paris apartment’s owners are in the midst of a two week stay in my floating home in Seattle.

No money has or will change hands.  They gave me the keys to their apartment, and I gave them the keys to my houseboat.

While we did connect initially on one of the websites that is designed to facilitate these exchanges, we did not fill out any paperwork, or sign any legal documents.  We somehow have decided to trust each other.

How did this trust develop, you may ask.  After an initial email or two, we initiated a couple of zoom sessions to get to know each other.  In addition, we had a chance to meet in person recently in Seattle.

Having never done this before, I am curious to see how it will work out.  On the one hand, it may turn out to be nothing more than the equivalent of an Airbnb experience, just without any money involved.  On the other hand, it could trigger an experience or two that might be unusual or different or intriguing.  Who knows?

So far I have a couple of reactions to exchanging homes as opposed to doing Airbnb or Vrbo.

One, the exchange is so much more personal.  The Airbnb or Vrbo experience is more of a transaction.  With an exchange you really begin to get to know the people you are exchanging with.  You have the opportunity to develop a relationship with them. Some of my friends who have exchanged homes for years say they have made good friends as a result.

Second, the fact that no money changes hands is really nice.  What it has done for me is allow me to focus on the experiences that I want to have in the place I am traveling to as opposed to worrying about the nightly cost of my lodging.  I am spending my money on these experiences and not on my lodging.

My home exchange period is not over, and I have not returned to my home yet.  However, so far I would say that it has been a very good experience.

Movies have been produced that highlight the impact on people’s lives that exchanging homes can have.  Two romantic comedies are favorites of mine.  In 2006 Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet starred in The Holiday.  There are rumors that the 2023 Christmas season may see a sequel.  More recently in February of this year 2023 Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher starred in Your Place or Mine.