Ever wanted to run your own home exchange site? Do you have an artistic bent? Montreal-based ArtStudioExchanges.com is for sale (along with its French-language version, TrocAtelier.com). Aimed at artists and art teachers who need somewhere to stay for a vacation or sabbatical, the home-swap site is for sale because the owner–a full-time artist and picture […]

Well, I’m not sure if it’s everything you wanted to know about home swaps, but I’ve done my best to include lots of useful information in my recent article on home exchanging for SlowEurope.com. You’ll find interviews with home exchangers, an annotated list of some of the leading sites with European listings, and more. And […]

Every time the economy hits a roadblock, a whole new generation of media and travelers seems to rediscover home swapping as though it had just been invented. The truth is, though, that this fun and frugal way of seeing the world has been around since the 1950s. Back in the day, swapping clubs published huge […]

A while ago, I wrote a blog post about the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where I spent a great vacation with my sisters and our husbands. I’ve just found out that our rental villa, Surf Sighed, has its own website. It’s a lovely, affordable tropical rental with a pretty pool deck and great views. If […]

CNN first aired this video on home swapping in 2005, but the tips and insights on are pretty timeless. And even though the woman profiled has a flat in Manhattan, don’t think you have to have a home in a hot tourist area to swap! With a little work, you can probably find someone somewhere […]

Joyce Copeland‘s love affair with vacation rentals started about a decade ago, when she was planning a vacation for her extended family and spotted a newspaper ad for short-term rentals in Lake Tahoe. “I was astounded by how little money we’d have to spend, and we could bring the dogs,” she says. Joyce often travels […]

The Caribbean island of Montserrat is one of my very favourite places to travel like a local. It’s hard to do anything else; the island has only two hotels and they’re only 18 rooms each, so even at a hotel you pretty much feel like you’re staying with family. Private villas are the main form […]

Julie Ovenell-Carter’s contest to win a free membership in a home exchange club continues to generate interest! Just this week, another home exchange website, 1stHomeExchange.com, offered to give away a one-year membership to her readers–and sent a link to 66 great tips for home exchangers. Head over to the contest post at theseboots.travel for details.

My friend Julie Ovenell-Carter writes a great travel blog called These Boots, which is aimed at independent travellers, and she’s running a contest. The prizes? One-year memberships offered by two home exchange organizations, HomeLink International and Intervac. All you have to do to enter is go to the blog post announcing the contest and leave […]

Given the economy, more and more people are considering house swapping as a great way to save money on their next trip. (Of course, “like a local” sorts have been doing it for years, as much to get a taste of local culture as to cut down on expenses.) On your next swap, here are […]