What about money? 8Reciprocate instead of payExpensive or sentimental itemsMortgage, rent and billsInsurancesPhonesCase study - Portland, USA

Is it safe? 9Worst case scenarios10 biggest home exchange mistakes

When things go wrong.... 10What happens when an exchange falls through?What happens when the plans of one party have to change?

Who does it and doesn’t it suit? 11 Who does it suitWho doesn’t it suitCase Study- New Zealand

What do I need to do to get ready for an exchange? 12Getting startedPrepare your homeCars and keysCreating your home exchange pack

What sort of questions will I be asked by house swap partners? 13

Home exchange etiquette 14Do’s and dont’sCase Study- New Zealand

What website should I use? 15Home exchange site recommendations and discounts!Rentals

Frequently Asked Questions 16 And finally.... 17

Appendices 18Example Enquiry EmailExample Decline EmailExample Home Exchange ContractExample Home Exchange Pack

ContentsIntroduction

1 Our home exchange journey2 Overview - What is home exchange and

how does it work? Is it popular? The main benefit Other advantages First step Case Studies - French Polynesia and Quebec, Canada

3 Using a home exchange website Making or receiving offers Searching for options Search Example Request emails Responding Doing your research Case Study - Northland, New Zealand

4 Writing a great profile Photos Information Specifics Example profile Case Study –Tahiti

5 Negotiating, agreeing and building relationships

Hearing back Regular communications Hitting roadblocks Confirming the agreement Establishing expectations Contracts or formal agreements Website feedback Case Study - Melbourne, Australia

6 Where should my home be and who do I swap with?

Do I have to live in a mansion? Quiz - what are you looking for in your next holiday? Case Study - Oregon, USA

7 What are the different types of exchange? Non-simultaneous swaps Multiple swaps Hospitality exchanges Generosity and compromise

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The Definitive Guide to Home ExchangingEverything you need for safe, smooth and happy house swapping!

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The Definitive Guide to Home ExchangingEverything you need for safe, smooth and happy house swapping!

Home exchanging can save you (on average) £2,202 (over $3,300) per swap! ”“

Figures taken from ww.lovehomeswap.com, 2013

All prices shown in this guide are in either Great British Pounds (£) or US Dollars ($), prices are current as of Summer 2013.

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The Definitive Guide to Home ExchangingEverything you need for safe, smooth and happy house swapping!

Hi,We are Hannah and Chris, a British couple who stumbled upon home exchanging quite by chance. Like a lot of people, our desire to travel far out-stripped both the amount of time we could get off work and our budget! So we took a step back to see if there was anything we could do about that. Five years on we have changed the way we can earn a living so we are much more independent- in fact we don’t work for anyone but ourselves! And having a largely internet based business also means that we have a lot of say over where and when we work.

Home exchanging has been instrumental in allowing us to do this (we have done over 20 so far!), and we wanted to give you some tips on how you can get more out of your travel, irrespective of where you live, your budget, your family or how often you like to get away.

Home Exchanging is increasingly popular, and a main stream way to travel for many families and couples, whether for a 2 week vacation or weekend getaway.

We’ve crammed in A LOT of experience of home exchanging in a relatively short time so we decided to share everything we have learned so you can weigh up the pros and cons of home swapping. We realise that it’s not for everyone, and those who are very resistant to the concept are unlikely to ever really feel comfortable with the idea. But there are also a lot of people who are open to this unique practice but aren’t sure how to get started; this book is for you.

Without home exchanging we wouldn’t have been able to arrange incredible trips to places such as Canada, Australia, French Polynesia or Mexico - not without getting a huge loan anyway! Home exchanging doesn’t just offer you a place to stay but can also provide a window into different ways of life if you let it.

When you live in someone else’s home it’s fascinating to be part of a whole new lifestyle for a short while, whether its barbequing at Christmas when you’d usually be snowed in; swimming in waterfalls on a

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The Definitive Guide to Home ExchangingEverything you need for safe, smooth and happy house swapping!

weekend when you might otherwise be at a shopping mall; or even watching dolphins at sunset when you’d usually only see your neighbour’s cat skulking around the garden! With a comfortable, free place to stay you can spend much more of your holiday budget enjoying new experiences rather than the bulk of your funds on somewhere to sleep and store your luggage. Hopefully these pages will answer some of your questions and help you recognise some of the possibilities. When you start to look, unexpected and intriguing options will present themselves, our advice to you is to join a site (using one of the fabulous discount codes our house swapping partners have supplied at the end of the guide), create a profile and see what offers land in your inbox. You don’t have to accept them all, or even any, but it’s a lot of fun seeing what trips the next 12 months could hold!

All the bestHannah and ChrisYou can find out more about how we combine family, work, travel and play, plus tips for how you can do the same at www.loveplaywork.com

First, a bit about our home... To do so many wonderful home exchanges we must live in a mansion, right? We wish! A common misconception is that your home has to be spectacular to organise exchanges. That’s simply not the case, which we hope our details below will show you! LocationOur south coast UK home is pretty convenient. It’s a 15 minute walk to 7 miles of sandy beach and 10 minutes stroll to bars, restaurants and shops. We are only 10 minutes in the car from the main town centre. The home Our home is comfy but compact (sales speak for small!) We’ve got two decent sized bedrooms, both with en suite bathrooms so its handy if home exchangers want to bring friends. We have an open plan kitchen and living room, big enough for 4 people but a bit snug for too many more than that, so we don’t recommend families with more than 2 kids exchange with us. We have a balcony big enough for a table, barbeque and plenty of flower pots. We are surrounded by tall trees so the gardens we overlook are in the shade by lunchtime but our balcony catches the light until sunset. Finally we have an office with two desks which is where we run our business from when we’re here.

Why do people come?The homes we have stayed in are usually much bigger than ours but there are all sorts of reasons visitors want to come to us. Some like being close to the beach and the New Forest (20 minutes away), others like the proximity to London (2 hours by train), historic cities like Salisbury (45 minutes by car), Bath (2 hours by car) or even the impressive Jurassic Coastline (45 mins away). We’ve had families come because they have a grown up child at the local university, relatives in the area, or even for the kids to attend a football camp. Some people have just liked the look of the place and wanted to visit somewhere in the UK. Feedback we get is that they like that our home isn’t too big (easy to keep clean!) and is a comfortable and convenient base for further exploring.

On our last home exchange we had a hot Aussie Christmas!

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