Wanna stay in Paris for a month for only $120 or in South Africa for $59.95 or maybe staying in the Berkshires for under $100 is your dream. Ok, Ok, I know many of you are like, “How is that possible? It must be a scam with some kind of risk.” But if your desire to know more outweighs your skepticism, then keep reading…
Ever heard of Vacation or Home Swapping? It’s the idea of trading your home or vacation for someone else’s. All you do is visit one of the many swapping websites, fill out an application, upload some photos of your home, and pay a small fee. Once this is done you have access to viewing all of the other lovely homes listed and you can choose where you want to travel.
So some of you are probably saying, “Does this really work?” It absolutely does. There are many companies dedicated to this, just like there are companies dedicated to the Time Share market.
The benefits of Home or Vacation Swapping is you can stay as long as you and the person whose home you are swapping with is willing and in some cases you don’t even have to find a partner who wants to travel to your home while you are traveling. You make all the rules. You can also save $1000s of dollars on traditional hotel stays. Instead of paying $99+ dollars a night for a half-way decent hotel, just pay a small yearly fee to be able to vacation anywhere in the world for as long as you want. It can’t get much better than that!
In order to be able to participate, you must have a home or vacation home you are willing to swap. And of course, it should be in an area people will want to visit. You also have to get over the fear of someone living in your home. If you are afraid someone may destroy or damage your home, there are some safety measures in place through the swapping companies and both of you will sign contracts. You can also communicate with the person who will be staying in your home and share things like how to work the remotes, water the plants, or other important details about your home.
There are many companies providing this service, but here are a few websites to get you started: http://homexchange.com, http://thevacationhomeexchange.com, http://stay4free.com, and http://goswap.org.
Other than a Home or Vacation swap, the only way to probably travel cheaper, is to go somewhere you have friends and/or family living and stay with them. That is cool too, but this way, you get your own space. Try it. You just might like it!
Happy Vacationing!
Lynesha McElveen is the owner of Liberty Educational Group and is known as the Di$count Diva who teaches people how to get the best for less and still have money in the bank.
