It’s always more fun to travel and see new places and live "like a local". Paying for a hotel is costly and doesn’t give you the same experience. When you’re living like a local, in a home, in a neighborhood, you get to know the people, catch the local events, festivals, and community celebrations. You can experience this unique opportunity and do it for free, by exchanging your home for someone else’s in another city, state or country.

Begin by finding someone you know who lives in a place you might want to visit. Perhaps you have taken vacations and met people whom you’ve become friends with that live in another state or country? Maybe you have relatives living in another part of the world. Contact them with the idea of exchanging homes for a week or two.

If you have an idea of where you would like to visit, place an ad in the local newspaper offering to exchange your home. Give as many details as possible, including amenities and restrictions. If you don’t want to give your address, give them the choice of faxing or e-mailing you back.

• HOME EXCHANGES: "a direct exchange of homes - usually at no cost to either party and no third party involvement."
• HOSPITALITY EXCHANGES: travelers agree to trade hospitality with another family. The family stays with you in your home with no money being exchanged. This visit is then swapped for a similar period of time in the home of your guests.
• HOSPITALITY TO PAYING GUESTS: "share your home and hospitality with travelers for a mutually agreeable fee."

Web Sites for Exchanging Your Home, Apartment or Condo
Finally, there are dozens of home exchange organizations which offer listings around the world. These groups, for a fee, will list your home and others in a directory. Then it is up to the individual owners to contact each other and work out all the arrangements. These include the following which have web sites where you can actually view the homes that are listed.

Home Base Holidays
Operates in an alliance of established home exchange agencies and their representatives worldwide to ensure members have a wide choice of quality listings in several countries

International Home Exchange Network

Faculty Housing Exchange
FHE's international database helps university faculty and other education professionals locate temporary housing anywhere – for sabbaticals, leaves of absence, one year fellowships, or exchange programs.

Latitudes Home Exchange
Offers ". . .an extensive range of exchange homes in over 30 countries, but is small enough to remember your name. We pioneered the concept of custom matching and we also recognize the value of 'do it yourself' exchanges through our electronic service."

VacationsUrent
Offers home exchange database.

Sydney Accommodation and Tourist Information Web Site
Offers all types of travel information on Australia including home exchanges.