Wanna buy a home-swap site?

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 framer--doesn't have time to promote it properly.

Sale details are available at Deal-a-Site.

Everything you wanted to know about home swaps

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 don't forget to check out the rest of the SlowEurope.com site as well--it's full of great tips for experiencing the Continent (and the U.K.) as the locals do.

SmartMoney.com video: House swapping

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 printed catalogues of members' properties, and prospective swappers set up trades by snail mail. A lot has changed with the advent of the Internet, but the basic principle is still the same. You head off to Paris or Denver or Outer Mongolia (okay, that last one is pretty unlikely, but you'd be surprised where you can go on a swap) to stay in a stranger's house. Meanwhile, the stranger comes to live in yours.

Some of the earliest fans of house swapping were teachers and professors, who had similar blocks of long holidays. But now thousands of people are getting into the game.

A recent CBS News interview with Kelli Grant, senior consumer reporter for SmartMoney.com, lays out the basics of the process. As always in these stories, she touches on that age-old question, "Do I really want strangers in my house?"



For links to a range of house swapping organizations, see the list on my website, LaVidaLocal.com.

Have you ever done a house swap? Post a comment talking about your experience!

Another chance to win a home exchange club membership!

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.

Home exchange: Win a free year's membership in a home exchange club

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 a comment on the subject of home exchanges: a story about one you've done, a wishful note about why you'd like to do one--anything, really. The contest is open to Canadians 18 and over, and time is of the essence: the deadline is Wednesday, March 25 at 8pm Pacific Time. Good luck!

P.S.: Julie was on the CBC Radio One program "B.C. Almanac" yesterday, talking about the joys of home exchange and fielding questions from callers. The show will be archived for a few days on the "B.C. Almanac" website. Scroll down and click on the Openline Archive link for the Friday, March 20 show. (You'll need Real Player to hear the sound file.)