5 Reasons Why Home Exchange Is the Solution for a Family Trip

Livia Catran, a coordinator at CasaVersa Home Exchange, talks about the ideal ways for parents and kids to enjoy their vacations when traveling as a family.

Some parents might find vacation planning a hassle. When they have to think about how to fit two or more kids into a hotel room you get slightly scared. Not only that, this scary feeling quickly transforms into a panic when they think about the costs of that hotel room after your kids have consumed all the overpriced bottles of Coke in the minibar and bothered the neighbours by constantly knocking at their doors.

For the kids, vacations are running around, doing silly things, playing by the sea and going to bed late. But is that always possible when a whole family is bound to a hotel room?

Not quite… So why not think of a way to avoid parents’ phobia and to prevent kids from saying “I can’t get no satisfaction” during their vacation? Let’s imagine this: having a place where parents won’t feel like they’re lacking space for their kids to play around, where their kids will thank them for having the best fun, where they’ll be guaranteed the same comfort as their own home and, most important, where they’ll have to pay nothing.

No, this place is not called paradise, it goes by the name of home swapping. Here are some reasons you never thought of as to why home swapping is a friendly and convenient budget travel option for parents and children.

1. No time & no money pressure

For the kind of parents who like to spend vacation mornings sleeping in until late without having to miserably drag their kids out of bed because it’s school time, they should know that hotels are not the best place to wake up late. Time pressure is often an issue as it’s unavoidable to exit the room at a certain (early) hour not to miss breakfast time or simply because some “kind” housekeepers will keep on knocking at your door. In a house there aren’t any set times so one can enjoy the real feeling of vacation freedom.

Let’s not forget about the financial side of things. How much money could be saved without expensive (and often uneaten) rip-off meals? With home exchange one gets to cook in a real house and children won’t feel the pressure of picking an “exotic” dish in the menu. Not to mention all the comfort of a real home and the chance to experience day-to-day life in a different place.

2. Kids swap? Not really. But thumbs up for swapping their toys

Even though it’s not essential that a family with kids swaps homes with a family who also has kids, it can be a big plus. Imagine a child’s reaction when receiving a new toy. Now multiply that reaction by 20 and that’s the result. Children would be absolutely thrilled when finding out that in another corner of the world there are tons of new toys waiting for them to play. All of that without forgetting the possibility for the kids to watch DVDs in other languages and learning some of its basics. By the way, it’s an amazing way to increase kids’ cultural awareness as they understand that sharing things with people from different backgrounds is essential in such a multicultural diverse world.

There’s also the opportunity to search for a family with similarly aged children. For families with babies, they’ll be able to use all baby paraphernalia and kit (change table, highchair, cot etc) from the other family. Another perk of exchanging houses with a family who has kids is that the house will be child-proof, it is less likely that they would die of disappointment if a water pitcher is accidentally broken.

3. Child-proof space: home…safe home!

Obviously a broken pitcher is not a big problem but no doubts that an entire broken house is. That is why there is the option of finding “child-proof houses” during a home swap vacation. Parents: no need to check up on the kids every 5 minutes to make sure that they’re not playing with something dangerous. Kids: you’ll have plenty of space to play around without having to be restricted to a 4-wall hotel room (Hurray freedom!)

4. Remember: museums are not the only solution for FUN!

Having a real home to spend holidays, also means that there’s no need to be out all day long appreciating culture and admiring architectural sites. Let’s face it: kids can only do so much sightseeing. Parents can pick a house with a swimming pool, a trampoline, a few bicycles or even horses in case they choose a countryside type of house. Any family and physical activity that won’t just involve “appreciating culture” can be fun for everyone. When going on vacations through a home exchange both parents and children have the chance to fulfill their desires.

5. Finally a chance to pack light

Packing for a whole family can get a bit chaotic sometimes. If parents have to bring clothes for every single day of their stay and for every family member, they’ll most probably end up bringing their entire wardrobe (not a big new for women). Considering the fact that a new stain appears on children’s clothes every 5 minutes, home exchange provides a perfect solution for that: the option of staying in a house that has a laundry machine. That way one can just wash the clothes as opposed to bringing endless piles of them. Without mentioning the fact that all those piles could eventually cause some overweight troubles on the airplanes. Oh, and not spending any money on accommodation means there’s more money left for shopping… just make sure that the overweight don’t become a problem on the way back home.

These are only a few ideas to consider when picking the next type of family vacation so that everyone will be smiley and happy! Trading houses is a stress-free way to travel so why not give it a chance?

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