Take it from someone who has home swapped in over 60 locations all over the world: there is something special about the home swapping experience.

Meet Laura
Laura, based in Spain, has been working in tech for over 12 years. As a Human Resources professional, she’s always worked in a somewhat hybrid model. Some days she works from home. Some days she goes into the office. She also gets time away from the office for 1-3 week spurts.

As evident by her job, Laura loves people. She loves to see the world, different cultures, different ways of living. Exchanging homes with other link-minded people all over the world helps Laura live the free lifestyle she seeks.

Home Swapping Q&A

We hopped on a call to speak with Laura about her experience. She was taking the call from the Canary Islands.

Q: Of all the travel options out there, why do you home swap?

A: It’s pretty simple. My interest is to travel more. Homestays give me that benefit. Also, I have a cat and beautiful plants, and this way, they are taken care of when I go on extended trips. {Chucklin} The animals prefer company that even my friends can’t provide.

Q: How is home swapping different than staying in other types of lodging?

A: When you’re traveling this way, the energy is different. You get to experience the environment with open arms in such an authentic way. It’s as though you were really living in it. The people you swap with try to bring you into their world with little details too. It’s just the way the community works. For example, when I was in Italy, we arrived around dinner time. The lady I swapped with actually had a home-cooked meal waiting for me. Imagine! An Italian dinner cooked for you and just left there for free! Some things just can’t be bought with money. When you’re traveling, feeling welcomed into a home is one of those things.

It’s really interesting how you also walk away from these experiences and it slightly impacts your life going forward. For me, I love decorating. Since it’s real people living in these homes I get good decorating ideas. I’ll pick up an idea here or there and bring it into my own home which impacts my day-to-day in little ways.

Q: You’ve swapped 60+ times. Has anything ever gone wrong?

A: You’d be surprised. The probability of having an issue is really low. The home swapping community is really respectful. The only issue I had once was with the cleaning service. Out of 60 swaps, one or two issues with cleaning isn’t bad though.

Q: Ok, let’s talk a little more about sharing your home. How do you keep valuables safe?

A: As a society, a long time ago, we used to have many jewels. Ya know? Fancy things. But now, I think we live another life. Most of our valuable things are electronics. So, you bring your laptops with you when you travel.

Of course, we might have some clothes or things that are special to us. But, you leave that in a closet and I find that people don’t go into personal drawers or closets or anything. I usually leave 1 wardrobe free so that guests have a place to put their things, and then there really is no reason for them to look around in other places.*

*At 48 dots, we recommend that if you have documents, valuables, or other things of value, you should simply lock them up in a closet.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who is new to home-swapping?

A: Have trust in human beings. Most of us are good people. Generous people.

The future of travel

Home swapping has been gaining more and more popularity in the past two years. Laura mentioned that, while not everybody knows about it, it’s slowly circulating as a desirable option in the post-pandemic remote work world.

It makes sense too. Airbnbs were shut down in many places, especially throughout Europe. At that time, families actually preferred to stay in other homes, rather than hotels so as not to be around other people. Cooped up remote workers wanted to get out. Vacation rental hosts wanted to get away somewhere new too.

What’s interesting is that, as a result of changing working conditions everywhere (and perhaps also as a result of a new wave of people looking to exchange homes entering the market), people seem to be planning swaps with shorter notice. Laura said that she sees people close swap deals weeks in advance, whereas before it was within months. So, people are more flexible than before.