Home Exchange House Swap Swapping homes So many names Are they the same?

Home exchange house swap home swap swapping homes trading homes are all the same concept, enjoying a vacation by staying in someone elses home.

Regional expressions

Australia England South Africa often use home swap or house swap

North America often use home exchange, exchanging homes or trading homes for vacations

France echange de maison, troc maison

Italy scambio casa

Scambio Casa

and many more worldwide expressions all meaning essentially the same thing.

Global Home Exchange

Home Exchange emergency plans

98% + home exchanges go without any major problems. But what happens if your exchange partner cancels at the last minute or needs to return before the exchange is completed?

Sometimes such circumstances cannot be avoided and exchanges need to be cancelled. However, cancellations are only acceptable in cases of real crisis. Not because you found a better exchange. If you must cancel, please inform your exchange partners immediately and try to find your guests alternative accommodation with family or friends. If this is impossible, we will do our best to help you through our network of partner clubs and by publishing availability under our feature listings under last minute exchanges.



Accidents and medical emergencies happen. We have talked with an older couple that had a lifetime dream of visiting Australia realized and made more affordable with a home exchange. They planned to be away for five weeks with the first week spent relaxing on a south seas island stopover. One night they went for a walk in a poorly lit area and unknown to them construction was being completed on the sidewalk with no barriers. Our couple fell down a huge construction hole and ended up in the hospital with many injuries including broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Their vacation was ruined and they had to fly back home to Europe immediately. As their home was too small to accommodate both them and their exchange partners, the couple from Australia was faced with either going home or finding other accommodations.


Have an emergency plan in place and talk about this with your exchange partners before you go on exchange.

Global Home Exchange at 4homex.com

Home Exchange Have alternative plans

Home Exchange Challenges - Things Happen on the way to an exchange.

From Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse" The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry


The unexpected can and does happen. It is always best to have back up arrangements available—just in case. During the school term we have high school students from Germany and Brazil stay with us. On three occasions we have taken our students with us on short distance exchanges without a problem. 


Last year we arranged a home exchange to nearby Seattle Washington. We had no problem arranging an exchange and soon we were on our way. We got to the US Canada border and were stopped by US customs and immigration. Seems our Brazilian student needed a visa to enter the country. Something that had never crossed our minds. To make a long wait at the border a short story, we were denied entry into the US and had to return to Canada.


Our exchange partner from Washington was now in our home and we weren't about to ask her to leave. So instead of spending 5 days in Seattle with free accommodations, we improvised and enjoyed our short holiday in Vancouver at $300 a night for two hotel rooms.

We really do encourage home exchangers, and for that matter, all travelers, to have an emergency plan.

Global Home Exchange at 4homex.com

Home Exchange Questions - How do I know it's safe?

I am the owner of two three home exchange sites but won't insult our readers with trying to sell you a listing or even convince you to visit my websites.

I am writing this because I am a parent with an autistic child and have found home exchanges to be a safe, positive and free accommodation for those of us who don't mind saving money. We love to travel and yes, we do sometimes stay in hotels. However as most parents will appreciate, hotel rooms just aren't convenient. When our son goes to be, so do we. We can't turn the TV on, have a conversation or what ever else couples do because these will awaken him.

The wonderful solution is a home exchange. That is, trading your home with someone else, perhaps just across your region, to another area of your country or around the world.

With a home exchange you have considerably more space, multi rooms, kitchen and often a yard. Best of all it's free accommodation while traveling.


The home exchange question most often asked is: "How do you trust complete strangers to live in your home for an exchange?"Response: “How do your exchange partners know they can trust you in their home?”

We have gone on dozens of exchanges lasting from 2 days to 11 months. Short distances, an hours drive to Europe Australia and across North America. In all of our exchanges we have never had a theft, never came home to surprise charges on our telephone bills, never had any property wrecked and except for our last exchange have always had a broken drink glass or chipped saucer and yes, the love of my life, my wife, forgot to water a house plant from one exchange partner and we bought them a new one. In every instance, if we broke a glass we replaced it or left some money behind. Our exchange partners did the same for us.

On our exchange this past summer to The Netherlands we actually got through a 22 day exchange without breaking a glass.

Home Exchange - Traveling with Kids

Traveling with children on a vacation can be one of the most educational and memorable family activities you will ever undertake. Or it can drive you nuts ! A home exchange can help eliminate some of challenges faced by parents and make your next travel holiday with children a special traveling experience. A home exchange is a practical and affordable family vacation idea.


Parents and their children value the privacy, extra space, comfort and convenience of swapping homes for vacations.


Home exchange attracts many families with children. Families often arrange to swap with others with similar aged children. Children of all ages enjoy having a whole new set of toys, books, computer games and videos to occupy them while their parents relax in the comfort of a home. If you're traveling with small children, you might consider the convenience of not having to pack cribs, strollers, playpens and car seats.


If you have children, let them be in contact with your home exchange partner’s children, if possible. It helps ease their concerns about someone else staying in "their room," and they may even become friends. In fact, many families report developing long-lasting friendships with their swap partners

For more information on Home Exchange please visit Global Home Exchange and click on Family Vacation Ideas

Family Vacation Ideas