Does anyone know anything about house swaps?

my old colleague did it on craigslist and they went to austria or switzerland or something and it was great except that the house they happened to stay in was really old and they kept accidentally breaking shit. so if you do it, be careful! But i think you’ll have great luck on craigslist and there are probably official house swap sites as well. have fun!

I’d love to trade with you…I’m just afraid that rural Missouri wouldn’t exactly float your boat. I live in a small town of less than 4000 with nothing remarkable in my neighborhood but a soybean field across the street and Dollar General instead of a Wal*Mart (which doesn’t bother me…I hate Wal*Mart). Seriously, talk about getting the short end of the stick! lol But hey…whatever whips your cream. If it gets that bad for you, I can e-mail you pictures of your house. :D BTW, mind if I leave my kids…possibly my husband?

It worked out fabulously in the movie The Holiday starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black. That is my only exposure to the idea other than this post, but it sounds very interesting. Please keep us posted whatever you decide !

My family does it all the time. We use homelink.org, which is a fabulous website. Basically, you create an account and describe your home, put up pictures, list amenities and advantages of your location, etc. and people from all over the world can browse say, homes in San Fransisco, find yours, and send you an email, possibly suggesting some date ranges. Or, you can do the same thing with others. My mom gets several offers a week from all over the world (Sydney, Barcelona, Rome, Istanbul, and Amsterdam come to mind), most of which she pays little attention to.
Last summer, we went to Rome for ten days and stayed in an absolutely beautiful and conveniently located apartment while a woman named Sveva, her husband, and there eleven year old son Giulio stayed in ours in Manhattan. It was great, and of course free! We left them an extensive collection of subway maps, restaurant recommendations, activities etc, as they did for us.
Overall, it is a great system. The organization really protects you and has representatives in every country, so there is very little risk involved. People who have swapped before leave feedback for eachother that you can read, and swappers are generally very respectful of your home. My parents have taken a lot of trips like this, and the one I went on was extremely positive. I would highly recommend it. If you have other questions, feel free to ask.