Considering moving abroad? Nervous about taking the plunge? Arranging a home swap vacation can be a perfect way to get a feel for a new country before fully committing to the long-term move.
You may be quite familiar with the destination but, by swapping homes, you’ll get a much better feel for how life might be like in your country of choice – definitely much more than you would staying in a hotel. By arranging a swap you’ll get a chance to stay in a real home and be part of a real neighbourhood, often in a location that is off the the usual tourist trail.
If you have the time, one good option to really get the best feel for what life might be like in your new destination is to arrange a longer term home exchange. You could look for accommodation exchange options of anything from one month to even one+ years! This will really give you a great insight into whether it is a place you could see yourself moving to permanently and, if you are already seriously looking into the move, the opportunity to search for jobs, schools and homes to buy or rent.
Although the majority of home exchanges are for shorter vacation-length periods, there are many home exchanger on Home Base Holidays also looking for longer periods of 3+ months (e.g. retired people looking to visit friends and family abroad or location independent workers such as 'digital nomads' who might have much more flexibility with their travel options).
Longer term home swaps tend to need a bit more planning than shorter swaps of 1-2 weeks; it usually takes a little longer to find a suitable long term home swap match and then, once you have agreed the swap with another member, a few more details to discuss (e.g. who pays for the bills, home insurance cover for longer periods, etc). All the planning is well worth though as by swapping homes you will get a fantastic and invaluable insight into what could be your new life in a new destination!
To check for members offering longer exchange periods, go to the home swap search page and then use the search filters to look for "Long term exchange" offers.
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