Why we love home exchanges, Italian-style

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Gone are the days of plugging our ear canals in noisy hostels or dishing out beaucoup bucks on mediocre hotels. We've discovered the manna of home exchanging and it tastes good.

We're currently on our fourth switch, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy, after completing others in Barcelona, Paris and Budapest. This is our first exchange in a more off-the-beaten-path place, mostly because BW's ma is with us and she wanted to go "somewhere in Italy but with no tourists." So we did.

Why do home exchanges turn our crank?

1) They make us scour our flat. We clean better for visiting exchangers than we do for ourselves. As in taking-a-toothbrush-to-shower-grout better. Sparkly. And orange.


2) We've met some amazing people. Our current host, an Italian police officer who will be staying in our flat in December, took us sightseeing for a day with his family. We drove to villages we'd never have known to visit, including Portogruaro, which had a Fall festival.



3) We eat out less and source local ingredients for meals. For tonight's localvore dinner, BW made this superb plate of cacio e pepe pasta with tomato salad and par-boiled carrots, accompanied by a glass of the region's Prosecco.



4) You mingle with the natives. Exchange homes are usually in actual neighborhoods, or at least pockets of non-tourist normalcy. Chances are your host will recommend restaurants, shops and other special spots that are off the tourist-crush radar, such as those we visited with our Italian hosts in Caorle, on the Adriatic Sea.



5) You're planted in one spot and get to know it. Whereas I used to city-hop on holidays, we now bed down in a place for a week and really explore what it has to offer. Our home base for this trip, Pordenone, has dozens of nooks and crannies we've begun to poke into, like the piazza and patisserie below.



That being said, we haven't encountered slobby guests or a flea-ridden home yet. Fingers crossed this whole exchange thing continues to go as spectacularly as it has been. 

Linking up with Chasing the Donkey and other Sunday Traveler friends.

27 comments

  1. I'm glad Home Exchange worked for you. I've been trying this for almost three years now and I could never get an exchange. When I want something, it's not available and when I receive offers they are not what I want. Your experience gave me some hope though, so I'll keep trying.

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  2. Love those carved gourds! I really wish I could do that!


    www.simplydavelyn.com

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  3. I've looked into home exchange in the past but I've never found the right time/offer. You've inspired me to keep looking though! x

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  4. This looks like a great way to travelling. We've not yet done it, but I think you've convinced me to seriously look into it :)

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  5. What a nice idea! If only we could convince people that they wanted to come to Russia... :)


    Also, I'm weirdly into your super orange theme going on.

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  6. I'd love to visit Russia! But we've been tied to visitor requests as of late... Some day!
    The flat we rent is fully furnished, so all that orange is courtesy of our landlord :) The couches are super comfy.

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  7. I'd love to visit Russia!! But we've been tied to visitor requests as of late... Some day!
    The flat we rent is fully furnished, so all that orange is courtesy of our landlord :) The couches are super comfy.

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  8. We use the website homeexchange.com, though I know there are others. Search for a coupon online and get a cheaper yearly fee ($80 vs. $120)!

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  9. It's totally worth it, in my book. Or maybe we've just lucked out with good experiences. You'd have loads of offers in London!

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  10. There's got to be a Pinterest pin somewhere with instructions... ;)

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  11. We've definitely found it to be easier when we're open to the destination. This time was a LOT harder because we were shooting for a specific place. It helps to be persistent and just send out loads of requests. Good luck, Anda!

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  12. Very cool - I always love to stay in more local neighbourhoods or even with locals themselves! I've never done home exchange but I would love to one day! And those pasta looked sooo delicious!

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  13. This is awesome! what a great and economical way to see the world :)

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  14. I'm so glad you had a good experience. We did our first one in Budapest recently too. It was fantastic and a great money saver. We definitely plan on doing it again.

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  15. This looks like such a charming town and a fun place to live like a local. I'd love to learn how to carve fruit like that. I've not made the jump to swapping homes as I wonder how desirable my location is since it takes 40 min to get anywhere interesting. It's just endless swaths of suburban homes and strip malls near me. My cousin is coming to visit next weekend. I offered her a room in my house but also mentioned that it is nowhere near the cool part of town. She's opted to stay in a hotel.

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  16. This is a cool way to explore a town. How exactly did you arrange it? Is there a website? Seems like fun!

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  17. I love this idea - and I probably need this extra push to deep scrub our place *wink. how do you find the best home exchanges?

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  18. This sounds wonderful! I hope you keep having positive experiences with it. Is that your place with the awesome orange furniture?? love it!! -Evanne

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  19. House exchanges definitely seem like the way to go! Definitely would be into trying it at some point in the future. And mmm that meal looks good. Cooking in another country is sometimes just as fun as going out. Have fun in Italia!

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  20. Cheers! Italia has been good great grand; pretty much in a wine and bucatini coma over here. Hard to leave!

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  21. Yep- we rented a furnished place - not sure I would've ever picked it out on my own, but it is really fun having it :) Yay to color!

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  22. It helps! :) We signed up through Homeexchange.com. I found a coupon online, but I think the yearly fee is $120. It's paid for itself many times over!

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  23. Hi! We used Homeexchange.com. I found a coupon online, but I think the yearly fee is $120. It's been more than worth it!

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  24. Oh, sad! You never know who you might attract, though. A "free" place to stay might be worth the strip malls to some. We are staying in a no-frills town right now but using it as a base to jump around the region. Good luck if you decide to do it!

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  25. Awesome! Glad you had a positive experience! Isn't Budapest fantastic? We had to tear ourselves away from the baths...

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  26. Totally! It definitely slices travel costs way down. It's been fun seeing 'hoods we'd have never thought/known to stay in, too.

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  27. Many thanks! It helps when you have a good cook in the family ;) Seriously, I'd give it a shot if you're considering it.

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