One of the phrases HomeExchangers hear most often when talking to friends and family about home exchanging is undoubtedly "but aren’t you afraid that that they’ll break things in your home/ invite other strangers to your home/go through your things?”
Indeed, in a world where everything is monetised, and where current events tend to teach us to be wary of “strangers”, home exchanging can seem like a risky way of traveling. And yet…
Unfamiliar people who are never quite so.
What’s important to understand is that these “strangers” aren’t really strangers when it comes to home exchange. In fact, before welcoming these people, or before going to stay with them, you’d have already gotten to know each other a bit via the platform. You may even have spoken to each other by phone or video - just to get to know each other, or to agree on the details of the exchange.
You decide who you invite to your home.
We can’t stress this enough, on HomeExchange you don’t have to accept every exchange proposal that comes your way. For an exchange to be successful, you need to feel like you can trust the person. That’s why it’s important, when you contact a member to propose an exchange, to personalise your message and introduce yourself in a few words. Don’t forget that you’re asking someone who doesn’t (yet) know anything about you to lend you their house or apartment - and for free! This process has nothing to do with short-term tourist rentals. The human element is at the heart of home exchanges.
They are also people who welcome “strangers” into their homes.
The other reason why we shouldn’t be afraid of “strangers” coming to stay with us is that the people who ask you to come and stay with them are in exactly the same situation as you: they themselves host other members. So it’s only natural that HomeExchangers will tend to take the utmost care of your home and behave in a respectful manner (not only of your possessions, but also of your privacy). After all, you wouldn’t do in someone else’s home what you wouldn’t want done in your own, would you?
HomeExchange is a real virtuous circle
This is how HomeExchange has been operating for over thirty years: you open your home to people you’ve chosen and with whom you feel confident, so that you yourself can stay with other members in the same spirit.
This is how “newbies” who are just starting out, even if they are sometimes awkward at first, and used to using rental platforms, quickly learn about home exchange through their exchanges with more experienced members.
On their first exchange, they may not think to leave a small thank-you gift on the table, but when they get home, they’ll discover the one left by their guests. And so, during their next exchange, they themselves will think of this small, heart-warming gesture.
And so, for over thirty years, HomeExchangers have been passing on the torch of the pleasure of welcoming into their homes people who are never quite strangers, and who sometimes even become friends.