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My experience: We have done two home swaps, one in Paris, the other in Dublin, Ireland. We are members of HomeLink. In both cases, we swapped with families with children, even though ours are grown, because our house, with a big yard, pool and spa, is so children attractive. Both experiences were perfect. We exchanged cars, local info, friends and family. The small apartment in Paris, on the Left Bank in St.-Germain, was exceptional, even though it's up three flights. The large home in Dublin was in a northern suburb, which was efficiently served by public transportation. We recommend this kind of exchange to everyone.

How much do you think you saved? $6,000 at least

--Carl Christenson, Fountain Valley

My experience: We have had three great experiences using Teacher Home Swap. The first time, we exchanged houses with a family from York, England, for three weeks. They had two children, so being close to Disneyland and other SoCal attractions made Orange a perfect location for them. They also loved and took good care of our Labrador retriever and left our house in perfect condition. As for us, we loved York, and used it as a base to visit Scotland as well as all around Yorkshire.

The second time we got a small cottage in the woods outside the Umbrian hill town of Narni, Italy, for three months. We just hunkered down and worked on the books we were writing four days a week; and explored the area on three-day weekends. The family that owned the cottage decided not to come to the U.S. at that time, so we had a house sitter instead. They have become good friends and we still stay in touch.

The most recent time, we had two weeks at a big French farmhouse in Provence. Again, the owner was unable to come and use our house, but because she lived elsewhere, we didn't see much of her, but she was available if we had questions or problems (none).

How much do you think you saved? Probably thousands, for all three.

--Barbara Tye, Orange

My experience: We have exchanged homes through Homeexchange.com many times, and it has always been wonderful. We have been to the Netherlands; Copenhagen; Scotland; Ottawa; Winter Park, Colo.; Seattle; the San Juan Islands of Washington state; as well as shorter weekend exchanges in Petaluma and San Francisco.

Unless we are within driving distance, we always exchange cars as well, which has saved us quite a bit. Having a home base also makes it feasible to plan mini-trips. In Ottawa, we took three days to visit Montreal and Quebec City; in the Netherlands, we took some time to explore Sweden and Norway. Having to pay for a hotel for only a few days, rather than the whole time, makes the trip far less expensive.

Now that we have a child, we like to look for exchanges with families that also have children. It's great to arrive and have books, toys, bicycles, snow gear, etc., to borrow. Not only have we saved on the accommodations, but we have also saved on "toys" such as bike rental, snowshoes, etc. It is also great to have a washer/dryer, TV, etc. We always come home with a new idea for our house after seeing how other families do things.

We have always returned to a sparkling clean house, and we love not having to eat out all the time. In Europe, it is fun to visit the local grocery stores for food, and to "try on" life in a different country.

How much do you think you saved? Thousands

--Stephanie Anderson, Ventura

My experience: House swapping is what we do. It has given us travel experiences that most of our friends have never considered. Since 1998, we have had 15 exchanges in Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, England and the U.S. During these home exchanges, we have been treated to many attractions that would not have been possible without the help of the local friends and relatives of our exchange hosts. We have had a private tour of the German parliament in Berlin, a tour of Buckingham Palace and Parliament in London. In Salamanca, Spain, we spent several days seeing local sights, including the university where Christopher Columbus studied, and then we were treated to a lovely meal prepared in the home of our host's parents. In Vienna, we were included in opening night of the opera house, an event held annually for local residents.

These events and more hold special memories for us, but the people are what becomes the highlight of each trip. We are pleased to have developed lasting friendships with many lovely people throughout Europe. This we owe to living in the neighborhoods, shopping in their communities and becoming a part of their cities, if only for a few weeks.

Our home has been well cared for. When we return after traveling, we have been treated to a clean and orderly home, usually with a lovely plant or gift and a nice note from our exchange family.

For affordable travel with many added perks we highly recommend home exchanging. We have used Intervac.com as our favorite exchange site. The Internet gives us an opportunity to become acquainted before the exchange.

How much do you think you saved? More than $2,000 per exchange.

--Virginia and Al Zeidman, Indian Wells

My experience: We are doing a house swap in July with a family from Marseille, France. This year is our 20th wedding anniversary, and as avowed Francophiles, we wanted to take our family (three school-aged kids) on a two- or three-week trip to France. A house swap seemed not only the most affordable, but also the most family-friendly way to do the trip. So in the spring, we became members of Homelink.

We met with a prospective family from Toulouse that was visiting Southern California. They came to our house for an afternoon visit. They had more than 20 house swap experiences and shared their insights with us. We might exchange with them in the future, but they want to go elsewhere in 2009 rather than returning to California. Our enthusiasm rose after we met them, and soon after we found our match. Marseille is well-situated for day trips throughout the south of France, and the house we chose has a pool for the kids.

We've signed exchange agreements with our swap family, procured our air tickets, and are starting work on a book about how our house "works" to help our visitors feel at home.

How much do you think you saved? Projected savings: $4,000 plus.

--Leslie Goldenberg, Woodland Hills

My experience: My husband and I were traveling in Ireland, staying in a bed-and-breakfast in Killarney. During breakfast, we noticed a family with three teenage daughters. To cut it short, before breakfast was over we had talked with this Swiss family, and after finding out where each of us lived (we on the beach in Southern Cal and they in the Bernese Alps), we discussed exchanging homes for a month the next summer.

We did this for 12 years, staying in different homes for a month all over Switzerland and making friends of all the previous exchangers. We are such good friends that now we just come and visit each other, share in children's weddings, births, etc. It was one of the most rewarding (and cost-effective) things we schoolteachers ever did. Oh, yes, we also exchanged cars (and a few years even a cat) and there were no major problems in all those years.

How much do you think you saved? 12 years of a month of hotel and car bill plus being able to cook in our own home.

--Maureen Redfield, San Clemente

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