You can vacation abroad at a luxury resort or in the center of one of the European capitals for practically nothing! All you need is a foreign passport, a ticket to your destination and the ability to find a common language with people. A new fashion has swept the world - exchange holidays. You go to visit a foreign friend, and he and his family go to your apartment. So the most expensive thing - accommodation - becomes free.
Reporting by Anna Nelson.
The elevator is broken. Therefore, Paul Broughten, like all residents of an ordinary house on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, will walk up to the 5th floor. He will use someone else's key to open the door of someone else's apartment, but he will enter as if it were his own home. The 64-year-old retired economist left his native California to feel like a Russian for a couple of weeks.
Paul Broughten: “In this apartment I have a chance to try on the life of its Russian owners, to say hello to their neighbors in the morning. This is a completely different idea from the country. Because if you are on a tourist tour, you will remain tourists. Most likely, You won't meet anyone except your guide or the hotel receptionist, who will only be interested in how much money you are willing to spend."
Paul will not spend a dime to live in this apartment, in which he will immediately discover one striking feature for him - a washing machine in the kitchen, instead of the usual laundry room for Americans in the neighboring house. After a few days, he will already notice other features.
Paul Broughten: “It seemed to me that Russians were shocked when a man washed dishes. It’s just that in the USA it’s absolutely normal.”
Basically no restaurants. During the first few days, Paul bought groceries at random, using gestures and a single word: “Thank you!”
In the kitchen, he opened purchased jars with inscriptions in a Russian language unknown to him. After trying horseradish, mustard and adjika, I finally found my favorite jam in one of the jars. He usually has breakfast with it in his Californian mansion on the ocean. You can see what the house Paul built looks like on the website of one of the apartment exchange clubs. There is no data except on private housing in Antarctica.
English teachers came up with the idea of exchanging houses 50 years ago, but in Russia they recently learned that becoming a member of any of these clubs is quite simple: pay a fee - a maximum of $ 100 per year, find an exchange partner from anywhere in the world in the catalog, apply for a visa and buy a plane ticket. Saving a lot on accommodation.
Eduard Kuznetsov, representative of the American club in Russia: “For example, with this money you can buy souvenirs, you can extend your vacation if the house is in Nice, and there are also offers in Nice - with this money you can rent a yacht.”
Interest in Russia in such clubs is huge; even the Fiji islanders show it. But compatriots still perceive the “we come to you - you come to us” scheme as an adventure.
More than 100 thousand people are involved in this game all over the world. But there are still only a hundred Russians who have risked exchanging their square meters for foreign ones. It's probably a matter of our psychology. As children, we read fairy tales with a menacing question: “who sat on my chair and broke it.” And when we get older, we are already interested: - maybe you also need the key to the apartment where the money is?
But Muscovite Alla Cheboksarova nevertheless decided and with her two children went to Germany, where the mistress of the house, once a Russian, and now a German subject, was already waiting for her. She will go to Moscow a year later.
The same as on the Internet - without deception, there will be a three-story house, a bathroom with clean towels, bedrooms, a stove and a specific trash can, with separate bags for different types of garbage. To non-specific guests, only a German cat will appear.
One of the conditions of the exchange was a golf course so that children could learn noble games - here it is. Having lived on the exchange, Alla will formulate what hotels are, which would have been quite within her means, but now clearly are not to her liking.
Alla Cheboksarova: “Well, this is a reservation, a concentration camp, one might say, paid for with your own hands. Everything is thought out for you and you only do what has already been planned in advance.”
You can, for example, go randomly and stumble upon the cheapest jewelry store in the city.
And the American Paul, having temporarily become the master of someone else’s Moscow apartment, realized that he was also the master of his own time.
They will feel at home, while forgetting that they were a guest. The housing issue, if it spoils them, is only in one thing: upon returning to their homeland, they will report that they will never go anywhere again, nor by bus, nor in a crowd of tourists.
Presenter: “Western researchers have compiled a list of the most ridiculous reasons why embassy employees refused to obtain a visa. For example, one woman was banned from entering the UK because she was going to live with her fiancé in London for several months as a housewife. The embassy said that if she didn’t want to work, then she had nothing to do in England. And they refused to issue a visa to one man because he was going to settle too far from his friends, who invited him. Well, that’s supposedly. , suspicious. We will talk to the deputy head of the visa service about what you need to know so that the embassy employees cannot find fault with anything and not let you into the country. travel company Mikhail Danilin. If you have such a desire to hitchhike, what visas do you need to get for this, and whether you need to get visas.
Guest: "In any case, if you are going to go to a country with visa regime For Russians, visas, of course, must be obtained. Another thing is that you need to consider the issue on a country-by-country basis, whether you are traveling only to Schengen countries, or whether you are traveling to both Schengen and non-Schengen countries. A certain package is collected, given to the consulate, and there the consulate decides whether to issue you a visa or not. Travel companies do not undertake to issue such visas. Because it is necessary to know exactly where the person will live to submit documents. Practically all embassies and consulates require a hotel reservation or an accommodation voucher, an invitation, which specifies exactly what date and month the person will arrive and leave. Well, if a person himself goes to embassies and proves to the consulate that he will travel like this, and he does travel like this, there are some minimal chances, he probably has a chance to get this visa.”
Presenter: “And if people decide to exchange apartments, as we described in the previous article, then in such a situation what visas are needed?”
Guest: “In my opinion, it will definitely be necessary to apply for a visa by private invitation from a private person. And one hundred, 99 percent, the person himself will come directly to the consulate.”
Presenter: “Can problems arise if you receive a visa and your passport expires?”
Guest: “They are bound to arise. Another thing is that in each country, if you look around the world, the validity period of a passport before departure from abroad, from this country, is different. As a rule, it is from 6 months, which means countries South-East Asia, everyone's favorite Thailand, India. And up to 3 months of the Schengen countries of Europe."
Presenter: “Oh, is it possible, receiving new passport, keep the existing visa in your previous passport."
Guest: "As a rule, this is not allowed. If you are registering new passport, then you must submit all documents again for a visa, already in a new passport. The only exception that I know of is that American visas in an old passport when entering the United States are valid today. That is, you can travel with a new passport. Then show your canceled passport with your old visa and they will let you through."
Presenter: “And if the period of stay in one country or some rules of stay in this country are violated, a refusal is obtained in the future. Can another country also refuse a visa because of this refusal?”
Guest: “Again, you need to look in which country the violation occurred. I know that at the moment the general computer base of the Schengen agreement is developed quite seriously. And if a person violates the rules of stay in one of the countries of the Schengen agreement, then with the receipt of a visa to another Schengen country, he may have problems."
Creator of the My Holiday Exchange website; changed houses more than 20 times
For many years I have been thinking about what to do so that people do not suffer in hotels for a lot of money, when there is an opportunity not to pay at all and enjoy life in complete comfort. After my next house exchange (from Tallinn to Amsterdam), I sat down and wrote a short story in an hour, in which I tried to convince the reader that, in addition to the financial side of the issue, there is something special in such exchanges that cannot be experienced under other circumstances.
My story was noticed by Viktor Nyrok, author of the “Club” project unforgettable trips", and republished it on my website. After that, I received a lot of letters with questions about housing exchange and requests to write more about my experience unusual travels. So I decided to start my own service.
My family and I were trading our two houses. Eight years ago we had an apartment in Iceland, in standard a four-story house in the suburbs of Reykjavik (the center was about half an hour by bus). She was sweet and pleasant, but nothing interesting. Its main advantage was its location inidyllic locationon top of a hill and had a beautiful view from the balcony.And then we moved to Tallinn and lived there in a similar four-story house, only in the city center.
For the first time (out of more than twenty) we exchanged with London. It would be very expensive to rent an apartment or hotel in London, so I decided to find a house exchange for us on a house exchange website. I found two. The first week we lived in a small studio in residential complex the beginning of the 20th century in the Tudor style, with darkish facades and slanting wooden beams, almost in the very center of London. There lived a girl named Ruth, an illustrator of children's books. For the second week we stayed in a large Victorian house 20 minutes from London. The house belonged to a young married couple - Nadya and Chris. Nadya was a lawyer and ran her own business, and Chris worked in the archives of the British Museum. Everything in their house looked completely new, the interior was thoughtful and cozy. Huge windows looked out onto a beautiful garden, where it was very quiet and romantic.
Usually people are looking for a house exchange about six months before the trip itself, I startedsearches in just a month and a half and just by some miraclefound enthusiasts who had long dreamed ofIceland and were able to quickly settle matters at work and goprecisely on those days when our apartment was free.
The biggest benefit of flipping houses is the huge savings. I don't like to go to a new place for less than 10 days, and in the case of a hotel it comes out to a tidy sum. And living in a normal, fully equipped and comfortable house is much more pleasant than in a small one hotel room. Besides, it’s interesting to feel at least a little “ local resident" You can join the local life, go to some completely non-tourist shops and stores, or follow the recommendation of the family with whom you are exchanging. These exchange families love to share all of their favorite local addresses and locations.
Unusual situations, of course, do happen. Once, for example, we failed to cope with the alarm system when we lived in a villa in Rome, and the police came to us in the middle of the night. Another time, in London, the owners were in such a hurry that they forgot to lock the house and, when we found it, the door was wide open - we thought that thieves had broken in.
I don’t see any downsides to the exchange at all. True, before leaving your own apartment, you cannot throw everything away haphazardly; you need to give everything the most pleasant appearance possible.
You need to plan your home exchange trip in advance. If an exchange is planned somewhere not too far away, say within Europe, then on average it takes four to five months. For long-distance travel, it is better to choose accommodation eight to nine months in advance, or even better, a year in advance. It is not necessary to immediately buy plane tickets, but it is important to find people who will be interested in your offer and will also begin to prepare for this trip.
Many times I have encountered the fact that people, looking at the prices for flights and trips within the country, suggest postponing everything until next year. So the option is to find an exchange of houses from, say, Moscow to New Zealand in two or three months is almost impossible.
From Yalta (Crimea) to St. Petersburg
Once I saw a group on VKontakte - "Exchange Vacation". There were few offers there: apparently, people are afraid for now, they travel more by couchsurfing. But one day I exchanged my Yalta apartment for housing in St. Petersburg. When I advertised, three people from St. Petersburg responded to it. I chose the option closer to the metro. All the people who wrote to me were sane and decent. We corresponded with the owners of the apartment and spoke with them on Skype. They even managed to make friends, I brought them gifts from Crimea. We came with a friend and were given a room in a three-room apartment. There is no time limit, come at what time you want - we were given the keys right away. The man with whom we lived then was supposed to come to visit me in June 2015, but he hasn’t been able to do it yet. We sometimes correspond with him, I wait for him.
All people are different. When you receive guests at your place, I would advise you to either lock valuables in your room or take them away to relatives for a while. It would also be a good idea to copy down the residents’ passport details for yourself. But in fact, in the couple of weeks that you agree on an exchange, it usually becomes clear what kind of person is in front of you.
From Cheboksary to Yoshkar-Ola
Now I am exchanging my apartment in Cheboksary, but in general I want to build either a dacha on the banks of the Volga, or simply buy an apartment specifically for exchanging houses. I have a three-ruble car with a European-quality renovation. Everything is fresh, including the furniture. I am ready to exchange for an apartment, a house in Russia, Belarus - other countries are not yet interesting, since I have not seen my own yet. Housing should be clean and well-groomed, the furniture, even if cheap, should be new. I don’t accept cabinets from the 1970s with torn handles - it ruins the impression of your vacation. It is important to exchange photographs of the properties before purchasing tickets.
I came to the idea of exchanging houses out of greed - I don’t like to overpay. I take advantage of every opportunity to save. This year I wanted to relax with a friend in a hotel in Sochi. Round trip plane flight for four, two adults and two children, 64,000 rubles. This is three times more expensive than a hotel stay itself. So I went by car and spent 5,000 rubles on gasoline.
When you give away your home, it is important to confirm this with a receipt or an agreement on the free exchange of housing. In order to prove, if anything happens, that you were not in the apartment. It is important not to exchange for a long period of time: three weeks maximum (you can, for example, pay the bills for the other party’s apartment when you live there, but the other party will not pay the bills in your apartment at that time). Do not agree on anything other than an exchange: pay your bills yourself, leave the dogs (animals) to your relatives! Finding an exchange is difficult if you live in a city like me: there are few attractions here, only the Volga and new buildings. But I set another goal - to visit as many Russian cities as possible, no matter what they are. The Internet is full of exchange sites - register, write an ad and wait or look for it yourself.
There is only one downside to the exchange - nerves. You rest and wonder if your door, countertop, or floor have been scratched. But here, even from the tone of the ad, you can understand a lot. Don't be afraid to ask and set conditions. Document everything. If they refuse, look for those who will agree to your terms. Meeting in person is also a must. When I went to Yoshkar-Ola, I exchanged apartments with a calm couple with a child. The renovation in their apartment was simple, but most importantly, the furniture was new! And the house is about twenty years old, the entrance doesn’t stink.
From Mezmay ( Krasnodar region) in Tuapse
The exchange does not have to be equal: I can have a hut near the sea, and they will offer me a five-room apartment. I exchanged houses five times in total, always only for Black Sea coast. Two times it was a one-way exchange, that is, they arrived, but did not accept us, and the other three were successful.
The only thing that comes to my mind is insurance with a deposit. Or there is an option - to exchange at the same time, that is, you go to them, and at the same time they go to you. But it turns out that they live there without you, without their owners, and it is not clear how they will behave in your apartment. There is an option, so that there are no pitfalls, you can agree like this: they come, you take money from them for housing, and then, when you come to them, you give the same money to them. So withThe safest option is when first they come to me to relax, and then I come to them. If both parties are satisfied with this situation, then we agree on an exchange: without any prepayments or the like.And so everything is based on trust, of course.
Completely different people come. They usually have no complaints about housing, because it is an exchange. If a person paid money, there would be complaints: the toilet is on the street, the fence is high, or something else. So, people come, we communicate, tell how we live here, they tell us how they live there.
From the village of Ayvovoye (Crimea) to St. Petersburg and Istanbul
I have an eco-hotel in Crimea, in the courtyard of which my house is - that’s what I’m offering in exchange. We usually travel with my mother. I used to travel through Couchsurfing.com and Hospitality Club. I really wanted to teach English language and hosted guests from different countries to practice the language. People came to me from Portugal, from Finland, Italy, Poland - from everywhere! I met them, drove them around Crimea by car, communicated and thanks to this I learned to speak English fluently.
Then we went on our own - to St. Petersburg to exchange houses, and to Ceylon and Istanbul for couchsurfing. When I exchanged houses with people from St. Petersburg, a week before my departure, they said that they were flying away and could not receive me. But within a week I found another guy, to whom we went. He gave us his apartment and said that he was unlikely to come to us. I asked him: “Why are you receiving us?” And he says: “Well, I’m from Crimea, I’m in such a mood, I’m interested in politics! You are Crimeans, I’m ready to give you my apartment.”
When I went to Sri Lanka through Couchsurfing.com, I ended up with a wealthy man, he has his own restaurant, his own hotel and his own supermarket. Therefore, when I stayed with him, he just gave me a hotel room. He took us to his home and invited us. Everything there is made of ebony, there are elephant tusks everywhere, huge fighting dogs walk around the territory, guarding it. That is, he is not a poor person at all, but through couchsurfing he is interested in receiving guests.
When I was traveling to Istanbul, I received a lot of requests from people who wanted to host me. One policeman wrote to me: “Hi! Come, I’ll meet you in a police car and take you around Istanbul with flashing lights!” As a result, I stayed with a boy from Kyrgyzstan who lives in Istanbul and speaks Russian very well. Usually you call on Skype first, and the Turks immediately start making ambiguous hints and sending smiles, but I don’t need all this - I’m going on vacation with my mother.
In Istanbul, for example, renting a hotel costs $60 per day, multiply by two weeks - a good amount comes out. And here you are at a person’s house, he can tell you something, where best cafes, what is the best way to get to such and such a museum, where it is inexpensive.
The disadvantages of exchanging houses are like what happened to me in St. Petersburg: something can go wrong. I was surprised that the other guy, who eventually let us into his home in St. Petersburg, was not afraid to keep us at his place. He constantly travels abroad, he has all sorts of things displayed at home on glass shelves - this is not an apartment, this is a museum. I walked and was simply afraid of accidentally catching something somewhere and breaking it. And he is calm. In general, I read on all these sites that people are afraid. But what can I say? I am a believer, I always pray, I ask God to warn me. I would advise girls who travel alone to look for either a family or a girlfriend, otherwise men may misunderstand.
When my mother and I traveled to Ceylon, we stayed in three houses in different parts of the island. When we moved out from the first host, he said that he would not let us go until he met the person with whom we would live further - they say, it is unsafe, and he must make sure that everything will be fine with us. The second host said that this was not a problem at all, and came to pick us up, 150 km away. He turned out to be from a very wealthy family - his parents owned a jeans store in London. We became such good friends that his mother gave me her daughter’s wedding sari.
As you may have guessed, for Russian travelers the exchange of houses does not happen quite the same way as for the heroines of “Exchange Vacation”
Owner of real estate around the world
In general, we have a lot of real estate: several large and small apartments in Germany, one in Moscow and two in Sochi. We usually give up housing in Sochi for house exchange. The first apartment is very nice, in the very center, but small. And the second is large, on the first floor of a new building. Many times we allowed people to live there for free, but we ourselves have not yet decided to go on vacation in return - either because of work we don’t have time, or they offered inconvenient dates.
We would like most to go to Australia, for a couple of weeks, my husband has children living there, but there are no special wishes. We are ready to exchange our house - it is huge, there are 12 rooms in it - but it is scary to invite people from the street into it, it is too luxurious.
When exchanging houses, it is important that people are decent and that photographs of apartments are real and original. Last year, two mothers with their graduating children stayed with us in Sochi, and the previous tenants offered them to live in a garage instead of the promised apartment. As a result, they lived in one of our apartments.
If you are tired of traveling through travel agencies, you are unable to book hotels via the Internet, or you simply want to save on housing, then you can become a couchsurfer, i.e. travel on exchange. Couchsurfing - exchange holiday. First of all, this will allow you to see the country through the eyes of its inhabitants and gain invaluable experience. independent travel, and most importantly, you can make new friends all over the world.
Couchsurfers- people who travel the world, staying not in hotels, but with friends whom they previously met via the Internet.
It is absolutely not necessary to spend money on a hotel; you can simply stay in an apartment with friends, who, in turn, will someday also come to you and be able to stay in your apartment. U couchsurfers They have their own specialized websites where they meet, negotiate and discuss the conditions and places of their future shelters. At the same time, couchsurfers, as a rule, do not care in what conditions they have to spend the night. This may not be a sparsely furnished apartment, but it may also turn out to be an empty room with only a sofa and a refrigerator. Couchsurfing is so addictive that it has become a way of life. The location and living conditions in this case are not the main thing. The main thing in an exchange holiday is communication with like-minded people and travelers like yourself. Couchsurfing- this is tourism for the exchange of housing and vacation spots. Couchsurfing is an exchange vacation.
Of course, everyone decides for himself whether he can become a couchsurfer and host complete strangers in his apartment, sharing his bedroom (in the normal sense of the word) and kitchen with them, and accepting their habits and desires. Arranging exchange holidays
, you first “write off” with your future guests and try to learn as much as possible about them during the correspondence. Some people simply love to receive guests, and receiving foreigners is doubly enjoyable for them.
On the other hand, you yourself can go to the country you like in the same way, without worrying about your place of residence or booking a hotel in advance. Moreover, it is possible that the receiving party (host) will help you (the coach) navigate an unfamiliar country and a specific city. If desired, the host will show you the main attractions and accompany you to night club or to the museum and explain where it is better and cheaper to buy food. In this case, you also save on guides. When receiving guests from another country, you can take a walk together in your own hometown and probably learn a lot of interesting things about him. Only a couchsurfer can really understand the life of the country, how they live in it simple people what they are passionate about and, as a result, gain a unique and invaluable traveler experience.
Once you become a couchsurfer and start traveling on exchange, you will, of course, have to communicate with your guests. The unspoken language of communication among couchsurfers is English. However, no one is stopping you from learning the language of the host country, for example, Albanian or Greek.
If you decide to become a couchsurfer and are ready travel on exchange, learn a few simple truths. First of all, before agreeing to host for the night in your home strangers, try to find out what they are in advance. Ask them, for example, to send you their photo and tell you more about themselves, ask what languages they speak. Go to a specialized website, where perhaps someone has already communicated with these people and left reviews about them. Couchsurfing, an exchange holiday, is also practiced by people with a different orientation. Therefore, do not hesitate to clarify these points in advance. Otherwise, having received your consent to spend the night, your guests may be very upset, not receiving from you what they expected. In short, you must have some intuition to correctly assess the capabilities and desires of your guest. Among the large army of couchsurfers, there are also those who can easily sit on your neck. The most harmless thing in this case may be dinner at a restaurant at your expense.
If you are not satisfied with a candidate for accommodation, do not hesitate to refuse him. After all, you don't owe anyone anything. You should do the same if you are going to visit someone on an exchange holiday. Try to burden your homeowners as little as possible and people will be drawn to you, and rumors about your hospitality will spread throughout the world.
Couchsurfing does not necessarily require overnight accommodation. It is enough, having written or called in advance, to simply meet in some museum or just walk around the city, sit in a cafe and thereby strengthen your acquaintance. Remember that an exchange holiday is, first of all, about communicating with new people.
If you are interested in this type of tourism, you can leave your suggestions in the comments.
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What is this type of tourism?
As a tourism industry it appeared relatively recently.
The formation and origin of this movement took place in Europe, and today this type of recreation has become popular throughout the world.
If you are an avid traveler, but have never tried this type of vacation, we will reveal the meaning of such tourism.
When you come to a travel agency or register on a special website, you need choose an interesting option, which will suit the description, appearance and location.
Next, the task is to contact the owner of this property. On your own or with the help of a tour operator, you need to communicate with your opponent, ask questions and find out the nuances and ask questions of interest. In exchange for the rest period, your living space is offered.
If you value your premises more expensive than what is offered, you can offer an additional payment. It can also be installed by your opponent.
If your opponent is not interested in your proposal, he can offer free stay in his house or for providing any services, for example, cooking or cleaning.
In addition, if there are no thoughts of travel in your immediate plans for the future, you can still list your home on relevant resources as subject to exchange during the trip, and you may receive offers from interested parties. This way you can choose the appropriate option.
Advantages and disadvantages
What are the advantages and disadvantages of such tourism? Despite the fact that this direction is quite new, many already see it as significant advantages. They are as follows:
But, despite the huge number of positive aspects, there are also minuses. As a rule, they are as follows:
- Housing is provided to unknown people.
- This type of tourism is not yet recognized as official, but is developing as a subspecies.
Therefore, in a number of countries, in case of violations of rights, it is difficult to prove the harm caused to the tourist. For example, they kicked me out of the house.
Methods and forms
There are several ways to exchange housing for a vacation, which is acceptable in this type of legal relationship.
Conclusion of this bilateral agreements, that is, the two agreements provide for the following consequences. You rent out your home to a specific citizen, for which he undertakes pay some amount.
The opponent also draws up a corresponding normative act that is recognized as an agreement. Thus, it is possible to move into an apartment with equal rights.
In addition, in a travel company you can to make an agreement with your opponent.
This agreement is not provided for by the legislation of our country, but takes place in a number of foreign countries.
Moreover, it will the only evidence the fact that you were in legal relations with your opponent if the rights were violated.
In addition, the so-called third party also takes part in this agreement. It may be a travel agency or an agent, but it is she who must certify that this agreement has been concluded between the parties.
Where to look for options?
Today, finding housing of this format is not a problem at all. At the same time, this can be done either independently or with the help of a travel company.
Typically newbies and cautious people use verified addresses, provided to them by tour operators, and those who love adventure themselves storm the Internet resources in search of advertisements.
Services overview
We offer several popular and effective resources so that you can choose the best option:
There are also other resources for searching for housing options, including English-language ones.
Procedure
When exchanging apartments for travel, you must first contact your opponent and carefully discuss the issues of interest; attention should also be paid to dates.
After this, you must definitely offer preparation of contract. First, one side fills it out, having previously read the terms, then the other. If the parties are satisfied with everything, an electronic signature of each of the counterparties is placed.
Of course, drawing up an agreement is a big hassle; you can do without it. However, in this case, the tourist is not protected by the law of any state, especially if he travels outside our country.
After that, you can safely pack your bags.
However, it is better if the procedure for drawing up an agreement is carried out by Tour Operator. Of course, you will have to overpay for this, but on the other hand, you can completely escape from legal worries and think about relaxation.
Features and nuances
When exchanging apartments between cities for a vacation within Russia, you protected by the laws of our state. Therefore, make up or with your opponent in a two-way manner.
This agreement will allow you not only to spend time traveling, but also to be sure that you are reliably protected.
What are the features of such tourism with foreigners? Concluding an agreement with foreigners, seek the help of a tour operator.
Also, be sure to talk through some points of interest and nuances several times. The fact is that due to differences in language and perception of certain phrases, you may not understand each other the first time.
Possible risks
First of all, note for compliance of the description with the presented photographs. Be sure to ask about the area where the apartment is located and try to find it on the map.
It’s also great if your opponent’s proposal has real reviews on a particular resource.
In order to remain satisfied with your vacation, we give a couple of tips on how to: how to avoid being scammed:
- be sure to clarify all points and nuances, especially if there is a difference in language several times;
- make a video call from the apartment you want to live in;
- read reviews about accommodation;
- offer to legally formalize the fact of exchange;
- secure your home - remove all valuables, leaving only what is necessary.
Traveling is wonderful, and especially wonderful if it’s for next to nothing. We hope that when it comes to exchanging vacation rentals you will receive only positive experience and you will be glad to use this opportunity again and again!
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Accommodation exchange travel, i.e. Holidays with the exchange of houses or apartments are not a new phenomenon in Western countries.
This movement is over 50 years old, but it only began to gain global popularity in the Internet era.
Today there are dozens of popular websites offering temporary housing in the most different points planets.
If you are ready to provide your apartment to tourists from Japan or Argentina, then in return you will receive the keys to their house completely free of charge.
If you nevertheless decide to exchange housing with foreigners during your vacation, then agree on the length of stay, additional conditions (for example, watering flowers, cleaning the apartment before leaving) - and you can go to another country.
There are two main reasons why people around the world choose apartment exchanges for travel.
- The first is significant cost savings.
After low-cost airlines made the cost of air travel affordable to literally everyone, the most significant expense item became housing rental. “How wonderful it would be if you could travel around the world without spending money on hotel stays or renting an apartment,” people thought at some point.
REFERENCE: Indeed, if you cross out this expense item, then vacation becomes not a luxury, but simply an alternative pastime. You no longer need to save money all year to go to the sea for three weeks. Traveling is now easy to organize without breaking your piggy bank.
- The second reason for the popularity of vacation apartment exchange is the opportunity to immerse yourself in the ordinary life of the host country.
You can endlessly prepare for your trip: read guidebooks, study ratings the best entertainment in the city and communicate on forms with other tourists, but then the spirit of adventure disappears.
For those who are not interested in walking the beaten path, an exchange holiday will be the ideal solution.
pros
Exchange of apartments for the duration of the holidays also has additional bonuses, which include:
Minuses
But there are also some disadvantages to traveling with a home exchange. The main ones include:
ATTENTION: When done thoughtfully, a home-sharing vacation can be a way to travel around the world without spending a significant amount of money.
Where can I look for vacation home exchange options in different countries?
Before you start looking for a vacation apartment, it may be helpful to learn about the main ways to exchange apartments between cities for a vacation or in other countries.
The first is the conclusion of a lease agreement. You and the owner of another house sign agreements to rent out the property for a certain amount. In the event of a conflict, the contracts will become the basis for litigation in court.
The second option is to draw up a house exchange agreement. Agreements of this kind are not provided for by the legislation of our country, but can serve as evidence of the very fact of the exchange.
It is better to search for an apartment on trusted sites dedicated to this type of tourism:
IMPORTANT: On the World Wide Web you can find many similar sites for exchanging apartments for vacation. Registration for some of them is paid, while others require payment only for additional services. In any case, the amounts requested by the sites will be significantly lower than booking a hotel room.
Procedure for renting out an apartment for travel
So, you've decided to look for alternative accommodation for your holiday. In order to implement this plan, several steps must be completed:
- Register on one or more apartment exchange sites.
- Take photographs of your house or apartment and the surrounding area.
- Fill out the form in as much detail as possible, add a colorful description of the apartment and the city in which it is located.
- You can wait for responses or look through the available options and write to the owners yourself.
- When a suitable option is found, you should discuss the terms and conditions of use of the property with the owner of another apartment, sign rental agreements, and exchange keys.
Keys can be exchanged by mail, leaving the keys with neighbors or in person.
Features of housing exchange tourism
Foreign and domestic housing exchange tourism are significantly different.
IN Western countries– this is a common occurrence; travelers are already accustomed to entrusting their accommodation to enthusiasts like them.
On websites you can often find not only modest apartments, but also spacious private houses, the owners of which could easily afford a hotel room.
In Russia, this type of tourism is just beginning to develop. As a result, we still have a rather modest selection of houses for exchange, and unusual options are rare. This situation does not promise great prospects for tourists wishing to relax within the country.
On the other hand, Russian home owners receive a large number of offers from foreigners who dream of visiting a country that is still exotic for them. So if you decide to submit an offer on an international resource, you will get the opportunity to visit many countries.
REFERENCE: Contrary to popular belief, home exchange tourism is not only for owners of luxury apartments located in the center of the metropolis. Of course, the house must meet certain standards, but a lot depends on your ability to present it.
Describe life in your city, add high-quality photos, listen to the advice of community members. Perhaps you will receive an offer from the owner of an apartment in Venice who wants to experience the atmosphere of the Russian outback.
