*Our first house swap experience in Denver, Colorado - we stayed in a historic neighbourhood near City Park in a 125-year-old renovated home.*

Ready to travel differently – without blowing your budget?

If you’re anything like me, I am done staying in hotel rooms. Especially with kids - cramped hotel rooms. Nope.

For family travel, the comforts of home, a full kitchen and spaaaaace to spread out = happy family (or happy mum, at least).

Enter house swapping. Think The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet but less Hollywood-y and more real life. And just as fun.

It’s honestly changed the way we travel. And we ain’t looking back now.

My husband and I took our two kids aged 6 and 4 to the USA over the Australian summer school holidays for 8 weeks.

Always dreamt of a white Christmas? Ohhhh gosh, me too. So, we took the plunge and made it happen. If it wasn’t for the house swap, the cost of accommodation would have made it near impossible.

It was cold, we got to rug up and experience all the feels of an American Christmas with family in Denver, Colorado.

Beautifully decorated houses, hot chocolate, fireplaces, the Parade of Lights, an incredible light display at the Denver Zoo ticked all the “let’s make memories” boxes.

Annnnnd Santa even got to shimmy down a real chimney.

Our Colorado house swappers stayed at our place in Australia - the pool, the beach and exploring the beautiful Northern Rivers. They were seeking warm, we craved cold - a perfect match!

Why choose house-swapping?

First of all – it’s affordable (or basically free). It’s great for families with kids as you can arrange swaps with other family-friendly homes (read: new toys, books and kid-approved spaces!)

Swapping cars is a huge plus, too. If you’re flying to your destination, you can potentially save thousands on car rentals. Swap with a family and car seats are included. Bonus.

The fun part about house swapping is living like a local. Exploring new neighbourhoods, local playgrounds and coffee shops.

Bye-bye to overpriced tourist-traps.

Snow covered street in Denver Colorado — *Our gorgeous snow-covered street after our one (and only) snowfall during our stay in Denver, Colorado.*

The benefits of house swapping

No more worrying about ‘overstaying your welcome’ with family or friends or paying for overpriced hotels. Here’s the upsides of swapping:

Having your own space to spread out. I loved being in a home that felt lived in, with real quirks, and every kitchen gadget under the sun.
There’s no need to put all your personal belongings or family pictures away. Love that! It’s what makes each home unique. (Gosh, if you had to remove all your personal items each time, you just wouldn’t do it).
Swapping is based on mutual respect – you’re in their house and they are in yours. You look after each other’s homes as if they are your own. It’s that simple and it’s beautiful.
Cooking meals at home. This makes it much more affordable (especially when exchange rates aren’t in your favour)
Swapping cars (lucky for us - theirs was the pick of the two)
Space for friends of family to join the fun. We had a guest bedroom which meant family could visit and stay with us too!
Your home is going to be empty anyway while you’re on holidays. Why not have someone be there to look after it? Watering plants, taking care of pets and keeping an eye on things. It’s a win-win.

Seeing how other people live is also just really interesting.

I will admit it did take me quite a while to convince my husband about house swapping but once we took the plunge, he loved it too.

Worried about having strangers in your house? It can take a little while to get used to but it helps to get to know your house swappers before your exchange. A few FaceTime calls and lots of messages back and forth helped ease the nerves.

Soon your home exchange partners won’t feel like strangers anymore, they will feel like friends.

Some cute, yet unexpected challenges along the way

Cat with Christmas lights — *Wilson, the most adorable and snuggly cat we looked after during our home exchange.*

Ok, not exactly a deal breaker (not even close) but there were a few little *challenges* we faced.

Our arrangement included looking after our house swappers’ cat for the first month. What could go wrong, right?

Now if you have kids who don’t have a pet, you may also be used to hearing, “When can we get a dog?” and “I reeeeealllly want a cat, Mum”.

Heard that before? Same.

Our estate doesn’t allow cats or dogs (it’s a wildlife protection area), so we’ve never had a pet.

Soooo, we thought it would be exciting for the kids to experience life with a cat to keep them entertained and get their fix.

The cat was sweet, and we all adored him but my four-year-old was also slightly afraid of his midnight visits. So, we had to keep bedroom doors closed at night.

Being an old house, it creaked and the doorknobs were loud.

The cat happily slept on the chair outside the kids’ bedroom door, but when either of the kids went to the bathroom in the night, it became excitement central.

“Awww, the cat!”

“Eek, Wilson’s coming into our room!”

“Can we play with him?”

The midnight romps mixed with jetlag and being in a new place meant we barely slept for a few weeks. All fun and games until everyone is cranky on holiday because they only got 26 winks.

Slight hiccup, however, we adored the kitty snuggles (and we miss him now), and the kids learned some responsibility being *pet owners*.

Exchanging in a city area can be more expensive too - something to keep in mind when choosing a location.

Being away for 8 weeks meant we had to be conscious of spending and choose entertainment wisely. It didn’t help that the exchange rate was woeful (around 0.61 USD for every $1 dollar AUD during our visit). *Sigh*.

Pet sitting the cat Wilson during our house swap. — *Our house swap included looking after a cat (which the kids loved) - including the midnight playdates.*

How does house swapping actually work?

Okay, here’s the main 3 types:

The most common type of house swap is the simultaneous swap (that’s what we did!). You swap homes at the same time.
A non-simultaneous swap allows you to stay at someone’s home, and they visit yours at a later date. A great option if you own a holiday home or have a self-contained living space.
Next is a hospitality exchange, you host someone in your home while you’re still there, and in return, they host you at their place on another occasion.

Swaps can be for a long weekend (although short stays can be tricky as it takes a while to get your house ready for a swap), a week, a month, or even six months.

Once you start, you never know what you might discover or the people you might meet. Life is all about experiences, right?

Our home exchange house in Frisco, Colorado — *Part two of our house swap arrangement we stayed in snowy and beautiful Frisco, Colorado - near the ski resorts of Breckenridge, Copper and Keystone.*

Top tips for a successful house swap

We are premium members on a swapping platform called People Like Us (I’m not getting paid here, I just really love it). It’s a warm, friendly and welcoming community of like-minded people from around the world.

Although there are many other house swap sites out there.

We wanted to be in a very specific location near my family in Denver, so in this instance, my cousin found our house swappers by putting our home listing on a local Facebook community page with a call out.

Luckily, we got a few responses but the people we ended up swapping with knew our area and couldn’t wait to get back to Australia. A win!

Here’s a few tips to consider:

Since our swap wasn’t through an “official” website in the end, we drew up an agreement with dates, inclusions, responsibilities.
If you’re swapping cars too, chat to your car insurer to make sure your swappers are covered.
Write up a house manual for your guests. It helped both of us navigate all the little nuances and quirks of each home.
Manage expectation up front with things like cleaning arrangements for a fuss-free and easy experience.

All in all, it was an incredible first experience and we will certainly do it again (and again).

And travelling with kids? Other than negotiating treats, breaking up fights, and asking them to put their shoes on fifty-bazillion times, it was totally worth it.

If your goal this year is to travel more, consider house swapping. It’s a sure-fire way to make your next adventure one to remember.

Snow trip to Colorado - snowboarding with kids — *Our second house swap in Frisco, Colorado put us within 15-minutes to Breckenridge and Keystone ski resorts for lots of snowboarding fun!*

Hi, I’m Abby! I’m a freelance writer, copywriter and content creator. I help brands, businesses and organisations find the words to share their story, connect with customers and make an impact.

I have a passion for writing about travel, sustainability, parenting and exploring the world with kids.

Need help with content? Get in touch via the contact form on my website or drop me a line at hello@abbywallace.com.au