Home Exchange

Read the following text and find more about how to go on holiday without spending too much money.

"Last year my family and I had a great experience during our summer holiday. Instead of going to a hotel my father decided to take part in a home exchange programme. Home exchange consists of two families agreeing to swap homes during the holidays. So, we exchanged homes with a couple from Florence, in Italy. The house was not very big but it was right in the middle of the city. It was awesome!
This programme was new to me but it was quite easy to figure out some of the advantages and the major one is free accommodation. Rental costs or hotel charges form the most expensive part of the overall budget of a normal holiday. Luckily, home exchange is completely free!
However, there are still some expenses involved, such as air fares which generally are quite expensive, especially if we are talking about holidays abroad. Another advantage of home exchange is that you have the option to cook and eat at 'home', which can also be a major saving, especially for families. But, of course, we went out for a meal a couple of times (so that we could try out Italian cuisine) which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest pleasures of travelling.
My father also told me that exchangers often save further money by including cars, looking after pets, the sharing of club memberships and sports or camping equipment as part of the exchange agreement. In our case we didn't need to rent a car as the couple let us use theirs. And we only had to water their plants and feed the canary.
Travelling this way was really easy and cheap. Once my father had booked our trip and had made all the necessary contacts to get a home where we could stay; all we needed to do was pack our cases and fly to Italy."
Wendy, 15, Wales
www.homeexchangetravel.com (adapted and abridged)