Homeowners opting for home swaps with unfamiliar individuals rather than relying on hotels or Airbnb services.
"I've always felt apprehensive about listing our apartment on a rental platform," she confides. "Friends of mine have had horror stories with guests, and the support from these booking platforms rarely seems sufficient. Plus, skiing trips, a notoriously expensive pastime, have seen accommodation costs skyrocket as a result of the short-term rental boom over the past decade.
"Ski lodges can be incredibly pricey, making them out of reach for many. So, instead of relying on these expensive rental options, we opted for home swapping to turn our travel dreams into a reality.
"We love traveling and this has granted us the opportunity to do so more frequently. After all, accommodation often accounts for a substantial portion of travel costs. Since home swapping entails trading homes, there's an added layer of accountability to treat the space with respect, as you would expect others to do in your own home.
A New Approach to Travel
Shaw is a member of Kindred, one of several home-swapping platforms that enable users to swop homes for less. Not only does this approach help cut costs, but it also contributes to reducing the concerns surrounding overtourism and gentrification pressuring local communities out of their homes.
"Over 90% of our homes are the primary residences of our members, and they serve as homes throughout most of the year," explains Justine Palefsky, co-founder of Kindred. "Members are essentially swapping nights, not dollars. As a result, there's no way to sell or buy swapping nights for cash on Kindred."
Kindred was established in 2022 and currently boasts 75,000 members across 150 cities in North America, Mexico, and Western Europe. Signing up is entirely free, with members only required to pay for cleaning fees upon staying in a different home.
Hosts don't earn revenue from hosting; they simply gain the opportunity to stay in someone else's property at a later date.
Users pay a fee between $15 and $35 per night to the company exclusively, plus any cleaning fees at the end of their stay. Calculations show this ranges between just 10% and 20% of the cost of a short-term rental.
Concerns surrounding the impact of short-term rentals on local communities are something Palefsky is acutely aware of.
"What was essential was to establish a system with a more positive impact on our communities," says Palefsky. "I grew up in San Francisco, a city with high living costs, where I often wondered if I'd be able to afford the same lifestyle my parents did. Cities around the world are grappling with similar concerns."
A Shared Future
Beyond financial benefits and concerns surrounding overtourism, home-swapping also offers a more philosophical perspective on travel. HomeExchange, for instance, aims to prove that 'everything can be shared.'
"Airbnb initially promised that everything, even the most valuable assets, could be rented," explains Emmanuel Arnaud, CEO of HomeExchange. "Our mission, however, is the opposite: everything can be shared. Sharing homes opens up a world of new travel possibilities, not necessarily driven by monetary gain."
HomeExchange has been operational for over 30 years, starting as a catalog business before transitioning online. Presently, it boasts over 200,000 members across 150 countries. In the past three years, the company has experienced a 50% annual growth rate, with more than 460,000 exchanges in 2024.
Users pay a flat $220 annual membership fee, granting them unlimited exchanges. Arnaud highlights that the lack of exchange of currency creates a closer relationship between users, establishing a distinct connection between the two parties.
So, while home swapping may require more work at the outset, particularly in connecting with potential exchangers via video call, the benefits are undeniable. Meeting like-minded people committed to sharing their homes and creating welcoming environments leaves a lasting impact.
"Encountering people genuinely wanting to share their space and make others feel welcome is refreshing," says comedian and storyteller Esmond Fountain, who discovered home swapping through a Kindred meetup and went on to take his first overseas trip with a new friend he met there.
Barbara, a Home Ex–change user who preferred to remain anonymous, echoes Fountain's sentiments, "My life has been enriched by home exchanges. I've forged friendships around the world, visited places I never thought possible, and gained a deeper appreciation for diverse cultures."
While these personal testimonials suggest that home exchanging holds promise for those seeking human connection, it also poses an intriguing potential solution for policymakers.
"If all short-term rental users switched to home exchanges, we could effectively solve the oversaturated tourism issue in cities like Barcelona and New York," says Arnaud.
In addressing the critical concerns surrounding overtourism, home swapping platforms hold the potential to revolutionize the way tourists and locals interact, ultimately promoting community-based travel experiences."
- By choosing Kindred for home swapping, Shaw avoids contributing to the overtourism and gentrification pressures in local communities, as over 90% of their homes are primary residences used throughout the year.
- Palefsky, the co-founder of Kindred, emphasizes that their approach to home swapping is motivated by a desire to establish a more positive impact on communities, recognizing the concerns surrounding the impact of short-term rentals on local living costs.
- Arnaud, the CEO of HomeExchange, shares their mission to prove that 'everything can be shared' through home swapping, offering a new perspective on travel that is not exclusively driven by monetary gain, but by the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and experience diverse cultures.
