Turn the dream of a vacation
into reality - a guide for young families
Imagine yourself on vacation in
Costa Rica,
sipping coffee on the veranda with your spouse, while your children play in
the surf nearby. Sound realistically and
financially impossible and totally out of your reach? For many families with
young children, renting a hotel room or house right on a beach is an impossible
dream, not to mention overwhelming in terms of logistics.
Traveling with kids takes so much effort and planning. But with home exchange becoming more and more
popular, families can make it happen with minimum planning and even less
financial output.
Turning the dream of a
vacation into reality
The concept of a vacation home exchange is very
simple. Exchange your home for someone
else’s home. Enjoy vacation with free
lodging. Sounds easy when you are a
couple with no children to think about.
But what about when you do have young children? Young children are messy, young children get
upset about people “touching” their toys.”
Young children are loud! In
short, young children can be a liability.
All of these fears can be put to rest. When exchanging your home for someone else’s
home, families with young children are exchanging with other young families so
they are able to relate to each other and understand one another. Both homes have toys and both homes have
child proofed areas. If something gets
broken (which is unlikely) the family staying in the home pays for the
damage. A common practice is to put
breakable or valuable items out of reach.
Everything is discussed with the other family beforehand.
What are
the benefits of home exchange for young families?
•
First, the obvious - savings. Families can save literally thousands of dollars when not
paying for lodging, no matter what part of the world they holiday. And the savings doesn’t just stop with
lodging. When you have your own kitchen, you cook in your kitchen, resulting in
more savings. These savings leave more
money for things such as car rentals, tours and activities.
•
Save time on packing. Packing toys for children are the bane of
every parent’s existence. With home
exchange, there is a host of new toys for children to play with.
•
Children love it. Who’s house are they in? Where did the family go? There are endless imagination possibilities
and young children love that there are toys, games and various other things for
them to play with.
•
Feeling a part of the community. In a house, you are part of the neighborhood
and truly experience the vacation as a local. In short, you feel at home.
If you are a family and certain places in the
world seem out of reach, consider home exchange. The savings and opportunities can turn your
vacation dream into reality.
Originally
from Chicago, Melissa Downham is a portrait photographer with Z. Noelle
Photography and a travel
blogger at www.theroamingfamily.com. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her
husband and two children.