Arguably the least expensive accommodations you can find on a vacation are "free," in someone else's home. Instead of laying out cash, your "payment" is in providing reciprocal benefits in your own home. Although home exchange sounds enticing, however, you have to carefully consider the plusses and minuses. And as with the proverbial, "lunch," home exchange isn't truly "free," because you face a few cash costs and a few more non-cash costs. But it's still about as inexpensive as you can find. ...more

December 23, 2007

SEBRING — While John Milone was on vacation in Denmark this summer, a family of four stayed in his Sebring home, sleeping in his bed and eating at his dining room table. The family went on an airboat ride through Arbuckle Creek, laid on the beaches of Miami and enjoyed Disney theme parks, while John and Lyudmila Milone explored Copenhagen and stayed at the family's home there. The Milones coordinated the swap through Home Exchange, a Web site that facilitates 100,000 successful home exchanges worldwide and features about 15,000 listings in more than 100 countries. The concept gained popularity after the 2006 romantic comedy staring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, who trade a Los Angeles' mansion and cottage in England to escape men in their lives. John Milone knew about the program long before the movie, though, and has been doing home exchanges for nine years. ...more

October 13, 2007