How HomeExchange saved us $60,000 - and made us travel more

At HomeExchange, we love giving a voice to those who can best describe it: our members. This testimonial was written by Jay and Stephanie, a family of 7 who, thanks to HomeExchange, have saved more than $60,000 USD by exchanging homes in Norway and France.

We believe travel offers important, life-changing experiences, especially in the growing years for children. But unfortunately it costs so much that it's unaffordable for many families with 5 kids, like we have. Luckily HomeExchange has made one of the most expensive parts of traveling both more affordable, and also more authentic.

Return to Norway: 7 Weeks Along the Coast

I work from home, so our family has a lot of flexibility during the summers when the kids are out of school. I lived in Norway for 2 years when I was 19-21 and I hadn't been back for 20 years. When we were discussing travel options, one of our kids suggested Norway, and the idea stuck.

We contacted families in Norway through HomeExchange, and through a lot of coordination we finalize 7 weeks worth of exchanges, along the Norwegian coast. We took the Norwegian Mail Boat, the Hurtigruten, and rather than paying for excursions and meals on the boat, we sailed from port to port, and got out at most of the larger towns a stayed for a week or so at each: Tromsø, Lofoten, Trondheim, Kristiansund, Molde, Ålesund, Bergen and Stavanger.
We even had one Norwegian family stay in our home over the 4th of July, and they joined our neighborhood fireworks.

We looked at comparable homes on AirBNB and estimate we would have spent $20,000 USD on the stays alone in Norway over the 7 weeks - but in reality, we just wouldn't have been able to travel like we did.

Paris Olympics 2024: Living 1km from the Eiffel Tower

Then, if Norway for 7 weeks wasn't enough, we noticed that the olympics were happening in Paris and our son was competing in Triathlons and was working toward setting a world record, so we wanted to try. Normally we wouldn't be able to get a place to stay at something like the olympics, but I remembered that HomeExchange is a french company and there's SO many people from France on the app. We reached out to a lot of people and ended up finalizing with a family that live 1 km from the Eiffel Tower and 1 km from Alexander the 3rd Bridge, where the Triathlon was taking place. The two weeks we stayed in Paris during the Olympics we estimate would have cost $40,000 USD because homes were listed for so much on AirBNB.

We never would have dreamed of attending the Olympics if it weren't for HomeExchange. Being part of the HomeExchange community really has changed our lives in huge ways, because we never would have travelled as much as we do now, had we not found HomeExchange.
We love the platform and have brought many of our friends to HomeExchange. We realize it's not for everyone, but it definitely is for anyone who wants to experience the world in the most authentic way, without breaking the bank.