According to the article “The art of swapping till you drop” swapping is gripping the nation! It’s a currency that on the whole does not involve any expenditure which is why it appeals so much as we are after all fighting our way through the suffocating evils of the credit crunch!
While many people are swapping old ornaments and books, there are those taking the idea of swapping a few steps further by swapping their homes. Instead of paying out for holiday accommodation people are swapping their homes for no cost. Having established that we Brits as a nation are not going to be holiday-less this year, home swapping is the perfect solution to cutting back on holiday expenses.
Home swappers otherwise known as ‘hoppers’ are creating available holiday accommodation in this country for British people. With the pound being so low European holidaymakers are keen to take advantage and are booking holiday accommodation to its limits so it is much harder to find! Hoppers are creating a pool of holiday accommodation just for us. As well as this, there is the additional benefit of knowing your house is not unoccupied while you are away.
If you are pondering the idea of a holiday, why not consider becoming a Hopper. You may still have to pay out for travel and insurance but on the whole the benefits outweigh everything else.
Although the term ‘Hoppers’ is a new one on me (and I’ve been running Home Base Holidays, http://www.homebase-hols.com a home exchange service in London since 1985!), it is quite a good description. It does rather imply though that home exchangers are hopping from place to place when, for most, the real joy of home exchange is to be able to spend some time in one place, getting to know the local neighbourhood.
People have been swapping homes at least since the 1950s so it isn’t a new concept but there is a growing trend to use home exchange as a way of exploring one’s own country and not solely for long distance holidays. This is more than likely due to the economic downturn and, especially for UK exchangers, the need to save money by holiaying within the UK when the value of the pound has dropped so much.