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Home exchange vacations to Canada on the rise.

You get to step into someone else’s life for a week or two, save big money, maybe meet the locals. What’s not to like?

by Julie Ovenell-Carter 7 November 2008

There’s no place like home—especially when you’re on holiday. Just ask Marianne and Claude Valès and their kids Emmanuelle and Pierre, who traded their chic, downtown Paris apartment for a charming cottage-style home on Bowen Island, BC for three weeks this past July. (That’d be our house, actually.)

They’re among the growing number of international visitors to Canada who have discovered the joys of home exchange—the pennywise way to indulge a hungry travel bug. With the money they saved on accommodation, the Valès family was able to go whale-watching on Vancouver Island, BC, as well as check out the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games preparations at Whistler.

There are plenty of websites offering Canadian home exchanges—some for free, some for a fee—but we’ve heard great things about three in particular: HomeLink International, Intervac and SabbaticalHomes. It doesn’t cost a penny to check out the listings, and it makes for a fun evening to “window shop” online. Just key in your dream destination, your approximate travel dates and the number of beds you’re looking for; when you find something that appeals, you’ll register to begin a correspondence with the owner of that property. It takes a bit of time and a bit of trust—but the rewards go way beyond the bottom line. Seems when you’re king of someone else’s castle, you’re guaranteed a great view of Canadian culture.

www.hellobc.com

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We welcome you to use these story ideas as inspiration for your own stories about Canada. The CTC owns all rights worldwide. (Our images are also royalty-free and available for editorial print, broadcast and electronic use.) If you choose to reproduce these texts for editorial use only, please include the author's byline and "courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission." If you cut, edit or modify the text in any way, please include this note: "The text has been modified from the original." Thank you.

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claudiabarbara wrote:
12 January 2010 | @ 9:13am

I am new to home exchange. I have just registered on www.visitswap.com. Is someone else registered there as well?

Photo credit : Victoria Island, Northwest Territories © NWTT/Terry Parker - Background Image