Finding accommodation as a worldschooling family can be tough and expensive but house swaps or sit make it cheaper and more enjoyable. There’s so many more reasons to why worldschoolers should do house swaps and house sits.
Why should worldschoolers do house swaps though? Well house swaps are a great way to connect with other homeschoolers or worldschoolers, you get to stay in an actual home, and it is free! There are even websites especially for worldschoolers only who want to rent, house sit or swap houses.
If you want to find out more about worldschooling house swaps and house sits, and what programs to do them through keep reading.
Why do a House Swap or Sit
Let me first explain what these 2 things are. A house swap is when you switch houses with someone else, so they would stay in your home and you would stay in their home, and it is free. A house sit is when you live in someones house, normally when they are away, and take care of their pets, plants or anything else that need taking care of. It’s pretty convenient especially for traveling families.
There are many reasons to why house swaps and sits are so popular. They are even growing in popularity for the worldschooling community. When you do a house swap you get to connect with other families who are staying in your home, and when you do a house sit it’s a great way to see how your kids do with animals, and it’s normally free. They both keep accommodation costs very low. Whether you like slow or fast travel doing house swaps or sits are perfect. There is even a website called worldschooler exchange just for worldschoolers where you can find house swaps, sits, rentals and even pet sitters.
One of the main reasons families choose to do a house swap or sit is because it saves money. It’s obviously free because it’s not like you’re going to pay them for staying at their house and they’ll pay you for staying at your house. But this does mean you will need to have a home still and if you’re a full time worldschooling family that might be hard and expensive to own. For house sits on the other hand, you don’t need anything except maybe some experience of taking care of pets or plants. House sits are normally completely free.
Doing either option you end up with more space all around which is a big benefit. It isn’t called HOUSE swap for nothing. You might have a couple different rooms, and private space for every family member which is nice, because sometimes travel doesn’t give you that option. It’s much more spacious than having a typical 2 bed hotel room. Plus you might have a backyard or outdoor space for kids to play. And you might have multiple bathrooms, and a full sized kitchen. You could also even end up with a car
There is whole worldschooling house swap community out there, and what better way to get to know people then staying in their homes…even if they’re not there. Maybe after spending a couple months doing a house swap with another family you’ll want to meet them. Or maybe you’ll meet before to find out who will be staying in your house. There will probably be plenty of messaging between families to see how everything is going.
Lots of kids love pets and lots of pets love kids. If you’re on the worldschooling exchange website, probably most of the pets out there who need a sitter will love kids. Pet sitting is especially good you have a pet at home and the kids miss them. And it would probably be a lot of fun, and a good way to learn about taking care of an animal if you’ve never had a pet. And if you find a house that just has plants to take care of, you can turn that into a learning experience, maybe you could teach the kids about the plants.
Great House Swap/Sit Companies
There are so many house swap and house sit companies out there. Some might cost a yearly fee that can range from $20 to over $100, but it’s definitely worth it.
Trusted house sitters is one of the most popular house sitting companies. It is about $119 per year and there are over 2,500 active sits happening. House Carers is another site established in 2000 and it is about $50 per year. Home exchange is a cool company that has been around since 1992. It is a house swap website where you can post your home or find other homes that you want to stay at. Bedy Casa is a homestay company, with house swaps and rentals. All these home stays are international.
Other Ways to get Free or Cheap Accommodation with kids while Traveling
Maybe house swaps just are not for you, but you want to explore other cheap options. House swaps and house sits aren’t the only way to get free accommodation.
Couch Surfing is another interesting and cultural experience. It is an online network where you can stay in other people’s spare bedrooms for free and yes, kids can do it. It is a great way to meet new people and normally hosts are very friendly and looking to meet new people too.
There is always camping. Normally you camping costs a little bit for a space for your tent, but sometimes you can camp where ever. Camping is not necessarily the most comfortable type of accommodation, but it can be a lot fun and a great experience for kids.
Volunteering does cost a little bit, but for the price, you get accommodation some food and a really neat experience for your kids. Volunteer opportunities can range from helping build a school to teach english in a school. Volunteering is a bit easier with older kids though, when they can actually help out too.
Stay in a hostel. Hostels are generally quite cheap depending on where you are. Hostels are so much fun because you get to meet so many new people. There are lots of myths about hostels that have scared people away from them. But if you don’t like the idea of sharing one giant room with a few more people than you’re used to people some hostels have private rooms with a few beds that you can share with your family.