How To Save on the Cost Of Travel

You can travel to some of the world's most exotic and beautiful locations, and stay in an Italian villa, a Parisian pied-a-terre, or an English manor and you'll only pay for airfare, dining out and tourist attractions!

How? By using a housing exchange service. Some of these companies have been around for 50 years, and are widely used in Europe, Asia and Australia.

It works like this. You pick what country you want to visit, when you want to go, and how long you want to stay. Arrangements are made, and you exchange homes with someone else.

This is a wonderful way to drastically cut costs, and yet see exciting, wonderful places. By staying in a home, you're not paying the high cost of hotels (which can run upwards of $125 a night) or dining in restaurants, saving you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars! Plus, you get the added benefit of living like the locals do. You enjoy total immersion into the culture, and rather than being treated like a tourist, you have the opportunity to make new friends and participate in your surroundings as a member of the community. With a "home base" you have the choice of how you want to explore the region.

So, how do you get started? Do an Internet search for "housing exchange." Find a company that you're comfortable with. Sign up and join the housing exchange list. (Some companies have over 10,000 members!) Decide where you want to travel, when and how long you want to stay. Then, with a click of your mouse, you can find information of other, like-minded travelers, who want to visit your area.

You can look at pictures and read short bios about the homes, to help you make your decision, and then contact the owners to reach an agreement.

Here are some of the things you'll want to agree on:
Total number of adults and children staying in the home
Use of the vehicle and it's maintenance
What linen will be provided in house, and how will it be cleaned?
Care of pets
Long distance phone calls

Don't worry though. Your housing exchange company can help you put together a list, and give you ideas for preparing for your guests.

Instead of going to a cold, impersonal hotel room, you go "home" and are welcomed by your next door neighbor, who gives you the house keys and invites you to dinner the next evening, telling you to call them if you have any questions.

Over the next week, you visit the places you've only dreamed about during the day, making new friends and building memories that will last a lifetime. And every night when you come "home" you get to relax and unwind, without stress or worrying about anything.

You can have the vacation you've always dreamed about, and with tips from Travel Secrets Guide on how to save on airfare, and all travel costs, you could save hundreds, even thousands, on your next trip or vacation. Click Here!!

Bon voyage!

Today's Featured Article:

Almost everyone would love to be able to see more of the world, and traveling is one of the most culturally broadening activities we can undergo. Most people, however, can't travel nearly as much as they like, due to the costs involved. To this day, regular travel remains something that is fairly excusive to the well-off. It needn't be this way, however: there are discount travel techniques that anyone can employ that can make traveling both more affordable and in many cases more enjoyable. One of the most fundamental concepts to discount travel is flexibility. The more rigid you are in what you want to do and when you
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