College offers an amazing opportunity to live, learn and explore in another country. It’s a unique time in your life where you can board a plane with a few bags, live in a foreign country with a group, meet new friends and come back home when it’s all over.
Taking advantage of this opportunity while it’s presented to you is definitely a risk worth taking! But, the cost of a study abroad trip can be expensive. Between tuition, the cost of living in another country, plane tickets and travel within the country, you can wind up with a pretty steep bill once it’s all said and done.
Staying with a host family through a housing swap can save you a lot of money, and provide a more educational experience.
How It Works
A housing swap pairs you with someone else in the country you’re planning to visit. Much like the idea of couch surfing, house swapping works off the principle that you use someone else’s resources and learn about the culture, while offering the same generosity in return. While you stay at someone else’s home when you’re studying in Italy, they’ll be staying at your home in the U.S. It’s a reciprocated opportunity to save money, live in new culture, be immersed in a new language and connect with a foreign land!
Where to Start
House swapping is run much like couch surfing, and uses sites like Exchange Away to pair people who have an interest in traveling to each other’s countries during the same period of time. You can use house swapping for your whole stay, or even as you travel between different cities or countries while you’re abroad. There are many reputable sites from which to choose, but be sure to stick only to accredited sources. Do your research on a site before organizing a swap and don’t commit to anything that feels wrong or seems suspicious.
What to Do
Start the process of finding a match early in the process and review many possible matches before choosing the one you think will be best for you. Before you leave, take time to write down a few notes for them about your hometown. You have the insider’s view that they’re traveling thousands of miles to learn about, so compile a list of Chicago attractions, California beaches or New York shops they have to try, depending on your location, of course. You may even talk to them about leaving each other a list of resources, so that when you arrive they will have left a list for you as well. Treat their abode with respect, just as you’d expect them to treat your space in the same way. Be sure to leave any special instructions for things around the house and be clear about whether anything is off limits.
With the money you’ll save on food and lodging, you’ll be able to make the most of your study abroad trip. Leave a thank you note and possibly even a gift for your house swap partner. You might need them again one day!
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