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5 offbeat paths to foreign travel deals |
| By Erin Peterson
• Bankrate.com |
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You can enjoy a unique style of foreign travel inexpensively -- or at least get a hefty tax break -- if you're willing to volunteer your time, your home or your knowledge.
With the lowered value of the dollar, many would-be international travelers are looking for ways to stretch their budgets. Discount hotels and cheap restaurants are typical places to save, but you can save big bucks and enjoy a really different vacation experience through a cultural organization -- or even the federal government.
There are hundreds of organizations -- many accessible online -- that provide valuable travel services, but it's important to do your homework
before you sign up, says Kam Santos, director of communications at Cross-Cultural Solutions.
"There are a number of questions to consider when you're choosing (an organization)," says Santos. Make sure you know about the organization's credentials and how fees are allocated, for example. Try to get references to see how other participants feel about the program.
For programs that include staying in other people's homes -- either with or without hosts -- safety and trust is important.
"You want to find out if the accommodations are comfortable and secure," Santos says. "Who will you be living with?" Some organizations do in-person interviews to vet all prospective hosts and travelers; others require you to do your own due diligence, but provide tools that allow you to talk not just with the hosts directly, but with others who have stayed with particular hosts or in particular homes.
If you're content with high prices, tour buses and impersonal accommodations, these trips might not be for you. But if you're looking for something new and are willing to give a little, you're likely to get back a lot, she says.
Here are five ways you can experience unique travel in a foreign land while minimizing your costs.
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| 5 ways to travel abroad for less |
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| Home swaps |
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All the comforts of home at no cost to you. |
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Sample organization: Home Exchange. |
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Where: More than 100 countries worldwide. |
How it works:
After paying a fee, you can list your home along with thousands of others in more than 100 countries. The site helps facilitate one-to-one home exchanges with people anywhere in the world. While you're in someone else's home, they're in yours. Plenty of contact with your exchange hosts helps eliminate fears of having a stranger in your home.
Benefits:
With no hotel costs to drain your budget, you can stretch your vacation dollars much further. Need a late-night snack? You can just head to the kitchen, not to the (expensive) minibar or (more expensive) hotel restaurant. "(Home exchangers) will often introduce you to the neighbors, so you'll get to meet people in a way that you don't get to if you're in a hotel," says Home Exchange President Ed Kushins. "The neighbors will come over, or they'll invite you over for dinner. And they'll tell you the places to eat that aren't in every tour book."
Drawbacks:
If you don't have much flexibility on your travel dates, you might have trouble finding an exchange. Because successful Home Exchange users have homes in reasonably desirable locations, you may have a tough time swapping your home in Podunksville for a flat in Paris. And if you're a private person, you may not enjoy the idea of people in your home when you're not there.
Costs:
$100 for an annual membership; no other fees apply.
Other notes:
If you've got an ocean-side mansion or Tuscan villa and you'd like exchange with others who have homes as grand as your own, HomeExchangeGold caters to wealthier homeowners.
Also check:
Homelink: This British-based company offers about 12,000 homes in 72 countries. Annual memberships start at $110.
InterVac: This Swedish-based home exchange company has more than 50 countries represented in its database.
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