How to organize your holidays with bartering

Barter holidays offer two key advantages that shouldn't be wasted. They're virtually free, but they're also a chance to transform a trip and stay into a unique experience, often far from the chaotic and oppressive flow of overtourism.

There are various options available, and almost anything can be done by browsing the internet and landing on the right platforms that offer the exchange best suited to your needs: homes, vacations in exchange for work and services, or even specific skills (for example, tutoring for children who have incurred school debts). Houses, B&Bs, agritourism, farms, and various accommodations: the options are truly endless.

The house exchange

Essentially, you offer your home and stay in someone else's home and theirs for your vacation. Swapping is convenient because the two periods you choose can be different and not the same, and the platforms usually calculate points you earn for the home you give away for free, which you can then spend on the one you've chosen for your vacation.

Among the most reliable platforms that offer this service are:

• HomeExchange: house exchange through credit and organized exchanges.
• Love Home Swap: international home exchange network.
• Couchsurfing: its main model is the exchange of hospitality between people, that is, staying for free in someone's home (a “host”) and, if you wish, hosting other travellers in the future.
• Night Swapping (which has merged into the HomeExchange model in many countries): a system of hospitality exchange based on “nights”, created to allow people to travel without paying for a traditional stay by making their own home or room available.
• Warm Showers: a network of free hospitality dedicated to cycle tourists, which connects people traveling by bicycle with people willing to host them or help them along the way. The name recalls one of the things most appreciated by those who cycle for several days: a hot shower after a stage.
• BeWelcome: a platform of exchange of hospitality (hospitality exchange): connects travelers and locals who want to host, meet, or share experiences. It's not a home exchange and doesn't work with credits or payments.

Some facilities offer food and lodging in exchange for a few hours of collaboration:

• help in agritourism
• work in the garden
• assistance in hostels
• animal or house care

The most suitable platforms for this type of bartering holiday are:

• Workaway: a platform based on voluntary help, which  connects travellers (workawayers) with people, families, associations or small projects looking for a hand in exchange for room and board.
• Worldpackers:  connects travellers (packers) with hosts (hostels, families, NGOs, communities, social or environmental projects) that offer food and lodging in exchange for a few hours of help.
• WWOOF: An international network that connects people who want to gain experience in sustainable agriculture with agricultural companies, farms, and rural projects.

In this case, the host is looking for someone who can do something useful, such as: manual labor (renovations, carpentry, gardening); cooking; Photography or video; social media management and communications; language teaching; IT; helping with children or animals.

These are the most reliable platforms: