So, I ran across an alternative to hostels and couchsurfing.org today. It’s called Christian Home Exchange. The premise is pretty straight forward: sign up on the site, find a home available in the place you want to go, and arrange the details with the home owner.

So, you get to go on a vacation, you have someone to watch your home while you are away, and instead of a hotel with whatever perks they are labeling amenities these days, you get an actual house to stay in. With a fridge and a stove and all the other stuff houses come with. So maybe you don’t have to get fully dressed to walk down to the vending area for ice and a cold coke. Nice, right? The only down-side is that you are probably going to have to make up your own bed and wash the linens when you are ready to depart. But you were going to do that at home anyway, and hello, you aren’t paying for maid service.

Now, I would like to tell you how simple that was, but I can’t. This is a membership site. It’s not expensive. In fact, it’s as low as 89.95 for a year. And if vacations and home exchanges are in your plans, that comes out to less than one night’s hotel bill. But I am a student, and on a student budget so I didn’t join. I’m kinda on the couchsurfer plan here. It also comes without maid service, and I get…wait for it…a couch.