I almost had to pinch myself to believe it was true. We were sleeping in an apartment on the Italian Riviera, one of the world's most expensive playgrounds. And we were doing it for free.
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Let's face it. Times are tough. Lavish vacations are over, even for people who used to be able to afford them. But that doesn't mean you have to sit home this year.

You can travel all over the world on a budget, swapping your house with someone who wants to come here. Eat like a local, cook your meals in your new "home," and forget expensive restaurant dining.

Sometimes, you can even trade cars, boats or RVs.

That's how I, an underpaid single mom, ended up sitting at a cafe along the Italian Riviera, gazing at the blue Mediterranean Sea while the kids played on the beach in front of me.

Home exchange clubs existed before the Internet boom. In the early days, you paid a small fee, listed your house and found people with whom to swap via a big fat listing book that arrived in the mail.

Now, of course, the Internet has made it all so much easier.

When I first discovered the world of home exchanging, I thought it would be a great way to see the world for free. Especially with kids, swapping houses is a great way to travel. You can stay in homes where other kids live, and your offspring will love playing with their toys, sleeping in their beds.

Also, after I actually started home exchanging, I realized that the financial aspect of it was only one of its appeals.

We also met so many wonderful people and got involved in their lives in a way that never would have been possible otherwise.

Instead of arriving at a hotel in a foreign country and being assisted by employees, you arrive at someone's real home and meet their friends and neighbors.

Instead of staying on a street full of hotels and tourists, you are staying in a real neighborhood. Frequently, there's a yard for kids to run around in.

You get a much more intimate taste of life in that country, not to mention the fact that, gee, you're also saving a ton of money.
So, how does it work?

There are dozens of home exchange clubs on the Internet. You can browse the listings, usually for free, read their rules and get an idea of whether it's something that appeals to you.

There are usually three different types of homes listed: a simultaneous exchange, where you agree to trade homes at the exact same time; a nonsimultaneous exchange, where you can use their place anytime, for example if it's a vacation home, or a hospitality exchange, where you are still in the home, but welcome them to visit you and provide a place to stay.

All different types and levels of homes will be listed, from tiny apartments to mansions on private estates.

People will have photos of their properties, and also list the places they are interested in visiting.

In general, people will swap like for like, so you can't expect to get a huge mansion in the south of France if you're offering a little shotgun shack in the burbs.

The further in advance you can plan your vacation, the more choices you'll have. And if you can be flexible at the last minute, you can sometimes pick up some good exchanges from people whose plans fell through.

A lot of people ask me, "Aren't you afraid of strangers coming in and cleaning you out while you're gone?" I suppose that could happen, but realistically, these people are giving you their homes as well. So they're not too likely to be criminals.

Also, usually you'll be providing neighbors or friends who can drop by and help your houseguests out with any problems they experience, or just to say hi and welcome them.
Mostly positive experiences

Home exchanging is popular with teachers, who have long summer holidays, and also with people who live in far-flung places like Australia or South Africa. When they travel, they take long trips and are looking to economize.

I only had one negative experience with home exchanging, with a French family from Montreaux, Switzerland. This was when I hoped to someday go to the famous jazz festival there.

The family arrived and I temporarily moved out of my house, crashing with a friend with the idea that later they would pay me back with lodging in their gorgeous stone apartment in the Alps.

They left me $50 for some phone calls they made to Europe, but the real phone bill ended up being $125 and they never paid the difference.

That was the one sour note in my home exchanging history, and I never ended up going to Switzerland, because right afterward I adopted my two kids, Michael and Sandy.

On the plus side, we met a really fun family from Copenhagen, Denmark, who called me up at the last minute and said their home exchange had fallen through and was mine available?

Well, I wasn't leaving my house, but I had an empty back house available for them if they were desperate enough. Yes, they said they were. So shortly afterward, six people from Denmark showed up on my doorstep and were promptly deposited in my back house, complete with air mattresses to sleep on.

One of the six visitors was a tall, stunningly gorgeous black man named Gigi, a high-fashion model who worked mostly in the European fashion capital of Milan.

Gigi also was the son of the late king of the African nation of Burundi. His mother had been Danish, so after his father was assassinated, he moved to Denmark. His partner Rikki liked to say he was still the crown prince of Burundi.

I liked to say that, too, and I enjoyed telling people that the crown prince of Burundi was sleeping on my floor.