I had my own version of the American Dream.

I wanted to live a human adventure with thousands of people and share with them a true cultural and intergenerational experience. I came to the United States for one year, not just to live in America but to live with Americans, so after more than 15 home exchanges in San Francisco I decided to go deeper into my American experience and planned an 80 days trip around the USA by just doing home exchange. After one year, I lived with more than 50 American families and shared good times and cultural experiences with thousands of people.

I did home exchange for cultural reasons. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with American families and to be as close as possible to the American culture. I was mainly interested in non-simultaneous exchanges to share experiences with each one of the over 37 American families, couples or single adults, that I exchanged with. I wanted those who welcomed me into their home to be interested in teaching me about their culture, their state and also enjoy some activities with me.

These were not just the traditional home exchanges. The spirit behind these home exchanges was not just a simple housing swap. I was more interested in being connected with each family and learning about their personal lives in a first-hand manner than just having a comfortable bed to sleep in. I wanted everybody to get involved in my intercultural DSL (Discover-Share-Learn) program by helping me to discover culture and life-styles, sharing interpersonal and intergenerational experiences and teaching me what they have learned in life. I am interested in the wisdom that the life teaches each person and I know that everyone has something unique to offer.

Here was the deal that I offer to the interested people: for staying 1, 2 or 3 nights in my home I usually would offer them between 6 and 10 nights in my residence in Paris and/or Nice. If I was staying 4, 5, 6 or 7 nights in their home, I would offer them up to 15 nights in Paris or/and Nice. In exchange I expected them, to welcome me and, although it was not mandatory, to share as much time as they could with me, helping me to discover their town and life style, sharing typical meals from their region with me, and so on…

If you want to learn more about home exchange and plan home exchanges of your own, I suggest you to visit the site that I used to arrange most of my trip: HomeExchange.com: they also have sites in many different languages.

• ENGLISH www.homeexchange.com
• FRENCH www.trocmaison.com
• ITALIAN www.scambiocasa.com
• SPANISH www.intercambiocasas.com
• PORTUGUESE www.trocacasa.com
• DUTCH www.huizenruil.com
• GERMAN http://haustauschferien.com/