Home Swapping and Online Dating

Have you heard of Home Swapping? Have you ever swapped homes with a stranger? Are you online looking for love?

Being an old hand on dating sites, my experience with a home swapping site took me right back.
As new hopefuls on a home exchange website, my hubby and I enthusiastically put up photos of our house, plus a catchy description together with details about us. We felt like kids in the candy-store: all these great places and houses all around the world up for grabs at the click of a mouse.

We approached desirable potential partners, sometimes we got replies, and sometimes not: “sorry but…or you’re too late”. Then we thought we had found the right fit and we started to communicate by email with the prospective swappers. At the same time we asked a couple of questions about what they were offering on their part. After a bit of research, at last we were ready to commit: “Let’s do it” only to get blown off: We’ve found somebody else.

It reminds me of Internet dating. After crafting a compelling personal profile, you click though gazillions of pictures and prospects; you wait for responses or actively approach potential partners. You communicate, sometimes slowly; sometimes unexpectedly excited, making quick progress in getting to know the other side. Then boom—you’re blown off and don’t know what hits you. They disappear from the radar or have the courtesy of informing you that they have met somebody else while you were getting your hopes up. Happens all the time. It’s called double timing.

We lost out while trying to cover our backs and avoid being disappointed if things turned out to be different to what they were portrayed to be. We are still “virgins” on the home swapping front so to speak, but we learned our lesson: Apparently one has to jump “into bed” here even more quickly than on dating sites.

The above was posted last year when we embarked on this new adventure of “Home Swapping”. Our second season was about to start when we were approached two weeks ago by a couple in Germany in a tempting location we’d like to visit. When we didn’t hear from them for about ten days, it was clear to me that something was afoot. As a repeat “dater” we learn more quickly. It was a case of double timing indeed, and we’re back to the drawing-board.