By Eileen Ogintz

Every summer, the Arnolds pack up their three kids and set out to explore a different European country, often staying a month or more in luxurious digs. But the trip dents their budget less than a shorter trip closer to home.

"Besides the air fare, we spend peanuts," said Lisa Arnold, who was getting her brood ready to leave their Connecticut home for Italy. The Arnolds' secret? Free lodging.

Rather than pay for hotels, they swap houses with a like-minded European family interested in exploring the East Coast. Each family gets roomy quarters, a washer and drier, fridge, stove and toys -- all key to a traveling family's happiness.

The families trade cars (saving hundreds more), pets, house cleaners, baby sitters and even kids' playmates. "I've taken care of dogs, cats, turtles and goldfish," said Jan Hartmann, a Massachusetts teacher readying her house for a French family. She never worries aboutng her home to strangers.

"With e-mail, you feel like you know them before they come," she said, adding, "I always find my house cleaner than when I left it."

"This does take a real leap of faith," conceded Arnold, an artist. "But you get a whole different foreign experience."

That includes trips to the local market, the chance to sample unfamiliar toys, foreign cartoons and a community where you might be the only tourists for miles. "In one village where we stayed, everyone wore old-fashioned wooden clogs," said Arnold. "We went to little festivals -- obscure places we never would have found otherwise."

Home swapping has been around for decades, with some families forming lifelong friendships as a result, even attending each other's children's weddings. But the advent of the Web has streamlined the process and made it far easier -- and quicker -- to arrange a swap.

"With the click of a mouse you can contact 50 prospects at once," noted Lori Horne, veteran home exchanger from San Francisco and co-owner of Intervac USA, one of the country's leading home-exchange agencies, with 11,000 members around the world. (Call 800-756-HOME or www.intervacus.com.) Horne estimated that a family with two kids will save at least $1,500 a week in hotel and car rental costs.

But money isn't the only reason so many families are opting to swap houses. Many who handily can afford a hotel are seeking a different kind of experience, off the tourist track, explained Karl Costable of the Florida-based Homelink International, the world's largest home exchange organization, with 12,000 members. (Call or www.us.homelink.org.) "After a while, even nice hotels start to look the same," he added.

This is how it works. You join Homelink, Intervac or one of the many smaller agencies, such as San Fransisco-based Invented City or www.invented-city.com), for a modest fee (typically under $100 a year) to be included in its catalog and Web site. At the same time, you can search the organization's books and Web database for homes in the area you'd like to take the kids -- Hawaii? London? Australia? Orlando?

House swaps are popular at holiday and spring-break times as well as in the summer. They can last a couple of weeks or several months. They don't require crossing an ocean or even the country. Trade your mountain condo to a skiing family from Florida or Southern California; swap your city apartment for several weekends in the country. Grandparents initiate swaps so they can enjoy a long visit with the grandkids -- without living with them.

Many families use "their" house as a base for exploring another country or region, taking day or weekend trips rather than traveling for two weeks straight, loaded down with gear. The more flexible you can be about dates and location, the easier the task. Those living on the East Coast, in Florida and California seem to have especially good luck.

"We just sit back and wait for people to contact us," said Lee Lavine, a teacher and mother of four from Miami who has traded houses in England and the French Alps. "After a day of sightseeing, it's so nice to come home instead of rushing around looking for a restaurant," added Lavine. "The kids can go bike riding like they would at home."

Nor do parents feel as compelled to keep the gang on the go every minute when they're not springing for pricy hotels. "But you have to be a relaxed traveler," warned Arnold. "If you're rigid about your itinerary and uptight, it won't work."

Lavine added it's also important to choose a place that will meet your family's needs. Ask first about the number of bathrooms and bedrooms, she suggested. Even the most fantastic Paris apartment won't do if there's not enough room. It also helps to try to match the kids' ages -- so they can easily swap toys and friends.

There is one drawback to this family travel plan, however. Swaps can be a lot harder to cancel than hotel reservations. Just ask the Lavines. When a hospitalized child forced the Florida family to cancel their trip to Ireland last summer, they couldn't stand ruining the Irish family's vacation, too. The Lavines rented them a hotel suite on the beach.

The kids became fast friends, and the Lavines hope to go to Ireland next summer. Meanwhile, they're already mulling offers for this school year's breaks.

(c) 2000, Eileen Ogintz. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate

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