Second step

For any house exchanger the second step(after the first step of joining a house exchange site) should probably be an exchange in the U.S. for 2 weeks at the most. That is called putting your big toe in the water. To see if you like the experience. With such a short duration, there are no insurance questions, probably, to consider. Although it is always recommended to call your home insurance provider to make sure the provider is covering someone staying in your house for 2 weeks. Most likely the answer is yes. I would also recommend calling your car insurance provider and telling the provider that a new friend may or may not be driving your car for 2 weeks. The response you will probably get from your car insurance provider is a big yawn: "Why tell us, as we insure your car, not you. We don't care who is driving, unless it's a semi-permanent activity." We started to house exchange, almost unintentionally, in Silverthorne, CO, in 2013. We had gone up there and home exchanged with a retired pilot and his wife in order to see the big mountains and lakes and other away-from-it-all nature. We visited a lake outside of town whose expanse was so exciting you wanted to dive in. But once in Silverthorne. once ensconced in the wonderful neighborhood of the home exchange we got equally "native" and decided to go to the local July 4th parade. Now we could have done that if we were staying at the five-star dude ranch nearby, but we wouldn't have felt so native. After all we were cooking our own bar-b-que that July 4th after a wonderful brunch fixed by our friends, the house exchangers, the first morning we were there. You make friends with the people you exchange houses with, and involvement with the culture gives you the feeling of a native, even as you might also have your leisurely, private meal, like a tourist.