What I Use: Home Swap 2018 (Premium)

After two years of detours, our 2018 home swap sees us return to our normal three-week schedule. This year, we're in Stockholm, Sweden.

As you may recall, my family has been swapping homes each summer since 2006. This year's swap, then, was our 13th in a row, with 12 of them taking place somewhere in Europe. (We would have done all 13 in Europe, but a planned swap to London several years ago fell apart at the last minute, so we did a U.S.-based home swap that year instead.)

Since moving to Thurrott.com in January 2015, I've been on four home swaps: Lyon, France in 2015, Paris, France in 2016, Barcelona, Spain in 2017, and now Stockholm. Lyon was our usual three-week trip, with a side trip to Venice. But the previous two years were truncated to just two weeks for different reasons: In 2016, we needed to be around to get my son started in college, which trimmed a few weeks off our summer. And then last year, we suddenly decided to move to Pennsylvania, which likewise trimmed time off our summer.

Stockholm wasn't our first choice this year. Indeed, Stockholm wasn't even on the list: We were hoping to swap in Italy, France, or Spain. But when a request came up from Stockholm, we investigated the city and the area and decided that it would make a fine choice. And given how hot it usually is on these trips---we seem to hit the annual European Heat Wave (tm) each time---we figured a cooler destination would be a welcome change from the norm.

That didn't work out: This year's European Heat Wave (tm) was perfectly timed to coincide with the end of a historic heat wave at home, and Stockholm will experience hotter-than-usual temperatures for our entire stay. Only this week, two weeks into the trip, have we finally felt cool air. That bit has been pretty miserable.

But Stockholm itself is beautiful, friendly, and accessible, and we've had a great trip. So enough of the travel talk. Here's what I've brought with me and what I'm using on this trip, and why.

Home swap service. We used Intervac to find our home swap this year, and that's generally been the case every year. (The only exceptions have been when we've swapped with families we already know, as we've done twice, so far, in Amsterdam.) We can recommend Intervac highly: With the exception of the London debacle, we've had tremendous good luck each year.

The home. We are staying in a single-family home in Tullinge, Sweden, which is about 25 minutes by train from downtown Stockholm. We've gone into the city every day so far, with the exception of the days we were visiting Berlin. Which reminds me.

The side trip. With the return to a three-week schedule this year, we were able to schedule a side trip again, this time to Berlin. My wife and I had been there last winter, and we thought the kids would love it. And they did. Especially the AC at the hotel.

Internet. We've had some bad experiences with Internet access at our home swaps over the years, so thi...