This series is about our trip to Italy we took in September of 2026. We rented a car and traveled the “road less traveled”. Other pages in the series listed at the bottom of this page and will have links as I write them.

A little over a year ago, I joined a program called HomeExchange. The concept is that you allow others to stay in your home for free (you may charge a cleaning fee if you pay someone to clean your house), in exchange for either staying in their home or receiving points that allow you to stay in other people’s homes. There are houses throughout the entire world.

We have a second home, so it was a no brainer to at least give it a try. I thought what a great way to travel for nearly free! The first year, we hosted and gathered points. We had people from close by Washington, DC, New York City, and France. We met most of them and I enjoyed getting to know them and learn about where they were from. You can use a second home, your primary home, or even do a hospitality exchange where they get a bedroom and you are home while they are there. (I’m actually considering doing a hospitality exchange now just to connect to more people around the world and hopefully practice my Italian!)

When we decided to go to Italy, I started searching and sending out personal emails asking if w might stay in their home. Hosts can decide for any reason whether they want to accept the exchange or not. Maybe their house is not available then. Or, maybe they just don’t get a good feeling about you. For the most part though, most hosts embrace the concept of sharing and getting to know people. People in HomeExchange have “skin in the game” so they take better care of someone’s home than if it was an AirBnb or hotel. They treat it like it is their home and how they would want their home to be treated.

Italy is in much demand though and we didn’t have any reviews yet as a guest, so it took about 20 emails before I got a yes. What a find though – it was in a beautiful and historic town called Pitigliano. I have pics of the house but out of respect for my hosts, I am not sharing on this page. I can tell you though, that our hosts, Marco and Marco, were wonderful! They greeted us at the house even though it was an hour from their primary house and even left us a yummy cake to enjoy. They helped us navigate tourist spots and basically acted like we were family while we were there. Their house was spectacularly beautiful, large and comfortable and within walking distance of downtown. A picture and video of Pitigliano ARE below though — look how beautiful the town is!

Our second house was in San Felice del Benaco on Lake Garda. When we first walked in the apartment, honestly I thought I was walking into a lovely museum! It was built in 17th century and has paintings on the wall and ceilings from the same era. Fine antiques filled the house and the kitchen was also very well equipped. Again, I didn’t include pictures of the actual house to protect our host’s privacy, but I did include a picture of me swimming in Lake Garda near the house. It was beautiful but cold!

Both homes made us very grateful that our hosts had trusted us and given us the opportunity to live there for a bit. Having a home allowed us to shop at local groceries and cook at home. While eating out is fun (and we did plenty!), eating at home was also nice and helped save some funds as well.

While I first joined HomeExchange to be able to travel economically, it is SO much more than that. It allows you to live and experience the culture of where you visit. It gives you the opportunity to get to know and understand your hosts. It allows you to be ambassadors for your home country. I even made some connections on the Facebook page for the group to continue practicing my Italian via video conferencing. Being a part of the community has far exceeded my expectations.

I’ve included a link for you to potentially join. I get some points for referring you and you get some starter points for using my referral link. Even if you don’t use the referral link though, I highly recommend the program. Link to join — https://www.homeexchange.com/?sponsorkey=brianna-7b2b3

  • What I Learned in Italy
  • What to Pack
  • The Joys of Home Exchange
  • Day 1 – Flight from Washington DC to London
  • Day 2 – Flight from London to Rome and travel to Pitigliano, Italy
  • Day 3 – Discover Pitigliano
  • Day 4 – Thermal Baths, Agritourismo Olive Farm Dinner
  • Day 5 – Sorano and surrounding area, grocery shopping, dinner in Pitigliano
  • Day 6 – Maria Delle Grazie church, Tyrrhenian Sea, unconventional lunch, reunion with foreign exchange student.
  • Day 7 – Siena, Carpi
  • Day 8 – Peschiera del Garda, Lonato del Garda, Salo, San Felice del Banaco
  • Day 9 – Lake Garda Ferry to Limone, dinner in Salo
  • Day 10 – McDonalds, Big Bench, and dinner at home
  • Day 11 – Sanctuario di Montecastello
  • Day 12 – Lake Idro, dinner in Portese and walk on boardwalk
  • Day 13 – Lonato del Garda mass and flea market
  • Day 14 – swim in Lake Garda and shopping in Salo
  • Day 15 – Agritourismo Dandelion and town of Pieve
  • Day 16 – Drive to Rome hotel
  • Day 17 – Return home