Swap nights, not money

Responsible tourism is not only about taking an organic approach to travel, such as "using outhouses and sleeping in a yurt," but according to the PR for NightSwapping, which bills itself as the new player in the home-stay accommodation industry, it means getting back to basics. Why run one's credit card and rack up debt, not to mention mounds of paperwork and regret, when we can just hit "send" and share our homes?

Everyone's heard about AirBNB, but it's not the only entity to cash in on the marriage between low budget and high adventure. Launched over a year ago, NightSwapping now welcomes some 10,000 new members every month, touting a 'back to the roots' way of travelling where no money changes hands.

It all reminds this examiner of that scene in "The Holiday," in which Kate Winslet's character e-mails Carmeron Diaz's character - or maybe that's the wrong way round - and they end up swapping homes.

I'm in.

At NightSwapping, visitors can book travel to locales like Amsterdam, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Calabria. Visiting the website one immediately gets a sense, courtesy of the splashy images, of what she'll be signing up for. That is, provided the images match the real deal, and of course there's no way to remain legitimate if one isn't being transparent.

The premise works as such: The more travellers one hosts, the more nights she can stay at others' homes. Whether that's a tent cabin in Northern California or a flat in Eastern Europe. One can host at home whether she's a renter or homeowner, letting out the entire accommodation or a fraction, such as one or two rooms.

On their website, the "Sharing Bros", bubbled over with praise: "This was awesome! We had a great time with our host Ernesto. When we arrived in Lima, it had almost been 4 months since we had slept in a proper bed."

And "Tristan," a travel blogger, wrote in part: "...I tried NightSwapping and I found out it offers something more: you give your host the possibility to travel for free as well."

Now, for those of you who don't even like the idea of a pay-per-night B&B, this doesn't sound like your cuppa tea; but for the adventurous souls who embrace the share culture, from Uber to toy sharing ("Hey, gimme back my Barbies!") this is a winner.

Start sharing/swapping tonight.

Photos: Paris and Hollywood, by Laurie Wiegler