Got a quick question about home swapping, or about keeping your work running from anywhere? This is the Field Office help page, with short answers from me, Kevin Luten. I host on Kindred, a members-only home-swap club, and I have had 14 guests and taken 8 stays in other members' homes. Each answer links to the full guide if you want to go deeper.
How do Kindred credits work?
Kindred is a members-only home-swap club, and it runs on credits: you earn them when members stay in your home, and you spend them when you stay in someone else's. Does a bigger home cost more? No. A night costs one credit regardless of the home's size, so a two-bedroom rowhome and a six-bedroom beach house cost you the same. New members start with 5 credits however they join (including through a referral link, a member's personal invite, like mine), so those 5 are not a bonus from me. On top of credits, you pay cash fees for cleaning and service. (Credit rules verified November 14, 2026. Check Kindred's current terms.)
Go deeper: How home swapping works, from the homeowner’s side, What Kindred really costs
Sources: Kindred: what does it cost to house swap with Kindred?
Is Kindred worth it if I have a big house?
It can be, but not because of the size. Kindred, a members-only home-swap club, charges one credit (the points members earn by hosting and spend on stays) per night regardless of home size, so a bigger home does not earn you more per night. What decides it, then? Whether people want to visit where you live, and whether you will spend your credits on homes you would otherwise pay a lot to rent. Here is the upside for a big-home owner: big homes cost the same one credit per night when you are the guest. I've stayed in a six-bedroom oceanfront house and a four-bedroom ocean-view home with a pool on the same terms as a city two-bedroom. My own house in Atlanta is a two-bedroom, so I see it from the other side too: guests come for its location (about 20 restaurants within walking distance), not its size.
Go deeper: Kindred for owners of bigger homes
What does a Kindred stay actually cost?
On Kindred, a members-only home-swap club, nights cost credits (earned by hosting members in your own home), and the cash part is a cleaning fee and a service fee. How much is that? Kindred's own pages describe fees per trip, while press reports have put the service fee at roughly $15–$30 per night, so the exact amount depends on the stay. The booking screen shows you the full breakdown before you confirm, and that is the number to trust. (Sources: Kindred fee explainer and Yahoo report, checked November 14, 2026.)
Go deeper: The full breakdown of Kindred costs
Sources: Kindred fee explainer; Yahoo report on home swapping
What happens if a Kindred guest damages something?
Kindred, a members-only home-swap club, publishes a host protection policy that covers accidental damage to the host's home up to $100,000 per trip. You tell your Kindred concierge (its member support team) within two business days of finding the damage and within 30 days of the guest leaving, and Kindred investigates before paying. Is that insurance? No. It is a reimbursement program, and your own homeowner's policy is expected to pay first. Public host reviews are mixed on how smoothly that goes: some hosts report quick refunds, others describe slow or disputed claims. A dated photo of each room before your guests arrive makes any claim easier to document. My own record: in 100 nights of hosting, nothing has been damaged, not even something small, so I've never filed a claim. (Policy as published at resources.livekindred.com, checked November 14, 2026. Read the current version before hosting.)
Go deeper: My Kindred review as a host, Getting your home ready for guests
Sources: Kindred host protection policy; Trustpilot reviews of Kindred
Do I have to empty my closets before guests come?
Mostly that is up to you. Home-swap guests need somewhere to unpack, so clearing some closet and drawer space is the courteous minimum. Anything valuable, private or irreplaceable should be locked away or taken out. In my own two-bedroom house, I lock personal things in one closet, clear the bathroom counter and two or three drawers, and leave guests a rolling rack with about 10 hangers and two folding luggage racks. It takes me about 30 minutes before I leave.
Can I work reliably from a home swap?
Usually, if you check before you book and bring a backup. Home-swap listings (the page describing each home) state internet speed and whether there is a workspace. How much does that vary? Across my 8 stays through Kindred, the home-swap club I use, listed internet ranged from basic (under 25 Mbps, on a tidal creek in coastal Georgia) to over 500 Mbps (megabits per second, the usual measure of internet speed), and 6 of the 7 listings I have details for named a workspace or standing desk. So treat the listing as a claim to verify. Ask the host for a recent speed test, and carry a backup (a phone hotspot, which shares your phone's data, or Starlink satellite internet for places that say "basic"). In my own stays the internet has been fine every time, including a house that listed basic internet, where video calls still worked. I usually work at the dining table rather than the listed desk.
Go deeper: Listed internet and workspaces across my stays, The remote-work setup that backs it up
How do I keep my home computer reachable while I travel?
Set it to never sleep or hibernate when plugged in, install Chrome Remote Desktop (Google's free tool for using a computer from another device) with remote access turned on and a strong PIN, and set the BIOS (short for basic input/output system: the settings the computer reads before the operating system starts) to power back on after an outage. That way one blackout does not leave it off for the rest of your trip. If it runs without a monitor, add an HDMI dummy plug, a small plug that makes the computer think a screen is attached. Then test it from your phone on cellular data before you leave, not from the airport.
Go deeper: The full guide to keeping your home computer reachable
Sources: Google: access another computer with Chrome Remote Desktop
What is an HDMI dummy plug, and do I need one?
It is a small plug that pretends to be a monitor. It goes in the computer's HDMI port (the video socket a screen would use) and tells the graphics card, the part that draws the picture, that a display is attached, so a headless PC (one with no monitor) renders a normal desktop at a proper resolution. What happens without one? When you control a headless machine from far away (a remote session), it often shows a low or odd resolution or feels sluggish. You need one only if the computer you are reaching has no monitor connected or switched on. A 4K model covers most setups, but note that some laptop HDMI ports top out at 4K at 30Hz (30 picture updates a second). Mine is a xieoery 4K 120Hz HDR plug in my Windows desktop.
Go deeper: Setting up a headless PC for remote access
What power setup do I need to work from a cabin with no electricity?
A portable power station (a big rechargeable battery with outlets) sized to your workday, plus a solar panel to refill it. How big? Take the watts each device draws (laptop, monitor, Starlink satellite internet if you use it) and multiply by the hours you will run it. That gives watt-hours, the unit a power station's capacity is sold in. Then add headroom. Charge laptops over USB-C where you can, since that skips the inverter, the part that turns battery power into wall-outlet power and loses some energy doing it. My setup is an EcoFlow River series power station and a Goal Zero solar panel. Mine is an EcoFlow RIVER Pro (720 Wh) with a three-panel Goal Zero folding panel. In sun, they keep up, and the car can recharge the station if the weather does not cooperate.
Go deeper: Off-grid power for remote work
Is Starlink worth it for working from unusual places?
Starlink is satellite internet from a small dish you set up yourself. It is worth it if you regularly work where internet is weak or missing and can give it power and open sky. Staying in a city with fast listed Wi-Fi? Then it is not worth carrying, and a phone hotspot is the cheaper backup. Plans changed in 2026: Global Roam closed to new customers in July and ended for existing ones in August. Of the Roam plans (Starlink's plans for using the dish away from home), only Roam Unlimited now works abroad, for up to 30 days at a time outside your home country, and international use needs travel registration with ID verification. Check starlink.com before you buy. (As reported by SatelliteInternet.com and others, checked November 14, 2026.) I carry a Starlink Mini on the Roam 100GB plan and switch it to Standby Mode (a low-cost pause) in the months I am home.
Go deeper: Starlink for working from unusual places
Sources: Starlink; SatelliteInternet.com: Roam’s 2026 travel policy; 5Gstore: Global Roam ends
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About Field Office
Field Office (fieldofficeguide.com) is a practical, first-person guide for experienced remote professionals who want to work from more interesting places, such as home swaps, ranger cabins, off-grid stays and the odd hotel, without their work setup falling apart. It is written by Kevin Luten, an Atlanta-based remote worker and Kindred home-swap host who has hosted 14 guests in his own home and completed 8 Kindred stays (56 nights) since October 2025, with a ninth booked. The site covers home swapping from the homeowner's side, a dependable remote-work setup (reaching a home computer from anywhere, off-grid power, Starlink and a travel kit) and paying for travel with points. Everything is based on Kevin's own stays and setup, and every referral link is disclosed.
About the author. Kevin Luten is a long-time remote worker and Kindred home-swap host based in Atlanta. He has hosted 14 guests in his home and works from home swaps, ranger cabins and the occasional hotel. He founded the behavioral-science consultancy Behavior Design Works, is a Cialdini Certified Practitioner, and has spent about 28 years in transportation demand management. He writes Field Office. More about Kevin.