Owner: Travel the Home Exchange Way URL:http://homeexchangetravel.blogs.com Join Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 04:54:25 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Lots of tips on various aspects of swapping homes for vacations, stories by experienced home exchangers and links to articles about home exchange for further information.
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Save Money on Phone Calls While on a Home Exchange in Europe 2007-06-05 22:00:00 In the past (and probably still for many home exchangers) the easiest, and cheapest, way of making phone calls back home was to use their exchange partners' home phone. Generally this works well, and Home Base Holidays members often arrange to have a separate phone bill to cover the period of an exchange. Then, at the end of the exchange, the amounts owed by each for phone calls can be compared, with the member owing most reimbursing the other for the outstanding amount.
In these days, when most home exchangers will have mobile (cell) phones, it is generally much more convenient to use your own phone rather than the phone in your exchange home. However, one of the problems with using mobiles abroad for many has been the often quite exorbitant call charges. These charges seem about to change here in the UK, and I expect in other countries as well, but it's always wise to check the cost of overseas calls beforehand so you don't get a nasty shock when you arrive back home and receiv Read more:Money
, Exchange
, Europe
The Kindness of Home Exchangers 2007-06-03 22:00:00 'I have come to appreciate that the process of home exchange is more than just about exchanging your home and how tidy you find it on your return. When you exchange homes you often experience a kindness and level of trust that so often feels in short supply in today's busy world. When else would you freely hand over the keys to your home, invite people you may never meet to sleep in your bed and use your car? As a family, we have stayed in many different types of homes and neighbourhoods and had experiences we would never have had if we not been on a home exchange. My children still talk about the open air cinema in Switzerland (the tickets were left as a gift), the ice cream they received from the kindly neighbour during the heatwave in France, the children who came to call when we stayed in Ireland, the invite we received from our exchange partners' friends in Canada to use their pool, the neighbours who called with fish from their fishing trip, etc.
Since exchanging my home I Read more:Kindness
Home Swappers: the Home Exchange Newsletter, Jun/Jul07 2007-06-01 03:52:29 The new issue of Home Swappers was sent to subscribers and Home Base Holidays members today. Topics include:
Do You Prefer a Bed to a Couch...?
Vive la Différence! The Kindness of Home Exchange
rs
Car Swaps: Insurance Issues
Tell a Story with Your Home Exchange Photos
Well Targetted Home Exchange Offers
Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 7 (of 7) - Locality Features 2007-05-30 22:00:00 Tip 7 : Locality Features.
When people are looking for a home to exchange, they are also interested in what is around the area. Schools, churches, golf courses, sports centres, shops and shopping centres and whatever else your area has of interest. If it’s a distance away from features, then you might show public transport such as nearest bus stop, station or airport. If you are prepared to make your car, bike or whatever available for your exchange partners' use, then make the suggestion. Add photos of these areas and also any places of interest in your neighbourhood.
Examples from current home exchange listings:
Photo, left: house in Juneau, Wisconsin, USA, HE19814
Photo, above: cottage in Haworth, Yorkshire, England, HE19812
Photo, above: apartment in Marina del Este, Andalucia, Spain, HE17147
Photo, right: house in Blackwood, Gwent, Wales, HE14267
In conclusion ...
Tell a story with your photographs. People want to know more than how many beds you hav Read more:Exchange
, Offer
, Photographing
Enhancing a Home Exchange Offer: Tips for Photographing Your Home, Tip 5 (of 7) - Using Unusual Angles and Portrait Shots 2007-05-28 22:00:00 Tip 5: Unusual angles and portrait shots give different dimensions. If it’s a high-rise apartment or an unusual building, show this in the photo to entice the viewer. If there are extra features such as a pool, patio, barbecue area or pagodas and atriums, show these as you want to highlight the living features of the house, not possessions, for here you are selling a lifestyle to potential home exchange partners, not simply the house.
Examples for current homes available for exchange:
Photo, above: house in Sherfield English, Hampshire, England, HE19800
Photo, right: house in Maple Bay, BC, Canada, HE17794
Photo, above: house in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England, HE12989
Photo, right: house in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, HE15545
Note to Home Base Holidays members: by all means use a variety of photos, including portrait shots, but choose a photo in landscape format as Picture 1. This photo is also included as a small thumbnail in your Read more:Exchange
, Offer
, Photographing
, Angles
, Portrait
Home Exchange Wanted - No Children, Hot Location: So Would Two Sets of Triplets or a Snow House Do? 2007-06-08 22:00:00 The question of carefully targeting home exchange members, only sending exchange offers to those most likely to be interested, crops up quite often. I addressed this most recently in an answer to an enquirer's question on whether Home Base Holidays allowed members to send the same message to several members at once (no!), Home Exchange
Offers: Mass Mailings vs Personalised Messages. A retired member, who makes it clear in her exchange listings (house in a village in W. Sussex, England and a penthouse flat in southern Spain) that she and her husband want to swap with other similar couples without children, received one exchange offer that seemed particularly poorly targeted:'We once had an American lady trying to convince us that her two sets of triplets aged 2 and 4 were no trouble at all!!'Proactively contacting members with your exchange offer rather than waiting to be contacted is a good thing. But, you do need to use common sense rather than adopt a scatter gun approach to the m Read more:Children
, Location
, Triplets
, House
Six Good Reasons to Try a Home Exchange 2007-06-10 22:00:00 Sometimes it's a good idea to get back to basics. So, if you are new to the idea of swapping homes, here's a brief list of reasons why you may like to consider trying a home exchange yourself. This list could be much longer but these are the most common reasons given by Home Base Holidays members for taking part in home exchanges:
1. Saves money
Arranging a home exchange cuts out hotel bills, usually the most expensive part of a trip. As well as having a rent-free home as a base, many home exchange offers include extras such as cars, club memberships and generally lots of local information to save you needing to buy many guide books and maps. Living in a real home means having a fully equipped kitchen too so that not all meals need be taken in expensive restaurants.
'"As an Australian," wrote a reader from Down Under, "my dollar goes even less far than yours. And so I used a home exchange for my lodgings, which I obtained by going to an agency based in London, www.homebase Read more:Reasons
, Exchange
Extras to Offer Home Exchange Guests 2007-06-13 22:00:00 'Join the Zoo in the Place You are Visiting', an excellent article by Jill Browne, BellaOnline's Budget Travel Editor, was a good incentive to remind home exchange members to look beyond their homes and cars at additional facilities they can offer to share with home swap partners. Perhaps you belong to a theatre that provides tickets at discounted rates, a golf club, a local children's group, or maybe you subscribe to a local listings magazine that would be useful for your exchange guests when planning outings while in your home?
Check out BellaOnline Budget Travel Site to read more of Jill's articles. Budget Travel also has a very active forum.
Read more:Extras
, Offer
, Exchange
Bombarded with the Same Home Exchange Offer? 2007-06-17 22:00:00 It's understandably disappointing for an eager home exchanger if they don't receive responses to their exchange offers. It's only courteous to respond to all offers even if the reply is simply a brief message politely declining the offer. However, we're now beginning to receive the odd report of a different problem: a few over enthusiastic home exchangers seem to expect instant responses to their offers, and if they don't receive replies almost by return, keep contacting the same members over and over. That's hardly the way to encourage anyone to want to take up an exchange offer - if someone is so impatient and persistent on a first encounter, there seems a good chance they would also be irritating and demanding as exchange partners.
First of all, it's important to target exchange offers at those most likely to be interested (take the time to read a listing carefully before contacting a member), compile an attractive, personalised exchange offer and send it. Give the recipie Read more:Exchange
, Offer
'Brave New Traveler': Sound Like a Home Exchanger? 2007-06-15 22:00:00 I recently discovered an excellent travel blog, Brave
New Traveler
. I suggested to the Editor, Ian MacKenzie, that home exchange would make a perfect topic for a blog which is described as an 'on-line travel magazine for the 21st century, offering tips and advice on all types of travel', and Ian immediately responded - positively - even providing a good idea for a post which I published earlier this week, Six Good Reasons to Try a Home Exchange.
Do check out Ian's post, '6 Convincing Reasons To Try A Home Exchange', and the rest of this well written, informative and constantly updated site.
If you haven't tried home exchange yet you may, indeed, think of home swappers as 'brave new travellers'! That's the reason for this blog, Travel the Home Exchange Way - to provide lots of information about swapping homes as a holiday option to, hopefully, remove any apprehension or concerns you may have. You don't need to be brave to be a home exchanger, just an independent travel Read more:Sound
, Brave New Traveler
Ebook About Home Exchange: No Review, No Recommendation 2007-06-21 22:00:00 In a recent edition of a travel ezine I subscribe to I noticed that amongst the list of eBooks available to buy from the site, there was one on home exchange that claimed to be: 'the orginal, definitive guidebook', 'explains everything you need to know about home swapping', 'This eBook is the way to get started', 'Get this report and bring your dreams of luxurious world travel to life...' (the bold and italics are as in the promotional blurb). Those are pretty impressive claims and so I was eager to have a copy to review, with the idea of recommending it to readers of this blog and Home Base Holidays members if it was, indeed, a comprehensive and useful guide, especially for those new to home exchange.
Most publishers and authors are delighted to receive extra publicity from reviews, especially those that will be read by their target market and thus likely to generate a good number of sales, but not this one. On requesting a review copy, I received the following reply:'Our Read more:Exchange
, Recommendation
Another Day, Another Great Travel Blog - and Posts About Home Exchange 2007-06-19 22:00:00 I am amazed by the number of excellent travel blogs there are and the dedicated bloggers who are providing such consistently well written and useful content, often beautifully illustrated, and with lots of links to further sources of information.
Although there are many thousands of personal travel blogs (such a good way to keep a record of a special trip, including, of course, a home exchange), there are many others whose coverage goes way beyond their own personal experiences, with a mission to share a wide range of wonderful travel discoveries and ideas. Two blogs fit this category perfectly and both have recently published posts about home exchange:
'Swapping homes for vacations' was published on of travels and travails ('Musings...of travels and travails. Life is about the journey, not just the destination.')
'Travel
the Home Exchange
Way Blog' was published on Travel plan idea blog ('Travel plans & itineraries, fun vacation ideas & planning, destination Read more:Great
Make the First Footprints in the Sand: a Tempting Home Exchange Offer 2007-06-24 22:00:00 Some Home Base Holidays members really know how to entice interest in their home exchange offers with detailed descriptions, often drawing readers in by encouraging them to envisage themselves relaxing in the home, perhaps enjoying a quiet drink on a patio overlooking a beautiful view at the end of a busy day. It helps, of course, if a location has a lot to offer visitors but even an area which those who live there may take for granted can be interesting, even exotic, to others who live somewhere completely different.
From the description she gave of her home and area, a new member in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, certainly has reason to end her offer with:'If you want to put the first footprints on the beach each morning then tempt us!' A brief description:'We offer a 3 bedroom villa in a 4 star resort, just 100 mtrs to beach. The resort has great facilities: a gym, sauna, tennis court, 2 pools, lap/beach pool, BBQs, children's playground and front office tour desk. A cafe pr Read more:First
, Footprints
, Exchange
, Offer
Home Exchange Over? Keeping in Touch with Past Exchange Partners 2007-06-29 08:29:17 The following quote from a renewing Home Base Holidays member speaks for itself on the benefits that can be had from keeping in touch with previous home exchange partners:'We have swapped before, in 2001 with people from Queensland, and we are still benefitting from that association, having visited them on two other occasions and also hosting them and their family/friends in 2005. We have also exchanged with a couple in W. Australia & also B.C. Canada, in 2006 & 2007.' Martin and Marion's three bedroom bungalow is situated in a village 5 miles (8km.) to the E. of the beautiful city of York, 'where you'll be walking on 2000 years of history.'
Martin continues:
'York itself can be the gateway to London or Edinburgh/Glasgow by train with all their attractions! In short, this area where we live is in a suburb location for visiting. Note: our home is not suitable for disabled guests, due to stepped thresholds.
Marion & I are planning to be in Cape Town in Sept. Read more:Exchange
, Partners
Transitions Abroad: 'Home Exchange Tips' 2007-06-27 22:00:00 I recently came across an article, 'Home Exchange
Tips', that was published in the July/August 2002 issue of Transitions
Abroad Magazine. As I was unable to track down the author, Ruth Marvin Webster, to ask permission to reproduce her article in full, here's just a sample:'Test the level of customer or trade service each company provides. Determine whether there is someone to answer specific questions or has representatives in different countries. Bigger may not always be better.'Although her article was written five years ago, all Ruth's tips are still spot on. Do read the full article on Transitions Abroad.
Transitions Abroad ('Since 1977, the single most important resource for work, study, travel and living abroad')
Home Exchange Offer: Castles, White Cliffs but No Theme Parks! 2007-07-02 22:00:00 John, a Home Base Holidays member, who recently renewed his home exchange membership, lives in the historic English town of Deal in Kent. He included the following pithy comment within his description of the local area: "This is not a 'touristy' area with ThemeParks
." John's description:'We live in the historic town of Deal, which is 40 minutes drive from the cathedral city of Canterbury and two hours from London. Along the seafront you will find two old castles, one built in Tudor times, and only 200 yards from the town centre. The other is the home of the Lord Warden of the cinque ports (Sir Robert Menzies was a former Lord Warden). Parts of Deal are centuries old and have historic houses and buildings of interest. Ten minutes drive away is Dover with its famous castle which overlooks, perhaps, the busiest port in the world. From there you can take a ferry or fast craft to Europe. One can also join the motorways to all parts of England, Scotland and Wales from Dover. Within fiv Read more:Exchange
, Offer
, White
, Cliffs
It's Canada Day! Great Canadian Home Exchange Offers 2007-06-30 22:00:00 Happy 140th Birthday, Canada
! Today is a good excuse to give a little plug for all the great home exchange offers in Canada. A few examples of recent Canadian
listings:
West Vancouver, British Columbia - Light, bright west coast contemporary house with beautiful water views. Child friendly home with lovely enclosed back patio. Lots of great restaurants, beaches, parks and walking trails in area. Home to the Park Royal Village Mall, just 20 mins. to downtown Vancouver and 1 1/2 hrs away from Whistler. See full home exchange offer, HE19828.
Pender Island, British Columbia - Our home is Cape Cod style, on a peaceful private lane, with a wrap around veranda and a glorious west facing view overlooking a harbour. Our property is mostly natural, with a large goldfish pond & garden beds around the house. Many birds, including humming birds, enjoy our feeders.
Pender Island, one of the beautiful Gulf islands, has a population of about 2000 and is popular spot for boating, fis Read more:Exchange
, Great
, Offers
Making Home Exchange Part of an Extended Working Holiday 2007-07-04 22:00:00 'We are a family of four living and working in the UK. We moved to the UK from Vancouver Island in 2005. We are enjoying our extended working holiday in England and wish to broaden the experience to include Europe. Our children are well behaved teenagers and we are all particularly interested in urban and rural Spain, Italy and France but are willing to go just about anywhere. Recent trips have included Morocco, The Netherlands, Paris, Spain, Scotland and Wales. We are touring Europe this summer and hope to home swap during August. While we are not experienced exchangers, we have others caring for our Canadian home and we will care for yours.'When you come from a large country like Canada, living in England for a time provides a splendid opportunity to visit several other European countries that are within easy reach. Arranging a home exchange (or two or three ...) is an excellent way to discover what life is like as a local during short breaks from an extended stay home from home. T Read more:Exchange
, Extended
, Holiday
Choosing a New Home in a Popular Home Exchange Location 2007-07-09 22:00:00 An enquirer who called last week described her and her husband as 'just retired, completely free to live anywhere in the world and wanting to choose a location that would make their new home popular for home exchanges'. It didn't seem to concern her where this was, whether it was a small apartment or a large house, in a city, beach or country location, as they were happy to move anywhere with the idea in mind of spending a considerable amount of time at various home exchange destinations.
There's nothing new in choosing to retire in another country or area - often it's those from northern climates looking for somewhere warmer where they can enjoy a pleasant, relaxed lifestyle. It is a quite new phenomenon to actually consider a home and location for their home swapping potential before moving though. But what a good idea!
This enquirer rather did put me on the spot as there are so many countries and areas that are popular with Home Base Holidays members that it was hard to Read more:Exchange
, Location
, New Home
Hanging Up Your Travelling (and Home Exchange) Shoes 2007-07-07 22:00:00 Occasionally Home Base Holidays members contact us when their membership is about to expire to let us know they can't consider another home exchange just yet, sometimes due to illness in the family, care responsibilities, an imminent house move or that their home can no longer be left unoccupied for exchange guests. In such cases, further exchange plans must be put on hold until circumstances change.
The time will come for all of us when, through deteriorating health, or simply old age, we will no longer feel able to travel. Although some home exchangers continue to arrange swaps (often closer to home or for longer periods if travelling far, or in the company of younger relatives) well into old age, when travel becomes difficult or impossible or is simply not a pleasure any more, it's time to sit back and reflect on happy memories:'Our circumstances have changed now due to health reasons and we will not be travelling in the future. Therefore, we do not wish to renew our listing. Read more:Exchange
, Hanging
, Travelling
Home Exchange Options: Not Much Different from My Coffee Grinder Choices Dilemma 2007-07-11 22:00:00 A couple of weeks ago my trusty coffee grinder broke. No forewarning - just suddenly, nothing. Not the end of the world but Mark (my son) had brought me some delicious smelling coffee beans last week and it would be a shame not to use them at their best. So, for a little break yesterday, I decided to look at coffee grinders on a number of sites and ended up reading some of the customer reviews on Amazon. Reviews and ratings are meant to make choices easier, right? After all, people who've actually bought and used a particular grinder should be the best sources of unbiased information. As it turned out, one model I was interested in (a well known brand) did have a number of reviews and the overall rating was high. And then I started to read the individual comments ...'A great machine'
'Probably the best at this price'
'Had it six months - and it's jammed up!'
'Doesn't grind fine enough for expresso'
'Noisy, messy, breaks down but grinds well' ??And it doesn't s Read more:Exchange
, Options
, Coffee
Love the Place Where You Want to Arrange a Home Exchange? Let the Residents Know! 2007-07-14 22:00:00 Home Base Holidays members are often reminded to take a little time to personalise each home exchange offer message rather than send the same impersonal standard message to everyone. Most people will respond better to a thoughtful message which clearly hasn't been sent en masse to many others.
As well as addressing a member by name and acknowledging their own exchange requests (and why you think your home and location would suit their needs well), it is also a good idea to tell the member why you are particularly interested in their offer. Everyone likes to hear that others want to visit their area and that they feel the home would be perfect.
As well as letting members know within an exchange offer message that you love their area or city or, if you haven't been there, that you're really looking forward to visiting, also say within your home exchange listing why you want to exchange to a particular place. One family in Finland, recent Home Base Holidays members, who want to a Read more:Place
, Exchange
Farewell to a Very Special Auntie 2007-07-23 11:58:40 My sister, Ruth, who lives in northern Alberta, and I (from London) have been meeting in Toronto (our 'half way' point) often to make the trip many times over the last few years to the small town of Wiarton, Ontario (where we were born), to visit our Aunt Mabel. Sadly, our trip during the last two weeks was to see our very special auntie for the last time. We were so glad that she was aware that we were there with her and could speak to us briefly. She passed away peacefully on 12 July in her 101st year.
Mabel, a quiet but charismatic lady, had friends of all ages and it was comforting to meet so many from both the local area where she had lived all her life and from further away, who came to be with us at a sad time. However, this was a celebration of a long life well lived. The photo was taken on her 100th birthday in March and this is the way we will remember her - happy to be surrounded by friends, family and very caring staff and, for once, pleased to be 'Queen for a Day'.
Read more:Farewell
, Special
Imminent Home Exchange to Location with Extreme Weather Conditions 2007-07-24 05:53:15 I arrived back in London from Canada on Saturday to news reports of major flooding in parts of central England (after earlier floods in Yorkshire and the East coast). It is a terrible situation for those people who have been caught up in these almost unprecedented conditions, with heavy rainfall and severe flooding along some rivers. As the summer is prime time for home swaps to the UK, there may be some members viewing the images of flooded streets and homes in towns and villages in England with increasing alarm if a date of departure to the UK for a home exchange is drawing near.
Without wanting to downplay the seriousness of the floods for all those affected, it is important to keep a perspective on this, and any other severe weather conditions in countries or areas you plan to visit on a home swap. Most of England is not affected by the current flooding (although we have certainly had much more rain than usual and it's hard to believe that this time last year we had a drought!) Read more:Imminent
, Exchange
, Location
, Extreme
Home Exchange in Harry Potter Film Locations 2007-07-26 22:00:00 Family Travel Files, a top-rated American family travel resource, has recently updated an ezine article, 'Britain: Exchanging Places in the Spirit of HarryPotter
', to coincide with the release of the latest J.K. Rowling book, 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows' and the new Harry Potter film. Parents continue to contact the site for advice about vacationing with Harry Potter. I am delighted that arranging a home exchange (or two) in the UK through Home Base Holidays is prominently recommended:'In the spirit of the popular book series and the movie sequels, muggles with a penchant for adventure can make plenty of interesting and magical connections even without a ticket for the night bus.
Our first suggestion, consider exchanging places. What does Harry Potter have to do with home exchange? Not a lot! But one company in the UK, Home Base Holidays based in London offers an assortment of homes near Harry Potter film locations, a good start on an adventure. They have choices th Read more:Exchange
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