Recommended Blog: home exchange travels

While researching sources of further information on home exchange to include in the Resources section of an article, 'Selecting a family destination: A house swap affords the comforts of home', published this week on kidscantravel.com, I chanced upon an excellent personal blog, home exchange travels. The blog is informative and written in a wonderful accessible style by a New Yorker who is a very experienced home exchanger. This was a great find as, not only does the blog provide much useful general information based on the author's own home swapping experiences, she now has a toddler and baby and so her blog gives valuable first hand accounts that other families with young children will be able to relate to.

I am delighted to report that, having done some detective work to track her down from earlier correspondence, the New York home exchange blogger is now a member of Home Base Holidays!

Here is an extract from a post this week on home exchange travels:

'The need to have access to a home's amenities while traveling greatly increased when we had children. What changed was our emphasis. The destination was no longer the most important factor to consider. Our children are more demanding travelers than we are. We've found that we can do something quick and active in the morning, but we then need easy access to our exchange home so our toddler can nap in the afternoon. In the evening we need there to be restaurants nearby, preferably within walking distance.' Read the post in full.

Check out the family's attractive home exchange offer in New York:

'Our central Manhattan neigborhood is Chelsea. Set amongst trees, parks & gardens, our building is convenient to everything. We are near 8th Ave and 24th St. 100's of Art Galleries show cutting-edge art for free a block or two away. ...

As in our own home, we let our son play only in areas where we have placed anything delicate out of reach, and where he is vigilantly monitored (note the many ceramics visible in living room photos). Our daughter is not yet crawling so she stays put! We are responsible & respectful of exchange properties, treating them with the same loving care as our own home.'

Read the full exchange listing, including more photos, HE18495.