Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Home swapping: exploring the delightful South Downs

Home swap holiday exploring the delightful South Downs

"We've just returned from a lovely two and a half week home swap holiday in the South Downs, West Sussex. We swapped with Timothy and Louise, it was their first time home exchanging but they were really friendly, relaxed and easy to communicate with. Their home was stylish, spacious and we were very comfortable and throughly enjoyed our stay.

We were very close to the beautiful West Wittering, East Wittering and Bracklesham Bay beaches. We cycled the more or less car free route along the canal to Chichester and on the lanes to explore Medmerry Nature Reserve and the west side of Pagham harbour. We also did lots of walking and trail running! Our coastal potters were from the doorstep and round to West Itchenor, between East and West Wittering, around Chidham peninsula, and around Thorney Island. Inland we had a great time in the woodland and on the downs around West Dean, Kingley Vale, Walderton, North Marden, Eartham Wood and Amberley, and following the river Arun.

If you like to be outdoors and away from the crowds you are spoilt for choice - plus the footpaths were very well maintained and clearly signposted. An added bonus was that all the chapels and churches that we came across were open to and welcoming of visitors, it was so nice to be able to explore them, and (on some days) to get out of the cold, or just enjoy a rest on a bench in the graveyard. Add to that the liberal scattering of earthworks, forts, cross dykes and tumuli, for all fans of the Bronze Age and Olde Stuffe.

Plus some wildlife... we are not very patient or observent, but did see a barn owl, fox, polecat, goldcrest and loads of kites and dark-bellied brent geese! The spectacle of clouds of gulls following the farmer's tractor (enjoyed from bed with a morning cuppa) was also great.

Chichester itself is very walkable and interesting to explore (Cathedral, museum, city walls, gardens), we also went by train to Portsmouth (though were too mean to pay the entry fee to the naval museums!). The public transport provision is good - a bus every 15 mins to Chichester from very close to the house, and trains linking the main sites along the south coast.

All in all a really great trip, thank you Louise and Timothy!"

- Sue & Dave (Lancaster, UK)

Our home swap highlights:

Walking and running on the chalk downs
Popping into ancient churches
Exploring the coastal peninsulas and enjoying the birdlife there

Photos from the home exchange holiday

View the Home Base Holidays members' offers:

Lancaster, UK (HE39603)

3-bedroom on a quiet residential street close to Lancaster’s mainline train station and within a few minutes walk of our historic city centre.

View Home Base Holidays offer

South Downs, UK (HE41342)

2-bedroom detached house in West Sussex within easy reach of West Wittering, East Wittering and Bracklesham Bay beaches.

View Home Base Holidays offer

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Helpful conversations with your home exchange guests

Guest blog post: Janis Fisher Chan is a writer, editor and passionate traveller who loves home exchanging. If you love travel and love getting a real feel for your destination, Janis encourages you to give home swapping a try!

We’re planning a home exchange with a couple who have a Paris apartment in our favorite part of the city, and I can’t wait to be off! It will be our fifth (or sixth?) exchange, and we hope it will be as successful as the others. To make sure, we’ve taken the time to have real conversations with our home exchange partners.

Messaging through the home swap website or email is fine for asking questions and sharing detailed information. But it’s the back and forth of direct conversation, either on the phone or via Skype, that helps you get to know one another, develop trust, clarify expectations, and avoid misunderstandings.

Here are some tips for helpful conversations with your home exchange partners.

Tip #1. Do a little planning

After reading the home exchange listing and the other people’s profile carefully, think about what questions you’d like to ask and what you want to be sure the other people know about your home. A few written notes will help make sure you cover everything that’s important to you.

Tip #2. Leave enough time

Choose a time when you can focus on the conversation, and select a quiet place so background noise doesn’t make it hard to hear what’s being said.

Tip #3. Set the right tone

A friendly, polite tone helps people feel comfortable. Set the tone of the conversation right away with openers like, “We’re so glad you’re interested in a home exchange with us”; “We’ve always wanted to visit….” “Your home looks as if it would be perfect for us.”

Tip #4. Encourage questions and answer them truthfully

One of the most important reasons for direct conversations is to give each of you the chance to ask questions. Say something like, “I’m sure you have questions for us, and we have a few for you.” Answer the other person’s questions honestly and truthfully, and ask for clarification if you’re not sure you understand. “How big is your home” might mean “How many people does your home sleep?” or “How many rooms does it have?” “Is the area lively” could mean “Is it noisy” or “Are there cafes, bars, and restaurants nearby?”

Tip #5. Listen carefully

We all have a tendency to jump in when there’s a silence during a conversation or to “rehearse” what we’re going to say next while someone is talking. Instead, listen, listen, and listen some more. People tend to trust one another when they know they are being heard. It’s also surprising how much more information people offer when you leave space in the conversation.

Tip #6. It’s okay to get personal

You and your exchange partners don’t have to become best friends (although it happens), but it’s important that you get to know one another. Take some time during the initial conversation to chat about yourselves and your families. Share your reasons for traveling and why you want to do a home exchange instead of staying in a hotel or a short-term rental. Talk a little about what it’s like to live in your home, and ask about theirs.

Tip #7. Agree on what happens next

Once you’ve covered everything on your list and the other person has no more questions, close the conversation by deciding on next steps: Will you do the exchange? Have you firmed up the dates? Does one of you need more information before making a decision?

Tip #8. Follow up the conversation

Within an hour or two of the conversation, send the other people an email saying how nice it was to meet them, thanking them for taking the time to talk, and summarizing the details of your agreement.

Home Base Holidays - home exchange vacations

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Home swapping? Just go for it... you won't regret it!

Bell Lane House: Sally's beautiful cottage in Gloucestershire, England

It's always lovely to hear from Home Base Holidays members about their home swaps. Sally Hadley sent in this lovely feedback after just returning from a two month home exchange holiday to the north shore beach area of Sydney, Australia. Sally and her husband are very experienced home exchangers, enjoying their first swap in 1990, with three swaps already lined up for 2023.

Thinking about home swapping? Just go for it... you won't regret it!

"Back in the day - as they say - when our children were young teenagers we ventured on our first swap to Santa Barbara in California. A lawyer’s house with all kinds of goodies. Cars were swapped; we had a blow out at 37degrees of heat in the desert – our kids still remember it. But all was fixed and we had a wonderful time visiting the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Since then we have had a month in Brittany (very relaxed and quiet), ventured to Grenada in the West Indies (very hot and beautiful) and to Australia twice (Brisbane and Sydney). In fact, we have just returned from two months in Sydney up on the northern beaches, high above trees overlooking the yachts on Pittwater and Scotland Island. We couldn’t believe our luck that a couple close in age to us (70s) would want to come to the UK in the winter. But they loved it – even the ice and snow. I think they forged more friendships in our small Cotswold village than we have in the two years we’ve lived here. We loved their house and we were so sad to leave. It was such a s fantastic base from which to visit our family and friends travelling up to the Sunshine Coast and down to Melbourne and Point Lonsdale over the Christmas period and New Year.

In addition to the big home swap holidays abroad, we have had lovely swaps closer to home here in the UK. We've swapped to Cornwall, Derbyshire, Kent and Cheshire... all of which have been amazing. No troubles, ever. We have returned each time to find the house immaculate and even lovely gifts left for us.

The key to successful swaps is certainly to have a friendly approach with lots of communication, and we always choose to exchange with like-minded people. We have found it excellent to talk on the telephone and to meet the other members if at all possible. We have been approached by people who we felt would not get on well in our cottage or where their offers did not appeal to us, and so we have declined gracefully so that they could contact other members. We have always known almost from the first message we received if it felt like a good match and that they would enjoy our cottage and location.

If you're thinking about home swapping, my advice is to go for it… you won’t regret it! We have loved our experiences and can’t wait for more - closer to home; Cumbria, Cornwall – already organised for 2023. Thank you Home Base Holidays… our best investment ever."

Sally Hadley

Photos from Sally's home swap in Australia

Sally's stone house in Gloucestershire

Bell Lane House was added to a much older house about 100 years ago. It is a lovely 3-bedroom stone built house with a garden overlooking the neighbouring church. It's in the centre of the small town of Minchinhampton, in the south west Cotswolds (the hilliest section). The ancient town is built on top of a ridge with wonderful views over the "golden valley", towards the river Severn and close to Stroud. An excellent location for walks in the beautiful countryside and there is a highly rated golf course nearby.

View Sally's home swap offer in the south west Cotswolds

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Home swap Q&A: worried about sharing too much?

Q: I've just signed up to Home Base Holidays and am very excited to start home swapping. However, I am new to this and slightly apprehensive about sharing personal details with other members. I'm probably overthinking it but guess I just need a little reassurance! Potentially, I am also open to an exchange of cars and bikes during a home exchange but again just need a little advice. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.

With best wishes, Jacky

A: It’s totally understandable to be apprehensive when planning your first home swap holiday. We’ve been running Home Base Holidays for over 30 years and over that time it’s extremely rare that we’ve been notified of any issues. Personal details such as your email address, phone number and post code are private and so only you can view this information in your listing. Also, details you add to your About Us page are only viewable to other current full members. Rest assured, we will never ever pass on any members’ details to a third party. However, it’s important to only add information to your listing / profile that you feel comfortable sharing. Obviously, listings with photos will attract the most interest but, if you’re not comfortable adding photos, you could always contact members you’re interested in swapping with and offer to send them photos of your home through the message area or via email.

It’s so nice to hear that you are potentially open to including your car and bikes as part of the swap – this can be an added bonus for many home swappers as well as another excellent holiday cost saving. If you do agree to swap cars, contact your motor insurance provider in good time to add your guest's name to the policy for the period of the exchange (if you'll be using their car, check that your guests add your name to their policy).

On the subject of insurance, it's important to contact your home insurance provider prior to agreeing a swap to confirm that your policy will cover the period your guests will be staying. There are also several specialist insurance companies that provide very reasonably priced top up cover for home swappers, contact us for details

Blog posts to help you get started on your home swap adventures:

Home Base Holidays: start home swapping

Sign up to Home Base Holidays and arrange home swap swap holiday accommodation for the new year. Save over 90% on the cost of your next holiday!

Search the latest home exchange holiday offers

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Tips for sending your first home swap holiday messages

Make a good impression: contact members to suggest a home swap holiday

Successful home swapping is based on good communication and trust. Therefore, when initially contacting members to suggest a home swap holiday, make sure to be friendly and warm so that you make a good first impression.

Your initial message does not need to be long or include lots of information, just a simple friendly first enquiry to gauge if the member would potentially be interested in a swap. It's good to draw attention to your location and suggest possible swap dates as, hopefully in doing so this will encourage the member to view your full home swap listing. Remember to personalise your message, mentioning what you like about their home and location (a little flattery never goes amiss!).

Example of a first home swap message:

"Hi Steve, would you be interested in a swap to our cottage this summer? It's a really peaceful location within the Snowdonia National Park (lovely walking trails nearby!). We're hoping to visit London for a week this summer (July or August) and your apartment in Battersea looks so lovely. We are a retired couple and can be quite flexible with our travel dates. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have and look forward to hearing from you soon. Many thanks, Joyce and Mike"

We all have our own styles, and so write in a way that's comfortable for you. Once you've found someone who would like to exchange with you, you can then go into much more detail as you both discuss and agree all key aspects of the swap. You can then set up a swap agreement through the Home Base Holidays website where you and your swap partner can enter details of what you've discussed and agreed (i.e. swap dates, who is travelling, how to exchange keys, what to do at the end of the swap, any special requirements, etc).

Finally... you can both enjoy fabulous free holiday accommodation! 😃

Important reminders:

Pet care / allergies: If you'll require pet care during the swap or if you suffer from allergies such as to dog or cat fur, mention this early in communications so that you don't waste each other's time if the proposed swap is not going to be suitable.

Reply to all messages: It's important home swap etiquette to reply to all messages you receive, even if just to say "Thank you for the offer but I'm not interested in the swap". The other member can then move on rather than waiting on your reply.

Remember, the most successful home swappers are often the most proactive, so browse home swap offers and start sending out your initial messages to suggest an exchange!

Join Home Base Holidays: start home swapping

Enjoy free holiday accommodation by arranging a home swap. Sign up to Home Base Holidays

Start swapping: browse home swap holiday offers

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Our fabulous home swap holiday in Northumberland

Home swap holiday offer in Northumberland

The Coach House: Susan and Jim's beautiful home in Northumberland

Home swap holiday to a lovely cottage surrounded by hillsides

"We had a fabulous 9 day home swap holiday staying in The Coach House, Susan and Jim's beautiful cottage in Northumberland. Their lovely rural cottage is surrounded by hillsides (and sheep!). We saw pheasants and also a hare wander past the cottage windows. Several small streams run through the property grounds and one tumbled behind our cottage - with the bedroom window open we could fall sleep to the sounds of moving water. Delightful!

The cottage was centrally located in Northumberland near Hadrian's Wall providing excellent walking, beauty, and history. We enjoyed visiting some of the local towns, and did a side trip to the NE coast of England, where we did a coastal walk to a castle. Just spectacular. We also went to the Lake District for an overnight stay. Just an incredibly gorgeous area. All of this could be done without a lot of driving.

Getting to Susan and Jim's was quite easy for us. We first flew to Edinburgh and explored the city a bit, and then hopped on a train to Haltwhistle which was only a few miles from our destination.

Susan and Jim were very easy to communicate with, extremely pleasant and easy going. We also swapped cars and all went really smoothly. Our home swap with Susan and Jum was a big success."

- Carol (Vermont, USA)