Travel the Home Exchange Way

Thinking about trying a home exchange vacation?

Amy's beautiful home near Lake Tahoe in Nevada, USA

Guest post by Home Base Holidays member and experienced home exchanger, Amy Davey:

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Thinking about trying home exchange travel? Home exchange is different from conventional hotel or rental travel where you simply select your dates and location and book a stay. A good home exchange means meeting the needs of both exchanging parties, establishing good communication and trust, and welcoming your exchange partner as a friend and guest in your home.

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Tips for attaining a home exchange:

• Be flexible

If you can only travel during the first week of August, your travel group is large, and you only want to visit one specific place, you are making it challenging to find an exchange. Kids in school? Perhaps the school would allow an “enrichment experience” and release them for travel. Not sure yet what your plans are for next year? Why not take the plunge and book an exchange…you can make your plans around it!

I have heard one exchanger say about the requests they receive: “I always try to find a way to say yes”.

• Be open

Maybe you’ve always wanted to visit Paris, or you dream to be in NYC on New Year’s Eve…and then you receive an exchange offer from Broughty Ferry, Scotland. Huh, where is that?! Well, it turned out to be a charming seaside village on the East coast of Scotland, and one of my favorite exchanges ever! Famous tourist destinations can be very difficult to secure an exchange with and may be best suited for booking a rental or hotel. Can you stay outside a big city? What about trying a place you never even dreamed of? Home exchange is all about the spirit of adventure…be adventurous!

• Be friendly!

Which home exchange request do you prefer: “Hi Amy, I would like to stay in your home on September 12-18. Can we exchange?” or “Hi Amy, I saw your beautiful home listing and would love to discover your area! My home is in a wonderful location that I think you would really enjoy. I notice your listing says you like music and art and there are a lot of options for you to explore in my area. Please take a look at my home and let me know if you are interested in discussing the possibility of an exchange!” Remember, home exchange is a very personal experience where you are trusting your home to another and they are doing the same for you. Read their listing carefully, be a good communicator, and get to know a bit about your exchange partner. You will find that you are more comfortable opening your home when you consider them a friend!

• Be tempting

Spend some time on your home exchange listing, describing your home and area and providing great photos. Include information on interesting attractions in your town or region, web links to tourist sites, suggestions for activities, the location of the nearest airport, and other helpful information to interest people in your area. Read through other home exchange listings for ideas on how to set up your own.

• Be realistic

Sometimes a “last-minute” exchange will work out for people, but most home exchanges involve planning and communication, and take some time to find and arrange. Start seeking a home exchange well in advance of when you hope to travel so you have plenty of time and flexibility to consider options and discuss your exchange partner’s needs. It is not a recipe for success to buy your plane tickets, join an exchange site, and then hope to arrange an exchange around your already established plans.

• Be proactive

It would be wonderful if you could post your home listing on one exchange site and watch the exchange offers start pouring in (you probably can if you live in NYC, London, Paris or other highly sought after areas!) but you should probably go a step further. Join more than one home exchange site and start sending requests. Home exchange is not as easy as booking a hotel or rental, it takes work, patience and time, but in the end can be a very rewarding way to travel!

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Meet home swapper, Amy:   Amy's originally from Canada but now lives in her beautiful large country home at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the American West. Located 20 minutes from Lake Tahoe, Reno and the old west town of Virginia City with numerous summer and winter activities from hiking, skiing and golf to casino shows, restaurants and nightlife.  Check out Amy's home swap offer in Nevada

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home swap: felt like we were exchanging with old friends

Barbara and Iain's beautiful London apartment

We love hearing about members' home swap experiences. Here's a recent trip report from Home Base Holidays member, Bernard, from his recent home swap staying in Barbara and lain's beautiful London apartment.

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"One of the lovely things about home exchanging is that, although you rarely meet the people you exchange with, while arranging your exchange you get to know the people you're exchanging with so well that they feel like old friends. So it was with Barbara and Iain, friends who would leave no stone unturned in making our holiday in their top floor luxurious flat hugely enjoyable. Their flat is truly lovely - big rooms with big windows overlooking well kept private gardens and the Thames river. At the end of their road is Hammersmith Bridge, walk across it and there is Hammersmith Bus Station and Underground. By tube central London is minutes away. Frequent local buses will take you into the tranquillity of Barnes village with its yesteryear collection of independent shops, its famous duck pond and a terrific Thai restaurant; to Richmond and Kew Gardens. On the river's towpath you will find some splendid old pubs including The Dove where it is claimed James Thomson wrote Rule Britannia. In Barbara and Alan's beautiful flat you really feel you are on top of the world - in absolute luxury you are sitting on top of the Thames, on top of London and on top of one of London's most beautiful and unspoilt villages. Thank you so much Barbara and lain!" - Bernard (Alicante, Spain)

 

Barbara and Alan's home in London

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Bernard's home in Alicante, Spain

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Meet the members
	Barbara and Iain (pictured): Beautiful apartment overlooking the Thames in fashionable Barnes, SW London. View Barbara and Iain's home swap in London Bernard: Luxury villa with private pool in Spanish village of Forna, Alicante. View Bernard's home swap off in Alicante

 

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Interested in home swapping? Sign up for free!

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange free accommodation by arranging a holiday home exchange. Sign up to the Home Base Holidays two-week free trial.

Brexit and travel? Good time to arrange a UK home swap

Arranging a home swap has always been a great way to dramatically reduce your holiday expenses as you totally cut out the costs of accommodation. However, with the value of the pound sterling falling in the seemingly never-ending Brexit muddle, now is an even better time to visit the UK, with more spending money to enjoy all the wonderful sights and attractions.

Live in the UK? Over the last five years we have seen a big rise in UK members arranging home swaps within the UK. However, if you still plan to travel abroad but are worried about the currency exchange rate, you can take comfort in the knowledge of saving a huge sum of money by choosing to swap homes rather than pay for hotel rooms or holiday rentals!

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Some UK home swap holiday offers to tempt you:

	Scottish Highlands: Dunnet Brough, Highlands, ScotlandThis gorgeous eco-friendly, architect designed home in Dunnet Brough, in the Scottish Highlands, is set on 5 acres of grassland and is only 75 meters from the sea. With stunning views across the Pentland Firth to the Orkney Islands from every room. View this home swap in Scotland
	English thatched cottage: 16th Century thatch cottage in a small English village next to Shakespeare's home town of Stratford-upon-Avon. The house is full of quirky and authentic features and has a fabulous floral/vegetable garden well stocked with salad leaves, tomatoes and plenty of herbs. View this home swap in Warwickshire
	Snowdonia, Wales: Ripon House is an 1830's, characterful, modernised, end-terraced house in the centre of a small Snowdonia village. It is only 3 mins walk from the lake, close to facilities, numerous tourist attractions, and at the start of paths to Mount Snowdon. Castles, beaches & coast are 20 mins drive away. View this Snowdonia home swap
	Central London: Light spacious Art Deco 1st floor apartment by beautiful Regents Park. Quiet, safe street. Friendly local cafes, food shops 2min. London's cultural attractions, art galleries, theatres and cinemas, Oxford Street or Bond Street for shopping, and mainline train stations all walking distance. View this home exchange in London
	Downpatrick, Northern Ireland: The area is steeped in history and there are museums, and historical sites too numerous to mention. It is a beautiful spot in the spring and summer especially, and sitting down on the decking by the pond and our little orchard of apple and pear trees is very relaxing in the long summer evenings. View this home swap in Northern Ireland

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• Browse thousands of Home Base Holidays offers in the UK and beyond

WIN a Kindle Paperwhite! Travel photography competition

Send us your best travel photos to be in a with chance of winning a Kindle Paperwhite (worth £119.99). Three runners up photos will be selected with the senders winning a one year home swap membership with Home Base Holidays (worth £49).

Choose photos that best encapsulate your travel experience; perhaps an off-the-tourist-trail discovery, or, if taken on a home swap, you or your family enjoying your hosts’ home or one of the highlights of the area.

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How to enter: If you're not yet a member first sign up to a free home swap trial membership Send us your favourite travel photos to [email protected] Include a description of the photos or a small trip report Closing date: 14th July 2019

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Previous winning photos:

On Canada Day ...some home swap offers to tempt you

Visit Canada: find your home swap accommodation

Happy Canada Day 2019! Wishing all our Canadian friends throughout the world a wonderful day. Looking to visit Canada? Here's a small selection of home exchange vacation offers available through Home Base Holidays:

	Quebec City: beautiful family home in one of the best location in Quebec city situated in the heart of Old Quebec, but on a back street away from the crowds. You can see the St. Lawrence River the minute you step out of the door. Horse-drawn carriages trot by the door. View this home swap in Quebec
	Vancouver Island: spacious home with ocean and mountain views. Located in beautiful Royal Bay, with sweeping ocean and mountain views. Harwood floors throughout the house, 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms. Well equipped kitchen, sliding door to huge sun deck with barbeque. View this Vancouver Island home swap
	Montreal: great house for families and couples. You will be charmed by this quiet house in a lively friendly neighbourhood. Located just steps from the Promenade Masson, where you can find great restaurants, cafés and shops. View this Montreal home swap
	Toronto: modern three bedroom house is in the north-central part of Toronto, but feels like a country property. Ten-minute walk to main street with chic shops, restaurants. Great neighbours. View this Toronto home swap
	Vancouver: stay in the fabulous luxury condo in West End, downtown Vancouver. View the sunsets, English Bay and the North Shore mountains from our southwest facing 15th floor condo in the West End of downtown Vancouver. View this Vancouver home swap

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Start swapping: search home swap offers worldwide through Home Base Holidays

Arranging a home swap: messaging etiquette

Be polite: make sure to reply to all home swap messages you receive

One of the the biggest frustrations faced when organising a home exchange is having slow replies or no replies to enquiry messages. At Home Base Holidays we always try to emphasise the importance of replying to all messages you receive even if just to say "Thanks for your offer but it is not what I am looking for". 

As mentioned, waiting on a reply to your home swap message can be very frustrating but try to be a little patient. Remember that some members may be very computer savvy and online throughout the day whereas others may only check their emails once or twice a week. There can of course be other reasons why a member might not be able to reply right away, such as:  they may be travelling and without internet access, they may be ill or have a family/work crisis, their computer might have crashed, your message alert might have ended up in their spam folder or the member may have just accidentally overlooked the message alert (see below "What should I do if I do not receive a reply?"). 

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Messaging etiquette:

Home Exchange offers received:

• Acknowledge all home exchange offers within a week of receipt. 
• Try to check your emails and/or the home swap site's messages every day if possible. 
• If you need time to think about an offer, reply to the member to let them know and try to give them a timescale for you to make a definite answer.
• If you are considering more than one exchange offer, make your decision as quickly as possible and let other members you have been communicating with know without delay. Let such members know if you would like to consider their offer, if available, at a later date.
• If a member fails to respond to your offer, or to follow up within the time frame agreed, re-send your offer (in case they missed your original message), with a note to say that you are looking forward to hearing soon whether or not they may be interested in your offer.

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Communication before a Home Exchange is agreed:

This is the period when regular communication is crucial so that each member knows the other is genuinely interested in pursuing the exchange.

• Agree to keep in regular contact (say a minimum of once every two weeks) - asking/answering questions, sharing information but, if nothing crops up, still send short notes regularly just to keep in touch.
• If you will be out of contact for awhile, let your exchange partner know when you will next be able to check email and respond to messages.
• Exchange alternative means of communication - phone, email, Skype, WhatsApp, etc
• Arranging consecutive swaps? If you plan to arrange two, three or even more consecutive home swaps, make sure all members you are communicating with are aware of this. Arranging more than one exchange requires a great deal of organisation and coordination.

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Period leading up to the Home Exchange:

• Once a home exchange has been agreed and you've set up your home exchange agreement form on the site, continue corresponding regularly as a reassurance that all is well. A lapse in communication, with no advance notice, could be an early warning of a problem. 
• Never cancel an agreed home exchange (the only exception to this is a serious illness or death in the family, or unforeseen situations such as a fire or natural disaster). In the unlikely event you do have to break a firm agreement, let your exchange partners know immediately and do all you can to help them with alternative accommodation (if you cannot find suitable alternative accommodation, at least agree to share the cost of a rental).
• Continue to respond promptly to any further exchange offers you receive. If any are of interest, suggest an exchange at a later date. If unable to consider further exchange offers at this time, go to Home Base Holidays and log in to your member area, and select "Exchange Arranged" next to your listing.

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What should I do if I do not receive a reply?

• Swap agreed: if you've agreed a swap but are now unable to get in touch with the member through the swap site, try contacting the member via their email or phone number. If you do not have their email or phone number, get in touch with us at Home Base Holidays and we will try to contact them for you. 
• First enquiry message: be patient and give them up to a week to reply. If after a week you have still not received a response, try sending a follow up message. If you still do not get a response, either choose to move on or, if particularly interested in the home swap offer, contact us at Home Base Holidays and we will try to get in touch with the member for you. 

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Swap homes: free vacation accommodation Interested in home swapping? Browse thousands of home exchange vacation offers Join for free! Start your free two-week home swap trial. Join Home Base Holidays