Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

'Home sweet Rome? Home exchanging works through trust and respect'

Nick Jenkins, journalist and recent Home Base Holidays member, wrote an article, published by icHounslow on 28 January, on his first home exchange to Italy last summer. Nick wrote:

'..... We had heard about house exchanges but it was only one autumn evening after a glass or two of wine that we decided to take it further.

We began by signing up with Home Base, an internet-only agency. For a £29 annual subscription, our carefully-worded description of our house - with a picture taken on a sunny day - was rapidly posted on their website.

We were astonished by the almost instant response. Within days we had received offers from all over the world - including a family wanting to swap their extraordinary-sounding home in the Mojave desert for our suburban south London terrace.

We decided, perhaps not very adventurously, to restrict our first swap to somewhere accessible by a budget airline. So that ruled out the desert.'.....

Read Nick's full article on his family's home exchange to Rome.

Exchanging Homes: With an 'Overgrown Hippie'?!

A little taster from the Feb/Mar issue of Home Swappers Newsletter due out next week:

'.... The final twist in the tale came when we tried to access the answering machine (this was some years ago, and we weren't au fait with the complicated monster). We fiddled around, as there were no instructions, to no avail. As the exchanger had said he would be able to access it from GB, we felt it shouldn't be beyond us. It was!!  This really was the last straw and we sat in the kitchen having a monumental moan. Of course, we had no idea that our interference with the machine had left its tape recording OUR conversation!!!!  Can imagine the householder's chagrin when he learnt his home was "Like the worst student house. Who would have a poster of Che Guevara on his living room wall except an overgrown hippie?" No, neither could we!!!'

... until next week! Read previous issues and/or subscribe to Home Swappers Newsletter.

UK - France Home Swap on French TV: Participants Wanted

TF1, French Television (the equivalent of BBC1 in France), is planning to film a short feature on home exchanges between English and French people. Lamia Cherki, TF1 London based producer, has asked for Home Base Holidays members who have already arranged exchanges between the UK and France this year (or who are planning to), to get in touch if interested in possibly taking part. Lamia writes:

'This story would be broadcast during our evening news in France and would last about two minutes. It may sound short but it still takes a lot of time to organise and film! What we are looking at is to film the French family as they arrive and settle down in their "new property" in England and at the same time film the English family enjoying their cheese and red wine in their new home in France.

Our London team would film in England and our Paris crew would do the filming in France. We will need to have the agreement of both families. To reassure you, we would only spend a little time with each family and so would not spoil your holidays! Last summer we did a story on English people going on summer holidays to the south of France which was very nice. The home exchange story will be treated in the same friendly spirit.'

If you are a Home Base Holidays member and would like to find out more or have any questions, please contact us and your message will be forwarded to Lamia who will reply to you directly.

Offering a Home for Rental Rather than Home Exchange

Q: I have a 4 bedroom house to let for the week of the 134th British Open Golf Championship at St Andrews, sleeping 6 to 8 people, situated 5 minutes from the Old Course.

If you have any interest in this or can suggest which organisations may be interested in this please contact me and I will provide a full accommodation schedule and rates. - Anthony B., Scotland

A: The majority of Home Base Holidays members hope to arrange direct home exchanges but rental offered of a home or second home (i.e. non commercial) is another option that is available. Members who are unable to arrange the exchange they want will often be open to rental offers in the location. So, although Home Base Holidays is not a specialist rental site, you could certainly list your home and, as it is available for a popular local event, it is very likely you would find interest. If you do decide to join, complete the membership form with details of your home but, in the destination box, include Rental only (British Open Golf Championship) and select the dates and one week period. Include information on the accommodation and rates in your listing. Note: you can always change your offer to home exchange later on during your membership.

If you do a search on the web, you may also find a holiday rental site that specialises in Scottish or golf locations that would be a good place to also list your home.

Home Exchange Travel: Weblog Reviews

Well, how are we doing so far? I only started this blog in early September 2004 but it seems like it has been part of my life forever! Blogging is great for people who enjoy writing (and, by the large number of weblogs out there, there are a lot of us about) but, with a blog like Travel the Home Exchange Way, it is important to know if it is serving it's purpose, i.e. addressing issues related to home exchange vacations in a clear and informative way.

I came across a website this week, The Weblog Review, which does exactly what it says - provides a very useful weblog review service, with a large number of volunteers writing reviews of new weblogs submitted every week.

When starting the home exchange weblog, I believed that most visitors would be Home Base Holidays members, Home Swappers subscribers and people aware of the idea of home swapping already but who wanted more information before trying it out themselves. The visitors I hadn't really anticipated are those that happen upon the weblog, perhaps when searching for something else, and who need a good, concise description of home exhange to be tempted to spend time reading the posts to find out more. This is what was especially useful in the feedback provided by the three reviewers from The Weblog Review who all took the time to give thoughtful comments; none of the three had heard of home exchange vacations before and, for this reason, their feedback is particularly valuable - I plan to address a couple of points they raised very soon!

The other reasons I was pleased to find this service is that, from having read quite a number of weblogs, I get the feeling that bloggers my age (i.e. well over 55) are in a small minority and that younger bloggers will often have much more experience both of designing/writing weblogs and regularly visiting others. It's nice to learn from the young! Here are quotes from each review (read full reviews of Travel the Home Exchange Way on The Weblog Review):

'I really enjoyed this site a lot. I learned a lot about home exchanging and it was really useful to hear about other people’s experiences. It gives insight to the issues that arise when exchanging homes and also all of the preparation that goes into it. It sounded like it would be a unique experience and great alternative to staying in a hotel. "Travel the Home Exchange Way" is very useful if you’re interested or are currently someone who does home exchanging. Great site.' - reviewed on 2005-01-21 by imelda

'A nice, clean, well-organized blog, Travel the Home Exchange Way is written by Lois Sealey and is an excellent source of all things "house swapping." This is a very short review for this site, but suffice it to say more informational blogs like this are needed for niche markets such as the home exchangers. What a great way to get information and be able to leave feedback on your experience. Well done, Lois.' - reviewed on 2005-01-21 by SJtheMom

'Now, I haven't really thought of Home Exchange but from the articles and entries that I have read, I am certainly interested in the idea of it. And I think that the blog itself is informative enough to hold the attention of someone who is even somewhat interested in Home Exchange. This site is a great one to visit especially if the idea of swapping houses is not one that makes you turn away with an unpleasant feeling. I recommend this blog to anyone interested in the idea. Of course, owning your home would be a plus.' - reviewed on 2005-01-21 by jade smith

Exchange or Hospitality Needed in London: for Home in Indiana, 8-22 March

Cheeba, a recent Home Base Holidays member, writes:

'We are new to home exchange and posted an offering quite late for our upcoming trip to England Mar. 8 - 22  (to visit our daughter who is studying in London until April). We are sooooo desperate for either a hospitality home or an exchange. I have emailed several members but so far have not had a positive reply. Perhaps it is because we are in the Midwest USA and not on either coast? The fares are great at Travelocity (link to UK site) right now to our area. We booked our flight for five for about $338 ea. including taxes!'

This is a wonderful suburban country tri-level home on 2 acres next to 10 acres of a private hardwood and pine forest; shared 2 acre stocked lake; boats, water toys, fishing gear.

Evansville, IN, pop. 170,000, is on the Ohio River in the heart of the beautiful Midwest USA; within three hours drive-time to exciting cities such as Louisville, KY, Nashville, TN, St. Louis, MO and Indianapolis, IN. It is 5 1/2 hrs. to Chicago. Ski resort is 1 1/2 hrs. away.

Check out the Sobotka family's full exchange offer, HE16117 (current Home Base Holidays members, logon to view the listing. Send the family an exchange or hospitality offer today!)