Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Fiction: More than a Home Swap - a 'Life Swap'!

'Life Swap is the story of what really happens when two women, both of whom think their happiness lies somewhere else, decide to walk in one another's shoes for one month. It's the story of the grass not being as green as you might think, and of discovering that happiness is not always where you expect it to be.'

Life Swap by Jane Green is just out in paperback in the UK, £6.99, and will be published in hardback in the USA on 20 June (under the title, Swapping Lives). This sounds a good read while on a home exchange holiday - much easier to exchange homes and lifestyles temporarily than to swap complete lives!

Perfect Home Exchange Visitors: and an Advantage of Non-Simultaneous House Swaps

Some home exchangers meet by arranging an overlap at one of the homes at the beginning of the exchange, others meet briefly at airports, while many don't manage to meet at all. However, for those home swappers who are able to do non-simultaneous exchanges, there is often more opportunity to meet and spend some time together. This is the case with Home Base Holidays members, Eveline and John, from New Zealand. The couple got to know, and like, their English visitors who stayed in their home in Auckland on the first leg of the exchange. They comment:

'We have last week said a sad farewell to our swappers who had our house for two months and who were, we are sure, the very best we could ever have - very friendly, meticulous as far as our house was concerned, excellent company, and full of praise for absolutely everything they saw and did whilst here. What more could we have wanted! We shall be living in their home this coming July and August, and hope we can live up to their standards. So, off to an excellent start and long may it continue.'

I'm sure that Eveline and John will be equally thoughtful visitors while living in their exchange partners' in the UK this summer. The couple were anxious not to overlook renewing their Home Base Holidays membership as they are already looking forward to their next swap! Check out their attractive home exchange offer in Auckland:

The house, just over 50 years old, is situated in a quiet cul-de-sac; local shops with supermarket and bank close by, beaches about 10 minutes away and centre city 15 minutes. Read full details and see more photos, HE16888

Allergic to Cats (or Anything Else)? Make it Clear in Your Home Exchange Offer

Ella recently joined Home Base Holidays, offering her lovely Victorian house in the English Cotswolds for exchange. A sentence in Ella's listing prompted a reminder to other home swappers to be very clear when communicating with potential home exchange partners if you or a family member has any allergies - and also to let people know if pets normally live in your home even if they will be cared for elsewhere during an exchange. Ella wrote:

'We have a guinea pig but he can go to friends so it won't be a problem if you don't want him. I am allergic to cats big time so can't swap with anyone who has a cat unfortunately.

' Our home is a semi detached Victorian terrace (part of the old School) with nice wooden shutters. Chipping Norton is a beautiful Cotswold town, small and safe, a nice area with lovely shops, places to eat and our house is almost opposite a very large park with children's area.' See her full exchange offer, HE18181

'Church bells, horses trotting past the window, hikers in the fields, farm animals and wild animals': a Home Swap Offer in Rural England

Following on from a post last week, Travelling to Meet New People and Experience Different Cultures: an Ideal Home Exchanger!, here's Polly's description of her home available for exchange:

'Spacious 100 yr old stone farmhouse in idyllic country setting three miles north of Bath. Features include stone fireplaces, wood beams, panoramic views, two sitting rooms, a large kitchen (which used to be a barn) with a table that sits eight quite comfortably, and some eccentrically decorated bedrooms.'

and the local area:

'Located in a small village community with a church and a primary school. Church bells, horses trotting past the window, hikers in the fields, farm animals and wild animals can all be found here. The magic of it is though, that "here" is both in the middle of nowhere and in the centre of everything! Owning a car is more of an easy way out than a necessity as civilisation in the shape of a bus stop is only a 20 minute walk away. From there, a very regular bus service will take you into Bath town centre in 10 minutes and the bus and rail stations in 15.'

Read the full home exchange offer and see more photos, HE18033

Swapping a Second Home? Don't Limit Your Exchange Options and Choices

An enquirer last week, interested in swapping her holiday home, asked if it was better to look for a home exchange site exclusively for second home owners than to list her home with an inclusive, established service like Home Base Holidays.

Home exchange is a niche in the travel market and there are some very good long established small 'niche within the niche' sites (such as specialist home swapping services exclusively for teachers or gays). However, many Home Base Holidays members offer second homes for exchange anyway, often along with their primary homes. There really don't seem any rational reasons to limit exchange possibilities by restricting offers to other second home owners only.

Home exchangers are primarily looking for homes in countries/areas they are interested in rather than whether a home is a primary or second home. Provided it suits their needs, most are happy to swap their main (often, only) home for another member's second home. Perhaps it may be thought that second homes will be located in more desirable vacation areas than primary homes. This is hardly the case though as many people live permanently in areas with much to offer visitors, whether near beaches, in attractive rural villages or in popular large cities.

It is true that second home owners are more often able to consider non-simultaneous exchanges (i.e. can make their holiday homes available on dates to suit their exchange partners rather than exchange at the same time), but, again, even this is not exclusive to those with second homes!

Perhaps the best way to illustrate how making a second home available to more than other second home owners increases your choice of exchange offers is to show a few examples. The members below all joined Home Base Holidays on the same day last week. None of the homes listed are second homes but all are located in attractive areas - and the first one offers non-simultaneous exchanges too.

If you do want to check for other second homes available it is easy to do so as these have a small '2 in a house' symbol beside the summary listings in search results. To check members interested in non-simultaneous exchanges, use Advanced Search; choose Non Simultaneous Exchange from the drop down Type of Exchange list.

Sample Home Exchange Offers

Gold Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA - Absolute waterfront home. Catch fish from your front door! Own pontoon and boats set in lawn and palm trees. 5 kms from Surfers Paradise by boat/road. Completely private yet minutes to nightlife, restaurants, surf beaches and marinas. Close to several international golf courses. 20 minutes from hinterland wine and food trails, bush walks. 1 1/2 hour drive to Byron Bay. Complete holiday destination. 45mins Brisbane. See full exchange offer and more photos, HE18168

Redondo Beach, California, USA - A remodeled bungalow located in Redondo Beach. We are a 15 minute walk from the Pacific Ocean, with exceptional beaches, shops and a wide selection of restaurants. We are approx. 10 miles south of Los Angeles International airport, 17 miles south of Santa Monica and about a 45 minute drive from Disneyland. Santa Barbara and San Diego are about 2 hours away. See full exchange offer and more photos, HE14981

Edinburgh, Lothian, SCOTLAND - Gorgeous Victorian terraced two storey house, full of period features. You will love staying in this beautiful house! Centrally located wih frequent bus services to all the tourist sights such as Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood House, Princes Street, Botanical Gardens and Arthurs Seat. Our city hosts the world famous Edinburgh Festival and Fringe in August. Enjoy the wonderful variety of eateries, leisure facilities, theatres, cinemas and shopping. See full exchange offer and more photos, HE18156

'How to Prevent Lost Luggage': Article on BellaOnline

Having just bought a new suitcase (black again, but with silver coloured trimming) I am hoping this combination isn't the 'new black' when it comes to finding my suitcase on the luggage carousel. Maybe that person who isn't ashamed to admit to owning the bright florescent pink number is pretty smart! This thought came to mind when I was reading an excellent new article, 'How to Prevent Lost Luggage' by Kimberly Button, BellaOnline's Budget Travel Editor. Kimberly wrote:

'Buy luggage in any shade other than black. It’s difficult to search through a pile of lost luggage to find the hundredth rolling black bag, but it’s easy for an airline agent to spot a bright pink suitcase and expedite the return of your luggage.'

Having worked as a customer service agent with an airline, Kimberly knows exactly the mistakes that can cause luggage to go missing and quotes a figure announced by baggage tracking firm Sita of over 30 million bags lost or mishandled by airlines worldwide in 2005.

One of the advantages of arranging a home exchange vacation is that, should the worst happen and your luggage fail to turn up, you should at least be able to 'borrow' some essential things, and easily launder your clothes, in your temporary home away from home.

Do read Kimberly's article in full for excellent practical suggestions for both reducing the chances of losing your luggage and minimising problems should the worst happen, and also the steps to take to expedite the return of lost luggage. Note: Kimberly is also the author of The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook