Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Seaside Home Swaps

'We are open to offers for a house swap and various durations providing it is near the sea or water...ideally, with consistent wind and waves!'

Many home exchangers like to swap to homes near the sea but Kirsty, a recent Home Base Holidays member, whose home is on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, has a particularly good reason to want to be close to the sea:

'Myself and my boyfriend are professional Kitesurfers so we spend a lot of time travelling to competitions around the world, doing photo shoots and travel stories. Richard, my boyfriend, is also a professional watersports photographer which enables us to work and travel together. We normally spend a few months of the year in Lanzarote training and doing photos for our sponsors or whenever we have free time. I'm from Wales and my family is based there so I go home as much as possible.'

Kirsty's home:

A spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom duplex situated in the peaceful, unspoilt naturist seaside village of Charco del Palo on Lanzarote. The duplex has sea views in the front and to the left and views of the mountains to the right.

See the full home exchange offer and more photos, HE18764, and visit Kirsty's website.

Swapping Homes with the Same Family More than Once (plus: Making Home Exchange Plans Well in Advance)

Nancy, an experienced home exchanger from Albany, Oregon, writes:

'I am a single retired lady, just turned 70. I have done three house exchanges with the same family in England. I will be traveling with my adult daughter for about six weeks in 2007. We want to do an exchange during the last half of July and all of August. I love my home and will love and care for yours. I dearly love Yorkshire and would like to arrange an exchange there. You will LOVE Oregon.'

It is great to hear when members swap homes with the same family more than once as this indicates how successful the exchanges were for both parties. Going back to the same home for a second or third time is like meeting old friends and going 'home'. For her next exchange in summer 2007, Nancy wants to exchange to the North of England (particularly Yorkshire) or Southwestern Scotland. As, like all good home exchangers, Nancy likes to have a firm agreement to exchange well in advance of her travel dates, she hopes to find a suitable home swap partner in the UK within the next few weeks. Her home and area:

'Two story modern house in Albany, in a lovely valley between two mountain ranges, one volcanic. Two hours to coast and mountains. Many famous covered wooden bridges nearby. Spectacular western scenery. Oregon is noted for rivers, forests, beaches and mountains; world famous flora and fauna. There are wonderful things to do in summer. Good shopping, restaurants. Indian Pow Wows and wineries nearby. Good local theater. Idea climate in summer: sunny, warm; seldom have rain.'

See Nancy's detailed description and more photos. Note: If you are already a Home Base Holidays member, log on to view her full listing, HE17903. Not a member? Join now and, if interested in her exchange offer, contact Nancy without delay.

Be a Thoughtful Traveller: Leave a Lighter Footprint on the Earth

According to WWF's Living Planet Report 2006 published this week (the group's biennial statement on the state of the natural world), we are now using the planet's resources at an unprecedented rate, far faster than they can be renewed. In short, we are on course to make ourselves and every other species extinct unless we (in the West particularly where we currently consume much more than our fair share of the world's resources) take drastic action to reduce our impact.

For travellers, used to low air fares in the last few years, this means thinking about whether we really need to travel (especially by air) as frequently or as far as we may have become used to doing. Swapping homes is an ecologically sound way to travel as far as accommodation goes as home exchangers make use of homes that would otherwise stand empty while the owners are away, rather than contribute to the growth of more hotels and all their inherent wastefulness. Having a home as a base to come back to also encourages home exchangers to take short day trips within an area, returning 'home' every night, rather than travel long distances every day (a home exchanger is usually not a 'If it's Tuesday, it must be Paris' type of traveller who may see more places, but only very superficially).

Many home exchangers now arrange swaps closer to home and, when they do travel further on an exchange, try to do at least some of it in a less environmentally damaging way, using trains rather than planes whenever possible. Unless a member of the exchange party has particular needs that make it difficult to travel by bus, train or subway, there is generally no advantage in having use of a car when swapping to a home in a large city that has a good public transport system.

Travel is important to help us learn about other countries and cultures and become more tolerant, open minded people but it is a privilege and we all have a responsibility, in a world of limited resources, to travel thoughtfully and frugally, leaving as little impact on the environment in the places we visit as possible.

Wonderful People and First-rate Home Exchangers

Here's some more nice feedback received after publication of the Oct/Nov issue of Home Swappers. This is from Gillian who was commenting on the feature article in the newsletter, 'The Kindness of Strangers: a Home (Non) Swap Story' by Home Base Holidays member, Londoner, Rianna Scipio (HE15124). Gillian wrote:

"May I add my 'Ron and Joan' chapter to Rianna's story of her home exchange to Felton, Santa Cruz? A year ago we were in Ron and Joan's home for 6 weeks whilst they were in our place for 4 weeks. I can only reiterate how very kind and hospitable they are. They were happy to come back, stay in their trailer/with relations and leave us to continue our holiday in their home. We even met for lunch and then went our separate ways. I believe they visited Rianna whilst they were in our home. They are wonderful people and first-rate exchangers." - Gillian (Note: Gillian has recently moved home but says she'll soon be ready to list her new home for exchange).

When such wonderful comments are received from more than one member, we can be sure that Ron and Joan make their home exchange guests feel more than welcome and are both generous and hospitable.  A short extract from their current exchange offer:

California ranch style home on 2 acres. 10-15 minute drive to Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk, 1 hour drive to Monterey/Carmel, 1 1/4 hour drive to San Francisco, 2 hours to wine country.

Do read their listing in full, HE12371

Arranging an Overlap with Home Exchange Guests

One of the advantages of publishing a regular newsletter is that it is a reminder to lapsed Home Base Holidays members to renew their subscriptions if they're now ready to arrange further home swaps. Members and subscribers also often send useful feedback, sometimes comments on articles published in the most recent issue of Home Swappers, and sometimes just to let me know about their latest home exchange experiences. One such message came from a long-time New Zealand member after the Oct/Nov issue of the newsletter was published:

'We are presently thoroughly enjoying our second holiday this year, this time in Cape Cod, New England. It is even more beautiful than we imagined and our swappers are wonderful. We were able to come here a few days before they left for NZ so that they could show us their home and its idiosyncrasies and we could explain ours to them. They even arranged a dinner party for us to meet some neighbours and prospective bridge players. Today we have been kayaking on one of the amazing waterways here and enjoying the autumn sun and colours. We will return in time to spend a few days with them in NZ before they have to return. Without this (Home Base Holidays) website neither of us could have enjoyed such a great holiday. Thank you again.' - Jan

It's always great to receive such lovely, positive feedback! Jan has made a very good point about the benefits of overlapping (when this is possible) with exchange partners as both may feel more comfortable leaving their home in the care of people they have actually met and got to know. As Jan says, it's also good to be able to show each other how to operate appliances and generally show them the ropes, especially the little quirks that most homes seem to have - much easier to describe how to deal with these in person than to try to write it all down succinctly in the Reference Folder you leave for your exchange guests.

See Jan's attractive home exchange offer in Auckland, New Zealand, HE13992. Note: Jan's exchange partners' membership is currently lapsed (Home Base Holidays listings are hidden on the expiry date if not renewed before) and so I won't include a link to their exchange offer in Eastman, MA as, until the members, who are also experienced exchangers, are ready to renew, a link to their listing won't work!

Illustrating Home Exchange Offers: A Picture Paints a Thousand Words ...

... but it isn't always easy to take photos that do justice to a home. Most Home Base Holidays members do add photos to their listings, which is good as an illustrated exchange offer is always more appealing than one without photos.

The majority of members add a variety of photos - some outside views of a home and garden, others taken in various rooms in the home. Apart from a very few outside photos that seem to have been taken on the dullest, greyest day of the year, most home exterior shots are very good indeed. It's much more problematic getting the best results with interior shots. I am a very amateur point and shoot type of photographer but, from my own many mistakes, a common problem with interior shots seems to be with those that are taken during the day, using flash, and facing towards bright daylight through a window. Taken from this direction the whole window area can appear washed out while the rest of the room may look dark.

As digital cameras make it easy to take as many photos as you want until you are happy with the results, it's a good idea to take several shots of each room, in various lights and from different angles, until you get one that both looks good and shows your room well. Unless composed carefully, trying to take in too much may make a room, especially an open plan space, appear too busy or even cluttered. Although the aim is to give an idea of a room's layout and furnishings, it can sometimes work best if you concentrate on one section of the room, perhaps focussing on a special feature such as an attractive period fireplace or a cosy dining area.

The photo above (of a home in San Diego, California, in the historic neighborhood of Point Loma) is a good example of using lighting well to highlight one section of a room. The photo shows that furnishings are in keeping with the Spanish Revival style of the home, even if only a small part of the living room/hall is clearly visible.

Also see this listing for another attractive house available for exchange in Auckland, New Zealand - this photo shows the bright and airy living room and, when you check out the member's full listing, you will see that all photos have been thoughtfully composed, each concentrating on a particular area in a room or outside the home.

Perhaps there are some keen photographers reading this who could offer more tips to home exchangers on how to get the best results when taking photos of their homes?