Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

'Brave New Traveler': Sound Like a Home Exchanger?

I recently discovered an excellent travel blog, Brave New Traveler. I suggested to the Editor, Ian MacKenzie, that home exchange would make a perfect topic for a blog which is described as an 'on-line travel magazine for the 21st century, offering tips and advice on all types of travel', and Ian immediately responded - positively - even providing a good idea for a post which I published earlier this week, Six Good Reasons to Try a Home Exchange.

Do check out Ian's post, '6 Convincing Reasons To Try A Home Exchange', and the rest of this well written, informative and constantly updated site.

If you haven't tried home exchange yet you may, indeed, think of home swappers as 'brave new travellers'! That's the reason for this blog, Travel the Home Exchange Way - to provide lots of information about swapping homes as a holiday option to, hopefully, remove any apprehension or concerns you may have. You don't need to be brave to be a home exchanger, just an independent traveller willing to make some effort to arrange an exchange, be open to new experiences and genuinely interested in learning about a locality and living like a local wherever in the world your travels take you.

Extras to Offer Home Exchange Guests

'Join the Zoo in the Place You are Visiting', an excellent article by Jill Browne, BellaOnline's Budget Travel Editor, was a good incentive to remind home exchange members to look beyond their homes and cars at additional facilities they can offer to share with home swap partners. Perhaps you belong to a theatre that provides tickets at discounted rates, a golf club, a local children's group, or maybe you subscribe to a local listings magazine that would be useful for your exchange guests when planning outings while in your home?

Check out BellaOnline Budget Travel Site to read more of Jill's articles. Budget Travel also has a very active forum.

Six Good Reasons to Try a Home Exchange

Sometimes it's a good idea to get back to basics. So, if you are new to the idea of swapping homes, here's a brief list of reasons why you may like to consider trying a home exchange yourself. This list could be much longer but these are the most common reasons given by Home Base Holidays members for taking part in home exchanges:

1. Saves money

Arranging a home exchange cuts out hotel bills, usually the most expensive part of a trip. As well as having a rent-free home as a base, many home exchange offers include extras such as cars, club memberships and generally lots of local information to save you needing to buy many guide books and maps. Living in a real home means having a fully equipped kitchen too so that not all meals need be taken in expensive restaurants.

'"As an Australian," wrote a reader from Down Under, "my dollar goes even less far than yours. And so I used a home exchange for my lodgings, which I obtained by going to an agency based in London, www.homebase-hols.com. I had a wonderful time in London and also saved money by cooking in a well-equipped kitchen (I liked shopping in the local markets and little shops) and could afford to splurge once in a while on great meals out."' (from 'Six ways to offset the high cost of accommodations in Europe' by Arthur Frommer).

2. Experience life as a local

'Mixing and mingling with the locals will give you a real sense of what it is like to live there. You could never get that unique "local" feeling in a hotel.' (from article, 'Home Exchange Vacations Offer Unique & Free Lodging' on Everyone Loves To Travel)

'See Malaysia and experience the life of a society that is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural. Taste our delicious food and meet our warm respectful people. Learn batik painting and test your skills (DIY set provided). Crockery, groceries, linen, clothes to wear are provided. Use everything found in the house please.' (Ramlah, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. See Ramlah's exchange offer).

3. For children - toys, books, local playmates, babysitters and more

'As a family, we have stayed in many different types of homes and neighbourhoods and had experiences we would never have had if we not been on a home exchange. My children still talk about the open air cinema in Switzerland (the tickets were left as a gift), the ice cream they received from the kindly neighbour during the heatwave in France, the children who came to call when we stayed in Ireland, the invite we received from our exchange partners' friends in Canada to use their pool, the neighbours who called with fish from their fishing trip, etc.' (Joanne, Gwynedd, North Wales. See Joanne's exchange offer).

4. Space and convenience of staying in a home

'We arrived at the house in France late on a Saturday. The house was amazing. As we entered the kitchen, I exclaimed, "Goodness, their kitchen is nearly as big as our downstairs!" The house was lovely, in a beautifully quiet situation, no passing traffic, we hardly heard any cars, just the odd tractor now and again. We love peace and quiet and spent many days sitting reading under the trees or swimming in the small pool.' (Kathy, formerly from Devon, England; moved to a new home in Poitou-Charentes, France after this home exchange. See Kathy's exchange offer).

5. Home exchangers are often happy to look after plants and pets

'I love animals. I used to have horses and help on a farm and have a dog at home with my parents so I would be more than happy to look after any animals you might have.' (Kirsty, Lanzarote, Canary Islands. See Kirsty's exchange offer).

'We love our life out here in the peace and quiet and are trying "the good life!" We have 3 free range hens, 3 big dogs (that will love you to death!), 2 cats, a rabbit, a guniea pig and many fish!' (Gill, Malaga, Spain. See Gill's exchange offer).

6. A greener way to travel

'Actually, there are also deeper layers of thought to the home exchange idea. When you think about global waste and conservation, the idea of combining resources with other people on the globe has more merits than those you experience on a personal level. Think of all the hotel sheets and towels that are washed every day; of the low-paid hotel workers (often foreigners); of the huge and wasteful industry that has grown around the needs of people who want to experience a holiday in a different country.' (from 'Home Away From Home', article by Ruti Singer).

Home Exchange Wanted - No Children, Hot Location: So Would Two Sets of Triplets or a Snow House Do?

The question of carefully targeting home exchange members, only sending exchange offers to those most likely to be interested, crops up quite often. I addressed this most recently in an answer to an enquirer's question on whether Home Base Holidays allowed members to send the same message to several members at once (no!), Home Exchange Offers: Mass Mailings vs Personalised Messages. A retired member, who makes it clear in her exchange listings (house in a village in W. Sussex, England and a penthouse flat in southern Spain) that she and her husband want to swap with other similar couples without children, received one exchange offer that seemed particularly poorly targeted:

'We once had an American lady trying to convince us that her two sets of triplets aged 2 and 4 were no trouble at all!!'

Proactively contacting members with your exchange offer rather than waiting to be contacted is a good thing. But, you do need to use common sense rather than adopt a scatter gun approach to the members you contact. Read every listing of interest carefully and take note of each member's exchange requests and any particular needs so that you can gauge whether your offer is likely to be of interest before contacting them.

The same member quoted above, commented on another home exchange offer received some years ago:

'A Danish couple offered us their snow house up in the mountains. Not accessible by road but snow shoes provided, and use of snowmobile.'

This does sound like a fun offer. Even though it wasn't well targetted when the couple had indicated that they wanted to exchange to somewhere hot, this member was tempted 'until my husband reminded me I was in my late 50's, totally unfit and have never skiied in my life! So we gave it up reluctantly').

Save Money on Phone Calls While on a Home Exchange in Europe

In the past (and probably still for many home exchangers) the easiest, and cheapest, way of making phone calls back home was to use their exchange partners' home phone. Generally this works well, and Home Base Holidays members often arrange to have a separate phone bill to cover the period of an exchange. Then, at the end of the exchange, the amounts owed by each for phone calls can be compared, with the member owing most reimbursing the other for the outstanding amount.

In these days, when most home exchangers will have mobile (cell) phones, it is generally much more convenient to use your own phone rather than the phone in your exchange home. However, one of the problems with using mobiles abroad for many has been the often quite exorbitant call charges. These charges seem about to change here in the UK, and I expect in other countries as well, but it's always wise to check the cost of overseas calls beforehand so you don't get a nasty shock when you arrive back home and receive your phone bill.

I have received the following information about a new company, Call-In-Europe, which sounds like a good way for Americans visiting Europe to save money on phone calls:

'Until recently, Americans traveling in Europe have had to jump through hoops to stay in touch with people via cellphone. Sure you can email, but it's nice to just be able to pick up the phone and call home. Another factor that has deterred many people are the high prices, especially for using their cell phones overseas.

Americans are still unaware of the options that lie open to them while traveling in Europe. One option for travelers is to use their own GSM compatible phones. While this is an okay option, the costs can be enormous. Huge roaming fees and surcharges are applied to international plans outside of the US. And remember, this option is contingent on actually having a GSM compatible cell phone to begin with.

While most American carriers offer rates starting at .99 cents a minute to Europe, a new company called Call-In-Europe offers rates as low as .39 cents/minute. The daily rental is $2.99 (compared to Mobal’s which is $6.99). You will receive your own European phone number, accept free incoming SMS and be able to use roll over minutes for the next time you visit. (This is also not a call-back service).

If you’re traveling within Europe, rates are .49 cents. Due to CIE’s good relationships with Vodafone, your call won’t drop and it will sound like you’re next door.'

For full information on the service, visit Call-In-Europe.

The Kindness of Home Exchangers

'I have come to appreciate that the process of home exchange is more than just about exchanging your home and how tidy you find it on your return. When you exchange homes you often experience a kindness and level of trust that so often feels in short supply in today's busy world. When else would you freely hand over the keys to your home, invite people you may never meet to sleep in your bed and use your car? As a family, we have stayed in many different types of homes and neighbourhoods and had experiences we would never have had if we not been on a home exchange. My children still talk about the open air cinema in Switzerland (the tickets were left as a gift), the ice cream they received from the kindly neighbour during the heatwave in France, the children who came to call when we stayed in Ireland, the invite we received from our exchange partners' friends in Canada to use their pool, the neighbours who called with fish from their fishing trip, etc.

Since exchanging my home I have come to realise that these acts of kindness and the diversity of experience offered are what's really important. I think home exchange is a great concept and I know that we could never imagine a better way of seeing and experiencing the world.' - Joanne, HE8441

See Joanne's Exchange Offer in Ceunant, Gwynedd, North Wales, HE8441

Read Joanne's full article in the June/July issue of Home Swappers Newsletter (and sign up to receive the bi-monthly newsletter).