Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

From the Snow to the Sun …. Home Exchange, a Way to Meet the Nicest People

When England and Europe gets snowed in, we find the number of offers to swap with us on Australia’s Gold Coast increase.

 

When we first joined Home Base Holidays, we were very interested to meet up with other swappers just to see what type of folk enjoyed swapping.

 

When we were unable to take up a swap, for whatever reason, we decided to invite potential swappers to come for lunch or a BBQ so we could meet up and compare notes and assist them whilst they were in our area.

 

We have now completed 9 swaps and have entertained about 4 couples who we did not swap with and we have made some of the nicest friends doing this.

 

It is great when you are in a strange area to know that there is someone who belongs to the same club as you and can assist if you have any difficulties whilst in a strange country.

 

So Home Base Holidays has not only provided us with some wonderful swaps but also introduced us to some amazing friends.

 

Guest post by Home Base Holidays members, Maureen & Gerry Poulton,  Gold Coast, Australia   (photo of their home above. See their current home exchange offer). Members: log on to Contact Maureen & Gerry (HE14532).

 

Home Exchange Featured on Scottish TV

Julie and Martin Gibbons, members of Home Base Holidays sister site, Guardian home exchange, were interviewed live recently (along with son, Ruaridh) on The Hour*, STV. The family took part in a discussion on their experiences of home swapping abroad while continuing to run their business, People Maps. It was particularly interesting to hear both the grown-ups' and child's take on their nomadic lifestyle. Ruaridh, a very articulate 11 year old, is a good advertisement for home schooling and exposing children to a variety of cultures - he takes it all in his stride!

 

The couple also featured in an article in the Guardian, The escapees travelling the world while working online, about the growing number of people who can now work from anywhere in the world when all that's really needed is a reliable internet connection. Most homes available for swaps can provide exchange guests with internet access and some even have fully kitted out work-from-home offices, making home swapping an economical way to combine a love of travel with the need to continue to earn a living.

 

Read Julie's excellent blog, Organikal - 'tales of a home educating, house exchanging, organic living, internet business family of 3' and view the family’s latest home exchange offer in West Lothian, Scotland.

 

*Note: See a recording of the feature on home exchange in Part 1 (starts about 1.48 minutes in) of The Hour on Wed 27 Jan.

Home Base Holidays: 25th Anniversary! 25% Home Exchange Discount Offer

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? It hardly seems 25 years since Home Base Holidays was launched in 1985.

 

Many current members, now very experienced home exchangers, first joined when exchanging homes was still a relatively new way to travel. These original members received three home exchange directories a year... long before the Internet made arranging exchanges so much easier!

 

We'd like to express our gratitude to everyone who has been involved with Home Base Holidays over the years. We hope you continue to enjoy many more successful and exciting exchanges!

 

Save 25% on Membership

 

As a way of celebrating our 25th anniversary year, and to encourage more first time and lapsed home swappers, we are pleased to offer a 25% discount on our regular membership rates (£29 one year, £39 two years). What are you waiting for - join today!

 

Join Home Base Holidays!  (Enter promotional code: hb25) Offer Expires: 15th March 2010

Backing Up Your Home Exchange Offer with a Good Quote

The N.Y. Daily News says of our neighbourhood, "Like other internationally celebrated areas such as Notting Hill in London and Le Marais in Paris, Brooklyn’s Fort Greene has all the elements in place to emerge as one of the better big-city neighborhoods on the planet."

This quote is included in a new Home Base Holidays member’s home exchange offer description. Members are encouraged to provide enticing descriptions to attract other members to their home swap offers but, as most of us are sceptical of over hyped descriptions that sound like real estate ads, including a quote like this from a known source, with a link to the full article, gives extra credibility to the member’s own description.

Not all of us, of course, live in trendy areas or neighbourhoods on the cusp of trendiness as described here but, with a little research and lateral thinking about what may make your area attractive to visitors (perhaps things you take for granted like a lovely, peaceful park or restaurants offering many different ethnic cuisines), most home swappers should be able to find other sources of information to back up their own descriptions.

Do check out this home exchange offer in Brooklyn, especially if you live in a home anywhere in the UK close to a castle – a special request from the nine year old in the family who is fascinated by knights and castles!

Home Swappers: the Home Exchange Newsletter, Feb/Mar10

The new issue of Home Swappers Newsletter is now available. Topics:

• Home Base Holidays: 25th Anniversary!
• Celebrate Our 25th Year with a 25% Discount on Membership
• London 2012 Olympics: Arranging a Home Swap
• Location, Location! Add a Map to Your Listing
• Eager to Hear from You - Don’t Keep Me Hanging On
• CHECtravel Special $5 Membership Offer

Read articles in this issue in full and previous issues of Home Swappers Newsletter, in the Newsletter Archive. Subscribe to receive the newsletter as published