Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Taking part in a home exchange or having a house sitter: tips for newcomers

'We have enjoyed over 20 home exchanges in the past six years and although initially we were a bit anxious, we now set off without a backward glance.  As well as exchanges, we have welcomed house sitters from the Home Base Holidays site and have met some lovely people who we would never have come across during our everyday lives. (Our dogs have been so well cared for, they sometimes look a little disappointed when we return!)

I would advise newcomers, worried about using house sitters, to invite them the afternoon before departure.  That way, you can show them the ropes, introduce them to your animals at leisure and enjoy a supper together.  When you leave, the next morning, you will have peace of mind and maybe formed the basis of a new friendship.' - Christine Long, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales

For home swap: Unique, purpose built houseboat (above) moored at picturesque marina with restaurant & cafe on site. 4 miles to Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales

House sitters wanted: Couple wanted to housesit & look after 2 dogs + cat at our lovely rural farmhouse (above), set in 7 acres of glorious countryside, when we go away. Near Offa's Dyke & Llangowy Abbey. 20 miles Hereford, 40 miles Cardiff. Abergavenny 6 miles. Village shop, garage, pub 1 mile. Superb views. Car essential.

Guest post: Frugal Foreign Travel for Baby Boomer Ladies

Guest post by Kate Forgach

You see them all over Europe, studying Vermeer paintings, people watching in cafes, and scribbling in their journals. They’re members of the “Older Ladies Who Travel Alone” brigade, and their exploits have become legendary. Just witness all the highly popular travel books written by these enterprising women.

A lifetime’s experience has equipped many of us Baby Boomer women for solo travel abroad. There’s a great sense of accomplishment in navigating train stations, fitting in with your hostel roomies, and doing what you want when you want it.

After several years living in France and making my way solo as a travel writer, I came up with a few tricks that allowed me to see the world on a strict budget. Here are a few frugal tips for intrepid women travelers.

1. Food

Shopping local markets is a great way to interact with residents, learn about new foods, and how to prepare them. It’s amazing how easy it is to converse about food when you don’t share a common language.

You’ll want several Ziplock bags of varying sizes to store bread and dry foodstuffs. In France, I’d make a to-die-for baguette sandwich with any of their hundreds of cheeses, then stuff it into a large bag for train travel.

2. Home Exchange

Many Europeans want to spend time in America while many Americans want to spend time in Europe. The logical answer is to exchange homes for a truly unique vacation experience. For example, a French couple I know registered with a website like Home Base Holidays to visit my hometown. They ended up swapping houses with my globetrotting girlfriend, who was enthralled by their little corner of Provence. The French husband and wife fell in love with America and ended up starting a restaurant here...but that’s another story.

3. Hostels

I can’t stress strongly enough how cheap and enjoyable it is to stay in a hostel. Other overnight residences are not only more expensive, they tend to segregate you from the reality of a city or region. Hostels throw you right into the mix, which nowadays includes travelers of all ages -- not just the young.

Hostels usually include breakfast, in the deal and the heftier meals provide leftovers from which you can make lunch. Free Wi-Fi access and front-desk workers who can point you to unique sites worth seeing round out the many benefits of staying in a hostel.

To make reservations before you leave or while you’re on the road, Lonely Planet and Hostel World allow you to search by location, price and type of hostel, with photos and a description of the accommodations.

4. Housesitting

Housesitting worked better for me than home swapping because I’d sold my place to help finance my travel adventures. At first I just depended on friendly contacts to find gigs, then I found websites like HousesitWorld and MindMyHouse, which linked me up with temporary homes in several cities. Since I’d moved into a home base in France, the short-term gigs worked best for me, but you can find situations that last anywhere from a month to a year. It helps to have owned a home previously as it’s a requirement listed in many ads.

5. Trains

Boy do I love train travel. It’s cheaper than renting a car or flying, helps you meet new people, and usually drops you off close to the action in major cities. The trick, if you’re traveling to a rural destination, is to know the stops before your destination so you can be ready to hop off at a moment’s notice.

Another couple handy phrases you should learn in each language are “How much does a ticket cost?” and “From which platform does the train depart?”

It’s best to buy your Eurail train passes before leaving as it’s cheaper in the United States. My pass ran out once, however, and Eurail provided free shipping on the second one.

6. Money

Rule number one: Never, never, never exchange money at the airport. You’ll pay the highest rate possible. Instead, look for an airport ATM and take out the maximum amount (usually around $200). You’ll pay a fee, but not nearly as high as the airport exchange rate.

Rule two: If you’re going to travel a bit upscale, buy gift cards at a discount from sites like GiftCardGranny to purchase American services found in foreign countries. This might include airlines, hotels or car rental agencies for which you can realize up to 50-percent savings.

7. Plastic Safety

Notify all credit card companies you plan on traveling outside the U.S. so they won’t place a hold on your account for unusual activity.

Finally, note your credit/debit card numbers and foreign contact phone numbers and keep this  info in a safe place, separate from the cards. I stored mine in my email account with a bogus “subject” line. You might need this info should your plastic be stolen or problems arise.

That’s about it, except I highly recommend you keep a journal. Traveling alone is lonely at times and writing out your thoughts and experiences helps fill in some gaps. As a bonus, you’ll have a personal record of your adventures.

Bon voyage!

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Kate Forgach is a Baby Boomer consumer specialist for Kinoli Inc. She has written about senior issues for 11 years and has been featured in USA Today, Detroit News, New Orleans Times-Picayune, New Yorker magazine, "ABC World News," NBC's "TODAY" show and many other media outlets. To arrange an interview, please call 970-217-7444 or email [email protected].

 

A home exchange so good, we're swapping homes again with our new friends!

'Two years ago we exchanged with now "friends" in Bristol, who live near our family there. They came to our two acre home on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, near the small hinterland town of Cooroy.  They loved it so much that they asked us if they could repeat their experience one day. We are now all booked to "repeat the experience" next March, April and May. It is only our third exchange but it's a great idea and thank you for your informative newsletters and your great easy home exchange website, Home Base Holidays.' Best regards from Mary & Chris

Mary and Chris's attractive home exchange offer on Australia's Sunshine Coast:

Comfortable open plan, reverse cycle air-conditioned 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home in beautiful rural area 25 minutes from Noosa beaches. Lovely views, located at Black Mountain, just north of Cooroy in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland.

Our home sits 300 ft above sea level on 2 acres of land with almost uninterrupted mountain, rural and forest views. Native parrots, kookaburras and other flora and fauna abound.

Chris and Mary retired to the Sunshine Coast from the UK in 2004. Chris is Australian and Mary is English. We both retired from the finance industry. We are non-smokers, fit and active, age 66 years young. We have close family in Bristol and Fleet and retain many friends in Wiltshire. We have completed two very successful exchanges and references are available. Our next UK exchange in Bristol has been fulfilled for UK Spring 2012 but we would like to extend the exchange in the UK to within easy reach of Fleet. We like travelling, the arts, cultural events and walking. We would of course treat your home with great respect, as we do our own.

Read their full home exchange offer and see more photos, 19577

Arranging dates for a non-simultaneous home exchange

Q: I've had a response offering a non-simultaneous home exchange. Not sure how that works. Can the other party dictate when they want to come to our house? This could be tricky! Can you give us some thoughts on this please? Thanks, Janice

A: When members agree to a non-simultaneous exchange, the dates for each party’s exchange must be acceptable to both. So, no, the member suggesting a non-simultaneous home exchange can’t dictate when they come to your house!

Often, members offering non-simultaneous swaps are exchanging second homes and this generally makes it easier to find dates to suit both parties. If you are exchanging your family home, and it may be difficult to find dates when your home can be available (when you will be away), let the member know that this is the case. If their offer is very tempting, consider periods that you could be away (and also dates that would suit you to take your part of the exchange), being as flexible as you can be. Hopefully, they will also have some flexibility on dates too so that you can find dates that work for you both. Don’t feel pressured into making a quick decision!

Note: To find home exchange members offering non-simultaneous swaps, click 'Show more options' on the search page; choose 'non simultaneous exchange' from the drop down list beside 'Type of exchange'.

Home exchange trip report: short break home swap close to home

This is the first time a Home Base Holidays member has sent us a home exchange trip report while actually on a home swap. Sandra, from London, chose a particularly lovely weekend in September for her exchange with Jean in Oxford:

'Who'd have thought that in the middle of October we'd be having a pre-dinner drink "al fresco"? We're sitting on Jean's beautiful canal-side terrace, our internet shopping stowed away, a fountain whispering in the piazza, (yes, we are in the UK) looking back on two years of home swapping.

Our first was in October 2009, not warm enough to sip early evening wine outdoors, but we were in a gentle fold in the Sussex countryside and sat by the window enjoying the view of mature trees glowing gold and orange.

The following March, in a week that was welcoming Spring and we could feel the warmth of the sun on our faces, with our borrowed Devon garden facing due west, we watched its burnished glow dipping behind the hills , setting the countryside alight.

A different experience in Barcelona. No quiet contemplation from this balcony while we drank our delightful, 3 euros a bottle fizzy stuff, but the chatter and bustle of other families preparing to enjoy the evening.

Loving our own garden as we do Linda and Ian's Dorset patch was to be enjoyed at the end of the day, glass in hand, checking the produce as it matured and pottering as we might at home.

And that's only half our swaps. I haven't even mentioned the delights of Dublin, the beauty of Bath...' - Sandra Newnham

Sandra's home exchange offer in London: Ours is a well cared for home in a quiet, residential street in south west London with excellent transport links to all London's attractions. It is situated a few minutes walk from extensive park and common land and to shops, bars, restaurants and leisure centres including an outdoor swimming pool.

Our garden is well tended and sunny. There are two recently decorated double bedrooms, one with king sized bed, and one single. The bathroom is newly refurbished and has a power shower over the bath. The ground floor is bright, airy and comfortable with two reception rooms and a modern kitchen.

Jean's home exchange offer in Oxford: This is a comfortable, stylish ground floor apartment with an extensive walled terrace for alfresco dining. It is a ten minute stroll from the beautiful and famous city of Oxford and a one hour train ride to London.

It's location is unique, combining a quiet, relaxing situation next to the canal with a piazza (and fountain) to the front of the apartment and yet, just two minutes walk from shops, cafe culture, local pubs, restaurants and cinema. A two minute walk on the other side of the canal lies open countryside and the River Thames with ducks, swans, geese etc.

Home exchange home security: Guest Post - '5 benefits of wireless alarms'

Homes lived in by home exchange guests while the owners are on holiday are more secure than homes left unoccupied. The guest post below by Tim Burton, a home security specialist, follows on from our recent post on home security issues, and provides information on easy to install wireless alarm systems for added peace of mind to both home owners and their exchange guests:

When you are trying to decide how to keep your home safe from intruders, one of the first things you will probably come across is the idea of installing a burglar alarm. These are classic pieces of security equipment and we all know how effective they can be as thief deterrents.

What you may be less familiar with are wireless alarms. These also offer a fantastic level of protection for your property but additionally give you some benefits over wired systems which might be of interest to you. Here are some of the main advantages in using them.

Easy to Fit

Wireless burglar alarms are not as expensive as you might think, even if you are looking at the top brand names such as ADT. However, where they really come into their own is with the ease of installation they offer. Because they run with wireless receivers instead of big cables you don’t need holes drilled in your walls to run cables through. This in turn means that there is more chance of you being happier to take in on as a DIY job instead of paying a professional installer. Also, if you have a home with thick walls or an unusual construction then drilling holes can be a tricky business.

Big Range

If you need to protect a large property then a wireless system will let you cover it easily. Many of the best systems offer amazing ranges of hundreds of feet. This makes them ideal for properties where a wired alarm would be messy and costly to install.

No Electrical Supply Needs

Of course, one of the basic advantages of a wireless home security system is that there is no reliance upon an electrical supply to make it work. This means that you know you are protected even when there is an electrical supply problem.

Easy to Grow and Move the System

Because of the lack of wires and the way the different components interact with one another it is a simple task to expand the system. This could be useful if your budget only allows you to start off with a part of the home or if you plan on expanding the property over time. It also means that you have a great deal of flexibility in changing the areas covered by your system. This allows you to install your system knowing that it isn’t something which is set in stone and can’t be moved. Whenever you have a reason for altering it you can do so with a minimum of fuss and without making any mess either.  

Good Reliability

There is now no need to consider that a wireless alarm system is any less reliable than one which works with wires. The top quality ones offer an outstanding degree of reliability and performance, just as you need from any of your home security devices. If we add this to the previous benefits it is clear why more and more cautious homeowners are going for the wire free approach to looking after their family and their possessions.

Tim Burton is a Home Security specialist working with ADT’s team of experts to ensure that members of the public are given every opportunity to ensure their home is safe from unwanted intruders.

ADT are the UK’s leading company for Home Security, with product ranging from Alarm Systems and Home Security to CCTV systems and Access Control, if you would like more information on their products, please visit ADT.co.uk