Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Home swap offers in the UK's spookiest cities. Happy Halloween!

According to a new study, Glasgow and Edinburgh are the spookiest cities in the UK.

In honour of Halloween, here are samples of the many homes offered recently for home exchange in the two cities (we can’t guarantee any of them are haunted though!):

Edinburgh

Charming Victorian terraced house (in photo), circa 1863, in the Newington area of the city. It is approximately 1.5km from city centre which is walkable and with excellent transport links. Close to all the attractions and culture the city has to offer. See offer.

Spacious three bedroom Victorian lower villa situated in a peaceful, leafy cul-de-sac with central, mature shared garden and private rear garden. The house has high ceilings, original working shutters, decorative cornicing and stripped wooden floors, gas central heating. 20 minutes’ walk to the city centre and close to restaurants, parks etc. See offer.

This is a light, spacious first floor traditional tenement flat, a 15 minute walk to the High Street and all the tourist sites - galleries, the Castle, the new Parliament building, cafes. See offer.

Glasgow

Top floor of a Victorian house conversion (in photo), large living room with original cupola skylights and Italianate windows directly overlooking the Botanic Gardens, arboretum and River Kelvin. Situated in the heart of the West End of Glasgow, 5 minute walk through the Botanic Gardens to the main glasshouses and West End cultural hub of Byres Road with shops/cafes/restaurants. See offer.

The apartment is in the lovely and leafy West End of Glasgow, near to Kelvingrove Park and Gallery. It was built by Alexander "Greek" Thomson and makes a great base from which to explore the rich culture of Glasgow. It is close to the ameneties but also very quiet with fantastic views over the city. See offer.

Traditional, very spacious, fully furnished apartment with high (14.5') ceilings throughout. On the second floor of a distinctive Glasgow tenement block. In the heart of the most desirable part of the City, within easy walking distance of Glasgow University, the Botanics, the Kelvingrove Museum and the bohemian Ashton Lane district. See offer.

 

Blog Action Day: Forced evictions and the universal right to housing #HumanRights #BAD13

Today is Blog Action Day and we are pleased to be taking part again. The theme this year is Human Rights and today bloggers all over the world are publishing posts on various aspects of this extensive topic as detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As Travel the Home Exchange Way is all about how Home Base Holidays members welcome guests into their homes on home swaps, it seems very appropriate on this day that we focus on the many people in the world who aren't so fortunate, who don't have homes, let alone the opportunity to travel and the pleasure of staying in someone else's home. These are people who are particularly vulnerable, living and bringing up children in inadequate housing and, worse, with the constant fear of eviction.

As Amnesty International is a Blog Action Day partner this year, we would like to draw attention to Amnesty's current campaign for a new law to stop people in Nairobi’s poorest communities being kicked out of their homes with no warning:

“Nearly half of Nairobi’s population live in slums and many are at risk of forced evictions which not only often make people homeless, but also involve violence and lead to loss of access to services such as water and sanitation as well as livelihoods, education and healthcare” - Iain Byrne, head of Amnesty International’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights team

Click here to read more about forced evictions in Kenya and sign Amnesty's petition calling for an end to all forced evictions in Kenya. Together, we can make a difference.

 

 

Love history? This 1780 built London home, offered for home swap, has an intriguing story

Shortly after we moved into our Edwardian house in North London 40 years ago, we started stripping the many layers of wallpaper and paint (interesting how fashions in colours and designs have changed over the years). Under one layer of wallpaper we found a child's drawing and a few words in Greek. A mystery! A few years later it would not have been such a mystery when many Greek (and Turkish) Cypriots settled in the area. Years later we happened on the identity of the child by chance - a young Greek Cypriot man still living nearby had neighbours who were friends of ours. It was really interesting when he visited as he could tell us how different the house had been when he had lived here as a child - and what had stayed the same (many of the original Edwardian features are still intact).

Many older homes will have intriguing histories of those who lived there years ago but, unless a home is quite grand, most of this history is lost unless you happen to come across it as we did. A Home Base Holidays member, also living in London, has a particularly interesting story about his house (in photo):

'This house was built in 1780 - we found a note behind the panelling from a young man off to start his life in the New World dated 1783 - he went to America.'

How fascinating it would be to find out more about the young man who left his recently built house in London to start a new life so far from home!

View full details of this lovely, unique home offered for home exchange.

Water and home exchange - both will definitely feature in Geraldine's next big adventure!

'My best travel memories always seem to be centred around water. Swimming with elephants in Thailand, like rodeo riding! Relaxing and letting the thermal, healing waterfalls and cascades of Saturnia, Italy (used by the Romans) wash over my body! Water skiing on various lakes, etc and just generally swimming and relaxing in the water. Traveling the sand dunes in northern Brazil, stopping for a swim when the temperature dictates. Exploring the mangroves of the Amazon, in silence, in the dead of night!

Home swapping, although I haven't done it yet, is definitely going to feature in my next adventure. The people who use Home Base Holidays are friendly and my type of people. I've already made friends with members and really like what is offered. I have had numerous offers to swap and in time will!

Home exchange really seems a great way to holiday and live like a local and really absorb the culture of the people of the country. Can't wait to do it!' - Geraldine S.

See Geraldine's home exchange offer in Western Cape, South Africa. Her house (above) is an amazing, upmarket home in a surfer's dream location, 200 paces to the famous Long beach.

Home Swappers, the Home Exchange Newsletter, October 2013

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

• Featured listing: house and infinity swimming pool with stunning views over the bay of Nidri and Vlicho, Greece
• Swapping homes: modern California for Edwardian London
• WIN! 'Definitive Guide to Home Exchanging' ebooks to be won: see newsletter for draw details and also 50% discount offer
• Exclusive offer: Join a second home exchange agency for free

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.

 

A home swap report: looking after sheep, hens and cats - a lovely, rewarding experience for a Spanish family

'Good day home exchangers,

I'd like to share our this year's experience with other members of Home Base Holidays.

We went to Normandy, to a hamlet 30 km from Caen, in a place called la Suisse Normande. It was more than beautiful, and close to all the important landmarks of the D-day, when the allied armies landed in Normandy.

But, for me, the best was the house and its surroundings. In my opinion, houses have an air of their inhabitants. You can feel or learn what the family is like when you stay in their house. And in this case, I can say it was a sweet, warm family. Everything was so lovely, because the family is lovely.

And, as I mentioned in another article I wrote a few years ago, we liked and enjoyed the animals they trusted to us. There were sheep, hens, cats, all of them lovely and rewarding to take care of.

Happy exchange and happy holidays to you all!' - Josephina Guillen, L'Escala, Catalonia, Spain

The Guillen family home in l'Escala is in a quiet area, 10 minute walk to the beach (in photo), 15 minute walk to the marina (Port la Clota) and 20 minute walk to the fishing village. The house and beach are child friendly with lots of toys and beach stuff. See their full home swap offer and more photos.