Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Our home swap trip of a lifetime on Vancouver Island

"We had a non-simultaneous home swap with Emma's family with a year interval. They came to our London home first and I think they possibly left our house even cleaner than we left it for them!

 

Our trip to Vancouver Island, Canada was very exciting. Emma not only ensured her lovely home was perfect for our arrival but lots of written out suggestions about local sites and activities, where to eat and swim and buy the best food. It made our week in West Vancouver go perfectly and I would recommend without hesitation both the host and the destination. Thanks Emma for such a memorable trip of a lifetime!" - Adrian

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Highlights of our home swap on Vancouver Island:

1. Beautiful location on Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island
2. Welcoming home from home
3. Excellent relaxed communication with our home swap host, Emma

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Meet the members:   Emma's Vancouver Island home swap  Adrian's London home swap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Arrange free holiday accommodation

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and enjoy free accommodation. 

• Search thousands of home exchange offers

Happy Australia Day 2018! Home swaps in Australia

We'd like to wish all our Australian friends a very Happy Australia Day 2018!

Australia Day is celebrated each year on the 26th January and marks the date of the first fleet of ships from Great Britain in 1788. The holiday is celebrated throughout Australia and by Australians throughout the world, with fireworks, organised events, or simply getting together with family and friends.

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Australian home swaps: If you're planning a holiday in Australia, rather than booking a hotel, arrange a home swap holiday so that you'll enjoy free accommodation and so slash the cost of your Aussie getaway.

Home Base Holidays has a large number of home swap offers throughout Australia, including apartments in Sydney, beach villas and rural retreats.

• Find your Australian home swap holiday

Happy Burns Night 2018! Home swap holidays in Scotland

Burns Night is celebrated every year in Scotland (and by many people throughout the world) on the 25th January. It celebrates the life of the Scottish bard Robert Burns, who was born on the 25th January 1759. 

If you are fortunate to be in Scotland on the 25th January, you'll be able to take part in some of the numerous festivities to celebrate the occasion. Check out the Burns Night section on Scotland.org for details of events happening throughout Scotland: www.scotland.org/whats-on/burns-night

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Want to visit Scotland? If you're looking to arrange a vacation in Scotland, rather than booking a hotel, enjoy free by arranging a home swap in a ...Highland cottage, an apartment in Edinburgh, a Scottish yurt ...and many more. Home Base Holidays has a large number of home exchange vacation offers located throughout Scotland. If you're interested in arranging a home swap vacation, check out the latest home swap travel offers in Scotland.

From an ale house to a youth hostel: unusual homes offered for home swaps

Ale House: Maldon, Essex, England - A quaint & charming 17th century timber framed holiday cottage, situated in the heart of the Essex village of Goldhanger. The property was originally an Ale House in the village well known for smuggling. The renovation has retained many original historic features.

View this home swap in Maldon, Essex

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Church: Whitby, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Our home is a former church in Whitby and has been restored to retain many of the original features. It is located in the old centre of town and half an hour by GO train to the centre of Toronto, but in a quiet residential neighbourhood walking distance to restaurants and pub.

View this home swap in Ontario, Canada

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Furniture Factory: London, England - We live in a large (2500 sq ft) converted flat, in a quieter street just off the famous, bustling, Brick Lane. The ground floor has floorboards and a staircase dating back to the building's original use as a Victorian furniture factory. You can trace how the building's use has changed in the exposed brickwork.

View this home swap in London

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Mill: Edinburgh, Scotland - Set within an old converted mill overlooking the Water of Leith, our home has a wonderful setting which can best be described as a little haven of tranquility within the heart of the city. We could ramble on about the joys of Edinburgh, a beautiful city with so much to offer but best you come and find out for yourself.

View this home swap in Edinburgh, Scotland

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Youth Hostel: Cushendall, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland - Moneyvart House is a beautifully restored youth hostel that is now a family home.

The property has magnificent views across the Bay as far as Garron Point. It is situated in the heart of the Glens of Antrim, a location that has been designated as an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has also been made famous by the Causeway Coastal Route.

View this home swap in Northern Ireland

 

 

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Arrange free holiday accommodation

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and enjoy free accommodation. 

• Search thousands of home exchange offers

Lochs, mountains and stunning scenery: our wonderful home swap in the Scottish Highlands

Ice climbing during Joanne's home swap in the Scottish Highlands

"We enjoyed excellent communication with Pat prior to our home swap which made settling into their comfortable Highlands home very easy. The house has stunning views from the large lounge window across to the nearby Loch and surrounding mountain scenery.

We all slept incredibly well - not sure if this was because it was wonderfully quiet, the action packed days or the lovely comfy beds!

We managed to visit nearby Fort William and immerse ourselves in some local history at the nearby Highlands Museum. We took the chairlift and made it to the top of Glencoe. We had a fantastic day sledging with the children, followed by gorgeous hot chocolates in the cafe afterwards.

We ventured over to nearby Kinlochleven and tried our hand at ice climbing ...it was a totally new adventure for us all but we had great instruction and quickly progressed to climbing up the ice wall.

After action packed days, it was wonderful to return to our home swap home and put our feet up in front of the log fire and enjoy a glass of wine. Their kitchen is very well equipped and so it made eating in very easy.

The Scottish Highlands was a new area for us to explore, the views and scenery are truly breathtaking around almost every corner. We would love to return as there was so much to see and do.

A BIG thank you to Pat and Neil for allowing to share this wonderful experience." - Joanne

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Highlights of our Highlands home swap:

1. Sledging at the top of Glencoe on New Year's Day
2. Ice climbing in at Ice Factor at Kinlochleven
3. Enjoying a drink in Clachaig Inn next to the roaring fire, soaking up the fantastic atmosphere.

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Meet the members:   Pat & Neil's Highlands home swap | Joanne's home swap in Ramsbottom

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Arrange free holiday accommodation

Rather than booking a hotel or holiday rental, arrange a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and enjoy free accommodation. 

• Search thousands of home exchange offers

Meet the member: home swapper's profiles

When browsing Home Base Holidays home swap vacation offers, you will see a section, Meet the Member, usually with a photo of the member or their family. As swapping homes is such a personal arrangement between members, it's really useful to be able to 'see' a member you are contacting to suggest a swap, and to have a little background information on their jobs, interests, family members and any special needs they may have for a good home swap match (click View full profile for member information). Although providing detailed information about your home and area in the main description is of primary importance, do give some thought to the profile section too.

The following is one such profile description. I think you'll agree that member, Carol, has provided some really interesting background information so that you should feel that you are already know her when contacting her to suggest an exchange:

'Thanks for visiting my home, albeit, at a distance, my pleasure to swap homes with you. I am currently a writer (fiction, non-fiction) and film PR and have been variously a journalist for many years specialising in food-related topics as well as a critic. Originally from Canada, I have lived as a child and adult mostly in Europe (Czechoslovakia as was, Switzerland, Denmark, France) and enjoy travelling either solo or with friends and family - and visiting off the beaten-track places such as the West Bank and parts of Nubian Egypt. I am keen on shorter over longer stays as I continue to work part-time but I am flexible, particularly for long haul. I prefer where possible to take the train over flying as the art of slow travel is very appealing but travel to Canada/US and other destinations can only be undertaken by air, at least to the main destination. The simpler the better is how I travel and finding out about new cultures, new languages as does music (violinist).'

Carol  has also given a detailed description of her home, a townhouse dating back to the 18th century, located by the Roman Walls in Chichester city centre in West Sussex, southern England:

'My home is remarkably quiet despite being in the centre of Chichester. The terraced house is situated on a residential cul de sac which overlooks the magnificent historic Priory Park with its Guildhall and Roman Walls.'

View full details of Carol's home swap offer in Chichester. She includes excellent information on the many attractions (including the famous theatre) in the lively small city of Chichester which is close enough to London for day trips.

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Find your perfect home swap vacation: join Home Base Holidays