Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

Discovering new destinations: home swap experiences

Home swap: Pheonix, Arizona (USA) to Mersea Island, Essex (England) "We returned to the USA in November after a wonderful home exchange to Mersea Island, England. It wasn’t a destination we had ever considered until communicating with experienced home exchangers, Kathy and Steve. Their home is lovely, comfortable and filled with unique original artwork. Mersea Island and the surrounding areas are beautiful and full of historic significance. There are fantastic walks, delicious pubs, restaurants and coffee shop/cafes all easily accessible. However, the most outstanding thing about our visit was the care taken by Kathy and Steve which assured that we had such a terrific visit. As a bonus, it turns out that some of the friendliest and most helpful people we’ve ever encountered live on Mersea Island. To our delight we were invited to walk and dine with some of their engaging, knowledgeable and resourceful neighbors. This was truly a marvelous home exchange!" - Jill & Leland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home swap: Mersea Island, Essex (England) to Pheonix, Arizona (USA) We are still adjusting to our 3 months in USA, a wonderful kaleidoscope of scenes and adventures. After travelling 3,500 miles and an air flight we arrived at this wonderful desert house. Just loved the 'feel' of the house. Our loves, art, books, family, relaxed, safe, and within striking distance of so much. The home exchange was arranged over a long period of communication, through the Home Base Holidays website, emails, Facetime and so on sorting out dates times and generally getting a feel of exchange partners and houses. All excellent. The house was in a very safe up-market area close to the Biltmore, good for a walk and evening tipple. All amenities such as food shops, restaurants, museums, downtown and light rail/public transport were just around the corner. We became brave not just using our exchange car (we'd agreed to exchange cars but neither of us really used each others cars during the swap) but exploring the wider area by foot and public transport was so much fun. We met so many lovely people and visited great art galleries, museums, festivals, ballroom & country dancing and we even made a baseball game! Phoenix was not a destination we had originally thought of but the photographs and description on the Home Base Holidays website drew us in. Do not hesitate to swap with Jill & Leland - you will have a magic experience with the most likeable, easy going people! Sunshine, a swimming pool and fab house - who could ask for more? We hope to remain in touch and catch up again in the future. Our neighbours in the UK loved Jill & Leland ...a sure recommendation! - Kathy & Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Meet the members:   Check out Jill and Leland's beautiful desert retreat home exchange offer in Pheonix, Arizona.  View Kathy and Steve's (in photo) fabulous home swap offer on Mersea Island, Essex

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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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

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from everyone here at Travel the Home Exchange Way and Home Base Holidays. We hope you have a fantastic holiday season with friends and family.

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Holiday home swaps in 2020 

Cut the cost of your 2020 getaways by choosing to swap homes rather than book hotels or holiday rentals. By swapping homes you'll enjoy free accommodation plus all the space and convenience of a home from home.

• • • • • • Search home swap travel offers

Home Swappers: Christmas home exchange newsletter

Wishing you a very happy holiday season. With the New Year just around the corner, start planning your home swap holidays for 2020. Check out our Christmas issue of the Home Swappers Newsletter

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In this issue of the newsletter:

• Featured home swap offers: Ski chalet in the Swiss alpine village of Grimentz (Switzerland) | Beachfront home in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast (Australia)
• Swap stories: Wonderful home exchange staying in a beautiful historic home in Ludlow, England
• 2020 home swaps: start your two-week free trial!

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• View the Christmas issue of the Home Swappers newsletter

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Home swap holiday accommodation in 2020 Arrange anything from a weekend getaway exchange or even a long term six+ month exchange. Browse thousands of home exchange vacation offers Sign up today: add your home to Home Base Holidays so that you can start contacting other members to arrange your home exchange. Join Home Base Holidays

Q&A: maximum length of a home exchange vacation?

Q: I live in London and am looking to visit Melbourne in 2020 for an extended stay. I'm quite flexible with my travel dates but would like to stay from anywhere between 4 - 6 months. Home exchanging looks like it could be a good option but are there any limits to the length of a home exchange? - Jason (London)

A: Hi Jason! Thanks for getting in touch. Home swapping can be a great way to try a new location for an extended period of time - we've even seen a number of members arrange home swaps so that they can try living in a new location 'as a local' before deciding whether to move there permanently. It can be ideal as you'll enjoy free accommodation and, as you'll be swapping, you'll not have some of the headaches involved in renting out your own property (minimum rental contracts, buy-to-let mortgages, etc).

Although the majority of home swaps are for shorter periods of typically 1 – 4 weeks, there is no limit to the length and many members arrange exchanges of anything from 3 months to 1+ years, it totally depends on the length agreed between you and your swap partner.

It can of course be a bit more difficult finding longer term exchanges and so it's important to give yourself plenty of time; Join Home Base Holidays several months before your planned travel dates and be as proactive as possible (contact a number of members to suggest a swap). You might even look into arranging more than one exchange or arranging one swap and using rental accommodation for any period not covered. This will give you the chance to move around and get a feel for more than one area.

For shorter exchanges or 1-2 weeks, members typically do not contribute to utility bills (water, electricity, gas, broadband, etc). However, when arranging a longer term exchange, make sure to discuss and agree all these details prior to moving ahead with the exchange.  

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Tip: to browse current long term exchange offers, go to the home swap search page and select ‘Long term exchange’ from the ‘Type of exchange’ options.

Home Swappers newsletter: find your swaps for 2020

Home swap: arrange a home exchange in beautiful Shaftesbury (click photo to view offer)

Whether you're looking for a cosy country cottage, a city break or some winter sun, you'll find your perfect home swap accommodation through Home Base Holidays. Check out the latest issue of our home exchange newsletter for home swap tips, offers and member stories. 

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This issue of the Home Swappers newsletter:

• Main featured offer: arrange a home exchange visiting beautiful Gold Hill (main photo) in Shaftesbury, Dorset. If you have ever seen Ridley Scott's famous Hovis bread ad from the 1970's then you would have seen Gold Hill as this is where the ad was filmed. At the top of Gold Hill is "The Cobbles" - a perfectly formed one bedroom terraced cottage available for exchange.
• Small featured offers: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: apartment in downtown Vancouver located next to Stanley Park | Andalucia, Spain: farmhouse on a working eco-farm where you'll enjoy a relaxing peaceful stay among the tranquil olive groves.
• Swap stories: wonderful home swap between central London and lovely Limoux, France.
• Home swap Q&A: my home is not luxurious, can I still home swap?
• Just in: a selection of the latest home exchange offers just in

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>>> View this issue of the Home Swappers newsletter

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Swap homes for free holiday accommodation Arrange anything from a weekend getaway exchange or even a long term six+ month exchange. Browse thousands of home exchange vacation offers Sign up today: add your home to Home Base Holidays so that you can start contacting other members to arrange your home exchange. Join Home Base Holidays

Meet the member: 100+ home exchanges completed!

Long-time Home Base Holidays members, John and Marilyn, who started home exchanging over 40 years ago (they've now had well over 100 swaps, a record that must take some beating!), suggested the following tips for smooth and happy home swaps:

• Welcome folder/home book: prepare a "Home Book" containing practical information on your home and appliances. Include such details as where to find the fuse box, stopcock, operate the TV, when the dustbins are emptied, etc; useful telephone numbers....doctor, dentist, plumber, electrician, your own mobile numbers and those of helpful neighbours can be included too. (Before swapping send your own and neighbours numbers plus location of a spare key, so that your guests can keep a copy with them in case of emergency). Leave up to date tourist leaflets, maps, guide books, train and bus timetables.
• Leave a small gift: leave a welcome pack with some essential items such as tea, coffee, milk, snacks. It's a nice touch to also leave a small gift in the welcome pack.
• Meet your guests: if possible meet your guests so you can get to know them a little and exchange keys. If not possible, leave them a welcome letter and perhaps a bottle of wine. Why not agree beforehand to leave milk, bread, etc for each other? When leaving their home ensure you have agreed where to leave keys & what to do with used linen.
• Leave a thank you letter: last but not least, leave a "thank you" letter!

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John & Marilyn's (beautiful!) cottage in Cumbria: 

John & Marilyn's 17th century cottage in Cumbria

John & Marilyn's home is a delightful 17th century sandstone cottage with exposed stonework, oak beams and many original features but all modern conveniences, in a tiny village near Appleby, former county town of Westmorland. Appleby lies in the Eden Valley, an ideal location for discovering the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and Scotland, all less than an hour`s drive from here. If you prefer outdoor activities there are great walks from the front door, riding stables in the village, a swimming pool and sports centre 2 miles away, and a golf course close by, plus of course water sports on the Lakes. 

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• View John & Marilyn's home exchange offer in Cumbria

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Meet the members, John & Marilyn:   John & Marilyn first started home exchanging over 40 years ago, (more than 100 swaps), and now feel they are "experienced exchangers!". They love home exchanging and do our utmost to make people feel at home, whilst taking the best possible care of the homes they stay in. They provide guide books, maps, tourist leaflets, a "home book", bicycles and much more, to enable their guests to make the most of their stay.

 

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Interested in home exchanging? Listing your home on Home Base Holidays choose from home swap vacation offers in over 90 countries www.homebase-hols.com