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January 30, 2021

Arrange a summer home exchange staycation

Cottage by the Brempton RSPB Nature Reserve on the Yorkshire coast (click image to view)

Looking ahead to a post lockdown getaway? Summer staycations will once again be particularly popular this year but, with many campsites and holiday rentals already getting booked for the summer months, it leaves many of us worried we'll not be able to find reasonably priced accommodation for a much needed summer break.

Staycation home swap holidays:

By arranging a home swap rather than booking hotels or rentals, you can cut the cost of your summer holiday by up to 90%. You'll also enjoy the space, comforts and safety of staying in a real home from home.

Home Base Holidays (www.homebase-hols.com) has home swap offers in over 90 countries. However, being based in the UK, there is a particularly excellent selection of offers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. You'll find everything from country cottages, city apartments, family homes ...even houseboats, castles, converted churches and yurts! Search home swap offers

Find your summer swap:

1. Add your offer: first step is to sign up to Home Base Holidays so you can add your home swap offer to the website (details of your home & location plus where & when you want to go on holiday). Either select the free trial membership or a full membership (at just £29!).

2. Contact members: it's important to give yourself plenty of time when looking for home swap accommodation. With summer staycations booking up fast, now is the ideal time to search home swap offers and start contacting members to suggest a summer swap.

3. Safety steps: when discussing a swap, make sure to go through any steps you and your exchange partner will take to ensure your homes are clean and safe. View the Cleaning tips for holiday home swaps during COVID-19

4. Keep in touch: once you've agreed a summer swap, keep in contact with the member in the lead up to your swap dates - good communication always helps to build the trust that is key to successful home swapping.

Summer staycation swaps (click image to view offer)

Useful links:

Join Home Base Holidays: start planning your summer swap

Arranging a home exchange through Home Base Holidays and cut the cost of your getaways by up to 90%. View the latest home swap travel offers and join for free.

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January 22, 2021

Working from home? Thinking about swapping city life for country or coastal living?

Thinking about swapping city life for country / coastal living?

Over the last year, lockdowns have seen many of us working from home and it's prompted some to want to continue doing so even after it's safe to return to offices. There are definitely pros to working from home, not least avoiding the expensive daily commute, often on packed trains!

Thinking about moving from city to country life?

If like me you've been cooped up working from your small garden-less city apartment, you may well have had thoughts of packing up and moving to a new life by the coast or surrounded by beautiful countryside. Perhaps you dream of a farmhouse surrounded by fields? A chocolate box cottage in a picturesque village? A fisherman's cottage by the coast? A hut up a hill? Or perhaps the best of both worlds, a rural family home that's still just a short train trip into the city centre?

You may long for a peaceful life with green open views right from your doorstep, but are you sure you want to give up the fast city life you enjoyed before lockdown?

Try out country life - arrange a home swap holiday!

If you're considering a move to the country but are nervous about taking the plunge, arranging a home exchange holiday can be an excellent way to dip your toe into country living before committing to a permanent move. By swapping homes you’ll be staying in a real home and be part of a real neighbourhood, often in a location off the usual tourist trail.

Example: perhaps you live in a cosy London 2-bedroom flat (possibly combining remote working with home schooling) and agree, when it is safe to travel, to swap homes with a Home Base Holidays member that has a country home but are keen to spend some time in London to be closer to their children / grandchildren and to enjoy the theatres, museums and shops when life is back to normal.

Can I arrange a long term swap?

Yes! Although the majority of home swaps arranged via Home Base Holidays are for shorter periods (from weekend getaways to one or three week holidays), there are many members also interested in longer exchanges (anything from a month to a year!). Arranging a long-term home exchange holiday can be the perfect way to get a feel for what country life would be like long-term before committing to a permanent move. Remember though that longer term swaps require a bit more planning; so give yourself plenty of time to find, discuss and agree the swap. If looking to swap for more than one month, make sure to go through all details before making an agreement e.g. who pays the utility bills, confirming home insurance cover, whether the home has good internet connection (often an essential requirement for home working), etc.

Note: Longer domestic swaps should normally be quite straight forward but international swaps will be subject to each country's regulations on how long visitors are allowed to stay.

Search Tip

To find Home Base Holidays members offering longer home exchange periods, go to the home swap search page and then, under the "Type of exchange" heading, select the "Long term exchange" search filter.

Useful links:

Preparing for a home swap checklist
Top 10: things to do at the end of a home swap
Cleaning tips for holiday home swaps during COVID-19
BringBackTravel (interactive map of the latest travel restrictions)
Search the latest home exchange offers

Join Home Base Holidays: start planning your home swaps

Looking for a much needed getaway? Arrange free holiday accommodation by choosing to swap homes rather than book hotels or holiday rentals. View the latest home swap offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.

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January 14, 2021

Recreating your home swap memories through food

Home swap travel plans postponed until later in the year? With much of the world again in lockdown, many of us will be looking for fun, proactive ways to fill the time and keep our spirits up. If you're tired of the TV and it's too cold and wet for gardening, you may want to head to the kitchen and try recreating some of your favourite dishes from around the world.

So, while non-essential travel and holidays are currently off the menu, try to relive some of those wonderful home exchange memories through food. Sure, it might not be quite as good as the real thing, but reliving memories of vineyards and olive groves, vibrant food markets, and mouth-watering meals comes a close second.

A taste of Italy: Aubergine Parmigiana (Home Base Holidays member recipe)

Former Masterchef contestant and Home Base Holidays member, Paul and his wife Judith, sent in the following recipe for a super delicious Aubergine Parmigiana.

Slice a couple of aubergines lengthways into 1cm slices. Slather with olive oil.
Bake in a hot oven for about 20 mins or until brownish & tender.
Meanwhile make a tomato sauce. Sweat some chopped onions/spring onions/leeks.
Add chopped garlic then, a tin of tomatoes, past-their-best squashy ones or a jar of passata. Stir in a squish of tomato purée, a dash of Worcester Sauce, a sprinkle of sugar, a dusting of cayenne, a glug of wine - whatever is to your taste.
Layer the aubergines and tomato sauce in an oven dish with plenty of seasoning and any herbs you like.
Cover the top with grated or crumbled leftover cheese - cheddar, Parmesan, feta, mozzarella, Camembert - or all of them!
Bake for another 45 minutes or so until the cheesy crust is oozing and golden. Serve sizzling, with bread to mop up the juices or as an accompaniment to lamb or fish. Also tasty served at room temperature with salads. Any leftovers can be frozen, then chopped up and used as a pasta sauce.

Meet the members

Paul and his wife Judith are early retiree art & design lecturers and very experienced home exchangers. The couple have a beautiful French home in Olonzac, right in the middle of the wine producing area of the Minervois in Languedoc Roussillon. Their home has a lovely courtyard planted with figs, grapes, lemons, olives, bougainvillea, oleander, hibiscus and lavender, as well as herbs and tomatoes, where you can dine al fresco.

View Judith & Paul's home swap offer

How have you been keeping busy?

Have you been more adventurous with your cooking during lockdown? Let us know of any dishes that remind you of past holidays! Please get in touch, we'd love to hear!

Join Home Base Holidays: plan your summer swaps

Looking for a much needed getaway later in the year? Arrange free holiday accommodation by choosing to swap homes rather than book hotels or holiday rentals. View the latest home swap offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.

in General Home Exchange Information, Home Base Holidays, Tourist Information: Local Views on Home Swap Locations, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 05, 2021

Top 15 home swap blog posts of 2020:

1. Thank you to our NHS / healthcare staff #MyTravelPledge (21st April 2020)

Home Base Holidays teamed up with the #MyTravelPledge campaign to provide free accommodation to NHS staff / healthworkers / frontline workers. View this blog post

2. Australian bushfires & home swap travel advice (9th January 2020)

We have lots of Australian Home Base Holidays members and the terrible bushfires at the beginning of 2020 was a really worrying start to the year. View this blog post

3. Neighbourly love: heartwarming photos from Italy (14th April 2020)

We were sent these two lovely photos from Home Base Holidays member, Valeri Walsh, from her home in the Medieval hillside village of Ceriana, Italy. View this blog post

4. Winning photo: home swap photography competition (20th August 2020)

Thanks to everyone that sent in their fabulous photos in our recent home swap travel photography competition. View this blog post

5. Coronavirus and home swap travel (17th March 2020)

Do get in contact if the current travel restrictions have meant you’ve had to delay or cancel your exchange plans. View this blog post

6. Lockdown stories: send us your 'home base' experiences (25th March 2020)

With much of the world now on lockdown and travel plans postponed, we are all having to adapt and find ways to keep our spirits up. View this blog post

7. Home swaps postponed? Take a virtual vacation (1st April 2020)

Check out this blog post for some of our favourite virtual travel tours and wildlife cams around the world. View this blog post

8. Lockdown stories from a Home Base Holidays member (26th May 2020)

We were delighted to receive this post from long-time Home Base Holidays member, Judith Stafford. View this blog post

9. Try a staycation home exchange holiday (18th June 2020)

After the first lockdown eased, we saw a big increase in staycation home swaps being arranged for the summer months as people looked for a much needed break. View this blog post

10. Cleaning tips for holiday home swaps during COVID-19 (2nd July 2020)

To help make sure you and your home exchange guests are safe, we published these clear and simple cleaning guidelines. View this blog post

11. Offering variations on a home exchange vacation (6th August 2020)

Having flexibility in the type of home swap you do can increase your holiday options. View this blog post

12. Cabin fever from working from home? Try a 'working' swap (13th September 2020)

By arranging a staycation home exchange you could potentially continue to work while enjoy a much needed break. View this blog post

13. Be a tourist in your own town + add local home swap tips (30th October 2020)

Going for a walk or bike ride is a great way to lift your spirits, get some exercise and also take in some of the nearby sights. View this blog post

14. 5 reasons to arrange a home swap holiday in 2021 (2nd December 2020)

The exciting announcement that the UK has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for widespread use has given a huge boost for travel to return to some semblance of normality soon. View this blog post

15. Trip reports: members' UK home exchange staycations (18th December 2020)

It's been so nice to see that many Home Base Holidays members have, when the travel restrictions have allowed, still been able to enjoy a much needed home exchange getaway. View this blog post

Join Home Base Holidays: start home swapping

Looking for a much needed getaway in 2021? Arrange free holiday accommodation by choosing to swap homes rather than book hotels or holiday rentals.

View the latest home exchange vacation offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.

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January 03, 2021

5 reasons to arrange a home swap holiday in 2021

The exciting announcement that the UK has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for widespread use has given a huge boost for travel to return to some semblance of normality soon. With the positive news of the efficacy of several vaccines over the past few weeks, we have seen a steady increase in Home Base Holidays members starting to discuss and pencil in home exchange holiday plans for 2021.

5 reasons for a home exchange holiday in 2021:

1. Free holiday accommodation

We're all overdue a much needed holiday but the impact of Covid-19 has seen many of us looking for ways to tighten our purse strings and find ways to cut costs. By arranging a home swap you’ll enjoy free holiday accommodation and, as such, can hugely cut the cost of your getaways.

Search the latest home swap offers

2. Swap the city for the countryside

If you've spent much of 2020 living and often working from your city home, you may have a real feeling of cabin fever and are longing to escape to the countryside. There are a large number of very tempting rural home swap offers available through the Home Base Holidays website - these include country cottages, apartments near the beach and even several houseboats, yurts and motorhomes!

Search the rural home swap offers

3. Visiting friends and family

It's been such a hard year with many of us not able to visit friends and family. Zoom, Skype and FaceTime calls have been incredibly useful but we really hope that in 2021 we'll again be able to safely visit friends and family. If your friends or family live in another part of the country or overseas, home exchanging is an excellent way to arrange accommodation close by but still have the convenience of your own space.

Search the latest home swap offers

4. Returning to your 'home' country

This year with much of the world facing travel restrictions it's been so hard, often impossible, for expats to return to their home countries for a visit. We're hopeful that in 2021, with the excellent progress in the vaccines, we will again start to see borders reopen. Arranging home swaps 'back home' can be a perfect option for expats as it enables lengthy stays at very little cost.

Search the latest home swap offers

5. Accommodation for special occasions

Sadly, this year has seen many special occasions such as weddings and sporting events postponed. Lots of weddings and events such as the Tokyo Olympics have been rescheduled for 2021. Swapping homes is a great cost effective alternative to a hotel rooms or holiday rentals.

Search the latest home swap offers

We'd love to hear about your home swap plans for 2021. Contact us at: [email protected]

Plan your 2021 home swap holiday:

Join Home Base Holidays

Looking for a much needed getaway in 2021? Arrange free holiday accommodation by choosing to swap homes rather than book hotels or holiday rentals. View the latest home swap offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.

in General Home Exchange Information, Home Base Holidays, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 01, 2021

Wishing you a very Happy New Year ♡

As we say goodbye to 2020, we welcome the New Year with positivity and look forward to better times ahead.

This year has challenged us all in unprecedented ways and we want to say a big thank you to all our Home Base Holidays members, and wish you all a happy new year!

Thank you for all your continued support during these difficult times. We hope to hear about your wonderful home exchanges in 2021 ♡

Planning your home exchanges for 2021

It always pays to start planning your home exchange holiday well in advance of dates you want to travel. The first step is to add your home swap offer (details about your home, location and where/when you want to travel). Once you've added your home swap offer, spend some time contacting other Home Base Holidays members to ask if they would be interested in a swap.

Small selection of home swap offers for 2021