Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

WIN a Kindle Paperwhite! Home swap photo competition

Win a Kindle Paperwhite, ideal for your next home swap getaway

Send us your best travel 'like a local' photos taken during a home swap holiday to be in a with chance of winning a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader. Three runner up photos will be selected with the senders winning a one year Home Base Holidays home swap membership (worth £49).

Send us photos that best encapsulate your travel experience; it could be an off-the-tourist-trail discovery or perhaps simply you and your family enjoying your home swap hosts’ home / local area.

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How to enter: Send us your best holiday photos to [email protected] Tell us a bit about the photo / your home swap* holiday Closing date: 21st November 2021

 

*Not yet home swapped? You can still enter, simply send us your best travel 'like a local' holiday photos and tell us why home swap holidays appeal to you.  

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Previous winning photos:

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Home Base Holidays: join for free and start home swapping Sign up to Home Base Holidays two-week free trial or select a full membership (6-month membership is just £29 and 1-year at £49). Search the latest home swap holiday offers

Home swap in Whitby: Jack and 'the stone museum'

Whitby home swap: Jack and 'the stone museum'

We love hearing members' home swap experiences and so were delighted to receive the lovely trip report (below) from Home Base Holidays members and very experienced home swappers, Nick and Belinda. Their story highlights the trust and the unique wonderful experiences enjoyed by choosing to home exchange!

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Whitby home swap: Jack and 'the stone museum' "Following a rather disappointing year in 2020 we have had some excellent home swap holidays in 2021. We have been to Derbyshire, Suffolk, Kent, and Devon. All very successful home exchanges ...and the year is not over yet! At the beginning of the holidays we had 5 year old Jack and his sister with their mum and dad swap to our home in Whitby. Jack's mum is actually the daughter of our neighbour, both she and her partner are hospital doctors and so have been extremely busy due to Covid. They loved their stay in Whitby and, at the end of the swap, dropped our key through the letter box along with a lovely “Thank You” card.    Weeks later we went away, swapping our house with a couple from Devon. On our return we were baffled to find a plastic bag of "stones" had been posted through our letter box. There was a note from Jack’s mum. Weeks after their home swap in our home, she had looked in his toy bag and found what he said were just some stones he had found on the ground.   We have tradition at the Whitby house of when you find an interesting stone or fossil on the beach you put it in "the stone museum" on the veranda. Kids love to look and play with them, especially the fossils. What we had not noticed was that the museum was very diminished in size after Jack’s visit.   Jack's mum realised what he had done and gave him a little telling off about "taking things that belong to other people". Part of the punishment was that he would have to return them to us... hence the bag through our letter box! We felt sorry for Jack and we would have happily let him keep them. However it was felt that was not an option as the lesson must be learned!   We wanted this story to have a happy ending and so, after a suitable amount of time had passed, we went round to Jack’s house with a little gift.   "Hello Jack. We have been talking to your Gran nextdoor to us and she said that you are interested in stones and fossils? When we last went on the beach we found these and we thought you might like to have them."    He was delighted! Especially when he realised how similar they were to ones he had taken from 'the stone museum'." - Nick & Belinda

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Photos from Nick & Belinda's home swap offer in Whitby

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Nick and Belinda are retired teachers who love exploring new places. They appreciate how precious peoples' homes and property are and will take good care of yours. They can offer their holiday home in Whitby and main home in Saltaire Yorkshire for exchange.

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Home Base Holidays: join for free and start home swapping Sign up to Home Base Holidays two-week free trial or select a full membership (6-month membership is just £29 and 1-year at £49). Search the latest home swap holiday offers

Do you need a fancy home to start home swapping?

It's been lovely to see so many new Home Base Holidays members arranging their first home swap holidays. For many first time swappers, it can feel a little daunting knowing what to do and what will your home swap guests expect. One question we often get asked by people considering home swapping for the first time is - will anyone want to swap to my 'normal' home? 

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Q: We're a family of three and have not been away since prior to the pandemic. We live in South London and would love a week or two out of the city; we're not fussy, a break by the seaside would be nice or perhaps somewhere in the countryside with nice nearby walks. We're really interested in home exchanging but are just not sure if our home is suitable. I've seen lots of fancy homes on the Home Base Holidays website but our home is just a small 2-bedroom flat, it's nice but nothing fancy! Do you think anyone would want to swap with us?

- Anna, London

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A: It's true, there are some very luxurious home swap offers available through Home Base Holidays. However, we have members with all types of home, from the tiniest studio apartments to grand villas with pools. The good news is that vast majority of homes on the website are just like yours - nice 'normal' homes. 

So, as long as your home is clean and tidy, and you describe it accurately, there is absolutely no reason you can't swap your small flat - in fact, it sounds perfect! London is always a popular destination and it sounds like your flat would be ideal for singles, couples or a small family. Home swapping is an ideal option for families as having the space, comforts and amenities of a real home is such a plus ...as are the cost savings! 

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Don't own your home? You don't even need to own your own home as long as you get your landlord's permission to home swap (you may need to explain the home exchange concept carefully so your landlord doesn't think you are letting any old strangers live in your home or sub-letting the property).

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A few HBH members looking for a home swap in London

Lake District	Scottish Borders	Shropshire	Brighton & Hove

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Home Base Holidays: join for free and start home swapping Sign up to Home Base Holidays two-week free trial or select a full home swap membership (6-month membership is just £29 and 1-year at £49). Home swap guarantee: second year free if you do not arrange a swap during your membership.