Travel the Home Exchange Way

Merry Christmas & happy home swaps in 2021

Well, 2020 has sure been a strange year (and that’s putting it mildly); we just hope that you're all doing really well and that you have a lovely relaxing Christmas.

 

We're increasingly optimistic that the new year will bring us all much better news and we'll enjoy home exchanging again in 2021. 

 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas xx 

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Latest home swappers newsletter:

• Featured home swap offers: stone and flint cottage in Norfolk (England) | apartment in Chamonix with views of Mont Blanc (France) 
• Trip report: members' November staycation home swap between Oxford and Cornwall
• Cleaning guideline: cleaning recommendations for home swapping in 2021

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>>> View the Xmas issue of the Home Swappers newsletter

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Home exchange holidays in 2021:

• Search the latest home exchange offers
• Join Home Base Holidays
• 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

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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 swap offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.

Trip reports: members' UK home exchange staycations

It's been such a tough year for everyone that loves to travel and we all just hope that 2021 turns out to be a much (much!) better year. However, 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. Shown below is some recent feedback from home swappers Cat and James who swapped their townhouse in Bath for a few days in Laura's family home in North London. With both members being pet owners, this staycation swap enabled them to take their dogs on the exchange and they also agreed to look after each other's cats. Purrrfect!

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Laura's beautiful townhouse in Bath backs onto the canal

Wonderful Autumn home swap break in Bath "We had a wonderful home swap during October half term with Laura and her son to their lovely town house in Bath. Laura was very easy to talk to and make arrangements with before and during the swap. We each took our dog/s with us and looked after each other's cats which worked out really well. Laura's home was tidy and spacious with plenty of room for our family. She had left us a lovely bottle of wine and treats for the dogs which was a lovely touch. The location was wonderful. Their garden back gate led straight onto the canal and the sky line walk with beautiful views of Bath. We walked our dogs there every day. This was the first time we used Home Base Holidays and it was a great experience." - Cat & James (London, England)

 

Cat & James's beautiful garden in North London (with their two gorgeous cats!)

Lovely short break in a beautiful house in North London "In October, my teenage son and I spent a lovely 3 days in Catriona's and James' gorgeous house with our spaniel, Rocket. I was new to the whole house exchange process, but Catriona was very informative and helped me organise what I needed to do. When we arrived the house was warm and tidy and Catriona had left us coffee and milk as a welcome as well as treats for Rocket. The location meant it was easy to get to shops, tube stations and good walks with the dog. We had a very relaxing time there and on return to our house they had left it spotlessly clean as well! I would recommend Cat and James as home exchange partners without question." - Laura (Bath, England)

 

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Meet the members:

Home swappers: Laura & family  Laura is a teacher and her husband is a web developer. They have two teenage boys and also have a well behaved cocker spaniel called Rocket.  View Laura's home swap offer in Bath

 

Home swappers: Cat & James We are a family of two adults and two young children. We love animals and have two well-behaved dogs who like to travel with us and two cats who stay home and entertain home swap guests! We are very happy to look after people’s pets. View their home swap offer in London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plan your 2021 home exchange holidays:

• Search the latest home exchange offers
• Preparing for a home swap checklist 
• Top 10: things to do at the end of a home swap
• Travel reopening? Country by country guide
• Cleaning tips for holiday home swaps during COVID-19

Home swap travel tip: promoting local attractions

If you live in a tourist area or a major city, you may think that potential home exchange partners will only be interested in how easy it is to get to well-known attractions from your home; of course, it is important to provide such information, and details of public transport, but don’t ignore those lesser known attractions closer to your home that you may take for granted or even not be aware of, for example, if you don’t have children living at home. Home swappers tend to be adventurous and open to exploring local neighbourhoods and will appreciate your suggestions which, of course, you can expand on when in direct contact during your home exchange arrangements.

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Anna and Jeremy, along with their toddler daughter and baby son, live in Herne Hill, a suburb in southeast London. They have included in the Home Base Holidays home swap offer a detailed and really inviting list of attractions in their area. See below the description of their local attractions. 

 

Within walking distance… 

• At the bottom of the road you’ll find Sunray Gardens, a peaceful public garden and play-park, with an artisan bakery and coffee shop nearby. The glorious Ruskin Park with wild flower garden, paddling pool and views across London is 10 minutes away on foot and you’ll pass the Grade II listed art-deco Carnegie Library en route. 
• Herne Hill, with its pedestrianised hub, is 8 minutes away on foot. You’ll find a flower shop, book shops, gift shops, artisan bakeries and restaurants amid live music from the street piano. The buzzing Sunday market sells a wide range of high quality food alongside vintage collections and designer craft.
• Herne Hill is directly opposite the magnificent Brockwell Park, South East London’s largest park, with orchard, rose garden, ponds, Lido, large children’s play area and cafes. There is a 600 year old oak tree and a fantastic view across London. 
• Dulwich Village is 15 minutes away on foot, home to the famous Dulwich Picture Gallery, serene Dulwich Park with its American Gardens, bike hire, boating lake and enticing café and ice-cream parlour. There’s also a historic pub in the village, plus more restaurants, cafes and gift shops to explore. 

Within 10 minutes by car or an easy bus ride away you’ll find…

Visit the fabulous overstuffed walrus in London's Horniman Museum

•  The unmissable Horniman Museum, with its natural history and musical instrument collection, gardens, butterfly house, aquarium and panoramic view across London (the famous over-stuffed walrus in the museum is shown in the photo).
• East Dulwich and Lordship Lane; home to a fantastic range of restaurants, including a pastificio selling to-die-for handmade pasta, a lively Saturday street market, plus cinema and boutiques.
• Brixton Village, you’ll find a maze of small, independent food outlets, selling authentic dumplings, pancakes, craft ales, Italian Cuisine, tapas and cocktails alongside unique galleries, clothes boutiques and gift shops. Brixton also has the elegant, refurbished cinema, the Ritzy.
• The South London Gallery in Camberwell, a famous contemporary art gallery, with café, bookshop and landscaped garden. 
• Sydenham Wood: one of London’s best kept secrets, a delightful mix of new and ancient woodland with remnants of Victorian gardens, home to more than 200 species of trees and plants as well as bats, birds and woodland mammals.
•  You`ll of course have all of all London available within easy reach - whilst there is much to enjoy within the immediate local area too.

>> View the family's home exchange offer in London 

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During the current uncertainty over worldwide travel due to Covid-19, with guidelines and restrictions likely to continue to fluctuate, some members understandably will not yet want to make firm travel commitments. However, it is a really good time to start contacting members to discuss possible home swaps, even if some members will not yet want to finalise dates.

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Planning a home swap holiday:

• 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
• Search the latest home exchange offers

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Join Home Base Holidays: start planning your travels for 2021 Whether you're looking for staycation ideas or planning ahead to overseas travel in 2021, by arranging a home exchange vacation through Home Base Holidays, you'll cut the cost of your getaways by up to 90%. View the latest home swap travel offers and join for free.

Home Swappers newsletter: home exchanges in 2021?

Understandably, many people will not yet feel ready to make firm travel commitments. However, it's a good time to start new conversations with Home Base Holidays members so that you can begin penciling in your home exchange travel plans for 2021.

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• Check out the latest issue of the Home Swappers travel newsletter

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In this issue of the Home Swappers newsletter:

• Featured home swaps: traditional cottage on the Isle of Barra, Scotland | Apartment in Chamonix, France with fabulous views of Mont Blanc
• Arrange a 'working' home exchange getaway
• We're here to help: get in touch if you've had to cancel or postpone your home swap plans
• Check out our cleaning guidelines for home swapping during Covid-19
• Latest home swap holiday offers for 2021 

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Join Home Base Holidays: start planning your travels for 2021 Whether you're looking for staycation ideas or planning ahead to overseas travel in 2021, by arranging a home exchange vacation through Home Base Holidays, you'll cut the cost of your getaways by up to 90%. View the latest home swap travel offers and join for free.

Cabin fever from working from home? Try a home swap

Working from home? Arrange a home exchange for a change of scenery

If you are one of the thousands of people who have been working from home, you may already have a case of cabin fever from staring at the same four walls day after day. If this sounds like you, and you are in desperate need of a change of scenery but still must continue to work (yes, working from home is definitely not an easy option!), you might want to consider arranging a 'working' home swap holiday. You don’t need to fly off to far-flung destinations (and possibly can’t yet anyway) but by arranging a staycation home exchange you could potentially continue to work while enjoy a much needed break. 

For example: Maybe you live in a London flat (and, like many people, possibly combining remote working with home schooling); home exchangers with country or seaside homes may desperately need a safe base in London, perhaps grandparents eager to catch up with grown-up children and grandchildren they’ve been separated from for months. Perfect match!

 

Understandably, for weeks during the height of the pandemic, most peoples' thoughts were not on home swapping or, indeed, travel of any kind. Many Home Base Holidays members had to postpone their home swap plans or put arranging new swaps on hold. However, as the UK and many other countries have cautiously began to step out of lockdown, many of us are at last able to get back to some form of normality. This has, much to our delight, resulted in, first a trickle, and now a steady flow, of new and renewing Home Base Holidays members.

As experienced home exchangers know, to give yourself the best chance of arranging a suitable swap, you should ideally allow yourself plenty of time (you will want to get to know potential exchange partners before agreeing to go ahead with a swap). Therefore, even if you aren’t planning to travel until later this year or maybe not until 2021, it really is a good idea to add your home swap offer now so that you can contact other members to start making your travel plans!

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Shown below are some of the latest holiday home swap offers added to Home Base Holidays.

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Join Home Base Holidays: start home swapping Looking for a much needed break? Arrange a home swap and enjoy free holiday accommodation. View the latest home swap offers then sign up to Home Base Holidays.

Q&A: looking for a wheelchair accessible home swap

Finding wheelchair accessible home swap accommodation

Q: I have an apartment in Prague and am looking to spend 1-2 months in an English speaking country from March/April 2021. However, I use an electric wheelchair and so it's important that I find accommodation that is suitable. I'm interested in arranging a home swap but will I find accommodation that meet my requirements?

A: Thanks for getting in touch and great to hear you’re interested in arranging a home exchange holiday. We have home exchange offers in over 90 countries but, being based in London, we have a particularly good selection of offers here in the UK. We also have quite a number of offers in other English-speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA.

On signing up to Home Base Holidays, members select if their home has wheelchair accessibility. If you go to the home exchange search page, you will see a small wheelchair icon next to any listings where the member has indicated that their home has disabled access/facilities. You can narrow down your search using the “Additional options” filters and select the “Disabled access / facilities” option (see image below). 

In terms of the length of your home exchange, there are many members looking for longer exchanges or 1-2 months. Again, use the filters on the home swap search page to narrow down your search to members looking for swaps of 1-2 months (some members leave their swap duration as 'Open to offers' and so it's good to also preform searches leaving the swap duration option empty). 

Note: Home Base Holidays members select which facilities options are applicable to their homes, including the disabled facilities option. The disabled facilities option will usually indicate that, at a minimum, there are no steps and the doors are wide enough in the home to accommodate a wheelchair. However, some homes will have many more (or other) facilities in place for a family member with particular special needs. If you have special requirements that are crucial to make an exchange home suitable, you will need to make these clear when first contacting members to suggest a swap, and then ensure all your needs will be met before agreeing to an exchange.

 

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Planning a home swap holiday:

• Join Home Base Holidays
• Search the latest home exchange offers
• 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