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Home
Swappers Newsletter |
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23 |
August/September
2003 |
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Topics
Covered:
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Greetings,
Home Swappers Newsletter is published
bi-monthly to provide up-to-date
information on home exchange vacations
for current and recent members of Home
Base Holidays, enquirers and Newsletter
subscribers. Unsubscribe link at bottom
of page.
See Quick Links at the end of the
newsletter to Member Login, Visitors
Preview, Membership Form plus further
information.
First Swap: Australians 'at Home' in
England 
Brian & Sue O'Connor (that's the
dining room in their home in Brisbane)
write: 'In April and May of this year,
we had our first home exchange with
Peggy and Mike from Westcliff-on-Sea in
England. We built up a rapport via
numerous emails before we left and were
fortunate to also be able to meet them
at Heathrow when we arrived as they were
leaving for Australia, and our home,
that night. We talked as if we had known
each other for many years and found that
we had much in common. What a wonderful
way to start our new adventure!
We arrived at Westcliff-on-Sea after
a 90 min. drive along the M25, a road
that we were to come to know quite
intimately in the six weeks we spent
there! How different from where we live
- and, isn't that what a home exchange
is all about? The terrace houses and the
hustle and bustle of living close to a
main road added to the excitement. Our
location was handy for everything we
wanted to see. We set off daily to
explore beautiful Essex, Suffolk and
Norfolk and very quickly were referring
to our exchange house as
"home". We spent three nights
exploring the "Sunshine
Coast", very different from the
Sunshine Coast in Queensland with its
miles of white sand and surf, but we
loved the fishing villages and the
quaint cottages and, of course, the
wonderful history that goes with it all.
I celebrated my birthday in England and
will never forget the few days we spent
in Kent and the sight of beautiful Hever
Castle, the home of Anne Boleyn,
somewhere I had always wanted to visit.
Imagine being so close to London that
a 40 min. train ride took you into the
heart of it all. We could visit at a
whim and spent many hours wandering
through the National Gallery and the
British Museum. We also spend time in
other parts of London like Wimbledon and
Notting Hill and got a feel for those
areas. I still wonder what became of the
pair who were on trial for murder at the
Old Bailey - where was Rumpole? Of
course, a visit to England is never
complete without the sight of the
changing of the guards at Buckingham
Palace.
We also took advantage of the close
proximity to so many other countries and
arranged a spur of the moment trip
(something we could never do in
Australia), to Copenhagen. Although
there for only three days, we realise
that this is another beautiful part of
the world that we would like to explore
further. We relive our wonderful
exchange experience every time we look
at our photos and are looking forward to
our next exchange - who knows where.' -
Brian & Sue O'Connor, HE13006. And
what of Mike & Peggy, HE13056? They
write: 'We are fully engaged in
furthering our plans to go and live in
Australia on a retirement visa. Who
knows - our next exchange may be from
Brisbane seeking an exchange in the UK!'
View
Brian & Sue's exchange offer in
Brisbane, Australia, HE13006
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Airport
Car Parks: Handing Over Car Keys |
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Two members recently contacted
us with similar questions on how
to arrange to have car keys
handed over to exchange partners
at UK airport car parks, one at
a short term car park at
Heathrow and the other, at a
long-term car park at Gatwick.
We suggested that both check
airport car parks on the Holiday
Extras website (link below) and
then, before booking, contact
Holiday Extras on 0870 8444020
for advice or look up the phone
numbers for the car parks listed
that seem suitable and contact
directly. The information these
members received may be useful
to other members in similar
circumstances.
Julie Harrington, HE13415,
writes: 'Thanks for your speedy
reply and good advice. Your
subscribers may be interested to
learn that Parking Express at
Gatwick South terminal are very
happy to carry out this service.
They advised that our visitors
leave the car keys and parking
ticket in an envelope with our
name on the front and the zone
where the car has been left.
This envelope is to be left at
the administration booth at the
exit barrier. When we fly in we
get on the courtesy bus and
present ourselves at the admin
booth with our passports for
identification and the attendant
will then drive us out to our
car. There appears to be no
charge for this service!' Photo
above of Julie's home in
Oxfordshire.
Adrienne Murray, HE12064, who
had had no problems arranging
for keys to be collected, for a
£5 charge, at Luton, Nice and
Perth airport car parks,
initially had problems when
enquiring about a similar
service at Heathrow. Adrienne
writes: 'Thank you for your
advice. I rang 0871 2220222
Parking Express situated on the
Eastern Perimeter Rd. They offer
a handover service similar to
the one I described at other
airports used during previous
home swaps. They do not charge
for the handover, but obviously
charge for the parking. In our
case a 24 hour stay costs £13.50.
They do not book for short stays
but it is necessary to book for
longer ones. They suggest that
we simply park the car in their
car park which is close to
terminal 4 and catch the first
coach to the airport. At the
exit barrier to the car park, we
get off the coach and go in to
hand over the keys, and the
location of the car. The
envelope should be addressed to
the incoming couple and their
approximate time of arrival.
Then we catch the next coach to
the airport. The incoming couple
do it in reverse. I knew there
must be a solution! Hope this
will be of use to others.' Photo
of Adrienne's house in
Derbyshire below. 
If any members have had
experience of handing over car
keys at other airports -
anywhere - we would like to hear
yur suggestions to pass on to
others.
UK
Airport Car Parks and Hotels:
Holiday Extras » |
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Britain:
Exchanging Places in the Spirit
of Harry Potter |
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'With the release of the latest
J.K. Rowling book, "Harry
Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix" and the prospect
of another Harry Potter movie,
"Prisoner of Azkaban",
life is good'. So begins a
recent article in The Family
Travel Files E-zine. The article
links descriptions of several of
the Harry Potter film locations
in England and Scotland with the
possibility of arranging a home
swap to a home in the area.
Suggestions for other local
attractions of likely interest
to Harry Potter mad children and
grown-ups too are also included
with links to several websites
for detailed information.
Photos of some of the homes
of Home Base Holidays members
who live in areas near Harry
Potter film locations have been
used to illustrate the article -
traditional style cottage in the
riverside village of Whitchurch-on-Thames,
Oxfordshire, HE13415 (see first
photo in article above), a
converted 200 year old cottage,
formerly used for cider-making
and stabling working horses, in
Whitminster, Gloucestershire,
HE13756 (photo below), a modern
house on the edge of Welwyn
Garden City, Hertfordshire,
HE13751 and a large family home
seven miles from the centre of
Edinburgh, HE3321. Visitors:
click the Preview Listings link
at the end of this newsletter
and then, Detailed Search, to
find each descriptive exchange
offer by the member ID reference
given. Home Base Holidays
Members: log on to your member
area to view the listings.
For two nights in April this
year our normally quiet North
London suburb of Palmers Green
became a mecca for Harry Potter
fans when local streets were
used to film scenes in the next
movie, "Prisoner of Azkaban".
How strange it was to see our
Edwardian terraces bathed in
light from floodlights mounted
on huge cranes behind our local
pub. But even stranger was
seeing the
specially made, purple triple decker bus,
pass along Green Lanes at
the end of our street! As our
local mainline train is on the
line to King's Cross Station,
arriving beside the platform
that doubles as Hogwarts
Express, perhaps Palmers Green
will have found a claim to fame
when the new movie is released. 
Read
Harry Potter Home Exchange
Article at Family Travel Files
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New
Home Base Holidays Rep: Charisse
in Ireland |
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Charisse Kenny, the new Home
Base Holidays rep in Ireland,
has had a busy and varied life -
from working as an air
stewardess in Bahrain to
organising concert tours for
various American artistes
(including Gladys Knight &
the Pips and Glen Campbell) to
seeing many of the Caribbean
Islands while getting paid for
it as a bureau assistant on the
Cunard Adventure based in the
West Indies.
Then, 11 years ago, Charisse
went to Ireland for a weekend,
fell in love with the country
and moved over from her home in
England. She now lives with her
partner, Bernard (a local G.P),
in a renovated thatched two
storey farmhouse set on seven
acres just three miles from
Clogheen and three from
Ballyporeen (where the Ronald
Regan Centre is situated) in Co.
Tipperary. Charisse works as a
self employed area manager
recruiting representatives to
sell Avon, often working at her
computer at home, which enables
her to easily handle Home Base
Holidays enquiries in Ireland.
Charisse writes: 'I first
became aware of Home Base
Holidays around a year go when I
saw the programme "Home
from Home" on television. I
was fascinated by the ingenious
way of visiting different
countries by swapping homes and
at the same time having ones own
house occupied and animals, etc
taken care of. We have a German
Shepard dog (11 months old)
called Holly and an adopted
white cat called Charlie, who is
stone deaf. I love the idea of
being able to leave them here
while away and not worry about
them or have them kennelled. It
is a wonderful idea and after I
signed up for the Newsletter,
every time I read one I am
fascinated by the information in
it. It is a project I am very
much interested in being a part
of and I look forward to
providing information to
enquirers and publicising the
service in Ireland'. - Charisse
Kenny 
Contact
Information for Charisse in
Ireland » |
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'IKEA
room Magazine': Members Describe
Home Swaps |
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The summer edition of 'IKEA room
Magazine' included interviews
and photos of long standing Home
Base Holidays members - Jane
Clegg and Mark Mullins, HE2400
(photo of their North London
house below) and Marion Blythman,
HE1750, from Edinburgh. The IKEA
article has been given as the
source of information by a few
new members already, including
at least one, appropriately,
from Sweden. I get a vision of
some members travelling half way
around the world to feel really
at home in their temporary
exchange home - same Tullsta
chair, Klubbo coffee table,
Snits vase, Minuskel dishes
.....!
Over the years many Home Base
Holidays members have talked to
journalists writing articles on
home exchange about their
experiences, taken part in radio
interviews and even been filmed
while on exchange. Media
publicity makes more people
aware of home exchange as a
holiday option, more decide to
try it out, thus increasing the
number of exchange opportunities
available for all members. We
are very grateful to members who
help in this way. We keep a look
out for mentions in the media
but, if we miss your
contribution, do let me know
(email link at end) and your
exchange offer will be given
some extra publicity in a
newsletter.
GMTV in London has been
looking for a family to take
part in a feature on home
exchange this summer. We've just
heard that Judith and Paul
Stafford and children, HE4175,
more long standing members, from
Kingston-on- Thames, have agreed
to be filmed by GMTV before and
after their exchange to San
Francisco. I will look forward
to seeing the Stafford family on
early morning TV! 
Use the link below to check
out the latest exchange offers
for the members mentioned
(members: log on to your member
area to view).
Detailed
Search: Find Listings by
Members' User IDs » |
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Get
Responses to Exchange Offers:
Personalise Messages |
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| Fiona
McGinnes, who is offering her
lovely beachside home in Hilton
Head Island, South Carolina, for
exchange, wrote soon after
joining in July: 'Once again
many thanks for a great site.
Your families have so far all
responded to my emails (after
your tips) which makes it nice,
friendly and courteous'.
It was great to hear that
Fiona has received replies from
all Home Base Holidays members
she has contacted to suggest a
swap as, even if a member can't
consider your offer, it's so
nice to receive a short reply so
that you can get on with
pursuing other possibilities. We
do occasionally hear from
members who are disappointed
when a number of members they
contact fail to reply to an
exchange offer. As everyone is
finding their email inboxes
filled with more and more
unsolicited junk mail, it is
more important than ever to make
sure your initial exchange offer
messages stand out. Impersonal
messages that look like they
have been sent to many members
are likely to be ignored.
Just a reminder: 1. Make a
note of the name and User ID of
each member you contact (or
print a copy of the listing) so
that you can easily match
replies with listings. 2.
Address the member by name 3.
Start your message with two or
three sentences on what has
particularly attracted you to
their exchange offer - perhaps
it's the home itself, the
location, the fact that the
family has children and your
home is geared up for the needs
of children (or not, depending
on your circumstances), your
location and dates appear to fit
with their requests. 3*.
Introduce yourself (names, ages,
etc for all in your exchange
party). 4*. Include your User ID
so that the member can easily
view your full listing. 5*.
Provide some additional
information about your home and
location 6*. Offer to answer any
questions they have. 7*. Let
them know how much you are
looking forward to hearing from
them. * - these will generally
be the standard parts of your
message that you could prepare
in draft ready to copy (and
adapt as needed) to paste into
each message before sending. 
The photo on the right is of
the shared swimming pool at
Fiona's home. Check out her full
listing by clicking the link
below. Members: log on to view
HE13985
View
Fiona's Exchange Offer in Hilton
Head Island, SC, HE13985 » |
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'Slow
Travelers': Taking Time to Get
to Know an Area |
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Slow Travelers is a community of
people interested in a different
type of travel, renting
accommodation for lengthy
periods, rather than staying in
hotels, as a way of getting to
know an area. This attractive
site includes lists of rentals,
reviews of places people have
stayed, trip reports, restaurant
and hotel reviews, a photo
gallery and a great message
board. Country information is
included and it is a
particularly good source of
information on Italy.
Home swappers can be 'slow
travelers' too - without the
rental expense! Australian
members, Brian and Sue O'Connor,
whose exchange story is featured
in this issue, commented: 'What
attracted us to do a home
exchange? We had been overseas
and done the usual
"whirlwind" tour of
Britain and Europe in 2001. This
was magnificent but we both had
the desire to actually live in
another country'.
Slow
Travelers Website » |
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Newsletter
Contributions |
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are always pleased to receive
contributions for the newsletter
- short articles about your
exchange experiences, tips for
those new to the idea of
swapping homes and questions
from subscribers considering a
home exchange holiday for the
first time.
Please feel free to forward
Home Swappers to friends and
colleagues who may be interested
in home exchange (see Forward
Email link below newsletter).
All Home Swappers content is
copyright and cannot be used in
any form without written
permission from Home Base
Holidays. 
Home Base Holidays, London,
UK 1985-2003: 18th year
providing a home exchange
service worldwide
Contact
Lois Sealey, Editor, Home
Swappers Newsletter » |
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email: homeexchange@btinternet.com
voice:
+44(0)20-8886-8752
web: http://www.homebase-hols.com
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