News

Enthusiastic home swappers are the best ambassadors for promoting home exchange vacations and we're always pleased to receive their useful feedback. Australian Home Base Holidays member, Maureen Poulton, sent these comments and suggestions a few weeks ago:

'The reason I am writing this to you is to tell you about the huge amount of enquiry we got from friends and family over the holiday who wanted to know all about Home Base Holidays. Gerry and I found ourselves holding the floor on more than one occasion and always reaching for paper and pen to write down the website address.

The main question always was "What did we do with our Good Stuff?" And the answer was Gerry bought a galvanised tin outdoor shed and installed it inside our garage with a padlock. Our thought initially was we would store the Villiroy & Bosch, the Wedgewood Crystal, the Royal Albert and anything we really treasured in this shed. But the reality was by the time we got to know our swappers over the internet, the only things that went into the shed were a two drawer filing cabinet with our household and banking papers and our clothes we wanted to move out of the wardrobe to make room. On the flip side when we reached our swappers' home they had left all their "Good Stuff" for us to use too. We really appreciated its use as we entertained family and friends. I think in the end, we broke one cup and they broke one vase, neither of any importance so all worked out well.

So, Lois, just thought I would say all that for you for future reference on "questions people ask".'

Maureen and Gerry's house is situated on Queensland's Gold Coast, with magnificant beaches and tourist attractions. Excellent golf courses and the sun shines all the time - warm weather guaranteed any time of year. They have a swimming pool with spa and the rear balcony overlooks a lake so the views are spectacular (in photo).

It is always a good idea to start looking for home exchange possibilities several weeks (preferably months) before the dates you want to exchange. It also increases your chances of finding a suitable swap if you can be at least a little flexible on dates, length of exchange and exact destination. However, there can be times when, perhaps, a limited special air fares offer comes up that's just too good to miss. In these situations, especially when travelling long- haul with a couple of children, the savings on air fares has to be balanced against restricting your options in having to find an exchange that fits around fixed dates and length of stay.

Meg, a recent Home Base Holidays member from Santa Barbara, is in exactly this situation with tickets already booked for London for August 3rd to the 24th. Meg and her husband are coming to London to visit his relatives in England and, as she writes, 'familiarize our sons with the turf over there.' The boys are two and six years old.

Southern California is a popular destination with London home swappers. It should also help that Meg's dates fit in with the school summer holidays in England and, hopefully, the family will soon arrange an exchange in London for August. Meg's description:

'Our home is a California cottage located on a quiet street. Downtown shops, restaurants, art museum, public library, public parks, and coffee houses are a 5 minute drive or 30 minute walk. Beautiful sandy beaches are a 5 minute drive away.

Santa Barbara has long been a popular tourist destination due to its inviting climate and Spanish style architecture. It is also conveniently located within 90 minutes of many Los Angeles area attractions.'

Although Home Base Holidays members are encouraged to start planning for home swaps well in advance of the dates wanted, those really early birds, looking for exchanges for fixed dates more than a year away, may face initial disappointments. Many members contacted very early on may turn down such exchange offers simply because they haven't yet made plans and may not want to commit to an exchange for dates so far ahead.

It could well be, however, that some members contacted early would be interested in an exchange offer if approached again nearer to the time. If you are an early bird yourself (and some people do have specific reasons that necessitate organising exchanges very early), when sending your first exchange offer messages, acknowledge that you do understand if the member may not be able to make a definite commitment just yet. Suggest, if this is their situation but they may possibly be interested in your exchange offer, that you will contact them again in a few weeks if you haven't already arranged an exchange. This should encourage more members to consider your offer rather than reject it outright.

The incentive for this topic was a recent member's exchange offer in Victoria, BC, Canada. New member John wrote:

'We are primarily interested in an exchange in Andalucia, Spain for the last three weeks of June 2007. We prefer to travel in the shoulder season when it is not as busy. We have an exchange arranged in Yorkshire, UK this August 2006. My wife has month-end accounting due the first week of every month so we are restricted to the last three weeks of any month. We travel on points and need to book one year in advance so we like to plan early. Many of our friends also fly on points which are limited to 2 or 4 seats per plane in the business class section of the plane. I am 1.95 meters or 6 ft 4in so I never fly in the economy section. These seats are released 351 days in advance and usually go in the first 30 minutes of the day. We have flown this way 6 times so far very successfully. I hope you can alert Europeans to be aware that many North Americans travel mainly on points.'

John's exchange offer:

'We have a very comfortable home in a quiet neighbourhood close to the ocean, parks and shopping. Our back yard looks out on a park like setting. A short walk of 10 - 15 minutes will take you to the ocean and world class restaurant. Our home is in the municipality of Oak Bay which is just east of downtown Victoria. We are a two hour ferry ride to Vancouver, BC; from there it is a three hour drive to Seattle, WA, USA.' See full listing, HE18046

Some further ideas to increase the chances of arranging an exchange when restricted by fixed dates and/or destinations:

• Be as flexible as possible on exact locations you will consider.
• Some homes available for exchange are second homes (symbol of a small house with a '2' beside the summary listings). These members are often able to consider non-simultaneous exchanges. If you can make your home available to members for dates earlier or later than your fixed dates, that would give more flexibility to find a swap that suits both parties.
• When contacting members whose exchange listing is written in their own language, or it's likely that English is their second language, write at least part of your exchange offer message in their language.
• Take time to compile an informative, personalised exchange offer message before sending. A couple of blog posts that might be useful: Send Enticing Home Swap Offers and Who are the Most Successful Home Exchangers?
• Keep checking new listings regularly and contact new members promptly.

The Last Minute Offers link, which you will see on all pages on the Home Base Holidays website, is an additional, separate list that members can add their exchange offers to when exchange dates are getting close (within three months), to give such offers some extra publicity when needed. In order to keep Last Minute Offers fresh and relevant, listings are automatically deleted from this list after one month.

When you first join Home Base Holidays, or renew your membership, as well as being indexed by continent, country, etc, your listing is also included on Newest Exchange Offers, another separate one month list; this is useful for members and site visitors to check for new offers since they last visited the site.

During your first week of membership you won't be able to add your listing to Last Minute Offers (at this early stage you will be busy searching for and contacting current members with your exchange offer).

Members: To add your listing to Last Minute Offers, log on to your member area and click Boost My Profile. Once you've done this, each time you log on during the month, you will see the number of days your listing has left on the Last Minute Offers list (and can add it again right away if still needed at the end of the month). Occasionally we receive a message from a member asking why their membership appears to expire within a few days but, as explained in the member area, the reference to days left relates to Last Minute Offers only, not to the membership period.

Last Minute Offers is meant to give exchange offers additional circulation. However, it is important to be pro-active, contacting other members with your exchange offer, rather than wait to be contacted, especially when you don't have long to arrange an exchange. If you have thoroughly searched all current listings and contacted all whose offers are of interest, check both Newest Exchange Offers and Last Minute Offers often for more exchange possibilities.

The last issue of Home Swappers included an article based on a member's comments on a home she had found in a poor state of cleanliness on a family exchange over the Christmas holidays (very rare, but it can happen). Most home exchangers are prepared to overlook minor differences in housekeeping standards (after all, homes are lived in and can't be expected to all be up to five star standard) but it is obviously distressing to arrive to find a lack of basic cleanliness. Two comments were received in response to this article. The first, below, is from a newsletter subscriber (note: he did not exchange with a Home Base Holidays member!):

'We had a particularly disagreeable exchange in Cornwall because of misrepresentation of quality of home and amenities. It was a real learning experience for me in terms of what to ask before the exchange is solidified. I sent them a letter when we got home, and sent the exchange agency a copy. Essentially the letter explained that if they wanted to exchange with a high caliber of home, they would need to address certain issues. I was nice enough about the discrepancies, but made it clear that they needed to do certain things so as not to disappoint future exchangees.

Some of the things that I have learned to ask:

• Are there screens on the windows?
• Do your appliances work - washing machine, dryer, microwave, stove, oven, toaster, etc?
• Does the outside barbeque work?
• Is there a cleaning service available?
• If there is to be a car exchange as well, is the car in good working order?'

Editor's Note: As long as questions are put in a polite way to a potential home exchange partner when providing this information on your own home's facilities, and offering to answer any questions, this shouldn't cause offence. However, adapt your list to suit the location (e.g. screens on the windows won't be neccessary in all locations). Also, don't launch into an interrogation in initial exchange offer messages or you could provoke a negative response such as one a member described in a recent newsletter (see link to newsletter below). In other words, just be sensitive to the recipient's feelings as, unlike phone calls, it's so easy to misinterpret email messages and, if not carefully worded, you could come across as implying that their standards, and those in their country generally, are unlikely to be as high as what you are used to. A hint of arrogance, however unintentional, is a big turn-off!

A Home Base Holidays member was also inspired to write after reading the article on housekeeping standards in the last newsletter. Fortunately, this member found the home she exchanged to to be in excellent condition, but her comments on, probably an oversight, will be a good reminder on the little courtesies that can make a big difference to an overall home exchange experience. Her comments:

'I've just read your newsletter and feel I should write to comment on my home exchangers last summer. I know the people who were in my home for a month were lovely (my neighbors told me so) and my "complaint" is small. But, because it's still on my mind many months later, I think discussing it could be helpful to others. A dinner plate was broken (with no note telling me so), my good kitchen shears that would cut anything are missing, and I haven't been able to find several other kitchen items. I know things get broken or go missing during an exchange (and I expected that), but I feel exchangers should leave a note to tell you what happened, so you don't have to wonder. I have looked everywhere for those shears and they are nowhere! Also, I left a long note thanking the people whose home I was in, but they didn't leave even a brief thank you! To me, leaving a note of any length is simply common courtesy--I thought they hadn't enjoyed themselves until my neighbors told me otherwise! Fortunately, unlike the unclean home the exchanger in your current newsletter sited, my exchangers' home was immaculate, as was mine when I left it and when I returned. I hired a cleaner to make certain my exchangers' home was as spotless when I left it as it was when I arrived.

Thank you for your wonderful service, which brings together people from many walks of life to have the opportunity to enjoy living in different countries!'

We have just received an invitation for Home Base Holidays members and newsletter subscribers:

Home exchangers: Submit your travel stories and have a chance to win a fabulous expedition cruise on the Amazon River or some other great travel prizes. Travel and Transitions, a popular web portal for unconventional travel, is looking for your stories of how travel opened your mind. Travel and Transitions has just launched its first Travel Story Contest. Submit your own stories of between 500 and 2000 words and have a chance to win some great prizes.

Editor's Note: I hope you will try your luck at winning a prize in this competition. If you enter, especially if your story is about a home exchange experience, please do copy your entry to us and, even if you aren't one of the lucky winners, you could still gain some extra publicity for your next exchange offer if your story, or extracts from it, are published in this newsletter or on our weblog.

Newsletter Contributions: We are always pleased to hear from members and subscribers and to receive contributions for the newsletter and weblog - short reports on your exchange experiences, tips you feel would be useful to those new to the idea of home swapping and any questions you have on home exchange. Please include 'home exchange' in the subject line when contacting us as messages with no subjects (or dubious sounding subject lines!) or unexpected attachments may end up in our spam folder and deleted unread.

Reading this on the Website? Use the newsletter subscribe link to add your email address and receive the newsletter regularly. If already on the list but not receiving your copy by email, there can be a number of causes:

• Incorrect email address - send us your name and correct address
• Add our email address, homeexchange@btinternet.com, to your address book or 'white list' of accepted messages
• Check your spam/bulk folder before deleting - some 'real' messages can be put there by mistake

Unsolicited Messages: If you are a Home Base Holidays member and ever receive a message from an unknown exchange agency which could only have come from the information in your listing, please forward it to us. The private member area is for one-to- one exchange offers between members only, not for any commercial solicitations.

Copyright: All Home Swappers content is copyright and cannot be used in any form without written permission from Home Base Holidays. However, please feel free to forward the newsletter (in full) to friends and colleagues who may be interested in home exchange (use the Forward Email link below the newsletter).

Check the archives to read past issues of Home Swappers Newsletter. Also, don't forget to visit the Travel the Home Exchange Way weblog often for regular information and updates plus special exchange requests.

Home Base Holidays, London, UK 1985-2006: 21st year providing a home exchange service worldwide