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'When we joined the Home Base Holidays home exchange website a year ago, we had no idea that we would be spending our summer vacation relaxing on the beach in Spain, eating tapas at a beach bar every evening, or trying to hablar espagñol each day...in short, having the adventure of a lifetime!

My husband, two teenaged daughters and I, have always loved to travel, and have never hesitated at the opportunity to experience new cultures and new countries. Our year long work exchange to Australia in 1999 only served to whet our appetite for change and travel. So, when our "travel feet" began to itch once again, we joined a home exchange website.

Initially, we were hoping to exchange to France for a few weeks, because we wanted to practice our French, and because I had spent a year of University there many years ago, and had always longed to return. Besides, we knew that our daughters would be happy shopping along the Champs Élysée, visiting Luis Vuitton, Lacoste, Dior, and Chanel Boutiques. My husband and I knew that we would be happy visiting wineries and the Louvre by day, and the Eiffel Tower by night. We would be one happy family, enjoying all that France had to offer.

Within a few weeks of joining Home Base Holidays, we had offers for exchanges to Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, the Canary Islands, and Spain. However, we didn't have any interested exchange prospects from France! We looked into many of the other offers, but knew that in our hearts, we preferred France, or, at least, somewhere on the European continent.

Then, it happened! We had an amazingly interesting offer from a family in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, a lovely Mediterannean coastal village, just north of Barcelona. With a bit of planning, we could still visit France, perhaps even England enroute, and then make Sant Andreu our final destination!

After months of planning and communicating with our exchange family, we left on what would become the adventure of a lifetime for our family. As anticipated, enroute, we visited friends in London, England, then flew to Paris for a whirlwind tour of Paris by day and night. The girls got to shop on the Champs Élysée, and watch the lights of the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night. From there, we rented a car and drove to Arras, France, to visit the site of the Vimy Ridge Canadian War Memorial, and to do a guided tour through the World War I front line trenches and supply tunnels. Next, we stayed with friends in Piriac- sur-Mer, along the Loire-Atlantic coast of France. While there, we fished for shrimp, visited the local market, and witnessed some beautiful sunsets. Finally, we could really practice our French! Our last stop in France was the city of Nantes, where I had spent my second year of University. It was a proud moment for me, when I was able to show my daughters and my husband where I had lived and studied for one year when I was only 19 years old.

Two weeks after beginning our journey, we finally arrived at our destination, where we were met by our Spanish family. What a funny sight it must have been for those around us in the airport who witnessed us trying to communicate with one another. None of us was able to speak the other's language, but we had a hilarious time trying. Hands were flying and fingers were pointing as we tried to understand each other. We were driven to "our" condominium on the beach, then quickly shown how to operate appliances, open gates and doors, and drive the fully equipped Mercedes sports car, complete with Spanish speaking GPS. Again, what a time we had, as we tried to navigate our way from point A to point B, with the voice of "Maria" (as we aptly named her), at the helm. After our introduction and our brief instructions, our family left us to prepare for their voyage to our home in Canada, a few days later.

The three weeks that we spent together in our beautiful Spanish seaside village were the greatest of all. Not only were they sun filled, educational, cultural and interesting, they offered our family time to relax and enjoy all that life in another country had to offer. There were no distractions of "normal" life...we were on an extended vacation in a beautiful setting, with none of the worries of home. We also found some new loves; tapas, damm beer, sangria, berberechos (cockles), fireworks on the beach, cava and cocas (pastries covered in sugar), and of course, the beaches of Torres del Mar, Sitges, and the cities of Girona and Barcelona. What a holiday!

I can't wait to begin plannning our family's next adventure. I truly believe that the best education one can ever give or get, is that of travel. It has opened our minds and our hearts to other cultures and languages. Our daughters have the gift of open mindedness, and an appreciation of the way that others live. In addition, we have a heightened sense of adventure that continues to grow with each travel experience.' - Kim Jamieson, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, HE16307

The majority of Home Base Holidays members indicate in their listings that they want to swap homes with 'non-smokers only' (a tick box option on the membership form). As the number of smokers in many countries decreases, this can appear to greatly limit the number of homes available for exchange to smokers who may, indeed, feel a little like pariahs amongst the large number of non-smokers!

Some members will indicate within their descriptions that smokers who agree to only smoke outside, on a patio or in the garden, will be welcome. This should encourage considerate smokers to approach such members with exchange offers. Smokers should also be up front about their habit and include this information in their own exchange listings, along with a promise to respect an exchange partner's request to not smoke inside their home. Most home swappers who tick the 'non-smokers only' box are concerned about keeping their homes free of the lingering smell of stale smoke (or, worse, cigarette burns on furniture). Many non-smokers will consider exchanges with smokers who show that they will respect their wishes while staying in their home. A couple of recent examples of considerate smoking home exchange members:

in Tampa, Florida, USA: 'Andy is a smoker, but would not smoke in your home. We are very respectful of other people's wishes and homes.'

Description: 1950s ranch home with hardwood floors, french doors to a screened in swimming pool, lots of light. Safe, desirable South Tampa neighborhood. Walk to Bayshore, Tampa's promenade along the bay. See full home exchange offer, HE17694

in Maldon, Victoria, Australia: 'Mick is a considerate smoker - he has never smoked in our home and most certainly wouldn't in yours.'

Description: Late Victorian era weatherboard house built by a miner on 2/3 acre. We've tried to give our home a feel of the old days with modern conveniences. Furniture is in keeping with era where possible, although not formal antiques. Small gold mining town, gorgeous well preserved main street. Excellent position for exploring Victoria - day trips, wildlife, history, beaches, towns/cities. 1 1/2hrs Melbourne. See full home exchange offer, HE18003

Julie, a recent Home Base Holidays member, states in her listing:

Our home is located in Pedreguer, Spain, 20 minutes from Denia and Javea. Google Earth Ref. 38° 47'37.N/0°02'00E Pedreguer is a small lively town, attractive, safe, with good basic supermarkets, shops, restaurants and bars.'

This is the first listing to give a Google Earth reference. What a good idea! If you have downloaded Google Earth you will be able to see the exact position of this home which will give you an excellent idea of the area.

Pajama Market Small Business Blog of the Day

I was delighted when Travel the Home Exchange Way was chosen as the Small Business Blog of the Day (9 May) on the Pajama Market blog. A short quote from Brian Brown's review:

'This is really an excellent blog. Lois has clearly spent a lot of time working on it, producing an outstanding quantity and quality of posts in a short period of time. There are several photos and graphics on the site, which is great.'

Read the full review on Pajama Market plus Brian's follow- up interview with me a couple of days later (if you want to find out why I publish the blog!)

Get Notification of New Blog Posts

Just as anyone interested in home exchange can subscribe to this newsletter using the Subscribe link on the Home Base Holidays site, you can now add your email address to the box above 'Get email updates' in the left hand column of Travel the Home Exchange Way to receive a notice by email whenever a new post is added (generally no more than three a week). As with this newsletter, you can easily unsubscribe if you no longer want to receive update emails.

We set a precedent a few issues back of publishing comments anonymously when a member has no wish to upset past exchange partners but issues are raised that may be of interest to other home exchangers. Here's one Home Base Holidays member's recent comments:

'I believe it is very important that a property of a similar standard be exchanged, but it is difficult to ascertain this without sounding snobbish!

The following (maybe small problems to other people) annoyed me more than anything:

(1) I love to cook, and I found at least 12 saucepans but all in a poor state of repair - Teflon but scratched, peeling and in some cases, completely worn surfaces. Apart from health issue I was disappointed that a new set of saucepans hadn't been bought when our exchangees knew I loved to cook (and we were spending several months of winter in a very cold climate when soups, stews etc would be the obvious foods which would be cooked. I bought a stockpot as there wasn't one, and one small saucepan and a hand held blender. This modest outlay right at the beginning of our exchange was money well spent. I found that a set of reasonable saucepans would not have cost all that much and, considering the monies saved in accommodation and car hire, would have ensured we may have considered exchanging with them again.

Also little shields on top of gas jets on cooktop kept falling off, very annoying. One didn't even fit so I couldn't really use that gas jet.

(2) Location needs to be similar - our home is located in one of our city's best suburbs (mentioned in a discreet way in our listing, but a little research on real estate listings on the internet could tell someone this).

(3) Bed!!! - if your mattress and pillows are old then do not exchange with someone where the bedroom photos obviously show the bed is relatively new and taut! I foolishly did not buy new pillows at the start of the exchange and suffered in consequence. The mattress was lumpy, old and too long for the bed which made it extremely difficult to make, a daily irritation.

(4) Look for similar access to amenities.

Apart from these annoyances, which may not have worried younger people, our exchange went well and we are exchanging again this year in another country.'

Editor's Note: It's really appreciated when members share their thoughts on a home exchange as points raised can be passed on and alert others to address similar issues before agreeing to exchange offers. Most exchangers give priority to location over whether the home and facilities are of the same standard as their own (but this is a personal thing!) and also what members decide to spend most money on in their own homes will not always be the same as an exchange partners' priorities. It's likely that many fairly young and fit members may not give much thought to the age/comfort of their beds or those of their potential exchange partners' when organising home swaps.

As this member had a lengthy exchange, there were issues (such as the state of mattresses and pillows - hard to really show accurately in photos) and cooking facilities (especially for a keen cook), that needed to be addressed with exchange partners more than is usually necessary with a shorter holiday exchange when it's easier to overlook small deficiencies (or, at least to see these balanced against the advantages of the home and location). Even when addressed outright, there could still be misunderstandings of course as, for example, someone else's battered saucepans may look unfit for use but, to the owner, they may still seem perfectly serviceable (when reading this member's message, I thought of an old saucepan my mother used for many years even though the handle was wonky and it was downright dangerous!)

Home Base Holidays members, whose home exchange dates are getting Home Base Holidays members, whose home exchange dates are getting near but who haven't as yet arranged a swap, can add their listings to a separate Last Minute Offers list to draw extra attention to their exchange offers. It is always best to be proactive of course, checking for new listings and other Last Minute Offers every day, and contacting members with offers of interest without delay.

Here's a recent addition to Last Minute Offers. Carolyn is open to offers in the UK in September:

'Our home is a five bedroom house with a very low care heated swimming pool, situated in the pretty Blue Mountains. We are in a quiet scenic area, but with good access to Sydney. Our house has air conditioning for summer months and central heating for the winter months. In general, our climate here is temperate, with four distinct seasons. By train or car, the centre of Sydney is one hour away. There are a lot of tourist attractions in the Blue Mountains, with pretty towns and beautiful views. We are very close (5 minutes by car) to a National Park with Aboriginal cave paintings, kangaroos etc. Bushwalking is very popular as well. It is 1/2 hour to Katoomba where the Scenic Skyway and Scenic Railway are popular tourist attractions. The local village has great shops, cafes/restaurants, a cinema and post office.

We are a middle aged couple (in our 50s). We plan to travel with my elderly mother and possibly another older woman to the UK in 2006. It would be possible to exchange cars as well, by mutual agreement. This is the first time that we have offered our house for swapping, so we are new to this but very keen! We are all non smokers and would take very good care of your home and possessions. A non-simultaneous swap would be a possibility as well.'

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