Win a one-year HomeLink.ca membership!
Written by: Julie Ovenell-CarterLast Friday I was on CBC’s BC Almanac evangelizing about the beauty of home exchanges–especially in recessionary times like these.
On the show, I announced that the good folks at HomeLink, the North Vancouver-based home exchange company that Brad and I elected to use for our first home exchange last year, have stepped forward to offer a terrific prize to one TheseBoots reader: a one-year online membership worth $165.
There are lots of home exchange services out there, but as I said in my original post, Top 10 tips for a successful home exchange, we chose Homelink because we’d heard good word-of-mouth from friends. And we weren’t disappointed. We secured our first home exchange to Paris within five days of posting, and our second to Berlin this summer within 10 days.
I’ll do a random draw for this prize on Wednesday, March 25 at 8 pm. This contest is open to Canadian residents 18 years or older. One entry per person.
How to enter:
Leave a comment below telling me something about you and home exchange: why you want to do it; where you’d like to do it; successful exchanges you’ve made in the past; something that concerns you about swapping homes. Basically, anything at all on the theme of home exchange…
Good luck and thanks for stopping by! (And just in case you don’t win this one, why not enter to win a $50 gift certificate at Zin on Robson? Or consider subscribing to the site so you never miss a contest…)
Heather Burns
on March 20th, 2009Hi Julie,
I have wondered about doing a home exchange for quite awhile now. After listening to your show today I am encouraged that it may well be for me! I think I will look into it further.
Thank you!
Heather
Evelyn Nodwell
on March 20th, 2009My husband, Ted, and I love spend time in places we travel, and to live as much as possible as locals – buying at the local markets, taking public transport, participating in local festivals. We actually prefer villages to larger cities. Now, with the economy (and our savings) down, if we want to travel, we need, more than ever to find economical ways of doing it, and have often talked about exploring home exchanges. We’re just listening to CBC and finding the information fascinating and encouraging. Thanks for entering us into your contest.
Sincerely, Evelyn
Jo-Anne Dooley
on March 20th, 2009I love the idea of home exchange. What a great way to live like a local and have a great holiday. It is way more important to me to experience the people and the culture, than to be insulated from it. I have been thinking about this for a long time. I think I may be ready!! thanks for the contest!
Justine Murdy
on March 20th, 2009Lately when my sweetie and I travel we have used VRBO.com which is like a home swap except you pay for each day and, since these are vacation homes that are “investments” for the owners, you rarely experience the personality of the owners. You have kitchen and laundry however they can still have a generic hotel vibe.
I would be curious to try a home swap, but I am (a lot) hesitant about whether the family I would be swapping with would care for my home the way I do. Keeping water off the hardwood floor, not scratching the appliances, not being hard the furniture, etc., etc. That would be my biggest concern. It would be hard-breaking to return from a nice vacation to discover the house has been violated in some way, whether accidental or through neglect.
Thanks for bringing our attention to Homelink!
Joan Stephens
on March 20th, 2009We presently operate a Vacation Rental business under the name Graymor Garden Cottage. As we are getting on in years it’s about time for us to do some travelling and I think the Cottage would very much appeal to those looking to do a home exchange and this would provide a wonderful experience for us. We know how much the folks from Holland and Germany enjoy the wild life and walking trails, whale watching, grizzly bear wildlife tours, golfing, lake and ocean fishing, etc. etc. Our location is within a ten minute walk of downtown Campbell River and Campbell River, being located exactly half-way up Vancouver Island is a great spot for day(s) trips to the northern Gulf Islands, the Long Beach area, Victoria, and northern Vancouver Island. You can check out the Cottage amenities on our web site. I certainly enjoyed your interview on Almanac and your enthusiasm for this form of travel.
Pamela Campion
on March 20th, 2009Hello, I enjoyed your comments on the radio today. I am a senior on a fixed income who would like to win the free membership to Homelink for a year. Would it be possible to have a Senior section to Homelink?
I would like to go to Paris. I have a bungalow which would suit 2 people.
It’s in the beautiful Okanagan Valley. Wine, beaches and peaches with a semi desert summertime .My bungalow is 10 mins away from everything in this town of 30, 000.
Between 2 lakes the name of the town means The place you never want to leave in the Okanaagan language. I hope I win this competition!
Sincerely,
Pamela Campion
Pamela Campion
on March 20th, 2009I have posted the comment above. I listened to the broadcast which I found very interesting. I could not find a specific competetion form. I am a senior on a fixed income; sometimes the computer is a mystery to me!
I hope I have fulfilled the criterior of the competition; it was quite a challenge !
Chris
on March 20th, 2009Heard your show today. i had forgotten about house swaps although I was quite taken with the idea a few years ago. havenever done it, but would like to go to new zealand. We’re in Nelson, BC. Would love to get a free membership.
Fran Seward
on March 20th, 2009I’m so pleased I listened to you on CBC today.
I have been wanting to do home exchange but seem to be groping aimlesslely.
I have a cottage on the Sunshine Coast at Garden Bay that I’d like to swap.
You have inspired me and given me a jump start.
Thank you!
Jo Woods
on March 20th, 2009I think this is a fabulous idea, we would like to travel to Beijing, South Korea and Japan next year.
Melanie Barnes
on March 20th, 2009Hi Julie: We enjoyed hearing your spot on CBC!
We were told that only those houses which have “curb appeal” win exchanges. We have a 60’s era house that, although attractive to us, may not fit the bill. That being said we have done a fabulous indoor reno and want to join Homelink and travel to Italy next year.
Please pop us in the bin for the contest!
Many thanks,
Melanie
Lorne
on March 20th, 2009We are a family living on cordova ridges outside Victoria – on one side of the ridge is the ocen – on the other is elk lake – home of canada’s gold medallists men’s eights rowing crew.
We would like to do a home exchange as taking a family of 4 on a cultural vacation is very expensive. This approach will open up many opportunties to our family.
We would like to go to Europe. Asia and our own east coast where my family is from.
Our home is important to us – with items of value to us – we would wan to ensure that our swapeprs are equally trustworthy and careful about other’s homes.
Eleanor Freeman
on March 20th, 2009We just heard you on CBC’s Almanac. Exciting to be reminded of home exchange programs. Thanks for the great information you provided. We have considered it from time to time, but never researched it fully. Reassuring to hear from others who have done successful exchanges. We will be checking out your 10 tips! We would welcome membership with HomeLink!
Patti Kagawa
on March 20th, 2009Thank you for talking on the CBC Almanac show today. What a great idea that most of don’t think about. I am the chosen one of the family to try to find somewhere in the Kootenays that all of the family can enjoy. There will be folks flying in from South Africa, Newfoundland, Edmonton and Calgary. Maybe there will be a home that we can exchange that will work for us all.
It sounds like the perfect vacation for those of us on a budget, wanting an authentic travel experience, meeting locals instead of other tourists. Your website if full of useful links and I totally appreciate all the help. Looks like there might be a few contestants in this contest! Bonne chance to all!
Theresa the SAHM
on March 20th, 2009Last September, my family had received news from a wealthy relative. He said he was going to treat us and 10 other family members to a trip to England for Christmas. We were a bit doubtful whether he’d come through, but when we received the email confirmation of our airline tickets, we started to get excited. We were all going to stay in a manor house in the country in West Sussex. We booked tickets to the musical Wicked ($400 -nonrefundable) in London. We did not do any Christmas shopping for our kids as we felt the trip itself was a wonderful gift.
Then two weeks before Christmas, the relative pulled the rug out on the trip (as was predicted he would do by some family members). We were devastated. With the economic downturn coming down around our ears, we felt we could never afford another such trip. I became obsessed with finding alternative ways we could afford to go and decided to go online to find out more about home exchange. We have a lovely little home in a heritage neighbourhood and hope we can attract families like us. I’m still working on my husband to consider the idea. I called him before your interview on Almanac because I wanted him to hear about from someone other than me. I have taken photos of all the rooms in our house and am ready to go! If we win A free membership for HomeLink, I might finally get my husband’s interest piqued in this wonderful idea!
George Snelgrove
on March 20th, 2009Our eldest daughter just started a three year PhD program in Dunedin, New Zealand. We definitely want to visit her within this time frame so after listening to your program on CBC today I am very interested in a home exchange. Thanks for all the info.
Wendy Tippett
on March 20th, 2009Hi Julie, enjoyed hearing your spot on BC Almanac today & we would be very interested in a home exchange. Great to read about your site & we really liked the top ten tips–very useful.
We have always been interested in the idea of a home exchange and maybe THIS will be the year we will do it.
Thanks for the contest also.
Wendy
Jan Foreman
on March 20th, 2009Hi Julie,
My husband and I live in a beautiful location on the Esquimalt Lagoon in Victoria, BC and I’ve been running a B&B for a number of years, recently converting it to a Vacation Rental suite. We’ve lived abroad (ex-military) and love to travel, so we’re looking at getting involved in house exchanges. We much prefer to stay in an apartment or suite when we travel, as we like having a ‘base’ from which to operate. Our future plans include a visit to England this year and an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2010 /2011. I heard your interview on CBC this year and decided to check out your site. Congratulations on your Aboriginal award!
Natalie Toppin
on March 20th, 2009I heard you on CBC today. It got me really excited about checking out this website. I am retired and my spouse is an artist. We love to travel in Canada. We usually camp, but this limits our travel to “good weather” times of year. I’m looking forward to discovering other options for travel and home exchange.
Hester
on March 20th, 2009I was driving today and enjoyed listening to the show. I have heard of home swaps before but wasn’t thinking of one at all but you have opened my mind to some great travel opportunities! We have 5 kids to accommodation is a huge expense when we travel so obviously we don’t travel that much! I think our family should consider a home swap during the Olympics! Thanks for great ideas- certainly set me off dreaming of all the possibilities!
Jeni Luther
on March 20th, 2009I enjoyed hearing you on the CBC today. I would like to enter your contest to win a homelink membership!
)
I have been looking into home exchange a good bit since Christmas when we decided to make our quasi-annual trip to Glasgow to visit my husbands family. I love them and love to see them but their houses are SO TINY that we always end up cramped, jet lagged tired and annoyed….and desperately needing a vacation after our vacation. I would love to swap homes with someone to give is some peace and freedom and a real, relaxing vacation instead of what it has always been in the past. Our son is 6 now and needs space to spread out as well.
Truthfully, the cost of membership has been our biggest deterrent. It is so expensive just to buy plane tickets to Glasgow, we are strapped from living on student loans….!
Thanks again for the “kick in the pants” I needed to get me back working on this again.
Sue Vogt
on March 20th, 2009Good Afternoon, Dear Julie!
Good Job today, on the BC Almanac interview! I am happy that I was lucky enough to catch the tail-end of your chat… and to hear about your webpage and the homestay concept! Brilliant!
I love the idea of doing a home exchange. I would love to visit practically anywhere in the UK, as well as Holland, France, and Italy. Second choice would be Eastern Canada and the Scandanavian countries. However, I have a few concerns:
1) We live in a cute, but modest home on 5 acres of mostly-wooded property in northern BC. I’m wondering who would want to visit our neck of the woods, as there are no majestic mountains, no ocean nearby, and no cosmopolitain cities. Would people really want to come here rather than the West Coast, Okanagan, or Kootenays?
2) We would probably be looking at an exchange during the summer of 2010 or 2011. Since I don’t want to pay a home exchange site membership fee during a year that I won’t be using the service, should I simply wait until 2010 to join a service?
Thanks again for making this information public! I love the idea of a home exchange, and getting the flavour of “real life” in a new area!
p.s. Your website is very nicely designed! Good work!!
Laura Byrne Paquet
on March 21st, 2009Great interview on the Mother Corp today, Julie (I listened online from Ottawa–ah, the wonders of technology). I’d love to do a home exchange to somewhere exotic, like Thailand or Argentina.
Staying in a residential neighbourhood off the beaten path is a great way to go. For people who may not be keen on the home exchange idea, there’s also the option of renting a house or apartment (as you mentioned on the show). It’s not as cheap as a home exchange, but it’s still usually cheaper than a hotel. We stayed for almost a week in Buenos Aires for about $300, and paid $600 for a week in Paris. Hard to beat those prices outside of hostels.
Pauline wolf
on March 21st, 2009March 21, 2009
Dear Julie Ovenell-Carter; In response to your delightfully inspiring radio interview yesterday please accept my submission to win a one-year membership with HomeLink ~
As empty nesters we are fortunate to have a very large beautiful home, as well as transportation, available for home exchange.
Home Exchange seems an excellent way of sharing the bounty that we live in. Our Earth is such a poignant and beautiful place that reaches out to cradle us wherever we go. By exchanging homes we are able to better understand our relationship with our hosts and our beloved planet. For us, travel allows an enlightened sense of this intimate relationship.
Our family lives in British Columbia, in the City of Campbell River on northern Vancouver Island. We live in a deeply wooded rain forest where rivers, falls, ocean and mountains abound. Activities like whale watching, salmon and deep sea fishing; canoeing, hiking, mountain activities, RVing are all part of our life. Every day the ocean and mountains are the first things we see when we wake up.
By participating in home exchange this deeply enduring but fragile beauty can be celebrated and, hopefully, preserved.
To date we have not participated in home exchange but yearn to have more travel experiences. Now that we have reached early retirement age, we eagerly look forward to exchanging our stories and home with like-minded people.
Our destinations would be Europe overall, specifically Scotland and France. We would also like to visit New Zealand and Australia.
Thank you for considering our submission.
Pauline Wolf, Campbell River, B.C.
please reply to: drpwolf@gmail.com
Jo-Anne Keegan
on March 21st, 2009It was great to hear you on the radio. We have been contemplating a home exchange for many years now but have just never got it together. After listening and hearing you and also hearing the Powell River caller once again (we had met him and his wife in Mexico last year) We are going to move forward with this. We have been planning a trip to Sydney, Austrailia for the month of October and with the cost of such a trip a home exchange will just make the whole trip doable.
Richard
on March 21st, 2009Hi Julie – how about a little promotion for Intervac which is another home swapping service founded in 1953 with thousands of members in 50+ countries and we have an Intervac national representative residing in some 35 countries… Richard – Intervac Canada
Julie Ovenell-Carter
on March 21st, 2009Hi Richard,
I think you just did it Richard!
As I say in my original post, 10 Tips to a Successful Home Exchange, there are many home exchange services out there and we went with HomeLink because friends recommended it. But I’m sure if we had talked to someone else in the beginning we might have ended up with Intervac. We paid the $130 to join HomeLink, and I’ve never regretted the cost.
Tell you what: if Intervac would like to match HomeLink’s prize with a one-year online membership, then I’ll give two prizes to this contest! Let me know what you think!
Richard
on March 21st, 2009Hi Julies – Yes, we will match that. So please add to your prize pool one year’s online membership with Intervac – the value is $129…. we will activate the winner right away so they can benefit from this summer’s travel opportunities…. thanks for the opportunity – Richard – Intervac Canada
Quinne
on March 21st, 2009I have been thinking about doing a home exchang for some time now. This morning I was dreaming again of a trip someplace warm and sunny and was on the site today looking around and found this contest.
My aunt and uncle have used homelink.ca several times and say it is wonderful.
We have 2 young children and so now a family vacation is so much more money with adding 2 additional airfares. So saving money on accommodations just makes more sense. Also we prefer to be able to travel to a different country and actually live as a local instead of being held up in a hotel in the touristy spots. (I was looking at some deals to Cancun – and just the thought of those miles and miles of huge hotels turns me off!)
One thing I have always wondered is about is why would anyone want to actually live in our home? While we are looking for a wonderful spot somewhere in the sun and near a beach (during our winter), we live in Vancouver which would be cold and wet when we actually want to take our vacation.
We have just found out that our daughter’s school is closing for the 2 weeks over the 2010 Olympics and think it would be a great opportunity to get out of town and get some sun. I am hoping for somewhere where we could travel on points and save even more! I have been looking at the Carribean or Dominican Republic or Cuba (some place safe for families). Plus our 10 year anniversary is in Oct 2010 and have been thinking about Paris as well.
Another question though: While our home is very nice – there are still some things that we haven’t completely rennovated/fixed yet. Most of the homes I see on the website look like they have been done up by a designer. Is that what is needed to secure an exchange?
Would love to get some thoughts from other exchangers!
Wendy Reimer
on March 21st, 2009Hello Julie,
Your CBC program the other day encouraged us to try for another house exchange this year. Our very first one with Homelink was in 1995 when we decided to go to Scotland and exchange our West Coast house on Denman Island. One Sunday afternoon while my husband was working in the garden I answered a telephone call from someone with a very French accent. Would we be interested in an exchange to Tahiti? I ran outside and checked. Without missing a chop with the hoe the answer was “Sure!” and we began the process, by snail mail, since Tahiti didn’t have email at that time.
We spent a month in a modern house on the volcano above Papeete, with a view of the city, harbour and thousands of kilometres of ocean, practised our French, shopped in the markets, swam at every beach. Fantastic! Our exchangers had set up a week for us on the neighbouring Polynesian island of Moorea. Meanwhile they were loving our home on Denman Island and were welcomed by islanders.
We met their friends in Tahiti, another French family, and have remained in close contact with them ever since. We have visited them in various places in the world, as have our grown children. Two of their teenagers have come to us for extended visits to ‘practise their English.’ We have been on further exchanges, but still haven’t made it to Scotland! Perhaps this year…?
Julie Ovenell-Carter
on March 21st, 2009Hi Quinne,
this question comes up a lot and I think the truthful answer is: is your home clean? does it feel homey? is it in good repair? does it smell nice (or at least, not like dog, fish, or mildew) when I walk in the door? If you can honestly answer “yes” to those questions, then you are absolutely a candidate for home exchange.
I think the Golden Rule really applies with home exchange: offer to someone else what you would want to be offered yourself. Sure it would be nice if we could all swap for charming Irish cottages or beach-front villas, but that’s the exception not the rule. My experience is that people want clean, safe, tidy and friendly–and that’s about it. So look at what’s good about your place and sell that in your listing–but try to be as honest as possible about the weak points. You don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver.
We were fully prepared to swap with a family in Holland this year, even when we knew their home was still down to drywall in a few rooms, but they were honest with us and we knew what we were getting in to. (They had to back out early on for work-related reasons, but we would still consider an exchange with them in future.)
If your home needs a bit of work, then why not make do the minimum that needs to bring it up to whatever standard you’ve set for yourself, and consider it an investment in future vacations? Cheaper than time-share!
Anyone else got opinions on this topic? Please weigh in!
Steve
on March 21st, 2009Hmm, this is some think I should think about for our trip to Italy next year.
Lorrie
on March 21st, 2009We are living in Rossland BC which apparently has a lot of house swap appeal because of the skiing etc. and we have an interest in sopending some time in warm places for a month of each winter. We heard your programme which was very informative. The question on insurance for house and car is one which keeps us concerned with our poor experience with insurers – never made a claim but evry time anything changes, premiums rise. What is your best advice on how to stay covered?
thanks
Lorrie
Julie Ovenell-Carter
on March 21st, 2009Hi Lorrie,
my best advice is to talk to your insurance agent/broker about what you are planning to do and get their advice. We did that, and found our broker to be very helpful. As I said on the show, insurers tend to like homes to be full rather than empty…
Valerie Thompson
on March 21st, 2009WOW! Perfect timing in my hearing your March 20th interview on CBC regarding home exchanges. WE ARE READY to try a new adventure in life. My husband has just retired….great!, our investments have taken a dive…not so great. Then, low and behold an affordable opportunity arises to see another part of our world. We would love to share our beautiful area on Vancouver Island B.C. with someone far and away. Thank you for being there for us at a perfect moment.
Lindsey Eastman
on March 21st, 2009Heard you on CBC today. Thank you for sharing your wonderful tips and bringing the concept of home exchange into the medias attention. We have planned for at least a year now to get involved with a home exchange website and go on our first home exchange. My husband and I are extensive world travelers but since having our daughter last June we find ourselves craving an international destination with all the comforts of home. The economical option of exchanging your home to another family from another country makes not only financial sense but also makes cultural and community sense. We find ourselves collecting wonderful things to do and see in our local area and not only falling in love with home all over again but sharing that love with potential travelers. It promotes tourism in our own backyard and broadens our minds and the mind of our daughter to see and experience other cultures like locals. We can’t wait to experience our first home exchange. Hopefully Australia or Costa Rica in 2010!
Margaret Lucas
on March 21st, 2009Dear Julie
We are a retired English couple living in West Kelowna (Westbank) In 2010 we want to make a trip back to to England but didn’t want to inconvenience our many family and friends who are scattered all around the country. We had the idea to do house exchange and your broadcast on CBC on Friday last really brought the idea to the fore.We would be able to be more independent and flexible with our plans.
Margaret
Christopher
on March 21st, 2009Enjoyed listening to you on the CBC yesterday. It re-kindled my dreams of taking the family to someplace for an extended stay – to really connect with another culture. I have done lots of cover-as-much-ground-as-you-can-in-time-allotted type travelling, but now with kids, thought sitting in one spot and really experiencing a place would be better.
Thanks Christopher
Julie
on March 21st, 2009Hi Julie –
I heard your interview on CBC – very exciting! I am very interested in the possibility of traveling with home exchanges. My husband and I just had a daughter and I have been contemplating how to continue traveling with a child – a home exchange sounds perfect!
Also, we are very interested in sustainable housing and plan to build a staw-bale house. I will be checking some sites for potential home exchanges with people living in houses made with natural building techniques.
Ruth Hess-Dolgin
on March 21st, 2009We’ve never done a home exchange before, but have thought about it for many years. Now that we’re retired and can be more flexible, it sound like we’re ready to sign on. Several of my colleagues have been members of Homelink and have recommended them. for teachers, the other option we have heard about is Eucator’s B&B Network.
Teresa Conyers
on March 21st, 2009Hi Julie,
It would be great to win a years membership to either HomeLink or Intervac as my husband and I have talked about doing a home exchange for quite sometime but have never followed through with all our talking and dreaming. Maybe now is the time to jump into the exchange pool! We are planning a trip to Wales in September with a side trip to Ireland. If we could find an exchange in Ireland we could afford to stay longer!
We live on the Sunshine Coast in the funky little community of Roberts Creek and feel that living in close proximity to Vancouver and Whistler as well as beside the ocean, using our home would provide travellers with many great recreation opportunities.
Thanks so much for providing the information that we needed to jump start our interest in home exchanges.
Colleen Purdie- Fuller
on March 22nd, 2009I have to go to Italy- it’s not really optional- because I’m writing a book which is partially set there. But as a not-yet-published author, there is no way I could afford it. And, of course, if I could go, I’d have to bring along my kids, so they don’t waste away from jealousy.
But if the accommodation is free, maybe we could scare up enough airmiles to fly over. This could be an opportunity to not only do the resesaerch I must do, but also to live a life-long dream.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge of alternative accommodation ideas!
Susan Ritchie
on March 22nd, 2009I was very interested in what you had to say on CBC. Last year, through a friend, we were very lucky to have the use of an apartment in Spain at very minimal cost. It was a great home base and allowed us to really see the town in detail. We didn’t see as many “attractions” as if we had been moving every day or two, but we did get to experience more. Also, of course, it cut our costs a great deal. We stayed in hostels a few nights that we were away from the apartment, but the cost of accomodation and restaurant meals really added up. So, we will definitely be looking into the idea of a house exchange for future trips.
Sherel Purcell
on March 22nd, 2009We have a great 2-3 bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto ( Little Italy) that I’d love to exchange for the east coast or a US city.
Jane Merks
on March 22nd, 2009We just returned from a 6 week meander thru New Mexico, Arizona, California and Oregon – and we are now planning the next trip! The idea of a home swap is perfect – we want to settle in one new place for a month or two and explore that area. We think our home in the West Kootenays would make a great swap. We have family in Switzerland and while we love them dearly, we were rather have our own separate place to land each night.
Thanks for the great programme.
Sean Pegg
on March 22nd, 2009Thanx to your appearance on CBC I am now keener than ever to go ahead and try a home exchange. An acquaintance has done it regularly but they live right on the ocean in Victoria. I now feel much more confident that us regular folk can do the same as there is obviously tremendous demand out there. I’ve been a host and traveller with Servas which is a great volunteer organization. But stays are limited in time. So HE’s are a super way to go for longer trips.
Peace
Sean
Kim Barry
on March 22nd, 2009Hi Julie,
Just heard you on CBC and you definitely got my travel bug crawling.
Since the kids stormed into our world, my husband and I have felt as if we can’t really afford to travel to “exotic” locations – athough we did circumnavigate the island last year in our 37 foot converted fishboat – that was pretty amazing. We lived on the water in Newfoundland for 5 years and would absolutely love to get back there and would also love to get to France so the kids could use their French and I could feast on bread, cheese and wine.
I’ll hold my breath until Wednesday’s draw and dream of faraway places!
Thanks,
Kim
Stuart Colcleugh
on March 22nd, 2009Why you want to do it?
Same as most people, I suppose: the opportunity to live like a local in some other exotic locale.
Where would you like to do it?
Oh god, where wouldn’t I? Probably not Costa Rica because I lived there for a couple of years and would like to try somewhere new. I’m thinking Madrid, Barcelona, Sidney, Dublin, London, Rio, Buenos Aires, Paris, Rome…
Successful exchanges you’ve made in the past?
None yet, though I am signed up with Homelink, so that’s a start.
Something that concerns me about swapping homes?
Having to complete the finishing touches from my last renovation (window trim, actually organize my home office, complete the gaping trench drain in my driveway, that sort of thing).
Mary Browne-Clayton
on March 22nd, 2009My husband and I had a list of places we wanted to visit. Backpacks and travel guide in hand we managed to check off the first list and create a second one. Now, as a retired couple, we are looking at different, less hectic ways to see the world. The idea of spending time in small towns, to really get a sense of how people go about their daily lives, appeals to us.
Home exchange offers us that opportunity and we are keen to get going. I have explored the HomeLink website and find it to be easy to use yet we still have not taken the next step and signed up. It is so different from anything we have done before! From back packs and local buses to a nice home in a village setting!
Next week we are heading to France for three months. I know it is too late for this trip but I would like to know if other people have gone from one exchange to another (say a month at a time) and how they handled the turn over in their own home. Are there problems with exchanging cars?
We will be staying in gites in France which are fully contained suites in farm houses or older houses. Should be like a home exchange except with a price tag. Perhaps that will be what gives us the push to join HomeLink for our next adventure
Kelly Booker
on March 22nd, 2009We are in a very fortunate position for an extended stay home swap because my husband is a technology professional and can work from anywhere as long as he has access to high speed internet and a nearby airport. I am a Spanish teacher taking an extended leave raising 2 young children and feel like I need some time in a Spanish speaking country to keep my language skills up. Our family would love to spend several months in Mexico or Central America.