ExchangeHomesBlog.com » Member Stories

Home Exchange Vacations For Empty Nesters and Retirees

Anne — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:45:18 +0000

Home exchange vacations are definitely not just for families with children. Over the more than twenty four years that ExchangeHomes has been in existence, we’ve received countless reports from members who have enjoyed home exchanging long after their families have grown up and left.

As one member put it: “Fred (my husband) and I have been avid home exchangers for more than twenty years; our first exchange was when our children were 4 and 8, and as they grew older we traveled further and further afield. In fact, I can honestly boast that home exchanging allowed us to show our two sons the world.

But, our boys now have lives and families of their own (and home exchanging too), Fred and I are visiting places that we are enjoying, but wouldn’t have been a lot of fun for two kids looking for excitement.”

Several years ago I wrote a post about Marylee, an Atlanta lady aged 57 who wanted to escape the city during the Summer Olympics in 1996. She had never home exchanged in her life and was very nervous at the prospect. She merited the extensive write up I gave her because she had contacted me in 2007 to tell me that she had just completed her twenty fifth home exchange at around 68 years old. You can read my original write-up by clicking A Tale of Two Cats.

Similarly, in November 2008 I wrote about Laura, a lady who had first joined ExchangeHomes in 1988 when she was 52 years old. During the following twenty years she had her husband had taken part in dozens of home exchanges, but in 2008 she had been forced to stop traveling following difficult knee surgery. You can read that original posting by clicking Here.

And how about a wolrd tour while home exchanging? Take a look at Joe and Mary’s story Here.

Those are just three examples of mature ExchangeHomes members who have benefited enormously from home exchanging. You can find many more such stories by clicking the link to this blog’s Archives at the top of the page.

Home Exchange – How I spent My Summer Vacation in France

Anne — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:04:47 +0000

My wife and I just had a fantastic three week vacation if Paris, France and the only way we could have ever done it was because of home exchange and most especially ExchangeHomes.com. I had never heard of it until one of my fellow teachers told me about it. Essentially, it’s when you trade homes with a family that lives in the city you want to go to. I was a little skeptical at first, but boy am I glad I did it.

We are both teachers and so we don’t make a ton of money (to put it mildly), and my wife has been wanting to go to France since the day I met her. But with the horrible exchange rates, I didn’t think we could do it. With airfare and lodging and transportation and eating out every meal, it gets expensive. But home exchange saved us.

We traded our two bedroom home for a two bedroom apartment in the Marie de Clichy neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris. It was a little ways from downtown, but it was two blocks from the Metro and we had no problem getting around. They even loaned us their car, but we only used it a couple of times to go sightseeing in the French countryside.

It was a marvelous experience. Getting around on the Metro was a breeze, and we got to see France up close and personal. We went shopping at the local bread, cheese and grocery shops and saved a ton of money eating in and packing our lunch.

But the best part of it was the people. We made friends with one of the neighbors and they had us to dinner one night and took us to some places that don’t show up in any guide book.

We are already planning our home exchange for next year – London.

Submitted by a member

Home Exchange Still Wins Over Hotel Vacations

Anne — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:30:04 +0000

With the present economic environment, I find I am more and more being asked to justify the value of a home exchange vacation. People point out various examples of unbelievable offers being promoted by hotel chains and tour companies and ask how home exchange can continue to compete.

I agree—they have a point. My husband and I have been checking airfares for a possible exchange to Mexico and we’ve repeatedly found airlines throwing in free hotel rooms as an addition to the flight. Similarly, some of the major hotels in Las Vegas and other resorts are offering free rooms and even free flights just to entice you under their roof. Once there, they assume you will be a captive customer, spending money for services.

So—how does home exchange continue to excel? Simply by dint of those two words—”Home Exchange”. Maybe today’s economy does make it more difficult to justify as a means of significantly saving money, but nothing else has changed. You still get to stay and spread out in the space and convenience of a family home, prepare meals and snacks in a proper kitchen, put the kids to bed in separate bedrooms. Very often you can also exchange cars and get your family pets cared for without the expense of kennels or pet sitters.

ExchangeHomes.com has a lot of members who contact us to tell us of other ways home exchange has saved them money.

Baby sitting: In a Rome hotel a member reported paying €18 for the first hour, then €17 for subsequent hours. On a home exchange her exchange partners arranged for their regular sitter to assist for just €15 an evening.

Eating Out: Members are often delighted to eat out in local restaurants recommended by their exchange partners, rather than the usual, glitzy, tourist-trap restaurants. They say the food is usually far better, both in content and price.

Interaction with neighbors and the local community: We often hear reports of neighbors inviting members to barbecues, parties, meals, once even a christening!

Toys and Playmates: When families with children home exchange it normally provides a ready supply of toys, games and local playmates.

Free Memberships: Golf club, spas, private beaches, etc.

Free Tickets: I’ve had a number of reports of exchangers being provided with free tickets to various sports venues, theme parks, cinemas, shows, etc.

In conclusion—maybe home exchange isn’t quite the money saving vacation it used to be, but without question, the amenities and often unthought of perks it continues to offer, still place it head and shoulders above staying in a sterile, often uninviting hotel room.

3-Way Home Exchanges Work, But …

Anne — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:56:47 +0000

This observation was received recently from Wendy, a home exchange member from the UK …

My husband and I have recently arrived home following a home exchange. Actually, it was our first 3-way home exchange, and I thought you might like to receive some feedback.

We live in a fairly remote area of Northern England and to mark our more or less simultaneous retirements we wanted to do a home exchange to Hawaii, but try as we might, it was impossible to find anyone listed in Hawaii who wanted to exchange to our part of the word. After almost six months of trying we eventually decided upon a different approach. We made a list of everyone on the ExchangeHomes site who did want to go to Northern England and then took the third step of locating Hawaiian members indicating a required exchange location on that first list.

I suppose we were lucky because we found one, and after twice as many emails and phone calls as are usually involved in setting up a home exchange, everything came together. We went to Hawaii, the Hawaiians went to New York and the couple from New York visited our house.

It worked, but it wasn’t the same. We never experienced that comfort zone of reassurance that our exchange partners were staying in our home As I said, a lot of correspondence had passed back and forth before final agreements had been reached, but the whole arrangement somehow lacked that undefinable feeling that you had really got to know your exchange partners.

Don’t get me wrong, there were no problems and everything went very smoothly, but I just wanted to say that a 3-way home swap definitely isn’t the same as a straight swap and I probably wouldn’t do it again.

A Fairy Story Comes True

Anne — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:15:44 +0000

Ever since our son was small, I have been telling him two bedtime stories each night. These stories are made up as I told them, spur of the moment
thinking. I wish I would have kept track of each story I had made up. Sadly, most have been forgotten. However, one story, will always be remembered.

The story was told during a home exchange while we were visiting in Vancouver Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland Oregon.
It was completely made up. What made it so memorable was what happened two weeks later.

The story was about a family that decided to visit the Oregon Coast while on a home exchange. They left Vancouver Washington late in the afternoon with the intention of staying in a hotel or bed and breakfast overnight while at the coast. As they were driving through Portland they ran into heavy traffic and made a wrong turn in Beaverton Oregon. They continued driving for hours, mostly on secondary highways. As night started to fall they entered a town and obviously they were lost. The dad decided to drive into a residential area in hope of finding someone still outside to ask
directions. As they entered the side streets they noticed a lady walking her dog. They stopped and asked directions and she explained that it would
be best to ask her husband. They followed her to the house. By now it was dark. The family was surprised to learn that they had missed the Oregon Coast and now were in Crescent City Northern California. After a long chat, the family was invited to stay the night and next day the husband led the family out to the Coast highway so that they could continue to the Oregon Coast .

That was the story, totally made up. However two weeks later, after we returned home from our home exchange vacation, something happened that made me wonder about my story telling.

I was at home watching TV, our son was sleeping and my wife Joanna was out walking the dog. It was around 10 pm and just starting to get dark. The front door opened and in came my wife, our dog and two visitors. Seems they were lost and decided to leave the main highway and drive into a residential area to see if the could get directions. That is when they spotted Joanna walking our dog. My wife suggested they follow her home so that I could help with directions. After a short chat, we found the couple was from Beaverton Oregon, they were lost and looking for a bed and breakfast. She was a teacher who worked in Vancouver Washington. Of course we invited them to stay the night.

Contributed by Members 26761 – Dennis and Joanna

Home Exchange v Hotel

Anne — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:48:59 +0000

When it comes to vacation accommodation I prefer a home exchange to a hotel. The obvious initial reason is the price, zero accommodation cost with a home exchange. There are many other great reasons for a home swap including the extra space, a yard and kitchen.

Case in point. This February we completed a one week home exchange in Phoenix area. Accommodation was zero, we had a beautiful 3 bedroom home, with garage, kitchen, living room, use of two computers, laundry and patio. Many of our meals were home cooked and the total cost was minimal: airfare plus rent a car and a few meals out. The downside of a home exchange, we had to make up our own beds.

This past March weekend we made a last minute decision to visit Seattle during spring break. We stayed two nights in a Seattle hotel. With two teenagers and an 11 year old the five of us needed two hotel rooms. $113 each room , a bargain price. We brought our two small dogs, another $100
sanitation fee plus parking was $10 a night. With taxes and service charges our two nights in a hotel were $680 and we still needed to go out to eat.
Hey! the hotel gave us some free dog treats.

To be continued tomorrow …

Contributed by Members 26761 – Dennis and Joanna

A Home Exchange Dream Comes True – A Follow Up

Anne — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:12:27 +0000

Back on July 17th I published a post titled “A Home Exchange Dream Comes True” referenced an emailed account I’d received from long time Member 1688.

At the time I was enchanted by the member’s story, then a few days ago I received another email from the same member and her latest news was bittersweet. I’ll let her email tell its own story …

I recently added a story to the blog “A Home exchange dream comes true”, and promised to do a follow up message.

Well this will be short but I did want to say that our first home exchange was brilliant. We met some really lovely people and I hope that we will remain friends for a very long time. We did get caught with the Zoom airlines failure and had to rearrange to get home, but our hosts were very accommodating and offered us the use of their house for as long as we wanted.

Unfortunately my husband died suddenly one week after our return. None the less I will treasure the last holiday that we spent together and look often at those last wonderful photos of him. I hope to be able to continue exchanging but time will tell.

What can I say, other than to offer our true condolences. Now she’s done a home exchange and been left with such wonderful memories, I hope she will decide to venture to try again. Maybe making new memories will add another dimension to the memorial she has of her husband.

Anne

Lifetime Member Retires From Home Exchange

Anne — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:12:43 +0000

Recently, when checking one of our home exchange “Lifetime Members” listings, I saw that all the dates covered her now past 2008 requirements, so I emailed her to remind her that she needed to update her information in order to keep her listing online. A day or two later Laura phoned me to explain that age and infirmities now make it impossible for her to plan any more vacations away from home.

She reminisced and said that she had first joined ExchangeHomes.comwhen she was 52 years old and her husband had been alive. Together they had taken part in home exchanges all around the world. Her husband had died in 2002 and after a hiatus of a couple of years she had resumed home exchanging in 2005.

This year Laura had exchanged with Mexico, but she had found the flight taxing and subsequently she had undergone knee surgery and recovery has been slow and difficult.

She felt she had no recourse other than to cancel her listing with us, or at least put it on hold.

Our conversation jolted me into thinking: ExchangeHomes.com first began promoting home exchanging back in 1986 and in the intervening years we’ve accumulated an impressive band of Lifetime and renewing members who’ve been with us for 10, 12, 14, 16 plus years just like Laura. It really is a sad thought they many of them may soon find that traveling is no longer a pleasure for them.

A Home Exchange Dream Comes True!

Anne — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:13:42 +0000

I received this really great email this morning from one of our long time Home Exchange Members – 1688 (Click to visit their listing).

They have been members for a number of years, hence I was amazed to read that they had not, until now, actually participated in a home exchange themselves.

Just a little story to brighten the day of any reticent or would be home exchangers.

I have been a fan of home exchanging for some years, but there have been various reasons why we have not yet managed to do one. However, we were
recently approached by a lovely couple from Canada who were looking to extend their holiday to our part of Ireland. We wanted to go to Canada but did not know when we would ever manage it. We agreed to move out of our home for the time that they would use our home, and ”bank” our holiday for the
foreseeable future, as I love our part of Ireland and would love to see more visitors here. Anyway, a few weeks after we had agreed, I got a letter in the
post to say that I had won 2 return flight tickets from my local airport to the airport nearest our home exchangers!!!!! (I had entered a competition). Yes, you have guessed it…. We are on our way to Canada in August for our first home exchange and really looking forward to it. I am getting to know my exchange partners via email, and I am sure that all concerned will have a great time.

A Home Exchange That Cost Much More Than Expected!

Anne — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:01:22 +0000

I received this hilarious email from a member last week and just had to share it with everyone. The member didn’t want me to include her name, so I’m going to refer to her as ‘Susan’.

‘Susan’ joined as a new member who had never done a home exchange before. She openly admits that she looked to home swapping as a means to travel less expensively. Here is her story:

Well—thanks very much ExchangeHomes. I thought home exchanging was supposed to save me a bundle! During the winter my husband and I did an exchange with a couple from Australia and I thought that all we would have to pay would be our air fare and living expenses. Our exchange location was within walking distance of the beach in Sydney and public transport was excellent, so our day to day outlay was no more than what’s normal for us at home.

In our correspondence leading up to exchange our host mentioned that he had “a bit of an exercise room” which we were more than welcome to use during our stay. The “bit” turned out to be better than our local health club offers, and after two weeks of push ups, treadmilling, stairstepping, cardio strengthening and goodness only knows what else, my husband was addicted. Immediately we returned home he began researching the purchase of much of that same equipment.

Do you know what he’s spent? No—you probably don’t! Let me put it this way, we could have flown to Australia first class, stayed for a month in a luxury hotel, and then taken half of Sydney out to dinner and still spent less! I would say that I’m thinking of the Sahara Dessert for our next home exchange, but then I wonder how expensive it will afterwards be to buy and keep several camels.

California Home Exchange

Anne — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:54:10 +0000

This wonderful Home Exchange Story was sent to me by a long time member. I need to give full credit to Travel and Transitions where it was travel story contest participant. It’s a great, heartwarming story.

We had been let down by email at the last minute by our Chicago holiday exchange partners. The only consolation, that their change in circumstances was a joyful one—a baby had suddenly become available for them to adopt, which meant they could not travel. Both being freelancers, my partner and I rarely synchronize for time off together, so we were determined to get away with the two children. We sent out a last minute internet SOS. Did anyone, anywhere want to swap with us at a few weeks notice? Very rarely, human beings show the type of kindness and trust that restores faith one’s faith in humankind. This is just that kind of story.

Two people called Ron and Joan answered. They didn’t want to swap as they were about to travel to Mexico but we could use their Californian home for a week while they were away. We politely responded, thanking them profusely, but California from London is a long way to travel, so if we were successful in hooking up another week close by, we’d take up their generous offer. Before we had a chance to even start looking, they’d hit us back with another message. They would be glad to move out of their home for an extra week and live in their trailer, so that we could have a holiday.

We couldn’t believe this was for real, so we made it clear that unless during simultaneous exchange, we would never be able to pay them back. Also, during a mutual exchange, both parties have as much to lose as the other. In this case though, there was no such insurance for these wonderful people, so we also asked what proof of identification they required from us, thinking they would probably need blood samples and all! They replied that people who travel and people who have children are generally decent people, so they needed to know nothing, not even full names or address. Ron even offered to pick us up at San Francisco airport, an hour away from their home and that was just the beginning of a magical, heartwarming journey.

In the back of Ron’s car, having travelled for the best part of 24 hours and with my ‘babies’ under each arm, I left it to my partner to hold the conversation. It was pitch black outside and I had no idea where we were headed, as it hadn’t occurred to us to ask them for an address either. After a while we felt ourselves crossing an extremely bumpy and rickety small bridge and the dense darkness outside told us that we were in the middle of countryside. Fear began to rise – mothers instinct – when it suddenly dawned on me that I knew absolutely nothing of where we were or who we were with. But too late now.

Finally, we pulled up in the darkness and the car door opened to the kindly face of an elderly lady. She took my own face in her hands and planted a kiss on my forehead before ushering us all into the house. Still unsure of who these remarkable people were and what their motive for such kindness could be, I was rumbled. Will our entire family end up under the stairs or are these two lonely pensioners looking for companionship? My heart dipped when Joan proceeded to show us around the house and to the dining table where she had prepared home made lasagna and placed a lovely bottle of red wine. That’s all we needed, a couple of cranks who wanted to share our family holiday with us and I am so exhausted that I can hardly stay awake. But before the thought had taken shape, Joan gave each weary child a hug and exited her own home. Just like that. Gone in the night and us, having settled the children in their cozy bedroom, complete with comforting night light, swaying about on their amazing water bed an trying to absorb it all.

Next morning, we woke to the most spectacular scenery, beautiful beyond our wildest dreams. Their home is a ranch in the middle of a vast redwood forest. The landscape is unbelievable and wild deer roam around outside. At the appointed time, Uncle Ken, a retired ranger, knocked for us and gave us our own private tour of the magic forest, bringing to life the nature and history of the surroundings. 15 of us even stood inside the trunk of one of the giant neck breakers, once hired out as a hotel room. Many sun kissed, fun filled days in the hot tub in the company of the redwoods and excursions to nearby San Francisco followed.

Ron and Joan however, didn’t even stay on any of their own 2 acres of ground for fear of intruding on us and only came to collect us again to take us to a special family barbeque that was held in our honor. It was strange running into Ron one day in town where we had gone for breakfast, knowing that he was camping out of his own home for us. After they left for Mexico, Aunt Kathy once called us up to ask if we would like to accompany her and her grandson to an amusement park for free on her pass. What a ball!

The best bit is that Ron and Joan have now become lifelong friends to us. They visited us on a trip to London and then the friendship matured this summer when they joined us for four days when we exchanged to BC Canada. Different generations, creeds, cultures and a world away. We could never have paid for such an experience that has left us also, a little kinder, a little more trusting and more willing to go out on a limb for others. After all, what goes around, comes around.

Home Exchange To Hear The Church Bells Ring

Anne — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:40:45 +0000

I received this email just the other day and just had to share it with everyone—

My husband and I moved away from England to the USA almost thirty years ago. Although we settled into our new life in San Francisco, there were always certain things I missed from back home. Over the years these memories may have become a little misty, but unexpected events—usually watching the tv or a movie would bring them back to me.

We always make a point of watching British tv. Consequently, one sound I had always missed, that of church bells ringing, was often brought back to the forefront of my mind.

Last summer, my husband and I did a home exchange back to visit our roots in England’s West Country. We flew in on Saturday, picked up our rental car and drove straight down to our destination in Taunton.

Sunday morning dawned like magic to me. Outside our bedroom window was a beautiful lilac and perched on a branch a blackbird serenaded us. My husband went downstairs to make a morning cup of tea and as he returned, tray in hand, the peals of bells from a nearby church completely captivated us.

Throughout our stay we took hundreds of photographs and hours of film, but for me at least, the different and uniquely English sounds we recorded and carried home to the USA with us provide me with the memories of our trip I treasure the most.

Home Exchange Requires Detailed Discussions

Anne — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:11:56 +0000

I heard this week from a somewhat disgruntled member from the US who had returned recently from an exchange with a family in the UK. He was delighted with the home he and his family had exchanged with, but he had been horrified when he climbed into the exchange car and discovered it was equipped with a stick shift.

My first question was: hadn’t he asked for full details about the car during discussions leading up to agreeing upon a home exchange? Also, hadn’t his exchange partner thought to include such pertinent information when he supplied his home exchange details?

It transpired that both parties had supplied very little information other than the size of the homes being offered, so in the circumstances it was a miracle that apart from the car, their home swap experiences passed without any more significant glitches or problems.

It really is critical that everything is discussed right down to the most minute detail before finally agreeing to go forward with a home exchange. Discussion is a pillar supporting the wntire arrangement. ExchangeHomes.com offers a Hints and Advice Book which can be both read online or downloaded via a PDF file, and only recently I gave an in depth review of an excellent new guide that I endorse wholeheartedly: Home Exchange Academy.

Both books walk you through the entire process of selecting and setting up a successful home exchange and both emphasize the need for in depth discussions. Home Exchange Academy supplies its readers with really excellent sample Home Exchange and Car Exchange Agreements and a great template for your Home Exchange Book – the document all exchangers should assemble to familiarize exchange partners both present and future with their home, its foibles and its surroundings and neighborhood.

Over the years (we began in 1986), I think I can fairly say that 99% of the home swapping problems we’ve heard about would never have occurred had the proper discussions taken place during the initial stages. Everyday items that seem small and insignificant to you may be a major problem for your visitor.

You may be used to your four storey home with some bedrooms at the very top; others could view that as a huge impediment. Your flat located in a busy street with a restaurant below it may be ideal for your lifestyle; others may hate lying in bed listening to late night diners leaving. You drive your stick-shift car day in and day out and never stop to visualize someone used to nothing but automatics trying to drive it.

No related posts.

Home Exchange Via a Motor Home?

Anne — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:38:38 +0000

Last week I received the following report and photographs from two long-time members from the UK – Eric and Irene. They and their American home exchange partners have certainly managed to create a new and innovative slant on home exchanging.

Irene wrote ….

Hi Anne

Now we’re settled back home after our absolutely unbelievable June/July exchange, I just had to write and tell you all about it.

As you will see from our listing, in addition to our three bedroomed home, we also offer full use of our Burstner Elegance motorhome, should anyone fancy doing some touring. Until January of this year no-one had ever shown any interest in the motorhome, then out of the blue we received an inquiry from Louis, an ExchangeHomes member living in Albany, New York.

He explained that he and his family were moving to California in July and they offered us full use of their motor home for as long as we wished during June, July and August, provided we picked it up in Albany and at the end of our holiday, dropped it off at their new home in Pasadena, California. In return, he asked for use of our motorhome to tour the UK during the summer of 2009.

Well, how could anyone refuse such an offer? He sent us a bunch of photographs as well and we fell for his suggestion hook, line and sinker.

We followed all your guidelines about discussing everything thoroughly, but to be perfectly honest with you, I can’t think of anything that would have changed our minds. Our two children were more excited than we were, but part of the reason for that may have been that they would have to miss a couple of weeks of school to make it work. (We couldn’t travel in August because of other commitments).

To cut a long story short, all of us had the holiday of a lifetime. Louis met us at the airport and drove us to his Albany home where he and his family put us up for two nights. While we were there he made us totally familiar with his motorhome and took Eric out on a couple of test drives so that he was comfortable with all the controls.

We spent exactly a month driving across America – although that’s not an accurate description – zig-zagged was what we actually did, detouring north and south from our general westward path to take in as much as we possibly could.

What a wonderful experience it was for the two children. They may have missed some school, but the education they received instead will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

As we drove we saw a number of long-haul removal lorries and each time we wondered if we were passing (or being passed by) Louis’s furniture!

By the time we eventually arrived in Pasadena, Louis had settled in to his new home. Our trip took us into twenty states and through hundreds of towns and cities. We felt a great camaraderie with Bill Bryson!

On the 20th of July Louis drove us to the airport in Los Angeles and we flew back to England. He plans to visit the UK with his family during August of next year, but after travelling around in their huge, comfortable motorhome, our Burstner is undoubtedly small and cramped. Having said that, trying to drive his Pinnacle on most of the narrow roads in Britain would be an absolute disaster.

Thanks for providing this great service with ExchangeHomes.com. Without you, this holiday of a lifetime could not have happened.

Open to Offers Home Exchanging

Anne — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:53:27 +0000

I received this email last week from ExchangeHomes.com members Bill and Bess.

Hi Anne
I’ve just read your post on 27th of May encouraging members to contact home exchange advertisers who’ve listed “Open to Offers” under their exchange destinations and I thought I should share Bill’s and my experiences from last summer.

We live in Oxford and had listed Spain, Italy, Jersey, Florida and Open to Offers as our destination selections.

In May we were contacted by Walt and Janine who lived in Morinville, a suburban community north of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Their son, a student at Oxford University was getting married to a local Oxford girl in July and they were looking for a home exchange so that they could make a real holiday out of their trip.

Their email was full of information about their town. Bill, who is golf and fishing mad was excited to see that the town was surrounded by golf courses and good trout fishing.

We were definitely interested.

An exchange of many more emails built upon our interest. Their home was delightful and although located in a small town of 6,000+ people, Edmonton was just 15 or 20 minutes down the road.

We decided why not? Never in a million years would we have actually listed our home swap destination as Morinville, Alberta; until a couple of weeks before we’d never heard of the place. But it certainly promised to be completely different, and Bill and I began getting a kick out of telling friends and neighbours our 2006 home exchange destination. Their blank stares were priceless!

We ended up exchanging with Walt and Janine for 18 days and loved every single minute of the trip. Their house lived up to all our expectations and was located in a lovely new neighbourhood. Walt’s brother and his wife met us at Edmonton International Airport and drove us to the house. Cars were included in the exchange and in between Bill’s golfing and fishing we managed to fit in a lot of trips, both into the surrounding area and south into Edmonton. I became good friends with Walt’s sister in law.

We began home exchanging in the year 2000 and our previous destinations had been Palm Beach – Florida, Almeria – Spain, Marseille – France, and Dunoon – Scotland. Our “Open to Offers” destination was as memorable as any of the previous ones.

Best wishes
Bess

A True Home Exchange Devotee Leaves Us

Anne — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:22:48 +0000

Home Exchange Blog
I was so sorry last week to hear of the passing of one of our most devoted members. John P first joined ExchangeHomes.com in 1990 after he was widowed and was seeking a means of visiting his three adult children without being a burden upon them. He lived in Macon, Georgia, while his two sons lived in Miami, Floria and Boston, Massachusetts and his daughter lived in San Diego, California.

Each year he visited all three, alternating a month long major home swaps with two much shorter ones. He quickly established several regular exchange partners in all three locations, especially for the shorter swaps. Everyone he swapped with had very positive feelings about him and were touched by the little gifts he used to leave behind for them.

In the early years he had a King Charles spaniel who always used to travel with him, but she was elderly and died around 1995.

I heard of John’s passing from his daughter. Apparently he died in March of this year and she was reminded of us while going through his belongings. She knew how much home exchanging had brightened her father’s life since her mother’s death and she felt it was important to contact me with the end of the story.

We talked for a long time. She told me that at the time of his death, John had been arranging a swap with a family in Boston, and rather than let them down, she and her brothers were keeping their father’s house until the end of June so that that the Boston family could stay in it. What amazingly kind and thoughtful people!

Home Exchange Around The World

Anne — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:12:50 +0000

Home Exchange Blog
Over the past week we’ve been talking with Joe and Mary, long time members of ExchangeHomes.com who phoned to tell us that they had recently returned home from a “home exchange world tour”.

We were intrigued. Over the years a lot of our members have used their initiative to string a couple of home swaps together, enabling them to visit different parts of a county, or maybe two countries in Europe, but a world tour? This was something far more adventurous. Joe was happy to explain.

Back in March 2005, he and Mary took early retirement (I believe they are both around 60), with plans to travel throughout the upcoming year. Their home is in Fort Myers, Florida and their first exchange (for two weeks), was with another couple in Newport, Rhode Island.
From there they flew to the UK where they swapped homes for three weeks with a family in Hastings, then for two weeks with a man in Edinburgh. They flew from Edinburgh to Paris and began the first half of a hospitality exchange with a lady in Versailles. This lady is planning to spend two weeks with Joe and Mary in Florida later this year.

So that they could enjoy the scenery, Joe and Mary took the train to their next destination, Innsbruck in Switzerland where they stayed for two weeks. Then they moved on to Pescara, Italy (again, by train).

Next stop was Yalikavak, Turkey where they stayed for two weeks in the vacation home of an English couple. From there they took a long flight to Cape Town, South Africa. Here they did a home swap with a man we know very well – he’s been an ExchangeHomes.com member for many years and we’ve enjoyed receiving a lot of emails from him describing his own trips.

After two weeks in Cape Town, Joe and Mary indulged themselves and took a 38-day cruise to Australia on the Holland American Line. The ship stopped at a whole list of places including Mombasa, the Maldives, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Once in Australia they did home swaps with families in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. This took up ten more weeks.

They then flew to New Zealand where they swapped homes in Christchurch and spent Christmas 2005 and the New Year with an old friend in Auckland.

Joe and Mary left New Zealand on January 5th and flew to Hawaii, staying for two weeks each in Hanapepe and Hilo. The highlight of their stay was a helicopter flight into the crater of Kilauea. They emailed us lots of pictures!

After Hawaii, Joe and Mary did home exchanges with Woodland Hills (California), Jalasco (Mexico), and finally Dallas (Texas) before arriving home again in Florida early in April.

One obvious question we asked, was how on earth did they manage to successfully arrange so many home exchanges, and how did they cope with all the families coming and going from their home in Fort Myers while they were thousands of miles away?

Joe admitted that the actual home exchanges took almost two years to set up. He said Hawaii had been the most difficult to arrange, first finding homes with consecutive dates and second because no-one in Hawaii seemed at all interested in visiting Florida. He estimated he had sent out in excess of two hundred emails just making initial inquiries for the trip.

As for dealing with the arrival of 16 consecutive families in their home, Joe and Mary said that was the easy part. A neighbor took care of the keys and was always on hand to give advice; Molly Maid cleaned the house every week, and they already had a garden service. Joe admitted he kept in contact with the all his exchange partners and his neighbor by email, but other than a few minor problems (electric kettle died in September; the family from Perth broke the tv remote control), there were no issues to resolve.

It’s an incredible story, and one I intend to refer members to in the future whenever they seem to be in need of inspiration while trying to set up a home swap with just one location.

Joe and Mary apologized that they had allowed their ExchangeHomes.com membership to expire while they were away. They promised to renew again early in 2007, but they have no further travel plans for the remainder of this year.

A Home Exchange To Paris

Anne — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:53:56 +0000

Home Exchange Blog

Over the years we’ve received some hilarious reports from members recounting various funny events that have occurred during their home exchanges, but one of the funniest had to some from Jeff who had arranged to exchange his one bedroom New York apartment for similar accommodation in Paris.

Jeff arrived in Paris late in the evening and took a taxi from the airport directly to Madeleine, his home exchange partner’s address. Following pre-arranged instructions, he located the concierge’s office to pick up the key and immediately ran into difficulties because the man wasn’t French (Jeff believed he was probably from an eastern European country).

Jeff could speak some French, but the concierge’s limited French was heavily accented, and as such was totally unintelligible to Jeff.

Several minutes passed with neither understanding what the other was saying, then Jeff pointed at his suitcases sitting in the doorway and indicated with hand-signs that he had just flown in.

A light bulb seemed to go off in the concierge’s head. Beaming, he took a key from a drawer, picked up Jeff’s suitcases, and ushered him to the elevator.

Jeff had been given to believe that the home exchange apartment was on the second floor, so he was surprised to see it slip by on the elevator dial. In fact they kept ascending until the very top of the building and the elevator doors eventually opened onto a private lobby with sumptuous red carpeting and high, oak doors.

The concierge placed the suitcases in the lobby, said something Jeff was unable to understand, handed him the key, and retreated back into the elevator.

The apartment was way beyond Jeff’s wildest dreams. It comprised of a huge living room, dining room, two bedrooms, both with luxurious en-suite bathrooms, and kitchen with adjoining wine cellar and pantry.

The furnishings and fittings throughout were luxurious.

Jeff simply didn’t know what to do. He explored the apartment twice then returned in the elevator to the concierge’s office, but this time no-one answered when he knocked on the door.

Every morning at nine a maid arrived to clean the apartment, but again she wasn’t French so he was still unable to hold any sort of an in depth conversation with her.

He explored Paris, visited the museums, walked beside the Seine.

Occasionally he bumped into the concierge and tried to hold a conversation with him, but he got no-where, plus the man became surly and clearly seemed to avoid him after a couple of days.

During the first week Jeff tried to call Madeleine in New York several times, but all he spoke to was his own answering machine. In the end he gave up and instead wondered how communication between himself and his home exchange partner could have been so bad that he had been under the impression they were exchanging similar accommodations.

He wondered how Madeleine was coping with living in his tiny space with limited facilities when she was clearly used to total luxury in Paris.

Jeff had planned to leave Madeleine a nice bottle of wine and a thank you note at the end of his vacation, but after several examinations of the apartment’s well stocked wine cellar this now seemed pointless.

Jeff flew back to New York and was pleased to find his little apartment neat and clean. Madeleine had left a short note on the kitchen counter stating that she has received his messages and had phoned her apartment in Paris repeatedly but never received an answer.

As he was reading the note, his phone rang. It was Madeleine, perplexed because she had arrived home to discover that her apartment had never been used.

Eventually the truth came out. The penthouse apartment in Madeleine’s building was owned by a large multi-national corporation and was used by visiting executives. The not-too-bright concierge had mistaken Jeff for one of these.

Madeleine was highly amused. The multi-national corporation eventually understood the mistake. For a while Jeff was wracked with guilt, not so much because of his two weeks in luxury, but because Madeleine had enjoyed no such experience and had been left to explain everything and placate everyone.

The following summer Jeff and Madeleine home swapped again. This time Jeff was greeted by a concierge who was a native Frenchman. This time he left Madeleine two bottles of wine, one for each of his visits to Paris.

A Tale of Two Cats

Anne — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 21:17:17 +0000

Home Exchange Blog
ExchangeHomes heard last week from long-time member “Marylee”, who was eager to tell us she had just completed her twenty-fifth home exchange. What’s so special about that you may ask, to which we would reply – everything!

Marylee joined ExchangeHomes.com back in January 1996. She lived in Atlanta, Georgia and was dreading the impending disruption to her day to day living promised by the upcoming Summer Olympic Games. She wanted to leave Atlanta for the entire month of July and first week of August, but her retirement income put hotels and rental properties way beyond her budget.

She had read articles on home exchanging a couple of times and she phoned us wanting to know more. We talked for what must have been thirty minutes, but at the end of that first conversation she was far from convinced that turning over her home, her car, and her beloved cat, Tigger to the care of a complete stranger for more than a month was a good idea.

A week later she called again. The lure of escaping the Olympic razzmatazz was clearly tugging just as hard, but her reservations remained. We were all touched by a new thought that had occurred to her – while she was anxious to get well away from Atlanta, there were quite probably many other people equally as anxious to be there, to be part of it. Maybe (as she put it), she should stop letting her uncertainties prevent someone else from enjoying themselves.

At that point she still didn’t join, in fact several weeks passed before we heard from Marylee again. Her third call to us was at the beginning of March and its timing was almost uncanny; we had just opening the incoming mail and in it was a new membership from a couple in New England who were seeking an exchange to Atlanta DURING THE SUMMER OLYMPICS!

To cut a long story short, when Marylee heard that she could spend the duration of the Olympics sitting on a beach on Cape Cod she was sold. She joined our home exchange organization, contacted the members in Dennis Port, and after several phone calls, exchange of photographs and long letters, made a firm commitment.

A week later she got cold feet and started phoning daily with a wide scenario of “what ifs”. We began to despair of her; the idea of home exchanging always raises many questions and doubts from new participants, but Marylee imagined more possible situations of disaster than could be humanly possible.

Then an idea struck me. What if she first tested the waters with a “quickie” weekend exchange to a location much closer to home? Next Monday morning when she phoned (as expected), I put the idea to her and, surprise, surprise, she jumped at it. She searched the listings and contacted fellow members in Miami, New Orleans, and Virginia Beach and eventually arranged a Friday through Sunday exchange with a lady in New Orleans

We awaited the outcome with bated breath. Marylee had become a part of our day to day lives and the success of her very first home exchange was as important to us as it was to her. Marylee just HAD to enjoy her springtime trip to Louisiana

She did. Her next phone call was full of praise for her exchange partner. She sent us pictures of the Mississippi scenery she had enjoyed and began planning her trip to Cape Cod in a new-found, positive frame of mind.

That was eleven years ago. Marylee completed her “Olympic Exchange”, as she called it, and subsequently her entire life seemed revolve around home exchange vacationing – she’s either away somewhere exploring a new found corner of the world, or at home planning to do so.

Abroad, she’s been to England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Mexico and Canada. Within the US she’s exchanged with Louisiana, Massachusetts, Florida (several times), California, Washington, Hawaii (several times), Wisconsin, Texas and Arizona.

Tigger passed away three years ago and Marylee didn’t plan on replacing him until she met Bailey a stray cat her exchange partners in Florida had been feeding. It had been love at first sight and he flew home to Atlanta with her.

Marylee is well into her seventies, we’ve never met her, but we love receiving her phone calls and we hope to continue hearing of her adventures for years to come.