Home Swappers: Issue 2
January/February 2000
http://www.homebase-hols.com
http://www.homebase-hols.com
Happy New Year and many happy home
exchange holidays in the
new millennium!
Home Swappers Newsletter is published during the year to provide
information of interest to Home Base Holidays current and recent home
exchange members, enquirers and all who have asked to be included
Home Swappers Newsletter is published during the year to provide
information of interest to Home Base Holidays current and recent home
exchange members, enquirers and all who have asked to be included
on our mailing list. If you do not
want to receive further Newsletters
please send us a message with 'Remove from mailing list' in the subject
please send us a message with 'Remove from mailing list' in the subject
If you have had a home exchange
holiday we would be pleased to
receive your contributions for the
Newsletter - short articles about
your exchange experiences and tips
for those new to the idea of
swapping homes. Members' articles
include links to current
listings to give added publicity
for their exchange offers. We also
welcome questions from all
considering home exchange for the
first time. Information on
travel related websites or other travel
bargains which could be of interest
to readers of Home Swappers
are also appreciated. mailto:homeexchange@btinternet.com
Topics Covered:
1. Member Experiences -
England-Canada
2. March 2000 Directory Deadline -
14 February
3. First Home Exchange Alliance -
Our New Association
4. Participants Wanted - Be a TV
Star!
5. Member Experiences - Exchanges
with Babies and Toddlers
6. December Free Prize Draw
7. Member Special Exchange Offer to
Skiiers
8. Representatives - France,
Canada, South Africa
9. Subscriptions
Member Experiences -
England-Canada
Member Ron Marshall from
Staffordshire, writes:
'My wife and I accompanied by our
grandchildren's other grandmother
made our first home and car
exchange to Toronto for a three week
period from mid May to early June
1999. It was a great success. I
think the most memorable part was
the lovely people we met as
neighbours and we made friendships
which I am certain will be
long lasting. I believe none of
this would have happened if we had
stayed in hotels.'
The Marshalls are now looking
forward to their next exchange in
2000, hopefully to San Francisco.
Check out their offer at:
March Directory Deadline: 14
February 2000
Listings are added to the website
database as soon as members join
and, to give added circulation to
all members without internet access,
are published in the next directory
published. The first directory for
the 2000 season was published in
early November and the next
edition will be published early
March. If you have not yet joined or
renewed for the 2000 season do so
early to ensure your exchange
offer is publicised as long as
possible before your exchange dates.
Listings arriving after 14 February
will be published in the June
directory, the final edition for
the 2000 season. New members can
join online or, if you prefer to
complete a print form, let us have
your mailing address and an
information package will be sent to
you.
First Home Exchange Alliance
Home Base Holidays has been
operating a home exchange service
since 1986 and was a founder member
of the International Home
Exchange Association (IHEA) in
1993. The growth of the internet
has been of great benefit for
members, making it much easier for
those with internet access to check
out for new listings often,
contact members without having to
wait for the next published
directory and to make changes to
their own listings whenever
needed to keep the information
up-to-date.
Four of the original IHEA members
agencies - Home Base Holidays
(UK), Green Theme International
(UK), Vacation Homes Unlimited
(USA) and The Invented City
(USA) have now formed a new group,
First Home Exchange Alliance, to
both streamline the administration
and take best advantage of the
new opportunites the internet gives
our members. Some smaller agencies
are joining us as representatives
in order to ensure as wide a range
of listings as possible for all
members. Our first priority is the
re-development of our joint online
database to incorporate better
search facilities and a more user
friendly site. Our new web host
company, Saturn Network Solutions,
will have the first stage of the
development ready by early in the
new year with further enhancements
added regularly.
Participants Wanted - Be a TV
Star!
If you live in London or SE England
and are arranging an exchange to
New York or nearby in January,
February or March 2000 (or vice versa),
please contact us if you would be
interested in taking part in a TV
programme on home exchange.
Charlotte Owen, researcher at
Carlton TV, writes:
'The Community Programmes Unit of
Carlton TV is producing nine half-
hour programmes on property to be
transmitted in April 2000 in the
Carlton region (London and the
South East). 'The Property Show' will
provide viewers with the very best
information on the property market
and advice to help them cope - but
also whet the appetite of all those
who might be interested in
improving where and how they live. We
would like to do a feature on home
swapping as an example of using
your home as equity, a financial
resource that can be used in exchange
for holidays.
We would like to film a short item
to encapsulate the spirit of house
swapping. We are not doing a travel
programme but believe it will
be interesting to speak to people
about how they value their homes.
We would like to film a couple or
family in the Carlton region on their
exchange in New York (our
economical option as we have a film crew
there!) and would also like to film
the American exchangers reaction
to living in London or nearby.'
As there is little time for Carlton
TV to organise filming for the home
exchange feature, please let us
know as soon as possible if you are
planning an exchange that
would be suitable and are willing to take
part. The filming will take up very
little time and should be fun. A
video of the programme would also
be useful to show future potential
exchange partners. Contact Lois
Sealey at Home Base Holidays:
Member Experiences - Exchanges
with Babies and Toddlers
In the first issue of Home Swappers
we included an article from
long-time Home Base Holidays
member, Jo Piercey. Jo, her
husband Roger and three children
live in a small village in Berkshire,
and use home exchange as a way of
returning regularly to Jo's
native USA. The first article was
on the Pierceys very first exchange
to San Diego with their 18 month
old son. By the second exchange
the family included a baby
daughter. Jo reports:
'We chose Cape Cod for our next
retreat with our son now two and
a half and our daughter, a mere
nine weeks. We were a little hesitant
as our exchange partner was a
bachelor (would he tolerate children?)
and he was exchanging his second
home with our primary one. We
did the usual swapping of
photographs and chats on the phone and
decided he was the chap for us. We
asked him where we could get
certain items to save us from
lugging them on a long-haul flight. "No
problem", he replied. He is a
rabbi and asked his congregation for any
unused baby paraphenalia. Overnight
we had a cot, a car-seat, a
pushchair, a playpen and a bag of
toys - magic! We also learned
that we shared some of the same
passions, Old American quilts
for example and he told us the best
places on the Cape to find them.'
Note: as Jo's report shows, home
exchange is an ideal way for
families with young children to
travel. However, it can take extra
planning to ensure that your
exchange home will be safe for
toddlers and also arrange for the baby
equipment needed for
a happy holiday for all the family.
In our the next Home Swappers
we will include Jo's report on
their third exchange holiday in Myrtle
Beach which got off to a bad start.
Check out the Piercey exchange
offer for summer 2000 (US Eastern
Seaboard preferred destination) at:
December Free Prize Draw
If you are receiving this
Newsletter you are also entered in our monthly
prize draws. The winner of the 29
December draw will receive a copy of
'USA by Rail', a comprehensive
guide to rail travel in the USA and
Canada). Everyone who buys (or
wins) a copy of 'USA by Rail' by
31 December 1999 is also eligible
to enter a draw to win Amtrak rail
passes worth Cdn $1,838. Check out
the website for further details:
Congratulations to our October draw
winner, Melvyn Simonson (IH4684)
from London and our November
winners, Carolann & David Andrews (IH5181)
from Nairn in Scotland. Check out
their current exchange offers at:
Member Special Exchange Offer to
Skiiers
Although members have a much better
choice of listings when they can
be as open as possible about
destinations, dates and length of exchange,
we do sometimes have members who
are of necessity looking for very
particular exchanges, sometimes for
a family reunion or wedding,
occasionally for longer term
sabaticals. If you are finding it difficult to
arrange such an exchange do let us
know and we will give your offer
some extra publicity in Home
Swappers.
One special offer which will
appeal to skiers in Arizona, New Mexico,
Southern California or Mexico is
for the Blakleys home in British
Columbia - 'We would like to
attract home exchangers who want to
come to our area to ski in January,
February or March 2000. We have
two local areas within a few
minutes drive and six or more which you
can drive to, ski all day and
return, stopping for a dip in a hot spring
on the way back.' Check out full
details of the Blakleys offer at:
Representatives - France,
Canada, South Africa
As well as sharing listings with
member agencies in the First Home
Exchange Alliance, Home Base
Holidays has a well established
representative, Valerie Leuleu in
France plus very enthusiastic new
representives, Krista Laycock
in Canada and Daleen Rothman in
South Africa. Although the internet
allows us to reach potential
members worldwide and indeed our
membership which was once
primarily in the UK is now much
more varied, local representatives
have a very important role in
publicising home exchange in their
countries and attracting more
members. All three countries where
we currently have representatives
are popular destinations. If you
are not yet a member of Home
Base Holidays and live in one of
these countries you may prefer
to contact your local representative
who will be pleased to send you
further information and answer any
questions you may have:
Valerie Leuleu (France) - mailto:trocad@club-internet.fr
Krista Laycock (Canada) - mailto:holiday@ns.sympatico.ca
Daleen Rothman (South Africa) - mailto:daleenr@netactive.co.za
If you are interested in becoming a
Home Base Holidays representative
contact us: mailto:homeexchange@btinternet.com
Subscription Information
Please invite your friends and
colleagues to subscribe by forwarding
this Newsletter to them.
To subscribe, send us a message
with your name and e-mail
address and 'Add to mailing list'
in the subject line.
To unsubscribe, send a message with
your name and e-mail address
and 'Remove from mailing list' in
the subject line.
Copyright ©
2000 Home Base Holidays
HOME BASE HOLIDAYS, 7 Park Avenue,
London N13 5PG, England
tel: +44(0)20 8886 8752 fax: +44(0)20 8482 4258
mailto:homeexchange@btinternet.com
http://www.homebase-hols.com
Home Exchange - rent-free holidays worldwide
tel: +44(0)20 8886 8752 fax: +44(0)20 8482 4258
mailto:homeexchange@btinternet.com
http://www.homebase-hols.com
Home Exchange - rent-free holidays worldwide
|
[Services & Fees] [Arranging Exchanges] [Newsletters] [ Tell a Friend] [Preview Listings] [Join ] [Member Login] [Home Page] |
Any questions on home exchange? Contact us - we will be pleased to help.
Home Base Holidays • 7 Park Avenue • London, N13 5PG • England
+44 (0)20.8886.8752 Vox • +44 (0)20.8482.4258 Fax
© Home Base Holidays 1997-2002 | Member Privacy Policy
Hosted by Ramesys Travel