Topics Covered: Home Exchangers: Lasting Friendships Travel with a Challenge: 'Exchange a Home and See the World' Two New Magazines: Two Home Swap Features! Long Term Exchanges: Extra Preparations Carlton TV: Member Volunteer Request Swapping Cars Nextpeditions: Luxury, Cultural & Adventure Travel Joining Home Base Holidays: Important Information Newsletter Contributions

Non-members: note the member's ID given at the end of some articles (HE + number) and use the link: Find Listing by Member ID. Members: search by User IDs in your member area to view listings in full. See Quick Links to Member Login and Visitors Preview at the end of the newsletter.

Home Exchangers: Lasting Friendships

Richard Boutwell, from Jaffrey, New Hampshire, describes another aspect of home swapping - making new friends: "For many years before our first exchange in 1998 to Norwich, England I had heard about the possibility of traveling without the very expensive items of housing and eating, namely, exchanging the home I live in. But then I wondered, 'who would be interested in visiting a rural area of New England?' I mentioned the idea to a friend who had a number of contacts in England. She provided me with the address for Home Base Holidays. What a new world that opened to us! We have now completed five exchanges and anxiously await the newest, wherever that might be.

There have been many blessings from these exchanges which we never thought about when we started on our travels. Perhaps the greatest is that we have made a number of new friends with whom we have stayed in touch. Each successive exchange has included at least one visit with those friends. The friends we visited in Norwich have moved closer to Cambridge. That opened up the possibility of a visit to the exquisite Festival of Lessons and Carols at Kings College. I mentioned it to our friends when they visited us on our exchange to London. That December we spent an unforgettable though brief Christmas season with them and attended the service at Kings; it was a dream come true.

Last spring while exchanging to North Wales we drove to Scotland to visit with the two families there with whom we had exchanged in 1999. One of the couples also visited us in London while we were there. It was like a homecoming. And we talk of future get togethers. We know they will happen. The summer we spent some weeks in London we met friends (strangers at that time) who had called just before we left New England. They wanted to exchange. Though we had already made our plans, we visited them in Somerset for three days. They have become good friends and, although we have not exchanged houses, they have made two visits here in New Hampshire. I was able to act as a personal guide. And they spent Christmas with me a year ago. It was one of the nicest I can remember.

So, we have found that there are people who like to come to rural New England. Although, strangely, we have never had an exchange offer we have made accepted, we have accepted requests from others which have been truly unforgettable experiences. Another important fact about traveling on a shoestring when you are retired: it now becomes possible to venture away from home at any time of year, no longer restricted to the heavily traveled months of July and August. We can leave when a good opportunity opens up. We would like to sometime exchange to Southwest England and northern Europe. Autumn in New England anyone?" - Richard Boutwell, HE4087

View the Boutwells' Current Offer by Member ID: HE4087

	Travel with a Challenge: 'Exchange a Home and See the World'
Neatly following on from Richard's comment in the article above on how much easier it can be to arrange an exchange if you are retired and able to take up an offer at any time, I was delighted to be asked recently to write an article on home exchange, focussing especially on swaps for mature travellers. The article has just been published on 'Travel with a Challenge', an excellent website and web magazine providing high quality articles and alternative travel information for the over 50s. The home exchange article is currently featured on the 'Travel with a Challenge' home page plus permanently included in the illustrated articles library (see link directly below to read the article plus check out the rest of the site). 'Travel with a Challenge' includes a wide range of alternative travel opportunities and is dedicated to showcasing nature-based (or ecological) vacation themes as well as educational, cultural and volunteer vacation options and destinations worldwide. Alison Gardner explains, "With a healthy, well educated older population having both discretionary time and money to dedicate to exploring the world, 'Travel with a Challenge' fills a gap in the travel information market. In less than a decade, alternative travel has gone from a small niche demand to full competition with mainstream tourism. The movement is toward travel that takes your mind as well as your body on vacation: trips that transform." Although aimed at active mature travellers, there's much in 'Travel with a Challenge' to interest all independent travellers (as home swappers undoubtedly are). To quote from the site, "The one thing you won't find is an excuse to stay home!" Travel with a Challenge: Home Exchange Article »

	Two New Magazines: Two Home Swap Features!
Often over heard at London bus stops: "You wait for ages for a bus, then two come along at once." Well, the same could be said of glossy up-market magazines! Two new quarterly magazines were launched in the UK in January - and both launch issues feature excellent, well illustrated articles on home exchange. 'The Sunday Times Travel Magazine' first issue cover proclaims: "We had an Olympic pool and 10 servants! Why you have to try home-swapping". Most home swappers won't find an army of servants ready to wait on them in an exchange home but the headline does grab attention and shows that all sorts of extras are possible on a home exchange holiday. Once again we are very grateful to Home Base Holidays members who took the time to talk to the journalists writing the latest articles and even tolerated photographers coming to their homes to take shots of their homes and families to illustrate the articles. Do check out these members' current exchange offers by the User ID references given: In 'The Sunday Times Travel Magazine' - Louise & Paul McIlhone, Leicester, England, HE10766; Cherry Hastings, Santa Rosa, California (photo above), HE10866; and very well travelled home exchanger, Michael Pearl from central London, HE1691. And in 'threesixty°' magazine - Sarah & John Connell, London (photo on the right), HE10221. View Featured Members' Listings by User IDs »

	Long Term Exchanges: Extra Preparations
Recently a member contacted us with a number of questions she had during last minute preparations before an exchange of nearly five months. Questions can arise that are not specifically about exchanging homes but rather about issues that don't usually concern you when leaving your home for short periods: 1. payment of regular household bills including annual bills (like the TV licence in the UK) 2. bank accounts and credit card accounts 3. access to an email account 4. checking any visa requirements for a lengthy stay in a country 5. any extra insurance needs (travel, household, car). 6. council/property taxes (there may be a limit to the period that you can be away without changing the name of the occupier). Many members will already be paying most of their regular household bills (electricity, gas, household and car insurance, etc) by standing order or direct debit. If not, and planning to be away for several weeks, set up automatic payments for regular bills before leaving. If you are able to access your bank and credit card accounts on the internet you can check balances and transfer money between accounts as needed when away from home. Many members will include use of a computer/internet access as part of an exchange agreement. Members will often be able to access their regular email accounts via their ISP's website when away from their own computers. If this isn't possible, an alternative is to use a specialist website that enables messages to be collected from a large number of ISPs. One such in the UK is Twigger (www.twigger.co.uk). You can also set up a free internet based account (e.g. Hotmail or Yahoo) which is easily accessible anywhere. Perhaps ask your exchange partners or a friend to check your computer for messages received through your regular ISP account and forward to your web based address. Have you had a long exchange or lived for a period of more than a few weeks away from home? We would really appreciate your ideas to pass on to others who may be planning first long-term exchanges. Please contact Home Base Holidays (email link at end of newsletter) with any suggestions you have from your own experiences. Search Listings by Length of Exchange Period »

	Carlton TV: Member Volunteer Request
Carlton Television is looking for members from London or South East England who are planning a house swap within the UK before April 2003 to take part in a new programme. The programme is looking at ways in which people can earn/save money. For the feature on home exchange they would like to film a member before they leave for their exchange destination and possibly on the last day of the houseswap to find out about their exchange experience. If you could be interested in taking part please email Liz MacEwen (link below) or call her at Carlton Television on 020 7670 1214. Contact Liz MacEwen, Carlton Television »

	Swapping Cars
Every once in awhile a member experiences problems in having an exchange partner covered by their car insurance policy. To date, it has only been UK members swapping with Americans who have reported this problem - and, as the insurance companies don't seem to have a general policy on this (different members have reported good and bad experiences with the same company), it's not been possible to give any specific recommendations, other than to ensure you check it out with your own car insurance company before making a firm agreement to include your car as part of an exchange arrangement. Members who do swap cars (and many do) will, after checking that both will be covered by their respective insurance policies, often agree beforehand on an upper limit on costs that their exchange partners must pay for any damage caused to a car before a claim will be made on insurance. This will help protect a car owner's no claims bonus should their exchange partner have a minor accident while driving the car. However, we have recently heard from a member in California whose car insurance company had advised against a car swap on the grounds that there would be a risk involved (potential large increase in the annual premium in the event of a claim or even being dropped by the carrier altogether). If the car swap is even, i.e. both parties are likely to use each other's cars equally while on the exchange, it is likely that the small risk will seem insignificant compared to the cost savings for each in not having to hire cars. A problem can arise if one party has a greater need for a car as part of the exchange (perhaps when the destination is rural/lacking in public transport) while the potential partner doesn't need a car (possibly in a large city) and thus may be reluctant to include a car as part of the swap. If all other aspects of an exchange seem to work well for both, it would be a shame if the issue of car exchange (or not) detered members from going ahead with an exchange. If any members have found themselves in this position we would like to hear your solutions to potential car swap problems. Please contact Lois (email link directly below) with your suggestions that could be useful to other members. Send Us Your Car Swap Suggestions »

	Nextpeditions: Luxury, Cultural & Adventure Travel
'Nextpeditions.com', a new California based travel site, is described as "featuring travel itineraries evoking the Modern Age of luxury, cultural and adventure travel, including articles, journals, travel tools and listings for international tour operators." Although it will take some time to build up a large range of specialist travel sites that fit into the focus of the site (Home Base Holidays is already there!), it is worth checking back frequently to read the interesting articles and journals which are bound to be an important attraction for site visitors. So many websites appear to be faceless and it is refreshing to find an attractive new site like 'Nextpeditions.com' which includes background information on the enthusiastic travellers behind it. Nextpeditions.com »

	Joining Home Base Holidays: Important Information
A small number of new and renewing members have had problems having their credit card details accepted on the Barclaycard secure payment site. We've recently found that (apart from entering a number wrong), leaving spaces between the digits, or adding dashes, can cause the transaction to fail. Also, it is essential to click through all the pages on the Barclaycard site until you are back on the Home Base Holidays site. Once you finish completing the membership form, click the links that follow to be transferred to the Barclaycard site. Follow the three step process to enter your credit or debit card details (all cards shown accepted apart from American Express). Enter your card number without spaces. At the bottom of step 3 click Complete Purchase to see if your card has been accepted (i.e. Order Status: Success). Then, click Continue to return to the Home Base Holidays site to log on to your Member Area. Your listing will be released immediately and you will receive acknowledgement and subscription receipt messages. Note to Past Members: if your membership expired within the last two years you can easily reactivate and update your original listing and renew at a reduced rate (1 year - £19; 2 years - £29). Use the login link in the Quick Links below and enter your email address and password as they appear in your listing (both are case sensitive). Click the renewal link to update your exchange offer. Contact us if you need a reminder of your password or the email address used in your listing. If you would like information and a membership form sent to you please send a message with your name and mailing address. Home Base Holidays: Membership Form »

	Newsletter Contributions
We are always pleased to receive contributions for the newsletter - short articles about your exchange experiences, tips for those new to the idea of swapping homes and questions from subscribers considering a home exchange holiday for the first time. Please feel free to forward Home Swappers to friends and colleagues who may be interested in home exchange (see Forward Email link below newsletter). All Home Swappers content is copyright and cannot be used in any form without written permission from Home Base Holidays. Home Base Holidays, London, UK 1985-2003: 18th year providing a home exchange service worldwide Lois Sealey, Editor, Home Swappers Newsletter »

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