 |
|
Thursday, June 01, 2006Taking travel that's two steps further that gives you the ability to live like a local is an in depth experience globe trotters from around the world have shared. Instead of staying in commercial hotels, lodges or bed and breakfasts there is a groundbreaking accomodation program sure to bring your family vivid memories for life. House exhanges began back in the late 1970's and have since greatly increased in popularity since then. The advent and advancement of the Internet has brought the world as one and streamlined the process. House exchanges comprimise a simple you live in my house while I live in yours concept. Someone say in Toronto, Canada wants to spend 3 weeks in and around Paris, Amsterdam of Rome in July. They take pictures of what their Toronto home looks like including an exterior shot of both the front and back and other highlights of the house such as a ping pong table or in-ground outdoor pool. They also write up a basic run down of the house and property that could look like this:  A seaside home on exchange in Melbourne, Australia with Home Base Holidays - 5 bedrooms + basement suite - 4 bathrooms - kitchen + breakfast room - ping pong room - two televisions - computer with high speed Internet - large back deck with patio furniture - central air conditioning  A stunning Scottish manor on exchange with Home Base Holidays just outside Edinburgh, Scotland  The view of Scotland's countryside from the manor Many people do believe that international travel has to cost thousands upon thousands and this deters them. This fact keeps them local or at least relegated to domestic travel which just doesn't have that flair. There are 208 countries on earth and there is so much more to the world than your country. There are many paths to free travel and many deals especially with wholesalers. Wholesalers being suppliers that sell product to retail companies. For example a potato farm in Prince Edward Island selling potatoes to a massive company in Seattle who will make french fries with them. They sell the potatoes at a lower wholesale price, and then the retailer being the fry company sells the fries to the public for a higher retail price. In the travel industry you are always able to buy your trips wholesale from a wide variety of companies. This combined with house exchanges where your accomodation is free and in countless ways a far superior experience to really get you up close and personal with that country than a commercial hotel. Tours are often also free with major cities including New York, London and Beijing offering voulunteer tour groups. Their members are always happy to show you around their city and country complimentary.  A house on exchange with Home Base Holidays on Canada's West Coast in Victoria, British Columbia This basic rundown is accompanied by a list of what other services and amenities the owner is opening up to the guest. This often includes vehicles and computers. Sometimes the guest will be called upon to take care of the pets giving them food and water and playing with them if possible. The owner also specifies which time period they are looking to travel. This would all be contained in a personal profile on one or two webpages. Each profile posted is categorized by country and continent. You then wait for the world. Once someone emails you back you can get all the information from them, get in touch and learn about their background. You may plan for some overlap time in one of the countries if you choose, giving you an opportunnity to meet one another. Often nighbours, friends and family of the traveller will come to visit, arrange outings or have dinner to meet people. You will get suggestions on the closest cities, places and sights of interest. You can shop where they get their groceries, drive their country's cars and truly live the life of a local. This has become a lifetime love for many with people having done more than twenty across the globe. House exchanges are completely free, it's an international give and take that truly has a flair of its own. Large scale house exchange websites including Home Base Holidays owned by Canadian Lois Sealey which operates in over 30 countries across the world, HomeLink International with homes, villas and castles in over 30 countries and Intervac with many family homes among others in over 50 countries. A smaller house exchange company caters for singles in apartments and small houses is Home Exchange International. With Home Exchange International singles post and you swap your house with a single man or woman. The properties posted are for the most part apartments and smaller houses perfect for solo travellers. A excellent resource on home exchanging highlighting other house exchange agencies are on this blog all about house exchanging, check it out! Online all house exchange sites you can call or email the company and their staff are more than happy to help in any way. Bon voyage! Teague Neal blogged on 7:40 PM
0 comments
|
Teague Neal |