Almost ending July, many of our users have exchanged houses during the summer time or are about to do so. It is by far the most active time of the year and you have probably been part of it, either sending or receiving home exchange requests or just contacting other users to see if they are interested in exchanging home with you. What happens when you already “booked” the swap you were looking for? There are many options you can use to tell other users your home is no longer available: 1) change the availability calendar, 2) add  a note to your profile and/or home description, and 3) hide your home.

We have discussed the first two options before (see here), but the third one is rather new. There is an option to hide your home from HomeForHome’s search engine so that other users will not be able to find it and therefore you will not receive unwanted requests.

To hide your home, click on the “Hide” link located in the toolbar below the home title (see image). A message will pop up asking you to accept or cancel the action. This message says: “Are you sure you want to hide your home from the search engine? The home will temporarily cease to appear in the search engine results until you indicate otherwise…”

Now you know. HomeForHome keeps adding new features so you can enjoy house swapping.

The word “crisis” is still in the front page, stronger than ever and with all the negativity it implies. Risk, debt, budget and debacle are words nobody wants to hear and fear, but it seems they will linger for a while. Something one should not forget is that in times like this, people save money by making cuts in expenses they believe are less important, which is great, but they sometimes include something really important which is resting, taking time to relax and do special things to remain fresh and strong.

HomeForHome can help save money while still enjoying one of life’s pleasures: travelling. Home exchange allows users to save up to 50-70% in travel expenses compared with other options, specially for families. The cost of accommodation is the where the major cut is, but there are also other savings like those related to food because when you swap you can buy the ingredients and prepare your own meals. Another large cut could come from transportation because you have the chance to arrange a car swap as well.

Count on HomeForHome to travel in times of crisis.

France is one of the preferred tourist destinations worldwide. The romantic Paris with its myriad of attractions like the Louvre Museum, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, to name some of the most famous, is a hotspot for tourists and receives millions of visitors each year. But if you want to visit France and do something different, why not choose a music or art festival? Here are some interesting options so you can start making plans.

France Festivals is the French federation of international music festivals and its website gathers informations about the festival offer all over France. It is a good resource to find an event near your home swap destination and allows to search by Date, Style or Region, and it even has a map search feature. Here is the URL of France Festivals: http://www.francefestivals.com/uk/

We also have two hand picked festivals for you:

Besançon International Music Festival, one of the oldest classical music festivals, will have its 64th edition in 2011.
When? From September 16th till October 1st, 2011.
Where? Besançon, Franche-Comté, France.
More info about the festival (website content in French): http://www.festival-besancon.com/

Rock en Seine Festival
When? Three days in August, 2011: 26, 27 & 28.
Where? Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, near Paris, France.
Interesting performances: Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, My Chemical Romance, Death in Vegas.
More info about the festival: http://www.rockenseine.com/en/

Image: Photo by Michael Maggs, Wikimedia Commons.

What about enjoying music in a foreign land with a foreign language? You can have a different festival experience by attending any of the events we have for you today.

Benicassim Festival: music, dance, films and sunbathing in the Mediterranean coast.
When? Starts July 14th and closes July 17th.
Where? Benicassim, Castellon, Spain.
More info about the festival: http://fiberfib.com/ (click on the English icon on the right-hand corner of the homepage)

Creamfields Andalusia
When? One weekend in August 2011, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th.
Where? Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Andalusia.
Interesting performances: Paul Kalkbrenner, 2ManyDjs, Eric Prydz, DJ Gonçalo from Portugal, and The Prodigy.
More info about the festival: http://www.creamfields-andalucia.com/ (in Spanish but there are some sections in English, just look for the flag)

Now you know, if you are planning a home swap with a partner in Spain, check with them if there is a music festival in the area to have some extra fun to your next home exchange.

Image: Public domain licence, taken from Wikimedia Commons.