We started our special on Valencia with something that can conquer all: food, but this city has attractions and spots to entice people of all ages and preferences. Whether you share your home swap trip with children, teenagers, young adults or older adults, your companions will find a favourite place. If you are looking for adventure or you want discover ancient treasures, there is something for you. If you want to play sports and get energized that way or enjoy marvellous sunsets to power up your senses until your next vacation, in Valencia you will find your spot.

Beaches and dunes:
When you are ready to find your home exchange partner in Valencia, look for this beaches in the nearby attractions or description: Arenas, La Malvarrosa, Cabañal, or beaches in the Albufera Nature Reserve (El Saler or Col-Legi). La Malvarrosa lies in the city itself and has the infrastructure to receive many people in its miles of white sands. Arenas and Cabañal, in the southern part of the city, have golden sand and many interesting features like restaurants, bars, promenades and events.

Parks and sports:
As mentioned in the beach and dunes category, you can visit the Albufera Nature Reserve, and in the area you will find El Saler, a blue flag beach that looks like a dream! There are also entertainment parks, like Gulliver’s Park for children, the Botanical Gardens and the Bioparc, a modern zoo based on the concept of immersion. Regarding sports, you will find a place to move your body: hiking, golf, kayaking, sailing, horse riding, scuba diving, windsurfing, paragliding… Or an event for watching-enjoyment: Valencia FC, Formula 1 Racing or World Championship Motorcycle Racing.

Image: Hakilon / Wikimedia Commons.

Not only the UK has great summer festivals, and we know that, so we are going to end our list of summer festivals in the UK today to find other interesting music festivals around the world in case home swapping takes you near one. Below is today’s list but remember: if you cannot make it this year, you may want to find a home for exchange near you favourite festival in 2012 using HomeForHome. Today’s list has festivals taking place in August but tickets may be running out so don’t take too much time to decide.

Big Chill Festival 2011: to chill out while you enjoy some music along with thousands of strangers. Check out the website sections that have with tips to keep the festival “Green” and how to enjoy the festival with your family
When in August? 4th to 7th.
Where? Eastnor Park, Herefordshire, England.
Interesting performances: The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, and several DJs.
More info about the festival: http://www.bigchill.net/

Green Man Festival 2011: it’s green, it’s in Wales and it’s unique. There are even have science acts and workshops .
When in August? 19th to 21st.
Where? Glanusk Park Estate, Wales.
Interesting performances: James Blake, Noah and the Whale, Ellen and the Escapades.
More info about the festival: http://www.greenman.net/

V Festival U.K. 2011: The “swap” festival, with two locations sharing the same artists over the weekend.
When in August? 20th to 21st.
Where? Simultaneously in Chelmsford (Hyland Park) & Staffordshire (Weston Park), England.
Interesting performances: Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Eminem, Pendulum, Duran Duran, Bruno Mars.
More info about the festival: http://www.vfestival.com/

Creamfields Festival 2011: The destination for electronic music lovers.
When in August? 26th to 28th.
Where? Daresbury, Halton, Cheshire, England.
Interesting performances: Katy B, The Chemical Brothers (of course), Magnetic Man, David Guetta, DJ Fresh.
More info about the festival: http://www.creamfields.com/

Which one would you like to go to? Have you been to any? You can send us your recommendation or share it in your house profile, specially if you have an interesting one near the house you want to swap.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To complete our week we are going to discover just a little bit about Gent (Ghent) and Glasgow, two cities that appear to have two things in common: 1) a capital “G” and 2) music

Glasgow, Scotland

This city claims to have a weekly average of 130 music-related events. Could that be so? Well, as surprising as it may seem, it appears to be the truth because there are all kinds of events in Glasgow, covering all music styles, all kinds of events and for all ages: Celtic, country, classical, contemporary, electronic, indie, jazz, pop, choral, rap, urban… You name a music related keyword and we can find you an event in Glasgow. Impressive!

Gent, Belgium

Gent was the latest addition to the list of UNESCO Cities of Music and it is the smallest city in the list. The most prominent cultural expressions of Gent’s spirit are the International Festival of Flanders Ghent (Internationaal Festival van Vlaanderen Gent) and the Ghent Festivities (Gentse Feesten) - ten days of music in every corner of the city, including Jazz in the “Gent Jazz Festival”, techno music and dancing in “10 days Off” and puppet theatre and musicals in “Puppetbuskersfestival”.

Whether you go for the 130 events per week, the 10 days of Gent Festivities or the Festival of Flanders, you know where to find an partner for an international home exchange.

Today we continue with our tour, presenting you the best times to travel to each country with another couple. It is the turn for Brazil and New Zealand, again two countries located in the Southern portion of the world. Both countries are preparing themselves to give visitors and unforgettable welcome, Brazil does it each year when it is Carnival time, but the kiwis are getting ready to receive visitors for their event in a way that fascinates them so they come back every year.

Brazil - Without a doubt, the best time to visit Brazil is during the frenzy of Carnival. Many cities party everyday during “Carnaval” and it is the place to be if you want fun, dancing and samba! Letting yourself be caught by the magic of Carnival is probably the best way to get immersed in the Brazilian culture. Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Salvador de Bahia are the best locations to experience the Carnival each February, but smaller cities may provide the best combination of Carnival and sandy beaches for families that want to swap houses with their families and don’t care much for the late hour parties.

New Zealand - The kiwis are preparing a great welcome as the Rugby “world” travels to their land to celebrate the 2011 World Cup from September 9th to October 23rd. Eleven cities will be receiving the best teams in the world to play the game, but the whole country will engage in a celebration that they have called “The REAL New Zealand Festival”, that will include events (right now there are over 300 events registered and the count goes up each day). All that is Kiwi will be there: flavours, music, entertainment, arts, heritage… Can you think of a better time to discover New Zealand with a home swap?

Field trips are probably one of the most interesting activities one gets to experience in school. If you are home schooling your children then you can use home exchange to take your kids to destinations never reached by school field trips and you can do it more frequently. You can swap both within your country and abroad, without being drawn back by the costs. As you may know by now, home swap is close to being the perfect option for family travel and costs much less than the other lodging alternatives.

Some lessons that can be learnt while swapping:

Geography - travelling could help in several topics related to geography, like:
– Natural environments: you can visit parks, reserves, Natural Heritage Sites, areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
– Different cities that sustain their economies on different activities or have different organization patterns (fishing towns, cities with ports, cities in rural areas, small cities, huge metropolis).

Image by Rosemary Ratcliff /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Science/Biology - while travelling your children could get in touch with different species, different environments, natural cycles, tides, climate… If you live in the city and swap to a rural house you will have hands on training on plant growth, farm animals, and depending on how far from a big city you get, even an astronomy lesson in a clearer sky.

Languages - the advantages of getting your kids hear a foreign language from native speakers and interact with them to practice their own pronunciation is priceless.

History/Arts - visiting museums and art exhibits, taking tours in historic sites where tour guides can tell the story with those interesting little details that get kids involved, attending different musical shows, listening to traditional music from different areas/countries.

Physical Education - Trekking, biking, swimming, surfing, skiing, attending sport matches or learning about non-professional sports…

Extra lessons:
– Respect other people’s possessions.
– Learn about how differences make people interesting.
– Get in touch with different cultures.
– Using the Internet.
– Trust.

As we always say, home exchange may fit into several plans and home schooling seems to be one of them. There is another plus: as you won’t be tied to school schedules you would probably be able to travel during the off-season which means you can get better deals at attractions, less crowded tours and many other advantages.

Some useful resources about home education:
HEAS - http://www.heas.org.uk/
Education Otherwise - http://www.education-otherwise.org/
A family that shares their experience

Image by jscreationzs /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Many people are choosing to teach their kids at home instead of sending them to school. There are different reasons one may opt to do this:

- Have children learn in a non-structured way and at their own pace.
- Have your kids spend more time with their family.
- Reduce the stress that many kids often face in school, specially regarding grades are tests.
- Explore the real world directly and not as much from books. This is related to providing an education that is centred in knowledge itself and not gaining the skills to pass a certain exam.
- Introduce ethical considerations in the “lessons” and share your beliefs with your children.
- You are obligated by the circumstances (for example, you have to travel a lot with your family due to work commitments)

The statistics show that home schooling is not the choice of any special group, this option is chosen by ordinary people around the world wherever this option is admitted. Among the countries that allow home education are Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the US, the picture varies and each State has its own policies. In the UK, there is no obligation to send children to school, the Directgov website puts it this way:

“Most parents send their child to school, but you do have the right to educate your child at home. As a parent, you must ensure your child receives a full-time education from the age of five.”

If you are interested in this option, we recommend you start your research in the Directgov website dedicated to the subject by clicking on the following link: Educating your child at home

Things that could vary from one country/state to the other:
- The need to have a special qualification to teach your child at home.
- The obligation to follow a certain curriculum according to your child’s age.
- The need to sit exams on a regular basis to prove your child’s progress.
- The rules to withdraw your kid from the regular school system legally.

The flexibility of both home schooling and home exchange may give you a great opportunity to combine them and we will get into this in our next post (or posts)

If you are not an active traveller and you would rather spend your vacation time in a “resting” state, there are many things you can do in Wales while you take advantage of the huge savings home exchange has to offer. For example, Wales has 641 castles and three World Heritage Sites you can visit. The three World Heritage Sites are:

Image by Tom Curtis /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd: Beaumaris Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Conwy Castle and Harlech Castle.
2. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape: evidencing the importance of the region’s industries to the 19th century’s Industrial Revolution.
3. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal - Truly a monumental piece of civil engineering, both creative and majestic.

Other “slow” activities you can enjoy in Wales, and specially recommended for wildlife lovers, are birdwatching or admiring the rare bottle nosed dolphins, basking sharks, leatherback turtles and Atlantic grey seals that can be spotted in the Welsh marine environment. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park,  is the perfect place to do this.

You can also find a list of attractions that can be visited for free if you are looking for a low budget holiday. The list includes museums, art galleries, parks, exhibitions, festivals, castles and trails. Navigate through http://www.visitwales.com/ to find more details.

As you can imagine, Wales is a great destination for family vacations. Three family friendly features of Wales:

- Perfect place for outdoors activities.
- Several free-entry attractions.
- 1,200 Km of coastline: sand and sea are a perfect combination to entertain the little ones.

Find more information in the links below and more ideas in HomeForHome’s next post.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park - http://www.pcnpa.org.uk/
http://www.visitwales.com/
Cadw (the historic environment service of the Welsh Assembly Government) - http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/
Southern Wales - http://www.southernwales.com/
Mid Wales and the Brecon Beacons - http://tourism.powys.gov.uk/
Visit North Wales - http://www.visitnorthwales.co.uk/

We continue with our tour through Scotland’s best. Today: Castles and Edinburgh.

Image by Tom Curtis /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There are several castles in Scotland, so if you are looking for a piece of history combined with beautiful architecture, landscapes and decoration, here are some suggestions:

- Airth Castle (near Stirling)
- Birkhill Castle (Fife)
- Caerlaverock Castle (Glencaple, Dumfries)
- Culzean Castle (near Maybole, Ayrshire)
- Drumlanrig Castle (Dumfries and Galloway)
- Duart Castle (Mull)
- Dunvegan Castle (Isle of Skye)
- Edinburgh Castle (Edinburgh)
- Falkland Palace (Fife)
- Fyvie Castle (Aberdeenshire)
- Glamis Castle (Angus)
- Hermitage Castle (Roxburghshire)
- Inveraray Castle (Argyll)
- Kildrummy Castle (Aberdeenshire)
- Stirling Castle (Stirling)

If your home exchange destination is in Aberdeenshire, you may enjoy the only Castle Trail in Scotland, with 14 castles marked by white on brown signs with a blue castle logo. This is a hihgly recommended activity for families with children, as the younger ones would enjoy discovering secret passages, dungeons, haunted rooms and ghost stories. Visit Scotland.com - The official site of Scotland’s national tourism organisation has a Castle Trail leaflet with all you need to know to plan your own Castle Trail tour.

The Festival City

Edinburgh - The capital is one of the single most attractive spots in Scotland, the 12 major annual festivals that take place in the city account for its nickname: the Festival City, and its spectacular architecture make it an art piece on itself. As we mentioned, there are countless cultural events that take place in Edinburgh, the main being: Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. We did not count them all, but there are probably hundreds of events that take place in this cultural hub, and you could certainly find one that matches both your interests and your home exchange calendar so we will refer you to Edinburgh Festivals to prepare your trip.

Of course this is just peek of Scotland’s vast offer to enjoy your home exchange vacations, so imagine all the things you will discover on your trip!

If you are looking for a different experience for your next home exchange, Scotland sure has some ideas for you.

Green Tourism in Scotland

Photo by lmnyberg /Flickr.com

First things first. Over 700 businesses are registered members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) and are assessed for their energy efficiency and efforts to reduce their environmental impact, to sustain the quality of Scotland’s natural treasures. As a visitor, your support is required to preserve the quality of Scotland’s environment. So look for the identified businesses while you tour through Scotland.

Whisky Tourism in Scotland

There are 42 distilleries open to visitors, because not only it is one of the country’s most important exporting industries, it has also become an attraction to visitors and whisky fans from around the globe. The tourism and hospitality sector has joined the distilleries’ efforts to arrange a memorable experience adding other attractions to the “Scotch Whisky Trails“. The most complete online reference on this subject is ScotlandWhisky but you should also check out The Whisky Coast, The Malt Whisky Trail, and for information about the industry visit Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

Just to give you a taste of what you can find:

Speyside is home to half of Scotland’s whisky distilleries, so if you care for a tour covering the different traditional distillation processes, this is the spot. Some of the tourist-friendly distilleries in the area are: Benromach, Cardhu, Dallas Dhu, Glen Grant, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and the Strathisla Distillery, home of the renowned Chivas Regal blend.

Campbeltown is home to the oldest independent family owned distillery: Springbank Distillery. This is not the only fact that sets this distillery apart, it is also one of the two distilleries in the country that carries the complete process from barley and water to bottled Scotch whisky in one single site and it is also the only one that produces three different single malts using three different production methods: Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn.

“The Enchanted Forest”

An award winning outdoor show, that uses sound and light to tell the most amazing of all stories: the Earth’s history from the beginning to the modern era. Definitely a must if you arrange your home exchange in the area.  The Enchanted Forest is part of the Highland Perthshire Autumn Festival so visit http://www.pitlochryautumnfestival.co.uk/ to find our more and plan a fun-filled autumn home exchange vacation.

“One for All”

All in one: Cairngorms National Park includes the Aviemore, Angus Glens, Royal Deeside, Donside, Glenlivet and Speyside areas. You can find almost anything here, from family attractions to extreme sports there is definitely something to keep you entertained whether it is cold, warm, hot or even raining. Also, businesses in the park operate under the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) guidelines.

More information:
http://www.visitcairngorms.com/
http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/

Doing some research to write the previous posts, it was interesting to find a simple yet FUNtastic game that most children really enjoy and never get tired of, so it deserved a post of its own: BUBBLE BLOWING!

It is unbelievable how many websites have information about this classic game.

Image by Dino De Luca /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You can buy a bubble-blowing kit or have your children make their own bubble-making tools with everyday materials. The second option is much more fun and allows your kids to come up with some creative ideas, so before you close your bags and head off to your home exchange destination, be sure to pack any items you may need to make your bubble-blowing tools during your swap.

First, take notes about the basic recipe to prepare the bubble making solution: add 2 teaspoons of dish soap to 1 cup of water. If you want long-lasting bubbles you can add 1 teaspoon of glycerin to the above recipe. Glycerin is inexpensive, non-toxic and can be purchased in most pharmacies. Baby shampoo can be an alternative to replace the soap for younger children as it won’t cause irritation if some bubble solution comes into contact with their eyes. Wearing pool goggles during a bubble battle can be fun too! You don’t know what a bubble battle is? Just a battle in which your objective is to have your opponent surrender to your bubble-making attack.

Everyday use items that can be turned into bubble wands:

- Cloth hangers (adult supervision should be a must to work with these).

- Plastic cookie cutters.

- Drinking straws.

- Strings. Cotton strings seem to work just fine. Tie the ends together forming a loop (try different lengths for different bubble sizes), soak the loop in the solution, stretch it and then blow through the film caught in the loop.

- A variety of empty containers can have their bottoms removed or portions cut off to become a simple bubble-making device: cans, yogurt containers, plastic lids. (We would also recommend adult supervision if you choose these items)

- A funnel.

- An old racket.

- A balloon. It is hard to get the hang of it but you can use an inflated balloon to “blow” your bubbles.

- An interesting item that seems to be excellent for younger children is a fly swatter. Its small holes are perfect for the little ones to make dozens of bubbles with just one swing!

- The simplest bubble wand: your hands. And a tip we found at http://www.bubbles.org: “… it is dryness, not sharpness, which pops bubbles. This means that if you get your bubble tools wet, you can touch a bubble without popping it” (where bubble tools means your own hands).

There are many options and all you need is creativity, you can also come up with competitions like: the biggest bubble, the longest lasting bubble, who can blow the most bubbles in one minute… Have fun!!!