In yesterday’s post we suggested a very short house swap, lasting only a weekend, and you may be wondering how you can find other users interested in this type of home swap. We have some suggestions:

Let others know about your intentions

The easiest way to find any swap is to be found by someone that is interested in your offer. To make this happen you need to share your interests. There are some features you can use to do this: the availability calendar, your home’s description, and HomeForHome’s Community forum.

The first two, can be edited once logged in to your account, using the tools provided there. See the next image for details about how to access the availability calendar and the home description:

The Community forum is very easy to use and we have written articles about how to use the forum. There are users already posting their offers in the “Other exchanges” forum to find weekend exchanges. For example, look at this home swap offer from Donatella, who is willing to exchange houses with someone interested in a weekend in touch with nature staying near Abruzzo’s National Park (Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo Lazio e Molise). Something we would like to highlight about Donatella’s offer is that the offer was re-posted, which is a great way to keep the topic visible because posts that have been recently active appear first in the list of topics.

We have many other suggestions to share with you, so we will continue tomorrow. In the meantime you have homework to implement some of the suggestions above.

Weekends can be seen as weekly vacations. They are a time to forget about work responsibilities, spend time with the family, go back to your hobbies and relax - at least most weekends. So why shouldn’t you make the most out of this weekly vacation? HomeForHome can help you find other swappers interested in weekend home exchanges, maybe in a nearby city or town (or maybe further away), and once in a while you could experience a weekend getaway without the cost of paying for a place to stay. All you need is a HomeForHome account and transportation - that if you can’t arrange to include a vehicle swap.

A short term home swap is perfect for weekend getaways, and there are many advantages of swapping your house with someone in your same country - check out this previous post from 2009 about Domestic Exchange - and this combination is excellent to arrange a trip to your favourite band’s concert or that music festival you always wanted to go to.

A weekend home swap is perfect for new swappers, because you can test how everything works without leaving your home for more than two days and see if you can handle this way of travelling. They are also a good way to build a reputation, just remember to make the arrangements using our “Request exchange” feature and making sure your counterpart agrees to the exchange using the system, so they can leave feedback once the swap weekend is over.

Be optimistic, your next weekend can be a house swap weekend = a fun vacation weekend
Be ultra-optimistic, your next weekends can be house swap weekends

Image: By OsamaK (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

We will leave Brazil now to travel with our words to another exciting destination. There are certainly so many things to be discovered in Brazil that is unlikely that we would not find a future pretext to suggest a house swap to this marvellous country. We hope to have shared enough so you added it to your list of Destination preferences - If you are unfamiliar with this feature, let’s take a moment to explain how it works and how to use it because it adds valuable information to attract other users interested in your location:

Users may add a list of preferred destinations that will be shown in their personal profile page under Destination preferences. To add a destination you need to login to your account, click on Edit Profile and scroll down until you find the boxes under the title Countries you would like to go to (see image). To mark a country as a destination you would be interested in visiting you need to click on it and then click on the arrow pointing to the right-hand box. All the countries that you leave in this box will be shown in your profile page after you confirm the changes by clicking on the Modify button. To remove a country from the list, just select it on the right-hand box and click on the left-pointing arrow.

Please note that since it is not a mandatory field, there are many users that have not completed this information. However, it is useful data for someone that is looking to swap to your area, because if they see beforehand that you are interested in travelling to their country, the chances they will decide to contact you will increase.

There is still a lot of Brazil for us to discover, we are in the middle of unravelling what this exuberant nation has to offer to those who decide to make it the destination of their house swap. Brazilian music can help us show just the tip of the iceberg.

Travelling can mean many different things. Some people travel because they have to, for example there are many who travel because they have jobs that imply going to different places. Being Brazil an emergent market with a growing economy, it offers many opportunity to make business. There are others who travel to study and learn, and a home exchange to Brazil is a perfect way to learn or practice the Portuguese language, but Brazil also has several centres of higher education that could be an interesting option for those looking to study abroad for a year or a semester. There is another side to travelling, and there are many who travel for recreational purposes, not meaning that when you travel to study or work you cannot have some fun

We can say that the recreational side of travelling is associated with vacations, resting, relaxing, having fun, spending time with your family or friends and discovering new places. For this kind of travelling, Brazil is perfect, like we have shown in our previous posts the Brazilian carnival is perfect for those looking to load themselves with endorphins and memories. Additionally, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia, where the largest carnival events take place, both have gorgeous beaches to relax during the daytime and recharge your batteries, similar to a solar panel. Maybe you thought of Brazil as a destination before and then decided to travel somewhere closer to stay within your budget, but remember that with HomeForHome you can make great savings and travel farther away.

We will continue with our posts inspired by music, but today we wanted to make a pause to remind you that a perfect home swap may be waiting for you just a few clicks away. We are now in April and many swappers have already found their opportunities for the coming months, which for most people are the preferred ones for travelling. There are even some users that have already scheduled more than one house swap and have “closed” their availability calendars for many months. What about you?

Remember that home exchange is for regular people, there are others, just like you, looking for a family with kids to trade houses over the summer, or looking for another retired couple that wants to exchange houses for a longer time, or looking for a family that loves pets that would be willing to take care of their beloved “Fluffy” while staying at their home. Home exchange is for anyone who wants to try something different. You need to be willing to put a little effort into it because a successful home exchange implies not only finding a good partner but also presenting your house and location in a way that would make it interesting and also getting to know your the other party, exchanging emails, maybe chatting and even (at least) one talk over the phone or using the Internet to confirm the agreement’s details.

More and more people are trying it every month, so the opportunities are increasing for everyone. HomeForHome makes it simple. What are you waiting for?

The expectation built up during the weeks before Christmas, seems too much for one day. It is just not enough to celebrate properly! That is probably one of the reasons why in the United Kingdom there is Boxing Day on December 26th. There is enough holiday spirit for one more day, so if you want three days of celebration around Christmas, you should use HomeForHome to swap houses with someone in Britain.

What is Boxing Day?

The day after Christmas is celebrated as Boxing Day, and it is a bank holiday as well. Actually, this year the two bank holidays, Christmas and Boxing Day will be observed the 27th and 28th, respectively because when they fall on a weekend, they are moved to the next Monday. Boxing Day does not have a clear origin, but there were many customs in the past that involved boxes to be opened the day after Christmas:

– Boxes were used to collect leftovers from Christmas dinner and sometimes gifts that would be given to servants who were given the day off to spend it with their families on the 26th.

– Service workers were given boxes with gifts in the first working day after Christmas as a way of saying thanks for the good service provided throughout the year.

– Sailors used to carry a box on board and put money into it as an offering to assure a safe return. When the ship ended its journey the box was given to a church and the priest opened it during Christmas to give the money to the poor.

– It is said that in the middle ages, servants used to save money in boxes that were opened during Christmas to use the savings.

– Churches used to have boxes that received goods and gifts from people attending the Christmas Mass. These boxes were opened the 26th and the contents shared with the poor.

Boxing Day is a family day and many people choose to play board games as part of the family tradition. Several sports have special matches scheduled for Boxing Day, for example the football Premier League, so watching sports is another preferred activity. This day is also used to find after-Christmas sales and exchange gifts, so it is a busy day in shopping areas.

There are other countries were Boxing Day is celebrated: Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Also, there are countries that have  other celebrations on December 26th, like Germany or South Africa, but we will leave them for another post. With our international home exchange portal, you can discover these festivities next year.

HomeForHome users probably have several Christmas stories that include house swapping. That is probably due to the fact that around Christmas most people decide to travel. Sometimes because there is a special traditional event or family gathering waiting for them elsewhere, or just for fun. With many people taking days off work and children being freed from school duties, the holiday season is one of the busiest times at airports, ports, railways, highways, roads and even streets!

Another common thing that happens during the holiday season is that TV channels go to the storage shell labelled “Christmas” and put in the “air” a long list of films with plots that revolve around this time of the year. To our knowledge there are not many films that combine Christmas and house swapping, but at least there is one that does, and not only a home exchange but an international home exchange takes place. This film is “The Holiday”.

In “The Holiday”, two single broken-hearted ladies decide to spend their Christmas in the farthest location possible to get away from their recently ended relationships and they choose to arrange a home swap using the Internet. Their international home exchange details:

– Two weeks.

– California, USA for Surrey, England.

– Luxurious mansion for cosy cottage.

– Warm weather for snowy days.

In “The Holiday” the swap turns out to be a successful one, what does a holiday home swap need to include to be your perfect one?

Do not let the title confuse you, we are still on Holiday Season week, but it is a good time to play with numbers! 2010 has been a great year for HomeForHome and as we are about to turn over the page and move on to 2011, we want to share our joy with you because we have reached 20100 registered users. Hurrah!

Our wish list for 2011:

– More registered users taking advantage of our services: Having more users means there are more opportunities for everyone to find a good swap partner and that is exactly what we want. Our goal is to provide the tools for people with the same interest to connect and swap, the more people interacting the more chances they will find their perfect matches.

– More successful swaps arranged through our portal: If users agree to swap by sending exchange proposals and having the other party accept it through the portal, then they will have the chance to provide feedback and evaluate the experience after the exchange takes place. This means you will give others the chance to know beforehand if a user can be trusted or not. The concept of home exchange is built on trust so your experiences will be valuable to others and most of all to your swap partner!

– More suggestions from our users to keep a top quality service: Over the past year, our users have provided valuable feedback about our tools and features. Whether using the Contact form or the Forums, do not miss the change to speak up. Your opinion is very important to us.

Finally, our wish for you is that you find a good swap matching your 2011 travel plans. What are you wishing for the next swap year? Maybe there Santa can leave one more thing under your tree

Christmas is near and you probably have already planned your home swap for this special time as we recommended last year when the holiday season was near. However, we could not let this special time go by without bringing you a very special Christmas week (maybe weeks) at HomeForHome’s blog. There are tons of things to share about Christmas, and we had to find just a few interesting facts like a needle in a haystack!

Our first interesting fact is for those anxious ones that cannot wait to see what is under the Christmas tree. For them, nothing better than spending Christmas in one of the countries where December 25th arrives first. For them, we recommend a home exchange to New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati or even Australia. These are the first countries west of the International Date Line, so the change from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day takes place here first than anywhere else. Of course, if you have a boat you can actually be the very first to receive Christmas, all you have to do is set your course to longitude 180°. Well, move a little to the west of the 180th meridianbecause we do not really know what happens if you are on the exact International Date Line

On the other hand, if you want to be among the last to receive Christmas, you should travel to places such as Tahiti (French Polynesia), Hawaii (United States) or Samoa. Let us tell you, checking out this three destinations, it does not sound bad at all to be the last people saying goodbye to Christmas Eve. It may be worth the effort to be the last to open your presents

Image by Tom Curtis /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Homes, houses, apartments, villas, rural houses, second homes, flats, family houses, lovely houses, cottages, detached houses, bungalows, seaside houses, town houses, seaside houses, semis… People refer to their properties in a number of ways but their interest is the same: find someone willing to visit their location and get them interested in their homes.

HomeForHome keeps growing and we are welcoming new home owners week after week with our differential services. But home exchange in itself is what attracts new swappers:

– It is usually cheap and it helps people save huge amounts on travel expenses.

– It provides a different travel experience, as you get involved in the normal city life like a local.

– It is green, it lowers the environmental impact of your trips and reduces the carbon footprint left behind after you leave.

– It supports a better way of interacting with others: communication is the key to arranging successful home exchanges, you will get immersed in the local pace of life while you swap and you will find yourself not only contacting people from the travel and hospitality industries, for example interacting with people at the local market to buy groceries.

– You can build lifelong relationships with people from around the world, and even make a more than a few friends.

– It is tremendously flexible: weekend exchanges, long-term exchanges, permanent exchanges, exchanges to study abroad or learn a foreign language, hospitality exchanges, car exchange, bringing your pet along with you or having your partners take care of your pet during their stay at your home, simultaneous exchanges, non-simultaneous exchanges, and we could go on and on.

HomeForHome just wants to make it easier and more accessible, so we hope to be helping