Home exchanges can be used to celebrate a variety of special occassions, whether you go en masse or as a single family unit.

Something unique to couples however, is the idea of an anniversary exchange. If you are interested in celebrating a wedding anniversary or a relationship anniversary of any nature abroad, then home exchange is an economic and romantic way of doing this.

Doing a home exchange between Europe and Australia is sometimes difficult.

Let’s face it. It’s a long way to go. One of the problems that Australians would have with home exchange with Europe is that they often want to see more than one European country in order to make the most of the trip.

Which makes perfect sense. If you travel all that way, you’d definitely want to sample some of the rich tapestry that Europe has to offer.

But this should not be a problem though. Why not do two home exchanges? It’s not that difficult to co-ordinate. You spend a couple of weeks in France, a couple of weeks in Portugal, and then take a few days out to travel between the two.

From the other perspective, depending on the number of people that would be interested in this, the system could work very well. Australia is a popular destination for travellers, and generally people are interested in poking around in various different areas across the country in one trip. So, if a European family did a two week exchange in one part of Australia, they could then take a few days to travel around, and then reach their second holiday home exchange destination.

A trip between Australia and Europe could be costly, flight wise. So saving money on other expenses such as accommodation could definitely soften the blow!

Here at Homeforhome.com what we’re suggesting for the Australia Question is simply: double home exchange, two week slots.

But more than anything, we need to get talking about Australia. Who is interested in going there? Who knows people in Australia who would be interested in doing home exchanges? The Australia Question is a big one. But if we can facilitate cheap and comfortable holidays, cracking the big Down Under would be massive for our home exchange community. Massive!

When I think of my friends, I rarely try to explain their individual behaviour in terms of them “being British”. It would get pretty insane if I did that. You might as well cite that “we´re made of carbon” as the motivation behind every thought, feeling or action. It doesn´t really make any clearer the reason why your friend decided to start obsessively hoovering the floor of their car every day. Or quite why another friend may get really awkward and start shrieking with laughter everytime that you pass the bus-stop. (Maybe it just tickles her? Or maybe she´s mad. It´s probably not a “cultural” thing though, whatever it is.)

We are impossibly complicated creatures. There is nothing in this life that we can´t confound, destroy, tangle, ruin, damage, warp or obfuscate in some way. Each and every one of us. And sometimes our ways of doing this are very original and creative.

Yet there is still a UNIVERSAL tendency to make generalisations based on nationality.

That the English say “sorry” all the time. That the Italians are hot-blooded. That the Spanish are lazy. That the Americans live for work. That Northern Europeans are cold and Southern Europeans are hot-headed.

So when we go to a foreign country, it is a brilliant chance to say, “Look! I know my country´s football fans pee in the street, but I swear to you I´m NOT going to do that, with god as my witness!” And as home exchange really allows you the chance to introduce yourself into the community of the new place, you can actually have conversations, socialise, and have your children play with the local children.

So not only do you get the envigorating sensation of being around new and exciting people, but you can also banish some of the pre-conceptions that people might have about you.

Travelling is not just about plane sickness, buildings and weather. It´s about people. We all have our quirks, but with home exchange we can celebrate these for what they are, rather than living on the false economy of national stereotypes.

The underground.

What is with that? What happens to us? Honestly? What happens to civilisation when it hits those grimy steps and enters the so called underworld?

It changes. Normal, kind hearted, non-freakish people (some of whom have even given blood) turn into this monstrous wave of channelled anonymity, that pushes you, snarls at your ankles, and wishes you dead if you falter getting your ticket into the machine in less than 2.0 seconds.

We change, according to our environment, and depending on the group of people we are in.

The metro dehumanises us. Fact! But what does the home exchange community do to us?

Well, five things immediately spring to mind. To be a home exchanger, broadly, you´re going to be a certain type of person. Someone who likes to travel. Someone with a sense of adventure. Someone who likes to experience new things. Someone who has faith in community.

And the things this environment can bring out of you are that:

1) You help make the house child proof for the coming family
2) You leave a list of useful numbers such as dentists, doctors and physiotherapists at the ready
3) You inform the neighbours of the new family´s arrival
4) You prepare directions and suggestions for things the family can do during their stay
5) You leave their house sparkling clean for when they get back.

You see. The beauty of home exchange is, that although it might be a bit of extra effort to put all these things in place for the coming family, they will be thinking of you and doing exactly the same things for you. It´s these sweet little touches that really make home exchange a personal and heart-warming experience.

Just as the underground takes some humanity out of us, home swapping brings out the heart in us.

The definitive and optimised version of HomeForHome is already online! In case you didn´t know, it´s the new and effective portal you can use to do home exchanges across the world.

HomeForHome.com provides a quick and easy means of helping people find the best and most afforable holidays, in their ideal destinations. Holidays that are anything from traditional and relaxing, to unexpected, in vogue, or totally original.

Basing itself on the concept of exchange, HomeForHome makes contact and communication between people from different countries extremely easy. It also makes the concept of cheap holidays of a high quality a real possibility.

Are you starting to think about trying a new and totally unique style of holiday?
If so, we advise you to sign up for free at HomeForHome.com! Why?
1. The registration is totally FREE! You can register your home, upload your photos and details, include videos, details of your family, say whether you will exchange vehicles, if you accept smokers or pets…ALL FOR FREE.

2. Our portal HomeForHome.com is aiming to be simple, easy to navigate, and sensitive to your needs. We ask you to register with the site when you first access it, putting in your basic personal details, and you´ll also be able to choose a screen name (user name) if you don´t want to use your real name to communicate with other users. We will also ask you for some other details (such as a brief description of the home you would like to exchange.)

3. The communication between users is easy and of the highest quality available, thanks to both a system of internal mesaging and an online community: within this it is possible to send messages to everyone, and exchange information, ideas, opinions, search for home and holiday exchange partners, etc.

4. You can ask for personal help for whatever doubt or need you may have by asking a question in the community section, or by sending an email to the homeforhome team (just write to info@HomeForHome.com).

5. An automatic translator will enable translations from one language to another, for the occasions when the person you have contacted, or wish to contact, doesn´t speak your language (or one of the languages that you speak.)

6. A section dedicated to the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) will answer and clear up any doubts or uncertainties.

7. A home exchange search will facilitate the search for properties that meet your interests, or help you find homes that you have already seen and would like to see again. In this same way, you will be able to search for new houses or destinations that interest you.

8. The registered houses are archived clearly, and in order: by just having a look it will be possible to see the state of the house or home in question. The distances of the property in square metres will also be specified, alongside the number of rooms, and the various commodities or characteristics of the home in question.

For any question, doubt or problem you may have, you can write to us at: info@homeforhome.com
Enjoy your Home Exchange!

So, Europe. What does it have to offer? France. Spain. Italy. Germany. England. Romania. Poland. To name but a few of the choice cuts of the continent. Whether it be the impassioned political fervour of the French, the darkly elegant style of the Italians, or the striking openness of the Dutch, you have to admit - there´s a wealth of culture over there. And how exquisite it would be to understand the seamless poetry of Dante, the tortured prose of Proust, or the emblematic tales of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra´s Don Quijote, in their original versions.

The best way to learn a language is to get yourself in a country where it is spoken. This way you really drench yourself in the culture, you are constantly absorbing new vocabulary from the road signs, the posters, the conversations you over-hear on the metro – and most importantly of all – you make friends you can talk with.

When I was a child, we did a house exchange with a Belgian family. We stayed in their house for four weeks. All my brothers and sisters were older than me, and whilst I had a fabulous time playing with the new doll´s house that I found, eventually I wanted some company of my own age. It just so happened that there was a little girl living in the house next door. Lea, her name was. She was taller than me, wore brown buckle-up shoes, and spoke no English. And we had the best time together. Even now, I remember going with her to buy chips from the local chip shop (chips dressed with a particular sweet and sour cream that I´ve never been able to find anywhere else in the world), dressing up to perform a play for her parents, and going cycling in the velvety forest with her school friends. While I don´t remember being conscious of speaking French, it was certainly the language we spoke in, and as all children do with languages, I took to it like a duck to water.

And I now see just how wonderful and welcoming that small community was. The neighbours especially, welcoming strangers into their houses, looking after a little foreign girl, helping the slightly eccentric English family make friends and feel welcome in a different city. For the rest of my family, living in that neighbourhood for a month was the perfect way to really practise their French and make exciting new friendships.

If you´re interested in European culture, and are looking for an opportunity to practise or to learn a new language, doing a home exchange is the ideal way to do this. You get delivered right into the marrow of the community – socially, culturally, and most crucial of all - linguistically.

So if you´re a dab hand for languages, or if you just want to practise some French asking for a croissant and a white coffee while you read the paper in a quiet café in Bordeaux, a home exchange ensures that you´ll make new friends and not only see, but really live the new culture.

There is a British couple who used to do home swaps with French families in different cities in France. Now, they´re both retired.  Living gleefully in France for six months of the year, in the bosom of a local rural community. Every Christmas they receive invitations to spend the festive season celebrating precious friendships with their old exchange partners.

The warming solidarity of two parties seeking to share their homes for the mutual benefit of an intimate, and inestimable holiday can easily lead to a momentous friendship. Not only do you both partake in a beautiful experience of having a stress-free, fabulous time exploring and relishing a different culture. But you also enter into the heart of someone else´s living – their home. In this way, if you choose, you can cultivate a really special bond with a shining variety of people from a whole range of different cultures. It´s not only culturally enriching, but also personally touching.

There is, of course, no obligation to invest yourself in a personal level, but it´s one of the many opportunities offered by home exchange - to integrate yourself on a worldwide level, and colour your life with a medley of cultural exchange. Whilst you´re taking pleasure in the many different flavours of food, weather, architecture, history, natural landscapes, and local entertainment, you are also afforded the opportunity of making enduring friendships with people from different countries.

Part of the excitement of a home swap is the sweet sense of adventure, and this is not only limited to the holiday. There´s a whole world out there, waiting for you to try it out.