Home Exchange Berlin 2011: Special Events Bringing the World Together

December 7, 2011
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Berlin is a world class city that on any day will have several special events, exhibitions, or performances. During our month long house swap we encountered many, large and small. With home exchange you are in a place long enough to get to know it, which makes finding special happenings easier. The activities described below, [...]

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Intervac USA offers Thanksgiving special

December 4, 2011
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The US branch of the home exchange agency Intervac is offering a Thanksgiving special, valid through November 30, 2011. You can save $30 off the usual annual fee of $100 by putting the word Turkey in the promotional code box. Intervac is organized along national lines so only US residents can take advantage of this [...]

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Volcanos and Pyramids in the Canary Islands

November 27, 2011
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By Didier Leclerc, translated and edited from the French original by John Mensinger Hola! We exchanged our home with a Spanish family for three weeks this summer. We opted for a traditional Spanish experience, far from the touristy vacation villages. We chose a home on its own built on an ancient lava flow. Leaving France [...]

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Could you trade your home for an entire year?

November 16, 2011
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I recently received an e-mail from a guy hoping to trade his home for a year in a Spanish speaking country. He wanted his kids to experience another culture and improve their Spanish language skills. Other reasons for a long term swap might be a sabbatical or to check out a country as a possible [...]

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Home Exchange Berlin 2011: The world’s largest bicycle rally

November 5, 2011
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Our home exchange host, Heidi, recommended we check out Sternfahrt 2011, a giant rally in Berlin for over 150,000 cyclists. There were 18 possible routes, each with a starting point at a train station. You could choose to start as early as 7am, or like my daughter you could join in about noon. On June [...]

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Home Exchange Berlin 2011: Cycling

October 28, 2011
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One advantage of home exchange is you get lots of stuff that goes along with the home, such as cars, video games, hot tubs, and bicycles. Most importantly you get the exchange family, which looks after your interests and will help you get the most out of your exchange vacation. I don’t specifically look for [...]

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Slow Food, Slow Travel and Home Exchange

October 22, 2011
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There are many people worldwide that think life is too hectic, busy, and standardized. They want to slow down, relax, and enjoy authentic local experiences. One organized group is Slow Food. To quote from their website: “Slow Food stands at the crossroads of ecology and gastronomy, ethics and pleasure. It opposes the standardization of taste [...]

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Will Home Exchange benefit from the economic crisis?

October 18, 2011
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By Didier Leclerc, translated and edited from the French original by John Mensinger For the last two years we thought that home exchange was going to increase substantially, because it would appeal to families in an era of financial difficulties.  The French media shared this view; our contribution was a report of our home exchange [...]

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Intervac on the iphone and ipad

September 18, 2011
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By Didier Leclerc, translated and edited from the French original by John Mensinger. Intervac is the oldest home exchange agency on the market. They invented the concept and were one of the first on the Internet. Intervac has innovated again by offering a free application for iphone and ipad. This is interesting; it is now [...]

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Summertime: The silly season to be looking for next year’s home exchange

September 5, 2011
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House swappers with school age kids usually trade during the summer vacation.  Many older couples with adult children may prefer summer, because it fits with their vacation schedules or they want to travel with family members. This year we finished our home exchange in early July.  After a few weeks of catching up with work [...]

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