Home Exchange: The Latest Trend In Vacation Savings
By Chris Robertson
Vacations are a wonderful - and necessary - way to relax, rejuvenate, and spend time with your family. Unfortunately, vacations are also costly - especially when it comes to accommodations. A week's stay in a hotel can easily cost close to $1,500. Add in a week of eating in restaurants, and that cost doubles. The bottom line is that those kinds of costs can keep you going to the same destination year after year, and prevent you from visiting exciting new places around the world. Home exchange is a new trend that is helping to change all that.

How Do Home Exchanges Work?

Home exchange is just what it sounds like: you swap homes with another couple or another family for your vacation. The power of the Internet makes home exchanges an inexpensive way to find vacation accommodations. Suppose you live in Los Angeles and would like to visit Vancouver on your vacation. You simply find a home exchange website, list your home as being available for an exchange, and then find a home in Vancouver that is also listed, the owners of which would like to vacation in Los Angeles. You and the other homeowner work out the details of dates and times, and then swap homes for the time period you agree upon. Of course, the more flexible you are about locations and dates, the easier it will be to successfully conduct a home exchange.

What Are the Advantages of Home Exchanges?

The primary advantage of finding vacation homes through a home exchange is that you have no accommodations costs. Zero. Plus, you'll save considerable money on meals, since you'll have the option of cooking at your vacation home. In addition, there's no resentment factor: your home doesn't have to remain empty while you pay premium prices for a hotel room. You'll also have added security for your own home while you're on vacation, since someone will be staying there. Ultimately, people who regularly vacation with a home exchange find that they can visit exciting new place worldwide at a fraction of the normal price.

Desirable Vacation Homes

When listing your home on a home exchange website, it's important to show it in its best light as a desirable vacation home. You don't have to live in a mansion in order to have successful vacation home experiences; people exchange all types of homes. However, you'll receive more interest if you have several quality photos of the inside and outside of your home, and if you describe your home's features.

Ground Rules for a Home Exchange

Some homeowners are understandably hesitant about home exchanges, and have privacy concerns. That's why it's critical to find a home exchange website that won't reveal your name, address, phone, or email, and instead uses an online form that hides your personal information.

You should use that online form to your best advantage, however. When sending information to a prospective home exchange partner, you should include a description of your property and neighborhood, and outline who will be in your traveling party and when you would like to make the exchange. Before you seal the deal, you should speak with the other homeowner on the phone. Good home exchanges are built on mutual trust, so it's important that you both feel comfortable with the exchange.

If you're not quite ready for a home exchange, or just want a more conventional holiday, many home exchange sites also

Visit a ?real? Flea Market for a great day out
Regular visitors to the Orlando/Disney may well have stopped off at the Flea Markets on the 192. The two main locations on the 192 are a popular stop for bargain shoppers with each having around 2-300 booths selling all kinds of goods, from jewellery to car accessories to tee shirts to cd?s right through to bizarre tools to extract teeth and even assault-tazers of all things. Well if you?ve visited these booths on the 192 and liked what you see then there are a couple of treats awaiting you further east on the 192 heading towards St Cloud, and also up north near Sanford Airport ? both of which only open at weekends and are far bigger than their smaller weekday cousins. The one closest to most of the Orlando area Vacation homes is the ?Osceola Flea and Famers Market?. This is held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and opens at 8am, closing at 5pm. It is located on the 192 between Kissimmee and St Cloud at 2801 East Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, about 5 miles east of Historic Downto...
MADEIRA BEACH and JOHNS PASS
We discovered Madeira Beach in 1988 on our first trip to Florida back in 1988. We stayed in a cheap motel right on the beach and it was lovely to walk out of our room, around the pool and straight onto the white sandy beach. Madeira Beach is located on the Gulf of Mexico between Clearwater and St Pete Beach. From here we could walk along the beach for about 30 minutes to Johns Pass and amp; Boardwalk. (The next time we visited we had two young children and we walked all the way there to find neither of us had taken any cash to get them a drink or an ice cream). The boardwalk has changed a lot in the last 20 years. We were there for a day last summer and there are some lovely shops, restaurants and bars there now. We loved the seafood restaurant on the boardwalk and if its cool enough you can sit outside and watch the boats coming and going throught the pass. We went on a dolphin cruise from there and it was excellent, we saw loads of dolphins close to the boat, playing and showi...
Around Disney Boardwalk and Crescent Lake
One of our favourite places to relax at Disney World, without using one of those precious Disney Days, is Disney?s Boardwalk. Whether you want an afternoon or evening stroll or just a short break from the hurly burly of Epcot or Hollywood Studios, the boardwalk is the ideal place to relax. Set on Crescent Lake, the Boardwalk faces the resort hotels of the Yacht Club and Beach Club with the Swan and Dolphin Hotels behind and to the side. It was opened in 1996 and built in the style of boardwalks of Coney Island, New York, which existed in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Access to the Boardwalk is probably best gained, especially if this is your first visit, by parking at the Boardwalk Inn car park. Head up the slight incline toward the Boardwalk Inn, and as you approach it take the steps down to the Boardwalk rather than going into the hotel itself. This approach brings you to the ?heart? of the Boardwalk. Immediately on your right is the superb ?Flying Fish Café?, with Seaside Sweets next ...
Biscayne National Park
Florida is home to three National Parks, maybe not as well known globally as say Yellowstone, Yosemite or the Grand Canyon National Parks, but they certainly possess their own natural beauty. Probably the best known of the Florida National Parks is The Everglades, although this tends to be fairly inaccessible to the average tourist, with no main highways running through the park, only around the periphery. In many ways equally inaccessible is the Dry Tortugas National Park; a cluster of seven islands some 70 miles West of Key West ? which puts them well into the Gulf of Mexico and can only be reached by embarking on a boat ride which takes two hours in each direction. The third, and most easily accessible, is the Biscayne National Park that lies just south of Miami and abuts the John Pennecamp Coral Reef State Park and the Key Largo Marine Sanctuary. Unlike most other National Parks, which focus on the natural beauty of the land, Biscayne?s assets are the sea, the seashore and the ...
Pal Mickey
Have you ever thought to yourself ?Wouldn?t it be wonderful to have my very own personal guide to help me navigate my way around the Disney parks?? Well, help is now at hand in the shape of a talking Mickey Mouse, an interactive ten and a half inch soft toy. Using wireless communication technology Pal Mickey provides you with all the latest news and information regarding the parks attractions including all the parades and shows. Pal Mickey comes dressed in a golden bowtie and tuxedo jacket, both of which are completely removable and a lanyard, which you wear around your neck making him easy to carry around. If you prefer, you can also clip him to your belt as long as you make sure he is facing forwards. As you enter one of the Disney parks, whether it be Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, turn on your Pal Mickey, by pressing a button on his back, and every time he has something interesting to tell you he will giggle or begin to shake. When this happens squee...
The Delights of Clearwater Beach
We had spent a couple of hours strolling along the pristine white sand of Clearwater Beach a couple of years back but, on that occasion, we were pressed for time giving us little opportunity for further exploration. On this visit we had put a full day aside and had some preconceived ideas of what we were going to do, thanks to my son?s internet surfing skills and his insistence that we take a speedboat trip. The beach is located on a spit of land separated from the mainland by a two-mile bridge called the Memorial Causeway (US60). Although there are ample parking lots, they do fill quickly, so I would advise arriving as early as possible and if you can, try to visit on a weekday rather than on a Saturday and Sunday. We were soon sampling the delights of the marina, which is home to a plethora of fishing charters and sightseeing boats offering sunset dinner cruises and dolphin tours. For the more adventurous parasailing is also available. The marina area is very much the hub of th...
A Taste of Winter Park
Whilst we were driving up to the new Best Buy store at Winter Garden Village recently, my wife was browsing through a book on Florida when she chanced upon an article about Winter Park, and as we were half way there by the time we had reached Best Buy we decided to carry on and see what this suburb of Orlando had to offer. Doing our best to follow the directions in our book we eventually found ourselves on Winter Park?s main street ? Park Avenue. Parking on the main street was limited and while there were directions to a couple of pay car parks we were lucky enough to turn off Park Avenue and find a free public parking lot. On walking back to Park Avenue we found a street so unlike many that I have seen in America. Except for the section of the street occupied by the park itself, either side of Park Avenue is lined with shops and restaurants. Whilst the shops include the likes of Gap and Pottery Barn, these ?bug name? shops are in the minority and small independent boutiques and je...
?Venice of America? ? Winter Park
I had read a small article about Winter Park; ?The Venice of America?, and so while out on a shopping trip decided to press on to this small hamlet which is to be found on SR 426 just 5 miles north of downtown Orlando. Arriving at Park Avenue, the main street in this suburb, we found that parking on the street itself was limited, but were lucky enough to find a free public parking lot on the second side street that I drove down. My wife and I then decided to look for the boat excursions that we had seen advertised in order to see if the ?Venice of America? lived up to it?s name, and were directed down Morse Boulevard. This tree-lined avenue comes to a dead end at Osceola Lake, named after a chief of the Seminole Indian tribe, and this is from where the tour boats depart. We had approximately half an hour to wait until the next departure and having bought our tickets decided to sit on the benches by the dock rather than walk back into the town. The wait proved fruitful as we sight...
Walter Elias Disney
Central Florida?s landscape would almost certainly been very different today if it had not been for one man with an incredible imagination ? Walter Elias Disney ? and his never-to-be-forgotten statement ?If you can dream it, you can do it?. The creator of Mickey Mouse and founder of the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Theme Parks was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901 being one of five children, four boys and a girl. Walt was raised on a farm in Missouri, and became fascinated with drawing at a very early age. At the age of seven he was selling his first pictures to neighbours. In 1918, Disney tried to enlist for military service, but was turned down, as he was only 16. Not to be denied, he joined the Red Cross and spent a year driving a military ambulance. As may be expected, his ambulance was covered all over with drawings and cartoons! Returning to Kansas City at the end of the war, in 1920, he created and marketed his first original animated cartoons. Three y...
Shark Dive ? Sea World
What an experience! ! This is your chance to come face to face with some of natures most feared, but beautiful creatures. Having pre-booked five months in advance, there were no problems upon arrival at Sea World on the day of our dive. We arrived fifteen minutes prior to our two hour long experience and were greeted in typical friendly and welcoming fashion by our expert. From the main reception desk we were taken ?behind the scenes? of the park via golf buggy, to a small building where we would be briefed about the dive and also to learn more about the sharks and fish we would be encountering. Our expert delivered a fascinating insight into the world of sharks and also showed us examples of rare sharks teeth and scales, which were dated over three million years old. After approximately thirty minutes of learning and discovering facts about sharks and their environment, we were taken to don our wetsuits. As you can imagine we all look super in a wetsuit! ! Once kitted up you a...
Truly a?MAZE?ing
We had visited Mount Dora on a couple of previous occasions and the lure of its charming tree lined streets, together with its craft shops and waterfront cafes was just too great to keep us away on this visit. At different times we had sampled the thrills of the train journey, which takes visitors along Lake Dora to the county seat of Tavares to the west, and also a lake cruise, which included the ecological delights of the Dora Canal, so on this trip we were looking for something new to experience. We had remembered that the Tourist Information Bureau, in the centre of town, had always been extremely helpful to us on our past visits and had come up with a number of really good ideas for spending a day in Mount Dora, so we made that our first port of call. After explaining that we had visited before and what we had previously done, the representative on duty suggested we try the Cornfield Maze, which was located just on the edge of town. We had seen these mazes advertised back in...
Disney?s Boardwalk Dining
There are a variety of ways to reach the Boardwalk, but for the majority of visitors the most convenient approach is to park at the Boardwalk Inn car park. If challenged at the entrance just tell the guard that you are going for a meal, snack or even just a stroll, show some ID (drivers license) and then head for the self-parking areas. After parking, walk up the slight incline toward the hotel, and as you reach it descend the steps down to the Boardwalk rather than going into the hotel itself. Immediately on your right is the excellent ?Flying Fish Café?, named after a Coney Island roller coaster, called ?The Flying Turns, ? with cars emblazoned with ?Flying Fish?. Here starters such as Aged Sherry-Laced Maryland She Crab Soup, and quot; Peeky Toe and quot; Crab Cakes (the Fish?s signature starter) or Chardonnay Steamed Mussels cost from as little as $9 and entrées range from $29 to $39 and include Herb-crusted Pacific Northwest Halibut, Oak-Grilled Maine Diver Scallops and Pasta ...
Epcot ? Wine Seminars
Each time my wife and I have visited the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, held from the end of September to mid November, for some reason we have never managed to attend one of the many complimentary wine seminars that are held throughout the festival. This was partly due to having family with us, and so not wanting to waste time queuing, and partly down to the locations of the seminars, which from memory seemed to vary in location daily. This year however we corrected that anomaly! Not only were we on our own, but even more importantly the wine seminars now have their own home, situated in the Festival Centre ? the former ?Wonders of Life? building that used to house ?Body Wars? and ?Cranium Command?. Within the Festival Centre are two seminar areas, the Estate and the Vineyard, which each hold approximately 100 guests. We arrived at our first seminar with about 35 minutes to spare, which was quite fortunate as we soon realised that some of the attendees are almost ?professional?; dash...
Seaworld - Brewmaster Club
Each time my wife and I visit Florida we always spend at least a day in Sea World, and without fail include at least one visit to the Anheuser Busch Hospitality Centre for a complimentary libation (or two! ). Until this year however, we have never managed to book a visit to the Brewmaster Club, which is run in the same building. This was initially due to lack of knowledge, but then due to the limited capacity bookings being fully subscribed by the time we arrived at the hospitality centre; this being the only ?behind the scenes? activity which, until recently, could be booked at Guest Services at the front of the park. This year we made it! It was a quiet-ish Friday and even though we did stop off at Blue Horizons first, we still made it to the Hospitality Centre by 11. 30 and were fortunate enough to be allocated places for the next sampling at 12. 30. I have to admit that I was unsure of the format that the Brewmaster Club would take. Thinking that it may have been a ?theatre? ty...
Florida Botanical Gardens
Just a few miles to the south of Clearwater lies the town of Largo (not to be mistaken for its better known namesake ? Key Largo! ). This where the Florida Botanical Gardens are to be found, and if you are looking for somewhere to spend a leisurely afternoon strolling through some of Florida?s most beautiful cultivated gardens, then this could be the ideal place for you. The gardens spread over some 30 acres and you will need a minimum of a couple of hours to fully explore them. You can call in at the Welcome Centre where you can pick up information brochures and maps to aid your wanderings, although you can even start your visit by a circuit of the pond situated in the parking lot, which contains a variety of aquatic plants and whose banks are planted with a mixture of exotic and native plant species. If you exit the Welcome Centre on the opposite side to the parking lot you will pass the groundcover display, which attracts butterflies, and then the tropical fruit garden, before...
The Dry Tortugas National Park
The Dry Tortugas is one of Florida?s three National Parks. Visitors to Florida will almost certainly know of the Everglades National Park and may possibly have heard of the Biscayne National Park, but the Dry Tortugas are much less well known, mainly due to their remoteness. This park is made up of a cluster of seven islands some 70 miles west of Key West. The islands were discovered by Ponce De Leon in 1513 and are made of coral reef and sand. The original inhabitants of the island were turtles and they became a source of fresh meat for the first human inhabitants, so much so that the Spanish for ?turtles? -Las Tortugas ? became the new name for the islands. They soon marked on maps as the Dry Tortugas as there is no fresh water available on the islands. Now known for its exceptional marine and bird life, along with legends of lost pirate gold, the park includes the largest of Americas coastal forts built during the 19th Century. On Garden Key in 1825 a lighthouse was first buil...
Boggy Creek Airboat Ride
We had all seen the photographs and TV programmes of the airboats whisking their way through the Florida wetlands and so we decided that this was a ?must do? on our next trip to Orlando. We did a little bit of internet research first and found that the nearest location was at Boggy Creek, which is situated just east of Kissimmee and immediately south of Orlando International Airport. Their website told us that reservations weren?t necessary for the continuous half hour tours so we arrived at around 11. 00am on a Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, after a forty-five minute drive, we were dismayed to find huge queues waiting in line. Upon further enquiry we were told that the earliest we could expect to ride would be around 1. 30pm, a wait of over two hours. After a brief discussion we decided to return the following day. The very friendly and helpful staff on hand suggested we made the effort to arrive first thing in the morning so as not to be disappointed again. Taking their advice...
In search of the Florida Scrub Jay
On our most recent visit to Orlando we took along my sister and brother-in- law who were very much into the natural habitats of the many species of animals, reptiles and birds that Florida has to offer. We, on the other hand, had got rather used to the more man-made attractions of Disney, SeaWorld and the like that we needed to come up with a compromise that would suit us all. Our relatives had already left us for a three-day excursion to the Everglades National Park, which they thought was absolutely wonderful, but now was the time to enjoy some quality time together. After studying the map for a little while we came upon the idea to visit the Space Center at Cape Canaveral and then go on to explore the wildlife at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge which was also the home of a bird my brother-in-law was desperate to see?. the Florida Scrub Jay, a long tailed blue bird with white patches in the wings and tail, which can only be found in Central Florida. So armed with our Fl...
Culture in St. Pete?s
If visitors to Florida have heard of St Pete?s, or to give the city it full title ?St Petersburg?, then the majority of them will probably associate the city with wonderful sandy beaches which are located about 10 miles southwest of ?downtown? at the aptly named resort of St Pete Beach. However there is more to St Pete?s than just sand, and so if you are visiting for a few days and want to sample some of the cultural amenities that the city has to offer then here are some suggestions for you. The St Petersburg Museum of History /b features a variety of permanent and temporary exhibitions, showcasing the history of the city. Founded in 1920, but re-housed to its present location in 1950, one of the most significant exhibits is the First Flight Gallery. Here you can see a full sized working replica of the Benoist Airboat that in 1914 made history as the first commercial flight when tickets were sold to paying passengers to make the flight between St Pete?s and Tampa. In fact this ve...
Illuminations: Reflections of Earth ? Epcot
If you are spending any time at Walt Disney World?s Epcot make sure you stay until the park closes to watch the spectacular illuminations and firework display, which takes place each evening. The show debuted in 2000 at Disney?s Millennium Celebrations and was such a hit with visitors that it has continued ever since. Lasting thirteen minutes it takes place on and above the lagoon in World Showcase There are plenty of good viewing areas all around the lagoon and for a variety of different reasons. If you want a quick exit, after the show has finished, the best place to watch is near the entrance to World Showcase. This gives you a head start over all the other guests leaving the park at the same time. Another good place is from the bridge near Italy. Although this spot is often used for private events, when it is not in use, it makes for an extremely good viewing point. If you would like to combine a meal with watching the fireworks, book a meal at the Rose and Crown Dining Room i...
Hollywood Studios with Toddlers
Disney and rsquo;s Hollywood Studios has a good number of attractions that are probably more geared to adults, but there are still plenty of wonderful experiences for your toddlers to share in as well. It won?t take you the full day to experience all the toddler-friendly attractions at Hollywood Studios, so don?t feel the need to get there bright and early unless you plan to take a break mid-day and head back to your accommodation for nap-time. Your day will not be fast-paced or hurried, so allow your children time for hugs and photos with their favorite Disney characters that you may encounter throughout the park and make sure you take in the parade! Find a good spot at least a half hour before the parade begins and have refreshments, books and toys handy to entertain the children while you wait. But, let?s start at the beginning! First I should clue you in to avoid 3-D movies (my kids were always terrified of these! ) and also the flight simulators are too intense though your toddl...
The Outta Control Magic Comedy Dinner Show
We had never been to Wonderworks before though we had always been intrigued by the wacky upside-down building! We decided to book tickets for ?The Outta Control Magic Comedy Dinner Show? on this visit. We opted for the combo tickets that included the dinner show and also access to the interactive exhibits. Normally, the shows are scheduled nightly at 6:00 p. m. and 8:00 p. m. , but since it was the week between Christmas and New Year, they had an additional show at 4:00 p. m. which was an ideal time for our group. They seated us promptly at 4:00 and a large family style bowl of salad was at the center of the table along with a magic hat full of popcorn. They immediately offered us drinks giving us a choice of beer, wine or soda (Pepsi products). Shortly thereafter, they brought a hand-tossed pizza, half cheese and half pepperoni. The service was excellent and all the food was unlimited. We ate our way through quite a bit of pizza ? it was very good! The show began about mid-way thr...
Celebration Town Tavern
We had not been to Celebration since it was first being developed and on this trip to Florida, we had decided to visit as we had heard how beautiful it is and also how lovely the shops and restaurants are. Well, shortly before our trip, my husband began a new venture with some new clients. One of them just happened to own the Celebration Town Tavern and my husband said we really needed to stop there for dinner. Incidentally, when we asked our property manager about it, she told us that it was one of her favorite places to eat. We arrived in Orlando around 2:00 p. m. and since this restaurant serves all day long unlike many that we enjoy going to, it seemed like a good time. There were very few people when we arrived and judging from our experience, if we had gone later, we would have waited in line down the street! This was confirmed during our chat with my husband?s colleague and his wife who were very hospitable I might add! Being that we aren?t drinkers, I can?t really comment o...
A Round at Legends Golf and Country Club
One of my favourite golf courses to play whilst on holiday in Orlando is Legends Golf and Country Club. Legends is a beautiful rolling hillside course on the US27 just south of Clermont (easily recognisable from its water tower) and, from its high points, affords some wonderful views over Lake County. As a lady golfer with a thirty handicap I sometimes feel a little bit apprehensive when booking a round of golf for myself, especially when I have no idea who I?ll be playing with. I always pictured a scenario where I turn up on the first tee and there waiting for me are a couple of chauvinistic guys with low handicaps who really aren?t interested in having a woman tag along and spoil their fun. However, on this most recent occasion I needn?t have worried. I had arranged an early tee time of 8. 00am at Legends Golf and Country Club with a view to avoiding the heat of the day, and had left our villa half an hour early to avoid any possibility of being delayed. Upon arrival at the p...
An Introduction to Legends Golf and Country Club
If you are a keen golfer I can think of no better place to play a round of golf than Florida. With so many courses from which to choose and, of course, not forgetting the year round sunny weather you will be spoilt for choice. My wife is the keen golfer in our family, although I do keep threatening to take the game up. On each of our trips to Florida she likes to try and play one or two of the many excellent courses close to our home near Clermont On our most recent visit she booked in to play eighteen holes at the Legends Golf and Country Club, which is situated on the US27 some four miles south of the city of Clermont and is fringed by a villa community that is set amongst the rolling hillsides of Lake County. The day before her round we decided to go and hit a few balls on the range at Legends, which would also serve to help familiarise my wife with the driving directions from our villa in Orange Tree a few miles to the south. Upon arrival, a member of staff raced across the p...

offer vacation rentals and property rentals. But give a home exchange a try - you'll most likely be pleased by the outcome.

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Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies.For tips/information, click here: home exchange
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