Home Exchange Travel

Home Exchange Insurance and Car Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:20:00 +0000

HOME EXCHANGE INSURANCE

CHECtravel proudly announces the first and only travel insurance plan exclusively for the home exchanger: Travel Guard’s Home Exchange Protection Plan. The policy can be purchased with any home exchange, whether driving to the exchange home or flying.

Coverage starts at just $15 and your policy covers all members of the insured exchange party. Trips must originate in the US or Canada.

There is no deductible and no age differential.

http://chectravel.com/insurance_landing.html

CAR INSURANCE

England

Zurich: http://www.zurichinsurance.co.uk/insurance/home/welcome.htm
• It is cheapest to put exchanges on the insurance (with all their details) and take yourself off - then put yourself back on when you return.
• Used to insure swappers from Australia and South Africa to drive personal car. The company will request full details of the drivers and any driving convictions.

HSBC Corinthian http://www.quotezone.co.uk/corinthian.htm

LONG-TERM EXCHANGES

Exchanging between England and New Zealand for 6 months:
• Convert house insurance to a tenanted property insurance, notwithstanding no monies being exchanged. The excess was increased. Contents policy was noted and they stipulated that the 'tenants' personal belongings were not covered

Request for information about insurance companies that offer home content insurance for home exchanges

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:31:00 +0000

A member in England is having problems finding an insurer for his contents during a home exchange. We would like to build a database of companies that offer content insurance for home exchangers. Please comment to this blog with a company name, country, company website and/or company phone number.

In general, your insurance policy may cover some situations, but be sure to check with your agent about your particular coverage. Usually home owner's insurance remains in force to cover guests in your home, and because no financial transaction is involved, your exchange partners are your guests. However, you should advise your insurers that guests will be staying in your home and the duration of their stay. Sometimes there is a limit of 30 days, but this is the only restriction we have come across.

Use Pedal Power when in Portland on Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:26:00 +0000

New member Michael and his wife Wendy (HE20927) moved to Portland for its quality of life, and it seems that one reason why life might be more pleasurable in Portland is because there is less reliance on the car. Michael says: "Portland, also known as 'The City of Roses', has it all, a great downtown full of museums, galleries, a concert hall, world class restaurants, a stunning riverfront, more coffee shops than you can count and over thirty micro breweries and all this easily connected by bus, streetcar & light rail".

"Portland is also the perfect size for pedalling and is widely considered the premier cycling city of North America. Portland offers everything we need in a city but in a compact size so we don't have to own a car. We have two cats and lot's of bicycles (even a cargo bike for hauling our son Nathan & the groceries)and we enjoy camping and hiking. Dedicated bike paths and bike boulevards guide you safely through Portland's charming, leafy neighborhoods and into the country side".

"Out of town you are spoiled for choice as well. Within two hours of Portland (but by car this time) you can reach some of Oregon's most outstanding natural scenery, waterfalls, deserted beaches, outdoor activity areas and picturesque towns".

How refreshing to hear about people enjoying the location in which they live, but doing so in such an environmentally considerate way. So if you want to try out living by pedal power, why not consider a home exchange in Portland?

Home Exchange Activity Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:22:00 +0000

Although Home Exchange has perhaps not yet entered the arena for extreme sports such as skydiving or base jumping, a recent GTI Home Exchange member listing highlighted the fact that it is perhaps time to extend the list of leisure activities that can be pursued on a home exchange holiday. The particular listing that I am referring to is HE20672 at Dahab on the Red Sea in Egypt.

Lynne says: “Our house is less than one minute from the beach in Dahab which is a very beautiful area with lots to do including; snorkelling, diving, camel riding. It also has local restaurants and shops nearby. The house has 2 large bedrooms, bathroom, lounge (with Satelite TV), kitchen (with washing machine and microwave) and a cool outside tiled area with trees all around. Dahab is well known for diving and you would be able to use the facilites of Dive Urge, our dive club. We have a private beach for you to enjoy. Dahab suits all types of people looking for a great holiday. We can also easily organise a transfer from Sharm Airport.”

She continues: “We are a family of 5 including 3 kids: 2 girls 10 and 4 and a boy who is 18 months. We own and run Dive Urge in Dahab and have lived here for more than 11 years now too so we have lots of helpful information on getting the best out of your time here. We like to enjoy our annual holiday in England for 6 weeks over July-September time but, as we do not live in our exchange house, we are able to offer it year round and are flexible. We do a fair bit of exploring here and are active in trying to preserve this amazing place. Myself and my hubby are both scuba divers and I also ride horses locally too with my daughter.” Lynne is interested in visiting England, preference being for the counties of Berkshire, Somerset or Dorset.

Another gentle activity like diving is hot air ballooning, mentioned by new Green Theme International Home Exchange members Barbara and Brian, HE20831 who live in Canterbury near Christchurch, New Zealand. They describe their area as follows: “10 mins from city centre, we are also close to the port hills and surrounding bays and beaches, and yet only an hour and a half drive to the closest ski field. There are many outdoor activities locally situated including hot air ballooning, fishing, jet boating, swimming and many more.”

“We are Barbara and Brian a family of 5 with 3 children aged 9, 12, and 14. My husband Brian was born in England and hasn't returned since he immigrated here over 15 years ago, so we are very excited to have the opportunity to go back. We have never done an exchange before but have heard it is a great way to travel to other countries without accommodation costs and a great way to meet new people.” Barbara and Brian obviously can’t wait to fix up their first home exchange, so anyone interested in a home swap to New Zealand, please contact them as soon as possible.

Travel the Home Exchange Way can include Riding your Bike

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:37:00 +0000

Congratulations, Paris, for the introduction of the 'velib' service. Vélib’ is a Self Service “bike hire” system available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Multi pick up and drop off location points allow you to pick up your bike from one service point and drop off to another.

The Vélib’ Service Points are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They are located 300 meters apart, consisting of terminals and stands for fastening the bikes.

At the Vélib terminal you can:

- Hire a bike
- Take a short term subscription using your bank card (1-day or 7-day Vélib’ Ticket)
or take out an annual Vélib subscription.
- Find out information on how to use Vélib’ and access information regarding our services
- Consult a map for a nearby Vélib’ Service Points
- Top up your annual Vélib’ card using a bank card

Every Vélib’ station is equipped with roughly twenty bike stands (the exact number has been determined depending on the location of the Service Point and the estimated level of use).

The Bike Stands consist of :

Bike locking mechanism
Pilot light (the color of the pilot lights lets you know whether the bike is available or not)
Card Reader

Even better, if you subscribe for a Vélib’ Account they give you the first 30 minutes of each journey free of charge. The Vélib’ Bike Card allows you to make an unlimited number of journeys for one year. Cost of journeys longer than 30 minutes will be debited from your Vélib’ account. Top up your card anytime at Vélib’ terminals near you or on the web using a bank card.

Of course it takes a little nerve to ride a bike through a big city, but think how much more easily you can stop at will and take a closer look at the sights, whilst doing your bit for the environment!

Dream Home Exchange Holidays for all the Family

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:37:00 +0000

Exchange on Island of Arabella, south of Venice, Italy

Dear Kath,

This year I'm trying to arrange a double linked swap in Ireland in summer or, second option, in Denmark. Due to the fact that this year I can't ask my father, as last year, to supervise the cleaning and the checking that all is OK at the end of the stay of the first family and before the arrival of the second, I need that one of the two swaps be non simultaneous, that means, that one family must come in my second home in Albarella - stay and live, before my departure or after my return. Looking at Ireland in our GTI I found listed only 37 homes and if I remember well, no second homes. Anyhow for the first swap I’m in contact with a GTI home/family in Dublin.

Only due to this fact - linked to a my particular situation and requirement - I feel me forced to move to another home exchange web site, maybe Home For Exchange. On the contrary last year Green Theme International did me the opportunity to do a double linked swap in London (more that 157 entries) - the first swap of my life and dream holidays for all my family.

I'm really grateful to GTI and I cherish it. I think also that Green Theme is a really beautiful Home Exchange web site, fine, welcoming and with a very nice design. GTI is also easy for all, well functioning and not expensive (thanks for the discount offered).

If of interest, GTI can feel free of keeping listed my home listing HE19622 and give to interested members my e-mail. Anyway consider me please at complete disposal for the present and future.

Very kind regards and thanks for the important work done since 1989.

Alessandro

P.S.: apologize me for my bad English

Dear Alessandro

Thank you for your email and for the very kind comments that you have made about GTI and our web-site. Of course, I am disappointed that we are not able to offer you a great selection of homes in Denmark to facilitate the double linked exchange in Ireland and Denmark that you are seeking this summer.

Naturally I am also disappointed that you feel it necessary to join a competitor agency, Home for Exchange. As this agency is based in The Netherlands, it may well be able to provide more opportunities for you in nearby Denmark. It certainly has a very attractive and innovative web-site regularly introducing some very nice features. However, it has not been operating for many years (only since 2005) and in order to achieve the number of listings it now claims, the owner did indulge in some dubious practices at the outset, such as pirating other agencies listings, or offering free listings. (See earlier blog item The Home Exchange Poacher posted on the GTI Home Exchange Travel blog on 16 December 2005.)

We have always found that the agencies which offer free listings are never as effective as those clubs which require people to have paid a small sum to participate, because they encourage many people who are not so committed to home exchange to list their homes with many free sites just to see what offers turn up without they themselves having to put in any effort. Many people who join free sites even seem to forget which ones they have in fact joined, as we have found on a number of occasions when people have mistakingly contacted us with their queries, or to say that they are not receiving replies from a particular listing which turns out not to be one of ours anyway. Now that Home for Exchange has become more established, it no longer offers free listings, but nevertheless unless I am mistaken, I don't think the listings on the site display when their members joined and when their listings are due to expire as do those on GTI. In contrast on GTI Home Exchange we prefer to be totally transparent about when a member joined and therefore how old the listing is, and consequently how active the members are likely to be in genuinely seeking exchanges.

Anyone reading my comments may feel that it all sounds a little like 'sour grapes' (I don't know whether you know that expression in Italy?) because you are finding it necessary to register with another club this year in order to find an exchange in Denmark. But in order that you may be able to make a true comparison between our two agencies, I would like to offer you an extension of six months to your membership in the hope that at a later date you wish to renew your membership and can continue to benefit from our discount for renewing members.

Once again, thank you so much for your very encouraging comments about us.

With very best regards
Kath

IMPORTANT REMINDER about GTI Home Exchange Site Based Messaging System

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:22:00 +0000

Whilst full details of the changes have been posted within the Site Administrator's Message in the Members' Area on the web-site: it appears that some members may have have missed the details about these changes, as some messages remain recorded as UNREAD in Members' personal Admin Areas.

Site based messages between members

For your security, and to protect your privacy, all contact with other members is now done from your member area. Your sent and received messages are stored there in folders (Inbox and Sent messages). Your on-going correspondence with each member is stored separately for easy reference. Please note: as all contact information you entered on your form (email, phone, fax, mailing address) is hidden, you choose when you are ready to provide contact details to another member.

New message alerts by email

Whenever there is a new message for you (a reply to a message you sent or a message from another member), you will receive a brief email, with the subject line, New Home Exchange message for you from HExxxxx, to alert you to log on to your member area to read and reply to the message.

A few new message alerts may end up in junk folders by mistake and so it is important to skim through all mail in your junk folder before deleting it if possible. It's tedious but, until there are better filters that can sort all legitimate messages from the masses of unsolicited mail, there may be a few 'good' messages that need to be rescued from your junk folder and moved to your in-box. If you can't check through your junk folder, be sure to log on to your member area regularly to check and read any recent messages you may have overlooked.

Home exchange offer messages

When first contacting a member with your exchange offer, use the form at the bottom of the member's listing. If you have compiled a standard exchange offer message and saved it on your computer, you can copy and paste it into the form and then personalise the message before sending. The subject line is already completed and includes your User ID so the member can easily find your listing. When you have finished your message, click Submit. As soon as your message has been sent, you will see the member's User ID under the Recently contacted list in your member area. You can save a record of up to 20 messages sent at a time and delete any you don't want to keep by clicking the 'x' beside it.

The Magic of Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:53:00 +0000

Dear Kath,

Hi, I'm Julia Recasens, HE 19610 and I wish to thank you for your nice website and for the fantastic work you do. I really appreciate it as a means to discover new worlds and cultures by an alternative and real way of travelling. I have some friends who have joined GTI and I keep on recommending it because I truly like it. We have had five nice exchanges and have meet friendly people everywhere. I call it the magic of the home exchange.

Today my husband received a phonecall from Chile asking for information and afterwards I found this e-mail. He answered the girl and did what he could to help. We just wanted to let you know that we are very glad to be useful in any kind of matter which involves cooperate with nice projects like this and we wondered if there is any other way in which we could help. I speak several languages and I would be very pleased to help you from here. I work as a teacher in a secondary school but I think I can offer my collaboration since it is a matter which I really trust.

All the best,
Julia

Julia, Thank you so much for your message: we do so love to receive these accolades from time to time which makes our hard work all seem worthwhile.

Rogue Home Exchange agencies don't deserve your trust!

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Dear Green Theme International,

What is your policy regarding data protection?
I'm asking as another home exchange company called "All Home Exchange", contacted me directly by email and I'm curious to know who passed on my details.

Also, on that company's website, there doesn't seem to be any contact details nor a company registration number.

Thanks.
Delphine

We have also been advised that another home exchange agency's member reported: "I just wanted to let you know that the information on this site is stolen from other home exchange sites. My name and email address are used on this site (without my prior knowledge or consent) along with a photo of a someone else's house. I am guessing but it seems like all the home profiles are bogus because the details are all sketchy and the locations people desire to go are quite random."

Dear Delphine

Thank you so much for bringing the unscrupulous activities of "All Home Exchange" to our attention.

Firstly let me say, if they have obtained your details from our site and contacted you directly by email, they are acting unethically and your details must have been obtained from our site by illicit means. Our Privacy Policy is very clearly stated on the site on the page:
http://www.gti-home-exchange.com/privatepolicy.html, where you will see that we are registered with the Data Protection Registrar. Please also refer to the final two paragraphs on our Company details page:
which explains our relationship with two other agencies forming the First Home Exchange Alliance group with which we have worked for more than 18 years and who share our database. Reference to our participation within this Alliance is also made on our home page, directing you to the above quoted page for full details of the agencies within it. These are the only two other agencies from whose members you should ever receive enquiries.

The only other means by which the disreputable home exchange company "All Home Exchange" could have obtained your details from our site is if they have themselves registered as a 'pseudo' member in order to have access to the contact details of our members. In order to avoid this type of fraudulent behaviour we have recently carried out a further very detailed upgrade on the site with the sole purpose of increasing member security. The details of this security upgrade are as follows:

"The following recent changes in the Member Admin area have been made to incorporate a site based messaging system for initial contact with other members so that member email addresses are no longer displayed on listings in order to provide members with added security. This allows you to decide when you wish to disclose your own direct email address to another member for further communications.

Site based messages between members

For your security, and to protect your privacy, all contact with other
members is now done from your member area. Your sent and received messages are stored there in folders (Inbox and Sent messages). Your on-going correspondence with each member is stored separately for easy reference. Please note: as all contact information you entered on your form (email, phone, fax, mailing address) is hidden, you choose when you are ready to provide contact details to another member.

New message alerts by email

Whenever there is a new message for you (a reply to a message you sent or a message from another member), you will receive a brief email in your own email box, with the subject line, New Home Exchange message for you from HEXXXXX, to alert you to log on to your member area to read and reply to the message.

A few new message alerts may end up in junk folders by mistake and so it is important to skim through all mail in your junk folder before deleting it if possible. It's tedious but, until there are better filters that can sort all legitimate messages from the masses of unsolicited mail, there may be a few 'good' messages that need to be rescued from your junk folder and moved to your in-box. If you can't check through your junk folder, be sure to log on to your member area regularly to check and read any recent messages you may have overlooked.

Please note: if you change your email address, remember to log on and change it in your listing (Edit personal details) so that you continue to receive alerts when you have new messages from other members.

Home exchange offer messages

When first contacting a member with your exchange offer, use the form at the bottom of the member's listing. If you have compiled a standard exchange offer message and saved it on your computer, you can copy and paste it into the form and then personalise the message before sending. The subject line is already completed and includes your User ID so the member can easily find your listing. When you have finished your message, click Submit. As soon as your message has been sent, you will see the member's User ID under the Recently contacted list in your member area. You can save a record of up to 20 messages sent at a time and delete any you don't want to keep by clicking the 'x' beside it."

As you will see from the above details, we take the matter of Member Privacy and Security extremely seriously, but at the end of the day if an unethical home exchange agency is prepared to go to such lengths to try to poach other
agencies' members, probably one of the most effective things which we can do to deter them is to Name and Shame Them, and this we do by
confidentially circulating information about such an agency's activities amongst a large group of long established and respected home exchange agencies who are voluntarily working together to eliminate and expose the activities of a small number of dubious agencies which could spoil the concept of home exchange and its reliance on mutual trust for all.

Unfortunately, you have not given me your own Membership User ID: HEXXXXX which would help me to follow up my investigation about All Home Exchange, and their ability to be able to contact you direct by email. It would also assist me with my enquiries if you could send details of the email address from which All Home Exchange sent their contact message to you.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask them, and please continue to be vigilant and report to us any other similar unsolicited suspicious contacts.

Kath Botterill

Dear Kath,

It actually dawned on me this morning that the rogue company All Home Exchange must have got hold of my details and this other lady's details through another website than your company or others within the FHEA. I re-read Home Base Holiday's reply to her that she forwarded me, and she's in fact not a member. As for me, although I'm a member of GTI, last July I registered with 2 other free home exchange programmes on Google France (/Le guide du routard/ and /Bienvenue à la maison/) that I've never used nor checked, and that I had completely forgotten about, and I'm now sure the leak comes from them.

The reason why I wrote to you first is that I use your website a lot, and I had just literally completed the first part of a non-simultaneous exchange through your website when All Home Exchange contacted me. So I thought that somehow, because I had actually exchanged, I qualified to be on some kind of bigger network. Also, the names being so similar, I sadly fell into the trap thinking it was all the same group.So, although this story could happen to other members of GTI also registered elsewhere, I
don't think you need to worry about the security of your system. As you said yourself, you've endeavoured to make it very secure.

I like your website a lot, for this very reason. Sorry to have caused undue alarm, I'll delete my details from these 2 websites I have mentioned.
Thanks,
Delphine

WARNING - Please be on the alert should you receive the All Home Exchange agency offer shown below:

Free membership is only offered to world experienced home exchangers.

How to get FREE trial membership?

â— 1 year free membership if you would update your house information in 1 week since today;

â— 1/2 years membership if you would update it in 2 weeks;

â— 3 months trial membership if you would update it in 1 month.

Features of this site:

â—Largest database in the world now, 21,000 + listings. which will highly increase the match rate and more unexpected exciting offers. (As a new agency it is highly unrealistic that All Home Exchange could have attracted so many members in such a short time by legitimate means.

Anyone who inadvertently registers with them is able to delete their details from their website, although they cannot delete the record of the membership which is part of their scam!)

As some Green Theme International Home Exchange members have been targetted, I have added a warning to the member area to not respond to an invitation to join this agency (or any other that sends unsolicited, i.e. spam, messages). Also, should you receive any exchange offers that seem to come from members of this site, don't respond but rather forward the offer message to us.

Once again, thanks to the vigilant GTI Home Exchange member and other individuals for reporting this. When a free offer looks too good to be true, it usually is!

'T'is the Season to be Jolly planning your next Home Exchange Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:51:00 +0000

Best wishes for the New Year to all our GTI Home Exchange members.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Meilleurs Voeux de Bonne Année

Prettige Kerstdagen en een Gellukig Nieuwjaar

Frohe Weihnachten und ein Gutes Neues Jahr

Buon Natale e Feliz Anno Nuovo

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo

Unfortunately I myself have not felt quite so jolly in recent weeks having had to spend a period of time in hospital, and therefore apologies for the break in publishing articles on the GTI Home Exchange Blog. However, I was glad to discover that others have been keeping up the good work for me viz. the article Holiday Home Swapping on the Guide me Green web-site.

We’d love to home exchange, but . . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:23:00 +0000

‘We’d love to home exchange, but we don’t think we live in an area which will attract much interest.’ Despite emphasising again and again that there are many reasons why people might want to stay in the most unlikely destinations, such as to visit family or retrace their roots, I often hear statements such as this. If someone with this point of view takes the time to think laterally, there are other possibilities – they could offer their services as housesitters, for example.

‘But are there many people seeking homesitting?’ The answer is yes: whilst not so prolific as those seeking direct home swaps perhaps, there are many reasons why someone might seek this alternative. They might be going on a conventional holiday for a change, taking a cruise, visiting friends or relatives, or even have exchanged their second home rather than their principal residence for their holiday, and would most definitely prefer that their home is occupied during their absence rather than left empty.

Green Theme International Home Exchange members, the Oostveen family who live in HARDERWIJK, Gelderland THE NETHERLANDS HE19888 are eager to provide homesitting services and this is how they describe their offer:

“We're a Dutch family with two well-behaved children who are very fond of farm holidays and quite crazy about animals. It would be great if we could help someone out by doing housesitting and looking after animals while enjoying the countryside.”

As you can see, the Oostveens are not just offering to housesit, but they are also willing to look after animals. Unfortunately, because they are not listing a property for exchange but a service, there is no photograph accompanying their listing, which might attract more attention to it. In these circumstances, it would be nice to include a picture of the housesitting group with the listing.

Because housesitting does not embody the concept of mutual trust as in home exchange where each party is occupying the other’s home, I would always recommend that before allowing anyone into your home to housesit, that you try to obtain at least some references as to their trustworthiness and ability. A considerable time ago my husband (who had had previous experience of working with animals in his youth and later on on our smallholding in Cornwall) undertook the milking for a neighbouring farm whilst they went to visit their family in Canada and it all worked very well. But, of course, the responsibility is so much greater when it applies to a farming situation, and this should be borne in mind before embarking on such an exchange
too lightly.

Write a new byword for GTI Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:42:00 +0000

To help us through the more dismal months of the year, it's nice to have a pat on the back once in a while, so we have decided to invite you to contribute a new byword for home exchange in general, and for Green Theme International Home Exchange in particular.

To start the ball rolling, a former GTI Home Exchange member wrote to say we were:

"Bringing a lot of people joy in an affordable way."

That was nice and very encouraging. Now it's over to you to add to that feel-good factor!

Make Sustainable Tourism a priority

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:11:00 +0000

At the World Travel Market taking place in London this week delegates endorsed the declaration issued by the second International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism in October. It calls for the development of "truly sustainable tourism" and demands the sector responds to climate change by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to the changing climate and improving energy efficiency.

United Nations World Tourism Organisation secretary-general Francesco Frangialli said: "It is in our interests to ensure it is possible to ski in the Alps at the end of this century, to dive at the Great Barrier Reef or experience the wildlife of Africa. To consumers, we say give priority to sustainable tourism and avoid wasteful choices."

UK Tourism Minister, Margaret Hodge, said: "It is not for the Government to deny people the right to travel or deny the industry the opportunity to respond to demand. We need to reflect people’s desire to travel and the opportunities this brings, but also minimise the impact of aviation growth.

The industry is doing a lot, but more can be done. Aircraft technology is improving, airports are taking measures to minimise emissions, and some parts of the industry are offering carbon-offsetting schemes."

She emphasised: "Offsetting is not the only answer and is just one tool in combatting climate change. It is up to all of us to reduce energy use.

Offsetting can help people to appreciate their impact on the environment. This is essential if we are to meet the Government’s carbon reduction targets.

Air Passenger Duty has played a valuable role in signalling the environmental costs of travel to passengers and we will replace APD with a per-aircraft duty in 2009.

This will create a better correlation with the distance travelled and encourage more airlines to fly at full capacity."

Whilst Green Theme International Home Exchange is an organisation which enables people to travel, we have always acknowledged the need for and encouraged sustainable tourism, and are seriously concerned about the increasing environmental costs of travel. Please send us your comments about what you see as the future for the travel industry and how carbon emissions should be reduced.

Member Messaging Changes at GTI Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:58:00 +0000

A recent email from GTI Home Exchange member Shane, indicated that he may have been confused by the recent changes to our member messaging system when he sent us the following message:

"I am a current member and I am concerned that "recently contacted" is not showing all. Afraid I will contact a member more than once! What are the perameters? Does it show up to a 100? Only last 30 days? Please advise. Thanks.

Love your site. Have had 3 exchanges from it."

Whilst full details of the changes have been posted within the Site Administrator's Message in the Members' Area on the web-site: in case some members have missed the details about these changes, we are repeating them again here.

Site based messages between members

For your security, and to protect your privacy, all contact with other members is now done from your member area. Your sent and received messages are stored there in folders (Inbox and Sent messages). Your on-going correspondence with each member is stored separately for easy reference. Please note: as all contact information you entered on your form (email, phone, fax, mailing address) is hidden, you choose when you are ready to provide contact details to another member.

New message alerts by email

Whenever there is a new message for you (a reply to a message you sent or a message from another member), you will receive a brief email, with the subject line, New Home Exchange message for you from HExxxxx, to alert you to log on to your member area to read and reply to the message.

A few new message alerts may end up in junk folders by mistake and so it is important to skim through all mail in your junk folder before deleting it if possible. It's tedious but, until there are better filters that can sort all legitimate messages from the masses of unsolicited mail, there may be a few 'good' messages that need to be rescued from your junk folder and moved to your in-box. If you can't check through your junk folder, be sure to log on to your member area regularly to check and read any recent messages you may have overlooked.

Home exchange offer messages

When first contacting a member with your exchange offer, use the form at the bottom of the member's listing. If you have compiled a standard exchange offer message and saved it on your computer, you can copy and paste it into the form and then personalise the message before sending. The subject line is already completed and includes your User ID so the member can easily find your listing. When you have finished your message, click Submit. As soon as your message has been sent, you will see the member's User ID under the Recently contacted list in your member area. You can save a record of up to 20 messages sent at a time and delete any you don't want to keep by clicking the 'x' beside it.

After receiving my response to his email, Shane followed it up with:

"Thanks for your response. I thought I was going crazy! Look forward to the new changes. Because of the low storage on recently contacted I was starting to really zoom in based on advanced search because I was afraid to become a pesky American to your members. The ideal improvement might be to note that a listing has already been contacted when searching. At this stage I'm not sure if Shane's suggestion is possible, but we will certainly look into it. The new messaging system does allow the recording of message threads, so perhaps this will assist Shane in keeping track of the results of his communications.

Discussion Point

Do you feel that the number of "Recently contacted" messages stored, ie 20 messages, is adequate? Please let us know your views!

Last Day to enter our COMPETITION

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:27:00 +0000

ENTER OUR HOME EXCHANGE COMPETITION - Closing date: 30/09/2007.

Gagnez un abonnement gratuit à l'Echange de Maison Green Theme International

Ganar una calidad de miembro libre en nuestra competición del intercambio casas

Eine freie Mitgliedschaft in unserer eigene Vermittlungsstelle Konkurrenz gewinnen

Vincere un insieme dei membri libero nella nostra concorrenza di scambio casas

Ganhar uma sociedade livre em nossa competição da troca Home

GTI Home Exchange is offering the prize of a free year's membership of Green Theme International Home Exchange chosen at random from entries identifying which of the companies mentioned in the Contact List published in the London Evening Standard Homes and Property article charges just £25.00 for a 12 month membership subscription. Just forward your name and email address and your answer to admin@gti-home-exchange.com. A runner-up prize will be a copy of the new Home Exchange Academy e-book recently reviewed on the GTI Home Exchange Travel blog. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone participating in home exchange and particularly for novices who are about to join the home exchange community for the first time. Don't miss the chance to win either of these prizes in our competition!

Stepping into the Unknown

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:55:00 +0000

The above is the title of a recent article about home exchange in the Evening Standard Homes and Property magazine, published on 5th September. Although the article emphasises London's global popularity and that therefore home owners living there should find it easy to swap their homes and get their dream holidays free, it is a way to make the most of your investment in your home wherever you live. While those living in London and the home counties have easy access to a choice of airports to take them to such exotic destinations as India, Brazil and Costa Rica;

in effect a veritable worldwide choice of exciting destinations to be found when browsing through the lists of swaps on the Green Theme International Home Exchange web-site, those visiting the capital on a home exchange basis will be saving enormously on their costs too.

The article quotes "The hurdle is accepting people you have never met will be living in your home, eating off your china, and possibly, even driving your car, if that is part of the deal." People who are having difficulty facing up to this might find it encouraging to obtain a copy of the Home Exchange Academy e-book that I reviewed yesterday by Athena Rickby who has had experience of more than forty exchanges over 25 years.

Lastly, there is, of course the cost of membership of one of the many home exchange agencies now in existence, and which of them to choose. Home-swap companies annual charges range from £25.00 to more than £100.00, depending upon how many photographs you want in your listing. But there is more to consider than just the fees charged, as Athena helps you to discover.

ENTER OUR HOME EXCHANGE COMPETITION - Closing date: 30/09/2007.

GTI Home Exchange is offering the prize of a free year's membership of Green Theme International Home Exchange chosen at random from entries identifying which of the companies mentioned in the Contact List published in the Homes and Property article charges just £25.00 for a 12 month membership subscription. Just forward your name and email address and your answer to admin@gti-home-exchange.com. A runner-up prize will be a copy of the Home Exchange Academy e-book reviewed yesterday on the GTI Home Exchange Travel blog.

Home Exchange Academy

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:42:00 +0000

Having previewed a copy of this new e-book on Home Exchange written by Athena Rickby, 25 year veteran of 40+ home exchanges, I found it to be well written in a clear, concise style and with very useful content for prospective home exchangers.

As Athena herself says: "From my personal observations, there is a host of potential home exchangers who continually "window shop", but always hesitate from joining a club at the last minute because they suffer from the "what if" syndrome. Home Exchange Academy goes to great lengths to allay their unfounded fears. Also, a great many of those that have committed to joining a club never make use of that membership fully. They enter some information initially, then seemingly forget all about it. They don't realize there's so much more they could be doing to attract interest and invite inquiries."

Other books published in the past tend to have leaned towards promoting one or other of the major clubs to the exclusion of the competition. Athena's book is impartial and she merely hopes that her book will help other home exchangers make better use of their club memberships.

To give you a taste of what the book contains and how useful it could be to novice home swappers, here is a list of Contents:

Introduction 6
What Is A Home Exchange 8
Who Exchanges Homes 9
Bonus Features 9
My Own Experiences 10
How Home Exchanging Began 11
Selecting Your Home Exchange Club 12
The Major Differences 13
How their members are contacted 13
Paid Memberships or Free 15
Directory Based Clubs 15
Points System / Full Service Clubs 16
How Do You Find A List of These Clubs 17
How On Earth Do You Decide 18
Clubs' Home Pages 18
Membership Fees 19
Clubs' Published Contact Information 19
Listings' Published Start and End Dates 19
Some Clubs' Inflated Membership Figures 20
Hiding Your Contact Information 21
Privacy Policy 21
Listing Demographics 22
Additional Customer Support 22
Guarantees 22
Evaluate Your Selections 23
Test Them! 23
Call their Customer Service 23
Send questions to their email address 24
The Adventure Begins 24
A few tips 24
How should you set up your listing 25
Illustrate your listing with good photographs 27
Children and pets 28
Your location 28
Your own Home Exchange Web Site 29
Contact Between Members 30
Receiving Inquiries and Replies 32
Declining Inquiries 33
Your listed email address 34
Developing likely inquiries 34
References 35
A Written Agreement 36
Car Exchange 36
Sample Car Exchange Agreement 37
Payments 38
Pets 38
Watering Plants 38
Clarification 39
It's A Matter of Trust 39
Perfection rarely happens 40
Sample Home Exchange Agreement 42
The Next Step 46
Preparing Your Home 46
Family Treasures and Irreplaceable Items 47
Your Insurance 47
Pets 48
Your Home Exchange Book 48
Sample Home Exchange Book 50
Warning 60
My Ten Golden Home Exchange Rules 60
General Tips and Advice 61
In Conclusion 65

For anyone contemplating a home swap for the first time, this book has a wealth of information and valuable references. To obtain a copy of the Home Exchange Academy e-book from Green Theme International Home Exchange the cost is just GB£10.00 or Euros 14,50. GTI Home Exchange members based in the USA may obtain the e-book direct from Athena's Home Exchange Academy web-site.

Travel Insurance for longer term Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:43:00 +0000

Dear Kath

I like the new clean layout of the website.

Haven't been able to travel to NZ these past two years - 2 knee replacements! I am still not sure I am up to the walk to all those longhaul, far distant, departure gates just yet.

One matter has worried me, as I now exceed the age most insurance companies are keen to cover - travel insurance for longer periods. 20 odd mainline insurers didn't want to know, so it has been down to brokers only. My doctor suggested Help the Aged and their broker offered the best amount of £600 for three months; others quoted up to £1200. I also discovered that the price of air fares has rocketed since last going out to New Zealand in 2004 - with hardly any discounted business class fares these days, compared with the 90's.

I'm trying to achieve an exchange in Christchurch for next Spring, preferably three to six months. Something might 'turn up' for me in South Island, New Zealand, so I can visit not only my relatives there, but also the earlier exchange partners with whom I am still in regular touch.

Best regards
Godfrey HE12473

Kath's Note

If anyone can suggest other sources for competitive travel insurance quotes for the more elderly traveller and for longer periods, please let us know at Green Theme International Home Exchange.

Faire face au récent changement de présentation de GTI Home exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 09:51:00 +0000

Bonjour,

Nous sommes inscrits sur votre site depuis mars dernier et avons d'ailleurs échangé notre maison cet été avec des Gallois. Belle expérience. En prévision de nos vacances d'été prochaines nous avons pris récemment contact avec deux autres inscrits sur votre site, des familles espagnoles cette fois. L'ennui c'est que, pour une raison qui nous échappe, ces deux membres nous ont répondu, l'un comme l'autre, qu'ils ne peuvent trouver notre maison sur le site. Pourtant, lorsque nous tapons notre code personnel HE19369, nous accédons bel et bien à notre annonce. Mystère... Serait-ce lié au récent changement de présentation de GTI Home exchange ? Merci de nous répondre et de nous indiquer la marche à suivre. Les deux contacts espagnols en question sont référencés chez GTI sous les numéros HE19361 et HE20114.
Cordialement
Fabien Bonnet

Réponse

Bonjour Fabien

Merci pour votre courrier e-mail sur les difficultés de contact que vous avez eu avec des deux inscrits espagnols qui ont répondu qu'ils ne peuvent trouver votre maison sur le site. Comme vous, lorsque je tappe votre code personnel, j'accéde à votre annonce sans aucune difficulté, même si je l'accéde avec les co-ordonnées des deux membres espagnols HE19361 et HE20114 et de leurs aréas administratifs personnel. De plus, en l'area administratif personnel de membre HE20114, vous êtes référencé dans sa liste de contacts récents. Je ne peux pas expliquer les problémes. Peut-être il serait lié au récent changement de présentation de GTI Home exchange, mais je ne pense pas que cela aurait duré longtemps.

Je pense que le mieux à faire sera que je me mets en contact avec les deux membres espagnols les invitants d'essayer de trouver votre annonce encore une fois, et de me repondre s'ils ne peuvent pas. Je vous tiens au courant.

A bientôt.

Kath Botterill

The New Look at GTI Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:43:00 +0000

The fact that I am able to recall Dior's postwar New Look probably reveals a little too much about my age, but nevertheless it seemed an appropriate link to make with the New Look on the Green Theme International Home Exchange web-site. Whilst I do not claim that the changes we have made will affect this niche travel area anything like as much as the New Look changed the image of fashion in the 50's and 60's, I feel that the ultimate result of our web-site upgrade gives GTI Home Exchange a much slicker image with a superb choice of home swap offers in a neat and concise format.

Change is always a little strange at first

The changes to the GTI Home Exchange site have been made to upgrade the database applications, and make the site more technically robust, whilst incorporating the new design to make the site even easier to use than before. However, change often brings in its wake a degree of instability for a very short time, and most people take a little while to adapt too, so do bear with us if you do find negotiating the site a little strange at first, and please let us know anything you find confusing or unclear.

Pets Welcome

You may recall recently the post from members who wanted to be able to find exchange homes where Pets were Welcome more easily, so that they might take their pets on holiday with them. We are pleased to tell you that as a result of the upgrade this option has now been added to the Membership Registration Form and pet friendly home swaps are indicated on the Summary Listings with a dog icon (looking happily and sentimentally like the silhouette of our own Golden Retrievers who both sadly died within four days of each some time ago).

GTI Home Exchange 'Pets Welcome' addition

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:02:00 +0000

Hi

Could I ask but do any of the owners allow dogs in their homes as I am a single person but would like to take my two dogs for company.

Heather

Hello Heather

Thank you for your email and your question about whether any owners allow dogs in their homes. Your question has come at the right time. We are about to introduce this option on our web-site as a result of an upgrade which is just about to be completed. A new symbol, 'Pets Welcome', will be added to the summary search results. Pets Welcome will appear on the membership form as an additional tick box option alongside the current Pet Care Offered and Pet Care Required options. The new option and symbol to easily identify homes where pets are welcome (once members start using it) is being added as a result of a GTI Home Exchange member request (many people like to take their pets on holiday, and more so in the future perhaps as many people may now choose to holiday within their own country in order to reduce their carbon footprint, and so to take pets along becomes much more feasible).

Whilst I cannot give you the exact date when the extra option 'Pets Welcome' will go on-line, it should be within the next week or two. Until that time, any members who are looking for exchanges where pets will be welcome so that they can take them with them, and are willing to accept them themselves, mention this in one of their Summaries about their home, surrounding area, interests etc. But the new option will soon make it much easier to identify and extract these exchange offers.

I hope that we shall have the pleasure of welcoming you as a member of Green Theme International Home Exchange in the near future. If you register before the end of August you will benefit from our summer promotion when the membership subscription is reduced from GB£25.00 to GB£21.00 or Euro equivalent. I will endeavour to remember to drop you another line as soon as the Pets Welcome option becomes operational.

Yours sincerely
Kath Botterill
Green Theme International Home Exchange

Caveat Home Exchanger

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:31:00 +0000

It would appear from the number of home exchange clubs now in existence that the home exchange sector of the travel industry is expanding, but with this expansion we would encourage you to be even more diligent when selecting your home exchange partners. Whilst the great majority of people participating in home exchange are conscientious caring people and their home exchanges are entirely successful (as evidenced by the many testimonials that we receive), the world is not perfect and there is always a small minority who will spoil things for others.

Points that have recently come to our notice to beware of are:

Abuse of listings information.

As we mention in our Welcome Message when you join GTI Home Exchange, solicitations to members of any other kind other than home exchange or for any commercial purpose are strictly forbidden. If you should get an enquiry from anyone who appears to be promoting another home exchange agency or other commercial venture, please forward this to us for investigation.

Inaccurate or vague description of location of exchange property

Occasionally people may choose to be economical with the truth and deliberately vague when locating their exchange property. If you suspect that this is the case early on you probably will not wish to follow up this exchange possibility, but if it is in a location you really want to visit, you might. If the vagueness about their 'precise area' continues when you are getting nearer to confirmation of an exchange arrangement, be sure to obtain their exact address before you confirm, locate them on Google maps, and check out if they are anywhere near any well-known landmarks or places of interest that you may wish to visit.

Once you have the exact address you can also check out the neighbourhood for levels of crime in the area. Search for crime and the name of the exchanger's home area on the relevant Google search engine.

Home Exchange Switch

As you know, at GTI Home Exchange members are allowed to list 'rental' ONLY as a supplementary alternative to 'home exchange'. The system is not intended for the advertisement of commercial holiday rentals, for which we provide a completely separate site, Holiday Homes Direct. If you make an enquiry in response to a listing which appears to match your co-ordinates in terms of length of exchange and dates, which immediately receives a negative answer to an exchange offer, but suggests a rental proposition instead, or even directs you to a commercial rental web-site, please let us know. The situation is most likely to arise in relation to listings which are for second or vacation homes. At GTI we do not wish to restrict the listings of second homes as this gives more flexibility for non-simultaneous exchanges to take place. However if we receive a number of complaints about the same listing which is suspected to be guilty of the 'home exchange switch' phenomenon, we will investigate.

If you feel that the 'rental offered' option should not be allowed at all on home exchange clubs web-sites, please add a comment to this post and let us know your views.

The objective of this post is not to put people off home exchange, but to increase the confidence and mutual respect between Green Theme International Home Exchange and First Home Exchange Alliance members. To help us in our endeavours to make home exchange as safe and enjoyable as possible for participants in the future as it has been in the past, please take the trouble to complete our Exchange Feedback Form after your exchange. We look forward to hearing from you.

Memoirs of a GTI Home Exchange Globetrotting Pensioner

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 08:06:00 +0000

Hello Kath,

Many thanks for your welcome email, and bearing in mind the passage of time (over 12 years)? and number of folks who pass through your system I envy your memory, I have difficulty in remembering folks I have met in the last 3 years. Looking back on old papers I think I must have registered with you early in 1995 prior to my cycle ride across the USA. That started on 1st May, lasted 6 weeks and covered 3,800 miles made many friends and raised £8000 for a children's hospice in Wales.

When I returned to the UK after that trip in July 95 there were a number of exchange offers from around the world in my mail. Arising from that I went to Canada the following year (May 96) for 2 exchanges of 4 weeks each. Then in September of that year I spent 6 months (with my cycle) in Australia where I had 4 exchanges around the country meeting up with cycling clubs and clocking up another 3000 miles. It was whilst I was in Australia that I read an advert in an American cycling magazine for the ultimate cycling trip in 2000 which is what my website is all about, although that now badly needs updating.

I think my family were hoping that the 2000 trip would get the travel bug out of my system. I have to say it made it worse, as the following year I did a ride down the west coast of the US from Canada to Mexico ( I was in Vancouver Island on 9/11) . Then over the next 5 years I have undertaken organised cycling tours in France, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Brazil (with 3 trips to the last 2 ) and last year the most difficult challenge was an organised ride in Tibet covering 1000 kilometres from Lasha to Kathmandu.

Having moved to Wales from Bath in 1975 with my job where I retired in July 93 I felt I should relocate, but my travels kept getting in the way of those plans. I eventually put my Cottage in the Vale of Glamorgan on the market in 2004. This was eventually sold in August of last year whist I was in Brazil for 2 months. In the meantime I met Dorothy a widow (4 years my junior) who does not cycle but enjoys long distance walking so whilst I still try to spend time on 2 wheels a minor change in my lifestyle has now arisen.

Hence the reason for getting back into home exchange where we can both indulge in our respective pastime. As you will gather we are booked for a 7 weeks trip to South Africa commencing next January, unfortunately there was a report in the Telegraph last week end that due to an increase in crime there has been a big drop in tourism in SA so we hope it will not affect us.

Finally you did ask if I had any experience from my previous exchanges that I would like to pass on for your web-log, not sure if it will be of interest but there is one couple from Australia who I did an exchange with in 96, they came back to my cottage in 2002 and Dorothy & I spent a very pleasant 2 weeks at their Queensland home in Feb. of this year. There is more to add to that experience but if you think it will go down please let me know and I will prepare something.

What I now have to do is try and get some photograhs on to my listing. I am incidently pleasantly surprised at the level of subscription for GTI compared to other agencies in home exchange. No doubt there are more folks into home exchange compared to 96 but am sure I was paying more then than now ? is there another expense I have overlooked ?

best wishes
sincerely
Arthur

A Time to Travel, A Time to Stay

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:33:00 +0000

From time to time members contact us to say that they are not in a position to offer their home for exchange this year for one reason or another. Moving home, settling into a new job, renovating the house, or care responsibilities are among a multitude of reasons why people sometimes have to sacrifice their precious travelling time. For these people it is not the end but merely a temporary lull in their travelling days. So it is always a particularly sad moment when a long standing GTI Home Exchange member contacts us to say that they will not be renewing their membership because of ill health. "Unfortunately, we can't travel this coming year because of a health problem. So we shall not renew our membership. We have appreciated your organisation and helpful kindness. Kind regards, Louise C, France."

We wish anyone in this situation a speedy recovery, but time does eventually catch up with all of us when we no longer feel able to travel or it is simply not a pleasure any more. Then is the time to sit back and reflect on your globetrotting years, the friends you have made, the wonderful home exchange travel experiences you have been fortunate enough to enjoy, and to appreciate the pleasures of your own home.

At other times Green Theme International Home Exchange finds itself the victim of its own success, with members not renewing their membership because they do not need to. In reply to our renewal reminder letter, Wolfgang wrote: "I would like to renew my membership, but at the moment have so many exchange requests, that I would rather make a break of about a year before I resubscribe. Is that at all possible? Thanks for your help, it's a great page. Plus I would now like to subscribe to the rental page; what should I do? Wolfgang P, Austria"

Of course it is a member's perogative to take a break from membership. Rest assured that we shall be only too pleased to welcome you back whenever is appropriate. And to subscribe to our rental page, Wolfgang just needs to visit: http://www. holiday-homes-direct.com

Home and Dry with Home Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Rebecca) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:07:00 +0000

Summer may appear to be on hold this year, and the weather may be wet, wet, wet, with Britain and most of Europe experiencing its worst June/July for decades, but home exchangers, as long as they are not in the worst affected areas, can be home and dry. Not for them the experience of being cooped up in a less-than-generous hotel room with little or nothing to distract them from watching the falling rain. To date we have not heard of anyone's home exchange arrangements having been ruined by the unseasonal and inclement weather, and we seriously hope that this is the case.

Of course, our sympathies go out to those people in the worst affected areas of central England near Sheffield, and eastern England near the city of Hull which people are beginning to call the 'forgotten city' so little apparently having been done to help them alleviate the affects of the floods.

It would appear that some areas of Europe have fared better than others, Greece in particular experiencing a minor canicule with soaring temperatures, and high pressure stationary over the Azores, apparently contributing to low pressure affecting the rest of Europe.

Hopefully there is still time for summer to get under way and for those of us who have been deprived our little bit of comforting sunshine, a gentle late Indian Summer would be ideal.