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A wonderful way
to travel .... exchanging our house and our car through Homelink International.
ADVANTAGES:
Economical
(airfare and voila)
Comfort, no need to start looking for a place to sleep and lose precious
hours of travel.
Back at home exchanged after a day of sightseeing, rest, meals at home
rather than restaurant.
Hospitality: many opportunities to meet the family and friends or neighbors
of exchangers.
Top tips for places to visit, interesting outings we would not find
otherwise.
No disadvantage unless it is necessary to prepare the house, make room,
etc. ... and then it's always a good opportunity to do a good cleaning.
Places visited on home exchanges:
St. Michel l'Observatoire, in the heart of Provence, close to Manosque
and Luberon (former 12th century barn)
Pertuis, ancient village near Aix en Provence
Perpignan, a few kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea and the Spanish
border
Dax, a house inside the city of thermal baths, 1 hour from Biarritz
and the Atlantic Ocean, Bordeaux, Arcachon
Toulouse, a beautiful residence in an area of some acres
San Diego, California, a few miles of the Pacific, vineyards, desert,
beautiful Highway 1 along the ocean
Iglisias, Sardinia, a small mountain cabin on this island of dreams,
arrested in time.
Australia: country where the fauna and flora are of great beauty and
if different from ours, but mostly Australians who we have
conquered by their warmth, sense of humor and boundless hospitality.
Maroochydore, north of Brisbane, Sydney ...
Mt Eliza near Melbourne, south, center
Yeppoon, north east, near Rockhampton
Perth, the most westerly of Australia on the Indian Ocean
And this year 2008, 6 weeks in Germany, the Black Forest, the Alps,
the Ancient Towns of Roman times (Trier, Cologne), the Romantic Road
with castles and vineyards, and all rivers, the Moselle, the Rhine,
the Danube
All these wonderful life experiences for $ 225/year fees
Hélène
Lavallée
Chelsea, Québec
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| Jack,
I think I'm still
in shock that Mark and I had a villa in Aruba for two weeks in October
for free that was a five minute drive to two of Aruba's most beautiful
beaches, and in May of this year, will have a beautiful hillside house
for three weeks with private pool and a 180 degree view of the Caribbean
on the gorgeous island of Anguilla! I am floored. I realize that is
probably somewhat atypical, and that after Anguilla, we're going to
have to seriously drop our standards as such an exchange is unlikely
to happen again, but you never know! Besides, paradise comes in a variety
of packages…
When I sell the
concept to friends and introduce them to Homelink, I tell them to not
feel at all self-conscious about the fact that their home may not be
quite as grand as others, and that to a couple like the folks in Anguilla,
being right smack downtown in a beautiful city like Vancouver with all
its northwestern beauty, and the ability to walk everywhere is just
as much of a novelty as it will be for us to be tucked away up on a
hillside in peace and quiet, surrounded by tropical beauty. Where we
are in the West End is actually very quiet and peaceful, but obviously
it's not just the peace, it's the novelty of having a lot of space around
us for a while, which as condo-dwellers in a densely-populated area,
you like to have once in a while. In our listing, I intentionally included
a phrase that says something like “we don’t expect anything
particularly fancy” and that’s true. I include that because
I don’t want someone to feel any trepidation about approaching
us for fear that we’ll see their place as inferior in some way.
As long as it’s clean, comfortable and well-located, we’re
happy. By the same token, when I’ve approached others with accommodation
far grander than ours, I make a point of stating that I recognize that
what we’re offering is not of the same caliber, and the couple
of times that I did put my neck out, I received very gracious responses.
In one case, the couple had recently visited Vancouver and loved it,
but now had other destinations in mind, and in the other instance, the
dates didn’t work. Perhaps our place wasn’t what they were
looking for, I’ll never know, but it never hurts to ask.
A friend of mine
recently said "oh, but our place in Yaletown is just so small".
I responded by asking "is it smaller than a typical Vancouver hotel
room with no kitchen? I pointed out to her that when people travel,
they generally stay in small hotel rooms with no real sitting areas
and often times, no kitchen either, so having a fully-equipped and comfortable
one bedroom condo in a great location is going to be very appealing,
and for those who don’t feel the need to be right in the downtown
core and would rather a larger space or need a larger space, perhaps
with kids and such, those options are there as well.
The other thing
that's interesting is how many former-Vancouverites now live abroad
but still love Vancouver and want to come back. Our Anguilla exchange
partners lived in Ladner for 20 years and have come back to Vancouver
on exchange eight times! In total, they've done just over fifty exchanges.
Now that we're on Homelink, and they saw our post, they thought it would
be fun to stay in the West End for a change. Recently, they were on
their way back to Anguilla from Hawaii and came to Vancouver to see
some friends and family. They came by to meet us and see our place and
it was a great to meet them. Just after we committed to their offer,
we received another offer from a couple who live in the Caymans who
had lived in Kits for 10 years. I explained that we had just committed
to another exchange and asked if they might be interested in considering
an exchange down the road. They were, and then came to Vancouver in
December because sadly, one of their parents had suddenly passed away.
She and I tried to get together for coffee but we were both too busy
so it didn't work out. She plans to come back in March and we're going
to get together then.
What I've also said
to friends is that if you like meeting people and you like exchanging
emails, the home exchange concept is for you, because while you initially
go into it for the travel opportunities, you don't realize that you
also enter a whole new community, and end up exchanging emails with
some very interesting people. I've had some great email chats with people,
some of whom may end up being future exchange partners, some not --
who knows, but with an open mind, it's amazing what can come your way.
As it worked out, we ended up spending two days with our Aruba exchange
partners in their home. We had the choice and we said “yes”
and we were glad we did it. They were a wonderful couple and we had
a lovely couple of days together, taking turns with meals, etc.. and
sharing our exchange experience with each other’s home and locations.
I think it’s important to keep an open mind and to remember that
most of us will be in a far more relaxed and receptive head space once
we’re on vacation.
I can't imagine
traveling any other way now! The feeling of being abroad and living
in a residential community is just the best combination -- you really
feel that you're having the authentic, genuine experience.
Thanks very much!
Derek Gagnier
Vancouver BC
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Hello Homelink,
Wow...I am so excited to take up the exchanges I have received since
joining in October. We have an exchange to Edinburgh for the month of
August. We want to go to Dunoon for several days also....and we are
in negotiations for a non-simultanious exchange there as well.
Thank you so much for the FUN.
Teri-Lynn Otto
Cultus Lake, BC ===========================
Hello HomeLink Crew
We are members # CA23014. Just got back from a fabulous exchange with
members # FR27450 in the Loire region of FRANCE. I really think that
this home and region should be written up in a magazine or article of
some sort. The house was great and the region has so very much to offer.
Perhaps you can pass this on to the appropriate person.
Happy exchanging to all.
Andrea & Cyril Johnston
Moncton, New Brunswick
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Hello!
I returned last Saturday from my home exchange to Yorkshire (UK) --
it was fabulous! A four-bedroom house in the countryside, yet just 10
miles from the city of York! The family who came to my home were very
nice, and left the home in great shape. I also did a weekend exchange
earlier in the summer with some people in Port Stanley, Ontario.
I would very much like to arrange a home exchange in Victoria, B.C.
for the Christmas holidays, and I would like to be able to bring my
small(ish) and extremely well-behaved dog along with me. ....... I received
another call on Saturday from some New Yorkers who want to do a weekend
swap! I have had calls from Miami, Sydney Australia, and Ancaster in
addition to Yorkshire and NYC! Toronto is more popular than I had imagined.
Barbara Sutton
Toronto, Ontario
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Dear Jack,
I thought you might like some positive feedback for ... the Homelink
Book ...as I'm now into day 2 of responding to our DELUGE of requests!
You may recall putting us in touch in Nov. with some Kiwis who were
hoping to come to B.C. in Dec. We've just returned from NZ where we
spent a month, renting a house in Auckland. Another member who I'd contacted
by E-mail (Shands - Taupo) invited us for a wonderful Bar BQ at their
very elegant Auckland home along with their home exchange partners from
California (Westefers - Oxnard) who had just arrived in NZ to stay in
the Shands' Taupo vacation home. We had a delightful evening and hopefully
one of them will want to come to Vancouver some day!
Your Homelink endeavour is certainly a great way to promote cultural
exchanges. Thanks so much for all your effort!
Lynda Wrigley
West Vancouver, B.C.
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Hi Jack:
...we have just returned from another successful 5-week house exchange
with the Openshaw's in the dear little village of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire.
We had a fabulous time and from all accounts they enjoyed our home in
Victoria.
Shepreth had a post office and general store, a pub and a church - what
more could we want!!!! The neighbours in the village were delightful
and mad us feel very welcome. We visited Stratford and the Cotswolds...and
even managed a Mediterranean cruise after the exchange. The Openshaw's
even came to Luton airport to pick us up and entertained us...
Our thanks, Jack, once again for the great job you do. This is certainly
the way to travel. We are now looking forward to our exchange in Australia
in January.
Mary & Lyle Garraway
Victoria, B.C.
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Greetings Jack & Staff,
After a summer of travel across Canada to visit family and friends,
we finally have time to sit down and write you about our home exchange
that took place in May. We were gone for 11 weeks in England, the last
5 weeks at our fabulous home exchange in Teignmouth, So. Devon. When
we first arrived in England March 20th, Our exchange people drove up
to stay with us at our B&B for "time together". What a nice gesture
and what a lovely couple! Then a few weeks later on a Shearings "mystery"
bus tour, we were told the tour was to the English Riviera, Torquay
etc. and a pass thru Teignmouth. So we called our new friends and they
met us at the bus, took us "home", showed us everything about our new
home, had tea and cake and cemented a lasting friendship. How lucky
can one get? Needless to say we were thrilled with everything and their
good friends 2 doors down who had the House Key for us took us under
their wing and we spent almost everyday for 5 weeks touring around with
them. Blessed once again! We are happy to say they are coming to spend
a week with us in Oct. New friends....that is what Homelink is all about.
Just as a side note, a couple that we contacted to do an exchange with
early on but our dates did not jive, did manage to get one that met
their date needs. We asked them to call us upon their arrival, they
did and we invited them to lunch had a marvelous time with them, then
had lunch with them at their home exchange. Another 2 wonderful people
that we know we will meet up with again in the future. We are in correspondence
with all 3 couples, and so it goes........ We are very fortunate to
have met these new friends from England, thanks to Homelink.
Continued success to you all, with happy exchangers like us, how can
you lose!!!!
All the best,
Diana & Charlie Shnider
Victoria BC
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Hi Jack,
... .neat story behind this one...family in Nelson are having their
daughter married here at a Golf Club near our home, the bride gets a
night with family in a home before the big day...we get their B&B
in Nelson so we can invite our family to summer vacation in the Kootenays.
We all win. This all came about in one day, while I was thinking of
confirming an exchange with a home in Pasadena --- the Nelson e-mail
came in ---
it was meant to be.
Ron Zapp
Coquitlam, BC
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Thanks so much, Leanne (Graber).
Without having yet had our first exchange we are rapidly becoming advocates
for the service. I have to tell you that I have been enormously impressed
with the efficiency of the service HomeLink has provided to date: Rapid
response to emails, catalogues arriving at lightning speed, and all
questions answered thoroughly and cheerfully. It is a pleasure dealing
with you and your organization!
Apart from which, and not that it is something you can control, but
the 4 families with whom we discussed exchanges were all extremely helpful
and friendly.
Best regards,
Graham Bullen
Vancouver BC
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Hello, the Graber family,
Tis the season to be happy and merry. Are you? If not, here are our
best wishes for the holidays and the new year. I am taking this opportunity
to congratulate you on the excellent work done on the new homelink repertory.
From the quality of the paper to the layout of the information, everything
looks great. Keep up the good work.
Cordially,
Daniel & Henriette Elizov
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec
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Dear Mr Graber,
Yes !!! I had a wonderful summer in Europe, thanks to homelink! I hope
to rejoin this year.
I am very impressed that you actually personally read your email and
RESPOND! You would be surprised how many organizations have web pages
and do not respond.
I have referred quite a few members to your web site in the past couple
of days, so do not be surprised to get a few inquiries from Montreal
and one from Grand Cayman! I can not say enough about HomeLink.
Mila Araujo
Montréal, Québec
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Hola, Jack!
My exchange in Altea Spain was fabulous. The home was perfect and
overlooked the Mediterranean. The very best part was meeting my exchange
partners. They are British and live in England, we swapped with their
vacation home. We picked them up at the airport and they stayed here
for
three days before we left and two days when we came home. Sheila and
Cliff
are wonderful and we all four feel as if we've known each other forever!
We
are now planning to visit them in England and go with them on a their
future
Stockholm exchange. As Sheila said, "Isn't it amazing how looking
at a
picture on the internet brings together such good friends."
Adios!Karen Galway
Victoria, B.C.
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Dear Jack Graber,
We have recently returned from a most successful exchange in Australia
(Melbourne) plus two hospitality exchanges, one in Tasmania and the
other
in Christchurch, New Zealand. We are constantly receiving requests for
information as to how to exchange, and usually quote your address and
tel.#. We think it a marvellous way to have an inexpensive holiday;
indeed we could not afford vacations if it meant paying for accommodation
in hotels.
Hereward & Louise Allix
Parksville, B.C.
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Hi, Jack,
You may remember us as the "last minute people" headed for
Paris for Christmas. Well, we did it! We got a house exchange in the
Isle of Wight and will tour parts of the UK for a week to ten days prior
to spending Christmas with our busy daughter in France. We are delighted
and just wanted to let you know.
Just wanted to tell you how excited we are and to say thanks so much
for your help! We'll be in touch.
Daphne & Jim Ryan
Vancouver, B.C.
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Hello Jack,
After completing 3 very successful
exchanges this past year one might think that we are tired of it. Not
so. We actually arranged a month in Spain for next summer and therefore
have no time available. We will be back in the HomeLink book again the
year after so don't forget us.
This past summer we spent three week in July in Italy. We were in Perugia
and except for the heat things we just wonderful. This was our first
exchange in Italy and we want more. We then did 3 weeks in August in
the Midlands of England. The rural scenery and the friendly people were
just great. This was about our 5th exchange in England. In September
we had a 3 week exchange in Guernsay in the Channel Islands. This must
be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places in the world. Great
cliff and shore walks mixed with lots of history.
We have now completed 20 exchanges and have loved them all. It is a
perfect way to travel, save money and meet nice people. Thanks for providing
the service and if anyone wants to have an independent opinion or assistance
just give them our name.
Fred & Eleanor McMullin
Oakville, Ontario
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Hello, again, Jack
We're setting up exchanges for this year....sure love being on email
with
so many....are banking a fabulous exchange in New Orleans....they want
a
few days in Toronto at each end of a trip (exchange) to Italy, and we
get one
of their fabulous guest houses with all mod cons and pool in the Garden
District whenever and for whatever time we want ....talk about making
this one work!
You do a fab job! Cheers!
Helen Hatton & Ron Morris
Toronto, Ontario
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Hi Jack,
We're here now!!!
...in Galway Ireland. We left on June 21st and have exchanged homes
& autos for 2 full months! Our exchange family have been enjoying
our home in Ottawa since June 22nd. Thanks for the email. We love the
service and we will definitely use it again.
Cheers,
Paul Devlin & Jane Keenan
Ottawa, ON
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Bonjour, Leanne,
Wilfrid and I just got back from PERPIGNAN, France where we had an excellent
exchange. The house was great, the weather (22 to 25), and the people
(catalans) were extremely kind to us.
(Now) ... 16 exchanges:
6 in different regions of France (my favorite country), Germany, Sardaigne,
San Diego, Victoria BC,
4 Australia, 2009 Tasmania and NZ.
We already have exchanges for 2010, one in the south of France followed
by Holland.
Thanks to you and Jack for making this all possible...A bientôt.
Hélène Lavallée
Chelsea, Québec ===========================
Hi Jack
Our exchange to Brittany in France was fantastic--we are committed exchangers
now as we just loved being in one beautiful place (we lucked in with
a house on the ocean) from which to do day trips or just hang out and
relax. Our partners loved it here too and want to return--who wouldn't??
Dale Acheson
Comox, B.C.
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Dear Jack,
We've had such fun with exchanges since first signing on some years
ago.
The planning and dreaming are all a fun part of the process too. Our
daughter, Rebecca Sutherns and her husband Tim are new to the game,
and are in the midst of planning their first exchange in Europe next
summer. Lots of fun!!
Mary McFarlane
Mississauga, Ontario
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Jack,
We have declared "home exchange" to be very successful. We
thoroughly enjoyed our home base in Nerja and found our home in very
good order when we returned. Nerja is a town on the Costa del Sol just
east of Malaga. ........ ........... We were very centrally located
to do many day trips. We went to Granada, Malaga, Seville, Cordoba,
Gibralter, Marbella, Ronda, Mijas and some other places.Our Rotary club
in Nanaimo has an exchange student from Spain whom I got to
know so I made contact with his parents in Marbella to attend a Rotary
meeting. ............. That was kind of neat.We did a day trip to Tangier
in Morocco. ......We went to Madrid for the last two days in Spain.
There we got into a couple of very good galleries where we saw paintings
by el Greco, Velasquez,
Picasso, Pisarro, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Toulouse Lautrec, Dali, Degas.
.......... As well we had a tour of the Teatro Real, their opera house.Finally
our trip ended in Amsterdam for three days. Again we saw two good galleries
and of note was
Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Rembrandt's "Night Watch" was amazing.
We also saw Anne Frank's house on the canal. It was an eerie feeling
going back into the annex.
Lionel Benoit
Nanaimo, B.C.
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Hi Jack,
We have recently lined up our first home exchange for this summer with
a lovely family from the Netherlands. Their home is located in Utrecht
just
outside of Amsterdam. It should be a good fit as they have 2 children
about the same age as ours so we are also exchanging vans, bikes and
toys. Both
families are very excited about the upcoming experience. We'll have
a chance to spend a couple of days with them here in Canmore as they
are taking an extra week in Canada. We will lend them our camping equipment
so they can explore the Rockies before we depart for their home in Europe.
Looking forward to our home exchange holidays as part of our new vacation
lifestyle.
Doug Newton & Jennifer Fuhr
Canmore, Alberta
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Dear Jack:
We are completely happy with our experience with HomeLink, and when
speaking of our experience, recommend your organization to others. The
home service we received was excellent. Every time we had a question
and emailed you, we received a quick response with a clear answer. The
forms you provided were extremely useful. We used a modified version
of the forms to finalize our contract with our exchange family, which,
as first time exchangers, made us feel much more secure.
This was our first exchange, and it was also the first exchange for
our family in Amsterdam. Each family thought it was fantastic. Not only
did we get what we originally wanted (we wanted culture; they wanted
nature) we now think of that city in terms of its people and daily life,
not just its buildings and art. We are sold on this method of visiting
the world. If you wish to use our name on your contact list, please
feel free to do so. Thanks again.
Rory Wallace and S Lee
Vancouver BC
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Dear Jack,
Thank you for your
reminder regarding Homelink renewal ... may we say our first experience
with Homelink last summer was
wonderful and was more than we expected. We exchanged with a couple
in
Peterborough, England. We sing the praises of Homelink to all our friends
and know we will be back again.
On a personal note I want to thank you for your help, encouragement
and advice on our first exchange. You took a good deal of your time
to answer all of my questions in the beginning and you run a very professional
organization that attracts a very good group of professional clients
worldwide. You are a great communicator.
Jack, good luck with your season this year and we look forward to joining
the Homelink family again soon.
Regards,
Graham and Kathleen Boyle
Richmond, BC
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Hello Jack;
You guys are so prompt with your replies!
We certainly are getting our money's worth out of Homelink. We have
3 exchanges already lined up for this spring and summer, and we're already
looking into next year. It's been a great way to travel and meet new
friends - thanks to you and your staff.
Val Medlock
Pitt Meadows BC
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