Filed under The Vacation Exchange Network Talk by Jill on April 23, 2010 at 4:12 PM
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This Queensland Australia Beachfront Home is Available for Your Next Holiday Home Swap
Do you feel limited by the high cost of traveling?
Wish your family’s “staycation” could take place somewhere other than in your home?
With housing exchange, your biggest asset — your home — enables you to take unforgettable vacations on a budget. By swapping a stay in your home for a stay in someone else’s home, you can save thousands of dollars on your holiday.
Typically, 45% to 65% of the cost of a vacation goes to pay for lodging. Expect to spend $200 to $550 per night at a hotel. That totals $1,400 to $3,850 for a week, before taxes, parking, and other hotel fees. Plan to double that dollar figure if the size of your family necessitates two hotel rooms. The cost of renting a vacation home can range from $1,000 to $20,000 per week!
The high cost of lodging can mean forgoing vacations for lots of travelers who travel on a budget. However, lodging expenses no longer have to keep you from traveling…. The cost of vacationing with The Vacation Exchange Network for an entire week? Only $250 (for a Direct Exchange) or $500 (for an Indirect Exchange )!
Home swaps also enable you to skip restaurants for some meals, saving you an estimated $40 to $120 per meal for a family of four. Additionally, some home swaps come with beach passes, museum passes, discount attraction tickets, and the like, adding to the ways home swaps make travel affordable.
Of course, the tremendous savings you’ll realize by spending your vacation or holiday in someone’s home instead of a hotel is just part of the picture. Home exchange offers you the home base many people find lacking when they stay in a hotel. Even a staycation will feel like a real vacation when it is away from home! Additionally, a home offers you space and amenities that no hotel can offer. Home swappers enjoy the convenience of having a kitchen, laundry machines, comfortable sleeping and living rooms, and ample space for their family and their belongings. Many home swappers also value living like a local rather than like a tourist, an opportunity you’ll get when you stay in someone’s home rather than in a hotel.
Interested in traveling without paying exorbitant prices for lodging? Travel the home exchange way! Join The Vacation Exchange Network now!
Filed under Eye on Vacation Homes by Jill on April 16, 2010 at 7:30 AM
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Sullivan's Island, South Carolina Vacation Home Available for Home Exchange
Another New Vacation Home Exchange Opportunity
Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina may just be one of the world’s most perfect summer vacation spots. You’ll find a combination of charming neighborhoods, quiet yet family-friendly beaches, and the rich history and culture of nearby Charleston, South Carolina. You’ll find an aquarium, a pirate tour(!), and the island’ s very own lighthouse.
Inviting, Spacious Home Dressed in Relaxing Tones Makes for a Relaxing Vacation Home Base
This new addition to The Vacation Exchange Network has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths. It is located across the street from the beautiful, wide Sullivan’s Island Beach. And speaking of Sullivan’s Island Beach, this beach will quickly become a favorite of shell seekers. Unbroken shells, sea stars, and sand dollars commonly found.
This spacious yet cozy vacation home is typically available for home exchange all year, except Christmas through New Year’s Day. Contact The Vacation Exchange Network to help you arrange your home swap.
Family vacations and home exchange go hand in hand. And, those interested in making travel affordable will find that home swaps are the ideal way to do just that. Your next perfect vacation is sure to be a home exchange.
Add your comments below, and share your home swap experiences or your idea of the perfect summer vacation!
Filed under Travel Thoughts by Jill on April 14, 2010 at 9:04 AM
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This South Lake Tahoe CA vacation home is available for home exchange with The Vacation Exchange Network. Stunning mountain views, covered porches, and two fireplaces make this the perfect home for your next Lake Tahoe vacation.
In Lake Tahoe, California this week, April (Snow) Showers Bring May Flowers Happy Spring Skiers
Spring skiers in Lake Tahoe, California are enjoying the powdery conditions of mid-April snow. In North Lake Tahoe, ski areas Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, and Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe are all reporting powder. Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort is reporting packed powder. Kirkwood Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe is also reporting powder — 25 inches in the past 48 hours!
In addition to the April snow and the spring weather, many of these resorts are running specials on their lift tickets. Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe’s spring skiing daily lift tickets are only $29! Whether your skiing looks more like Bode Miller’s or my six-year-old’s, spring skiing in Lake Tahoe will certainly offer you gorgeous conditions, unbeatable weather, and unforgettable views.
Lake Tahoe Home Exchange
The Vacation Exchange Network has many North Lake Tahoe home exchanges and South Lake Tahoe home swaps, as well as many other California vacation homes available for home exchange. To spotlight a few:
North Lake Tahoe California Vacation Home with Wrap-Around Deck
This vacation home in North Lake Tahoe boasts a stone fireplace and a wrap-around deck. Three bedrooms and a loft sleep 8. Squaw Valley, Northstar, and Alpine Meadows ski areas are all within minutes.
Lake Tahoe Cabin with Open Floor Plan and Access to Private Marina
This 3-bedroom vacation home on Donner Lake offers boat launch, private marina, and easy access to ski and golf. Open floor plan and large wrap-around porch will make your vacation home exchange unforgettable.
South Lake Tahoe Vacation Home on Shore of Lake Tahoe Available for Home Swap
This luxury 5,000 square foot four-level vacation home on the shore of Lake Tahoe boasts a private beach and a deck with a stunning view. Located close to Lake Tahoe ski areas, this 4-bedroom, 5-bath home with a gourmet kitchen will certainly make you feel right at home.
We’d love to hear your feedback! How are the ski conditions in Tahoe? Do you have a favorite ski resort or any restaurants or shops to recommend?
Filed under The Vacation Exchange Network Talk by Jill on April 7, 2010 at 1:00 AM
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Outdoor Living in Cote D'Azur, France - This 5BR Home Available for Swap with The Vacation Exchange Network
Continued from Top 10 Reasons Why Home Swapping is Ideal for Family Vacations – Part Four
More Reasons Why Your Next Family Vacation Should Be a Home Exchange
2. Home swapping enables you and your family to experience your vacation destination as a local.
When you stay in someone’s home, you can live like a local rather than a tourist. To the extent you want, you can shop in the shops, eat at the restaurants, and stroll the streets away from the tourist spots. Home swap hosts often leave lists of local dining, markets, and happenings for their home swap partners. You’ll be able to offer your family a unique opportunity to view a culture from within its boundaries. You might even meet some neighbors! They’re sure to give you a friendlier welcome when you are staying in the home of their friend. More than a few times, my children have befriended some of our home swap neighbors’ children. Their stories of playing with these children have become some of their longest-standing memories of our trips.
And the number one reason why home exchange is ideal for family vacations….
1. Home exchange makes travel affordable!
There’s no getting around what many see as the most important benefit of home exchange — avoiding the high cost of lodging. Hotels and vacation rentals can cost thousands of dollars per week. This certainly limits vacation opportunities for most of us, especially “ITE” (in this economy). If you didn’t have to worry about the cost of lodging, would you be more likely to travel wherever your vacation dreams take you? Would you be more likely to take your children to all of those places you’ve always wanted to take them? You can travel in the U.S. or around the world without having to check hotel prices. And you can spend more of your vacation budget on exploring the sites and experiencing all your vacation destination has to offer.
We look forward to helping you plan your next family vacation!
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Filed under The Vacation Exchange Network Talk by Jill on April 6, 2010 at 8:01 AM
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This home exchange on Vancouver Island, British Columbia sleeps 8
Continued from Top 10 Reasons Why Home Swapping is Ideal for Family Vacations – Part Three
More Reasons Why Your Next Family Vacation Should Be a Home Exchange
4. Avoid the four-suitcases-full-of-dirty-laundry problem upon your return home from vacation.
If you’ve recently returned from a hotel-stay vacation, you probably still have the massive line-up of laundry loads fresh in your mind. Or, maybe there are multiple loads still sitting in front of your washing machine…. At the end of a week-long vacation, most families are stuck with several suitcases full of dirty laundry. As if we’re not busy enough when we return from vacation — responding to all of the emails, voicemails, and Facebook messages received while away, reading through mail and paying bills, unpacking the baby and child gear, toys, and toiletries, and trying to revive our water-starved plants — the laundry simply won’t do itself. When you vacation with home exchange, you can arrive home with suitcases full of clean laundry. When I’m home swapping, I do a load of laundry every night or every other night (depending to a great degree on how many times the boys put their knees down in mud and whether the kids decided to use napkins or their shirts that day). Yet another benefit of home exchange — clean laundry and more time to catch up with your life when you return from vacation.
3. Your teenager — and you — can have some privacy.
Staying in confined spaces with teenagers can often be difficult — for teenagers and their parents alike. Teenagers value their privacy, and parents know the value of a little personal space as well. When you swap homes for vacation, teenagers can have their own bedrooms, and usually their own bathrooms as well. This makes the time you do spend together on your vacation much more harmonious for everyone.
To read more of the top 10 reasons why home swapping is ideal for family vacations, visit The Vacation Exchange Network’s Blog again tomorrow!
Filed under The Vacation Exchange Network Talk by Jill on April 4, 2010 at 11:14 PM
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Enjoy a Sun-Filled Family Vacation in Oahu Hawaii with a Vacation Exchange Network Home Exchange
More Reasons Why Your Next Family Vacation Should Be a Home Exchange
Continued from Top 10 Reasons Why Home Swapping is Ideal for Family Vacations – Part Two
6. Home exchange gives you a home away from home.
After a long day of seeing the sights, playing on the beach, or experiencing your latest adventure, there’s no match to returning to a comfortable and spacious home that you can call your own (at least for the week you are staying there). We all know that kids need a place to call their own. A space to relax or a space to play. Having a home to return to at the end of a day of vacation fun cannot possibly be matched by any hotel room.
5. A unique place for your next staycation.
In this economy, many families are opting for a staycation rather than a vacation. Typically, a staycation involves spending vacation time visiting attractions and events that are close to one’s home in order to vacation within a budget. With home exchange, you can have the best of both worlds. Rather than using your own home as a home base, you can use a home swap house as your home base. Visit some of the attractions and experience some of the events that are close to your home swap house, and spend time in the vacation home playing games, watching movies, and making pizza and popcorn. Your family gets some together time, and you all get to enjoy being somewhere other than your own home.
To read more of the top 10 reasons why home swapping is ideal for family vacations, visit The Vacation Exchange Network’s Blog again tomorrow!
Filed under The Vacation Exchange Network Talk by Jill on April 2, 2010 at 9:00 AM
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More Reasons Why Your Next Family Vacation Should Be a Home Exchange
Continued from Top 10 Reasons Why Home Swapping is Ideal for Family Vacations – Part One
8. When you stay in a vacation home, your kids can have their own beds.
Remember the last time you stayed in a hotel room with your kids? If your kids are anything like mine, the decision about who is going to share a bed with the “sheet stealer” takes a great deal of negotiating. In a vacation home, my kids typically have their choice of rooms, and they each get their own bed. “Can I have the sailboat room?” asks my youngest. “I get the top bunk,” states my oldest. More often than not, they all end up staying in the same room. Because it’s part of the fun of vacation. And there’s never any arguing about sheet stealing.
7. No need to sit in the hallway or on the floor of the bathroom waiting for your kids to fall asleep.
A friend of mine recently confessed to me that she and her husband typically sit on the floor of their hotel room’s bathroom or in the hallway outside their hotel room — on the floor — while they wait for their kids to go to sleep. They have to whisper, of course, and sometimes it can take 30 minutes or longer before their kids are sleeping deeply enough that they can return to the room. Even then, they must keep the lights and noise to a minimum so as not to wake up the kids and be forced to start the whole process again. Ever try watching Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Report without laughing aloud? It’s not easy. When you house swap, there’s no need to be relegated to the floor of a barely-lit bathroom. The sofa in the living room, the chaise lounge on the deck, or the bed in the master bedroom are certainly more comfortable than a tile floor. Your body will thank you for vacationing the home exchange way!
To be continued….
Filed under The Vacation Exchange Network Talk by Jill on April 1, 2010 at 10:35 AM
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Why Your Next Family Vacation Should Be a Home Exchange
Anna Maria Island Florida Vacation House Available for Home Exchange
10. You don’t have to ask for a room away from the noisy elevator.
Concern about where your room will be located — close to or far from the elevator, 2nd floor or 8th floor, smoking section or non-smoking section — is par for the course when you vacation in a hotel. When you stay in a vacation home, however, the whole house is yours. No need to worry about noisy guests, rooms that smell of smoke, a view of the parking lot, or being too far away from the ice machine. Every room in a vacation house is conveniently located and as quiet as you’d like it to be!
9. In a vacation home, there is no extra charge for room service.
Although I’ll agree that room service has a few benefits, I’d prefer not to have to pay $5 for that cup of orange juice my daughter is asking for. Home swappers enjoy a kitchen that is open 24/7, which is especially convenient for families with children who wake up hours too early for breakfast at a restaurant and for anyone who occasionally enjoys a midnight snack. Home swapping enables families to eat some meals at home, saving money on your vacation and adding oodles of convenience.
To be continued….
To read more of the top 10 reasons why home swapping is ideal for family vacations, visit us again tomorrow!
