Happy New Year

We wish you a very happy New Year
Nous vous souhaitons une très heureuse Nouvelle Année
Wir wünschen Ihnen ein sehr glückliches Neues Jahr
Wij wensen U un heel gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Felices Fiestas

Safe from Tsunami

We were pleased to hear yesterday from Bali, Indonesia, that GTI Home Exchange member Paul Smethurst and his family are safe. It would appear that Bali itself has escaped the worst of the Tsunami and is relatively unscathed, but needless to say our hearts go out to all those others whose lives have been so devastated.

Global Warming - The Big Debate

Though the Tsunami in Southern Asia cannot be attributed to global warming, in the wake of the massive loss of life and terrible destruction of people's homes and the infrastructure of so many countries, it perhaps seems appropriate to look again at this issue.

Rosie Carr writes in the Easyjet In-flight magazine December 2004

Should Europe care about global warming?
YES says Rosie Carr. In the coming century, global warming is predicted to lead to catastrophic climate change across the planet. The cause, according to most scientists, is toxic emissions from industrialised societies, and the only way to prevent disaster is to reduce those emissions. Should the EU be doing something about it while the US and Australia don't seem to be bothered? Clearly, the answer is yes, even if Europe alone can only scratch the surface of the problem.


To read the rest of Rosie's article go to:

Sustainable Tourism

As our name implies, we, at Green Theme International Home Exchange Holidays, have always been concerned about the impact of tourism on the environment and I was delighted to find the following succint list of points on how we can collectively have a big impact on the limitation of damage sometimes caused by tourism, if we all think about making a small difference when we travel.

Sustainable tourism:

is about making a difference when you travel. When you travel, try to make sure that the impact you have on local communities and the environment is positive and sustainable.

is about enjoying yourself and taking responsibility for your actions to make sure that the social, environmental and economic impacts of overseas travel are positive ones;

provides fair economic returns to local communities and minimises negative impacts on: local cultures; the environment; natural resources; and on wildlife habitats and species;

recognises that in many destinations resources such as water, firewood and fuel are precious and that local people may not have enough for their own needs if visitors do not use these resources in a sustainable way and with regard for local needs;

does not include trade in endangered species, indigenous resources and ancient artefacts that can threaten natural and cultural heritage;

recognises and mitigates the impact of travel on global warming.

"Know before you Go" Campaign

The United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office web-site is the definitive place of reference for those seeking information before travelling abroad, and we are sure that anyone planning to travel abroad, whether from the UK or elsewhere, will find helpful advice here.

Know Before You Go is an awareness campaign aimed at encouraging British travellers to prepare better before going overseas. Use this area of the website to help plan your trip overseas.

NEW! Short Breaks

Check out our top tips for planning a short break holiday overseas. This
is the lastest targeted mini-campaign as part of "Know Before You Go".

A First Experience of Home Exchange

Bonjour Kath,
As promised a small article about our first home-exchange in Australia.

HOME-EXCHANGE Just do it!!
About 18 months ago, I read an article about home-exchanges and decided to have a look on Internet.

We are a retired couple, live 45 km north of Paris. I am half English, half Dutch and my husband is French. My motivation was to revisit Australia; I have a brother and family there. In the beginning my husband was somewhat hesitant. We enrolled and thought "wait & see".

In our member's file we filled in: "Open to Offers". Over a short time we received quite some offers from the USA, CANADA and the UK. So we changed and selected AUSTRALIA. Soon after, two or three swappers sent us offers; one in particular interested us, so I started to converse and get more information. They were a retired couple from the Sunshine-Coast; this couple: Rex & Nancy had already performed 5 successful home-exchanges. After having e-mailed for quite a while together, we came to an agreement for a home and car-exchange for October 2004. Rex & Nancy had arranged a double home-exchange this time:
1) September in Brittany,
2) October in Othis/Paris area.

They were due to arrive in France 28 August, for their Brittany home-exchange. As we don't live far from the Airport, we invited them to come and stay with us for 2 days. A unique chance, to meet each other and show them around. We instantly got on well together. We introduced them to our sons and families and also our neighbours. They didn't speak very much French, but were good in communication. On the 3rd day, they left for Nantes, we drove them to Gare Montparnasse, and kept in contact via e-mails.

Four weeks later, we left for Australia. My brother met us at Brisbane Airport, and drove us to our destination, a lovely comfortable home situated in a beautiful area not far from Mooloolaba, a well-known town on the Sunshine-Coast. We were able to live at our own pace, cooked the food we liked and discover Australia as "Aussis". Again we kept a regular contact with our home-swappers by computer and told each other about our different outings and excursions. Our stay was a 100% success, both in human and cultural ways.

Today we consider, through this successful home-exchange, we gained two new friends. We intend to try again somewhere else.

Louise COLETTE
www.chez.com/aquabears
HE13942
Travel

Destinations Travel Show, Earls Court

February 3-6, 2005, Earls Court, London.

For holiday choice, advice and ideas, make a date at Destinations. Britain's favourite holiday show is bursting with entertainment, special offers and expert advice from celebrities including Judith Chalmers OBE, Griff Rhys-Jones and Bear Grylls. New for 2005 find your perfect place in the sun at Destination Holiday Homes Abroad. Book now and quote Telegraph for your free ticket. Booking fee applies.

Adventure, Travel & Sports Show

January 14 - 16, 2005, Olympia, London.

Whether you're looking for the solitude of deserted beaches, the challenge of classic walks, treks and safaris, or the thrill of action sports,

The Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel & Sports Show , now in it's 10th year, has something for everyone.

Creating a GTI Home Exchange blogspot account

Members of GTI Home Exchange may be unfamiliar with the concept of blogging and how to post comments on articles which have been published on the GTI Home Exchange Blog.

In order to be able to add a comment, you first of all need to create an account at http://www.blogger.com/start.
Click on "Create your Blog" and complete the first part of the procedure which is to Create an Account, by filling in the boxes "Choose a user name", "Enter a password" etc. as appropriate. This will provide your with a User Name and a password, which is all that is required in order to be able to log-in and make a comment on the GTI Home Exchange Blog. The "Comment" hyperlink is found at the end of each article and clicking on it brings up the login page.

You do NOT need to complete Steps 2 - Name Blog and 3 - Choose Template - unless you wish to create your own Personal Blog.

If you need any further help in posting a Comment on the GTI Home Exchange Blog do not hesitate to send me an email requesting further assistance.

A Step too Far

Hi Kate,
Now I know I went to Aus but the blogspot is just now perhaps a step too far, I do this in the library and hotmail does not like me visiting a site outside hotmail!! I think my article looks really good, though I say so myself. Just a shame the media wants families for their programme as we would have been up for an exchange where they paid the expenses, how wonderful is that. Hope more people get inspired to put their experiences on line.
Bye for now Jo Chambers

A Spot of Confusion

Jo Chambers, recently highlighted a slight misunderstanding about one of the facilities provided on the GTI Home Exchange http://www.gti-home-exchange.com web-site listings. Jo had just renewed her membership, and I noticed that the listing carried the heading 'Exchange Request fulfilled'. So I queried it with Jo, to which she replied: "Thank you for confirming my renewal. Please uncheck 'exchange request fulfilled'; as a very new computer user and also not in the first flush of youth, I thought this meant had we used the facility successfully! Thank you for posting my article about our trip to Australia, it was very exciting to see myself in print."

So just to clarify the use of this feature, if you have checked the 'Exchange Request fulfilled' box, this means that you have arranged an exchange and do not wish to be contacted with further exchange offers for the time being. However, it is important to uncheck the box on your member registration form when you are ready to start looking for another exchange, so that other members interested in your offer will contact you.

BBC Seeking Families for Exciting Lifestyle Swap

Green Theme International Home Exchange http://www.gti-home-exchange.com have received a request from the BBC who are seeking outgoing families living in the UK willing to participate in an exciting lifestyle swap. (There's an extra incentive for those chosen to take part in this exchange - with all expenses covered plus £1000 payment for the week).
Granada TV are producing a new series of hit program 'Family Exchange', to be shown on BBC2 Television early next year.

Are you an outgoing, fun-loving familiy with a sense of adventure? Would you be prepared, for a week, to swap lives, jobs and home with a family from another European country? If you can spare a week later this year, you could be exactly who they are looking for.

Davina Weitowitz, the Series Researcher, writes: 'We are looking for families consisting of Mum and Dad with between 1 & 4 children, ideally aged between 7 - 18 years old & still living at home with their parents. We are aiming to represent Britain's cultural diversity in this series and therefore would hope to feature families that represent Britain today.

If you think your family would relish the challenge of living another family's life for a week, and can spare a week between 5th - 13th November, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact us by email at familyexchange@granadamedia.com or call us on 0870 881 0865.

If you are a current GTI Home Exchange member, please include your User ID HEXXXXX if sending a message to Davina at Granada for more information: she will then be able to quickly fnd your listing. It would also be helpful if you could include a few relevant details about you and your family such as ages of children which may not be evident from your listing.

Have scooter, will travel

Have Scooter, Will Travel - an inspiring and courageous story from Green Theme International Home Exchange Member Jo Chambers

Mobility for me is a problem, but it has never dampened my enthusiam for travel, so when my husband developed a hernia rather than despair because my wheelchair pusher was no longer fit, we went and spent some of the kids inheritance on an electric scooter for me.

We made the decision as we had already agreed on an exchange with a couple and their friends to exchange in August to go to Brisbane. Not having been to Australia before we feel that the Gods were with us as our location was perfect for me. Our exchange home was in Toowong which ment we were 20 minutes by City Cat on the Brisbane River into the heart of the city and 20 minutes by car to Mount Cootah and the Brisbane Forest and National Park plus the main highways to North, South, East and West.

Using the City Cat was ideal for the scooter and enabled us to visit museums, art exhibitions, street markets and shopping plus the outdoor restaurants without the usual hassel of parking and the river itself is a great way to see the city.

We had not only swapped house but cats and car, and the fact of coming home to an animal made it feel very much our own for the three weeks, and our particular cat was the perfect hostess. Our swap neighbours were just the icing on the cake ensuring we saw the very best during our stay and not wasting precious time on things that were not us. A memorable trip was a three night stay at Lake Weyba cottages near Noosa, one cottage is perfect for wheelchair users and as we sat on the veranda at sunset watching the wild kangaroo around the water hole and listening to the frogs and bird song we knew we had made the right choice.

Our stopover in Singapore was great and everyone we encountered was just so helpful and as my scooter is one of the latest light weight ones, we were drawn into conversations with several strangers wanting to know where we and it came from. We have found that my disability has brought the best out in those we meet and I have certainly seen many areas that would otherwise be out of bounds when lifts are only in service areas or private areas of open homes and gardens.

My message to anyone who thinks it is all a bit daunting - go for it - you won't always have the same holiday as everyone else but revel in it and enjoy the differences. We are now thinking where next !

Jo Chambers HE14242
Travel

Green Theme International Home Exchange

Green Theme International Home Exchange