House- and Pet-Sitting Exchange

"Oh! to be in England now that April's there"

As a result of our recent reciprocal House-, Granny- and Pet-sitting arrangement, it is now the turn of our house-sitting partners to care for our house and our two golden retrievers, Gemma and Charlie. Necessity dictates that we need to be in England for a short time, and whilst we are extremely reluctant to leave our dogs behind, Gemma is now such a senior old lady that it really is the only sensible thing to do. With this type of arrangement, the preparation, information and advice that it is necessary to leave for your house and pet carers is much the same as for a home exchange and takes careful preparation.

Although I shall be out of the office for approximately eighteen days from 19th April, I shall not be completely out of touch and will be available to answer any home exchange queries you may have via email.

Long Term Exchanges

"They sailed away for a year and a day"

I have noticed recently a slight increase in the number of people enquiring about or registering details for Longer Term Exchanges.

A former member wrote: “You may remember that I was one of your clients for house exchange in New Zealand, back in 1999/2000. I am writing to enquire if “Green Theme” is still operative, because we might be interested in looking for a house exchange again in New Zealand, this time for a year in Christchurch?”

We are, of course, very much still operative and happy to help people in finding an extended stay arrangement. However, when I receive enquiries about long term exchanges I do try to qualify my reply and be really realistic about the possibilities because there are far fewer people seeking long term exchanges than shorter term holiday exchanges. In addition, people seeking longer term exchange opportunities very often have very specific reasons for wishing to re-locate for a year or so: ie for work, for study purposes, to research a locality with a view to possible re-location, friends or family already living in the area etc. They are therefore much more likely to be very precise about their destination and to have other very specific criteria such as proximity to schools and standard of education facilities, accessibility to international schools if language is a barrier, availability of language schools, health facilities, ease of access to work location etc. When people do intend to work there can also be visa and other immigration implications for some destinations for stays of longer duration.

Of course some of the above criteria do not apply to retired people who are likely to be the most flexible group in the long term exchange category. I do not mean to put people off seeking long term exchanges: it is not impossible and if the criteria on both sides match up, it can work out extremely well and make possible in economic terms something which would be impossible by any other means.

Here are a few links to the listings of members who have recently joined seeking long term exchanges:
HE16702 House in PENCLAWDD, SWANSEA, WALES
HE16706 House in FORRESTERS BEACH, NSW, AUSTRALIA
HE16710 House in SOUTH PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
HE16713 House in MEDFORD, OREGON, USA

Seniors and Home Exchange

Senior Exchanges
I have never been keen on pigeon-holing people into groups, but the marketing gurus tell us that ‘segmentation’ is the only way to be really successful in business communications. I have to admit that certain groups do display very distinct characteristics successful marketers use to their advantage. Home exchange for example is particularly suited to senior citizens and early retirees who are free to travel as and when they choose, who often wish to stay longer than the conventional holiday period, but who also have to consider a smaller budget than might previously have been available for their holidays and travel. Moreover, Seniors, with their years of experience and self-confidence, are often the most intrepid of travelers.

Probably the most successful exchanges occur when ‘like’ exchanges with ‘like’; ie between seniors. To facilitate ‘networking’ (another favourite buzz word in our technological age) between members of this group, we recently introduced a new icon ‘S’ to be seen on the Summary Listings, and a new Advanced Search on the Detailed Search page.

GTI Spring 2005 Newsletter

The Spring issue of the GTI Newsletter, published at the end of March, is now available on the web-site and has been distributed to Newsletter-online subscribers. Topics in the newsletter
included GTI Home Exchange member Louise Collette's article,
-- A First Home Exchange Experience
-- A Review of Member Features on GTI Home Exchange
-- Home Exchange Email Etiquette
-- The Great Debate - Open or Registered Access to Home Exchange Sites
-- The Email Address Merry-go-Round
-- Advertise on our Rental by Owner Web-site
-- GTI Weblog Discussion Items

My Place for your Place.....

This week we were delighted to receive a letter from Nancy Dunnan, publisher of Travel Smart, advising us that Green Theme International Home Exchange is recommended in their current issue.

TravelSmart selects Green Theme International as “having the most imaginative search and match services: boating, fishing, golf, horseback riding, tennis, walking, car exchange disabled access, pet care, seniors”, to name but a few .

The article errs on the cautious side of home exchange and suggests, “if you wish to eliminate hotel bills by exchanging your home or apartment for someone else’s, start well in advance; it can be a lengthy process. And keep in mind that although a picture may be worth a thousand words, a picture can also be deceiving. So ask questions. As for additional photos. Ask for references. And, if possible, ask a friend to check out the house or apartment in person".

TravelSmart, in its 29th year, is the oldest consumer travel newsletter in the US. “We tell savvy people how to travel the world. We do not accept advertising and therefore report about travel issues without prejudice. As a result, our readers trust (and act upon) our recommendations and we have an unusually high renewal rate – over 60”.”

Thank you, Nancy, for the recommendation, and we are pleased to link to your web-site:
TravelSmart so people can get additional information.