A walk in the woods, along the coast or up mountains!

---

There is something incredibly timeless about taking a stroll. Not only does going for a walk offer a host of physical and cognitive benefits, it is also a fantastic way to explore a new area. Whether you’re hiking a scenic nature trail or taking a leisurely walk, you’ll unlock all sorts of hidden gems when you step outside and do a little exploring. It’s a relatively low impact way to get some exercise and an inexpensive way to have a magical day on vacation.

Each part of the world has a unique and natural beauty. Sometimes it may be hidden behind a city skyline or tucked far off the beaten path, but it is most certainly there. One of the quickest ways to find those scenic natural areas is to research hiking trails. They tend to blaze through the most pristine and noteworthy areas around, like historic ruins and stunning landmarks. Hiking trails are prevalent in most areas, and a worthwhile trail is likely within a short drive, even for major metro areas. For the adventurous and experienced, there are hiking trails with steep inclines and challenging terrains. Novice hikers needn’t worry either, as many trails are well-maintained and gentler – some are even paved!

Taking a hike can be a great way to break up a trip, but you can have an equally enchanting time in an urban setting. When you take to the streets for a walk, you may not cover as much ground as you would in a car, but you’ll be able to spot all sorts of things you might otherwise have whizzed past unknowingly. Walking in a new place is a great way to meet the locals and find out about those fantastic hole in the wall restaurants that you’d otherwise miss. While you can have an enjoyable time walking just about anywhere, there are some areas and cities that are considered to be extra “walkable.” When vacationing, it never hurts to do a little research into the best areas to go for a stroll. For those who really love the pastime, Fromme’s has curated a list of the most walkable cities on earth, so you have a premade travel bucket list.

Whether you’re more of an urbanite or a woodsman, taking to the outdoors to stretch your legs is a wonderful way to get the most out of a new city. You’ll not only be exploring and experiencing, you will be getting healthy exercise. Whether you’re picking your way up a mountain trail or window shopping on a bustling street, it’s a fantastic way to learn about a new place and walk off some of that delicious vacation food.

What better way to spend a vacation than to have a luxury vacation home to relax in at the end of the day, after your long hike.  With International Vacation Home Exchange, IVHE.com you can select from these exquisite homes that are all located near excellent hiking and walking.  

Thank you to travel writer Emma Sledge.  

Read More

Furry Friends Hits the Road

---

It’s a common dilemma for the animal lovers among us: How do you balance your obligations to your four-legged friend with your love of travel?
In a perfect world, you and your pet could travel the globe together with ease and you’d never have to make a hard choice between traveling and spending time with your pets. While that isn’t always the case, there are certain instances where it is quite possible to combine your love of travel with your love for animals. Vacationing with a pet is a very doable, provided you take the right precautions and put the right plans in place before you disembark – no pun intended.

When traveling with pets, it is imperative that you consider how stressful this can be on your furry companion. Most animals are used to a specific routine and don’t get out too often. Unless your pet is a veteran road warrior, you should take some extra precautions to ensure that they will be comfortable. For those with more extreme cases of travel-induced anxiety, a veterinarian can recommend appropriate medication to keep your pet calm during travel. Some animals are also prone to carsickness, but there are medications available for that as well. In short, better living through chemistry is also available to your animal companions, so don’t hesitate to seek out the advice of a vet before shipping out. Each mode of transportation has its own pros and cons, so it’s up to you and your vet to determine whether your pets are up to the task of riding the rails, hopping a plane, or navigating the highways.

It is also very important that you seek out appropriate accommodations for you and your pets on your travels. There are many animal-friendly hotels and rentals available for those who do a little research (such as taking a look at the pet-friendly lodging website petswelcome.com), but make sure you’re keeping your pets’ temperament and individual needs in mind as well. For instance, if you have a very active dog, keeping them in a small hotel room might significantly cramp their style and make the trip less enjoyable for you both. Instead, seek out something with some room to run and possibly even a yard. Finding activities that you will both like will also ensure that your pet enjoys the vacation as much as you do. Taking adventurous dogs for a nature hike or sociable dogs for a stroll around downtown will do wonders for your pooch’s experience. Cats are a little more laid back when it comes to activities, so you’ll want to find somewhere reasonably quiet with some safe spaces for your feline friends to get some privacy. No matter where you stay, make sure you’re not only thinking about your own needs, but keeping the four-legged members of your traveling party in mind as well.

IVHE makes it easier to find a home away from home that will help you and your domestic companions enjoy your trip. By selecting their “pets considered” filter while searching for properties, you’ll find a comprehensive list of the global luxury vacation homes that may accept your cat or dog. When you’re traveling with pets, you can’t beat the space and accommodation that a real home can provide, so this can be one quick way to ensure that you find the right digs for your dogs. While it can take a little extra preparedness to design a vacation around your pet, it is worth it. You’ll never beat the peace of mind you’ll have with your best friend close to you on your travels and your pets will get to experience new sights and smells that will keep them engaged and excited to hit the road with you next time.

Thank you to travel writer Emma Sledge.

Read More

Hiking Trails for People with Disabilities

---

Hiking is considered one of the world’s most loved pastimes. America has a lot to offer hikers, from the Appalachian Trail to the Big Santa Anita Canyon Trail, there are fantastic hikes to be had all throughout the country. Whether you’re on the east coast or the west, in the wetlands of the south or the mountains of the north, you’ll find a beautiful place to hike. There are sights to behold across the country and a hiking trail can provide the perfect vantage point to take it all in. For the millions of people with disabilities, hiking can seem like a difficult undertaking. However, America has taken big steps to make hiking accessible for all. Legislation passed under the Americans with Disabilities Act has changed the requirements for many parks in order to make them more accessible. There are plenty of resources and guides for those with disabilities who are interested in hiking. Hiking is a worthwhile pastime for anyone, but can be a particularly useful source of exercise and relaxation for those with a disability. With the increasing prevalence of accessible hiking trails, the world truly opens up to those who may have previously had limited access.

If you are seeking accessible trails in the US, your first stop should probably be a database of accessible hiking trails, such as the WWSDW’s list of accessible hiking trails by state. For more specific accessibility requirements, there are listings that include TrailLink’s database of “wheelchair accessible trails by state.”  If you are looking for a more comprehensive list of all of the trails in your state that have been made to be accessible to those with disabilities, many offer an index of all of the trails in the area that fit the bill. With this many resources available, those with disabilities can get out and enjoy the splendor of nature from wherever they are in the states. There are plenty of online resources dedicated to connecting those with disabilities with accessible hiking trails, parks, and other natural wonders. With these improvements in the accessibility of America’s park systems, it’s now possible for those with disabilities to see the country in a whole new way.

Whether you’re visiting a new city or looking to explore your own backyard, taking a hike is a great way to get exercise and fresh air. If you’re looking for more hiking ideas for your next vacation, IVHE.com has its page for hiking around the world. Once you’ve been bitten with the hiking bug, you’ll find yourself searching for hiking trails every time you take a vacation and even planning holidays around the best hiking spots. IVHE also allows you to search for properties that have nearby hiking/walking trails, so you can continue to explore the great outdoors in America and across the globe. It’s a rewarding hobby that increases self-sufficiency, encourages a healthy lifestyle, inspires a lifelong love of the outdoors, and makes for a lifetime of great stories and even better memories. America bills itself as a land of equal opportunity, so it is only fitting that its national trails be accessible for all to enjoy.

Thank you to travel blogger Emma Sledge. 

Read More

Find Your Next Exclusive Vacation Home Exchange

---

Making it easier for you to find you next vacation home is one of our goals at IVHE.com.  We are pleased to launch our new Property Search which is now leading the home exchange market to give you the best service in the industry.  Let’s see how it works.

On the Property Search page, you can get there by clicking on Properties from any IVHE.com page (see above).  You still have the basic search available which offers you Country, Listing, Bedrooms, Guests and Credits options.  You will see that we have added a Popular Regions option.  When you select, you will then see all the countries in that region.  You can then deselect any that are not relevant for you. 

The next addition is our More Options search.  When you select More Options, a large list of additional search criteria appear (see below).  You now have the ability to filter by any of these many options.  Remember that the more options you select, the more filters will be applied so there will be less properties shown, but this will fine tune your search for you. 

In the example above, there is a search for properties in Italy with 2 bedrooms or more, sleeping at least 4 people.  In addition, since some of the people in our group like hiking and others like golfing, both of these activities are selected.  Finally, at the end of our vacation days we would like to relax in a pool, so these have been selected too.  Once you have choose all of the criteria you like, simply click on the Search button and you will have the IVHE.com property listings available for your next vacation!  

If you have any questions or comments on these new Property Search functions, please email us.  

Read More

Walking Vacations: Cotswolds are perfect!

---

Walking is a great way to experience the world.  You really get to soak in the scenery, clear your mind, breathe in fresh air and its great exercise for your body.  As a couple or in a group, unlike other exercise, hiking is also a wonderful way to have a conversation (unlike panting while running or shouting while cycling).  Many of our vacation home exchange members love exploring areas on foot, creating a great vacation; learning about a local area and enjoying the outdoors. 

The Cotswolds in England has to be one of our favourite places in the world to go rambling.  The beauty of rolling hills combined with the unique pristine Cotswold stone villages makes this part of the world very special.  

Cotswold stone is a yellow Jerassic limestone with a honey or golden color that seems to change with the intensity of the sun.  The most famous trail in the area is the Cotswold Way, a 102 mile path heading North from Bath ending in Chipping Campden.   It was designated a UK National Trail in 2007 but the region has been a favourite destination for hikers and walkers for decades.  Thanks to the Romans, centuries of traders crossing the area and today’s rambling societies there is an estimated 3,000 miles of paths in the Cotswolds, an area about 25 miles wide by 90 miles long.  Pretty villages are dotted all around the area, favourites with tourists include Burton-on the-Water, Lower and Upper Slaughter, Broadway, Bibury and of course Bath but the truth is you can literally stumble upon dozens on your walking adventures. 

The area was famous across all of Europe for its wool production as early as the 12^th century.  Today you will still enjoy seeing plenty of sheep as you transverse the fields.  Of course spring is a great time to see and hear the young lamb calling for their mothers. 

Home exchange is a great way to enjoy a walking vacation in the Cotswolds; you can have a spacious place to stay, all the amenities of a home and save thousands in accommodation costs.  Click on any of the pictures to view in more detail a few select choices of listings with IVHE.com in the Cotswolds. Interested in walking and hiking, we have a full search for all properties that feature walking destinations here.  Enjoy!   

Read More

It’s not where, but what are you doing on vacation.

---

People often ask, ‘where are you going on vacation?’ The truth is we go on vacation to enjoy life other than working and being at home.  Shouldn’t the question really be ‘what are you planning to do while on vacation?’   IVHE.com helps people find the right vacation destination for the best home exchange available. 

Vacations are for spending time doing the things we enjoy most.   It could be a specific activity like golfing, fishing or skiing.  Or you could simply be looking for a relaxing place to take a walk or have a nice location to spend time with your family and friends without all the day to day issues of being at home.  What if you can choose your next time away based on your personal preferences?  And what if after a great day out enjoying life you can come back to a luxury home to relax and continue to share the stories and experiences of the day, while saving thousands on accommodation expenses?  All of this is possible with the best home exchange websites.   

To make this easy, International Vacation Home Exchange, IVHE.com, has enhanced it search criteria to make it easy for you to choose an exclusive location that caters for the needs that you specify.   As mentioned earlier, if you are a golfer, you can choose golf destinations.  Is walking and hiking your passion, search by this criteria.   Are you an expert angler and enjoy pursuing and catching fish?   You can enjoy luxury homes with fishing nearby.   Your search for the best home exchange is now very easy as you can select from all of the following options: skiing, beach locations, scuba diving, boating and sailing, horse riding, surfing, tropical locations, fishing, hiking, golfing and tennis.  

Of course are some point you will want to also narrow your search to the best home exchange for your family / party, so you can also choose by country, number of bedrooms, how many the home can accommodate for sleeping and various other amenities.   Maybe your extended family is traveling together and everyone enjoys going to the beach.  A large place with many bedrooms is important, but you also want to have the conveniences of having a dishwasher – no problem, just include it in your selection criteria.   Or maybe having your own garden or outside barbeque is the best way to spend your time, include them in the facilities search.  Say you require a vacation home where there is Wi-Fi access included; just include Wi-Fi in your search, easy! 

“Vacation travel should be fun and easy, by listening to our members we have enhanced our search criteria to include over a dozen vacation activities along with other important selection areas like number of bedrooms, amenities, and country to name a few.   Our IVHE.com members save, on average, $409 per night in accommodation costs, while enjoying all the amenities of staying in a luxury home.   Our aim is to provide the best home exchange website for planning your next vacation.  ” says Larry Klimczyk, Director of International Vacation Home Exchange, IVHE.com.

With collaborative consumption and the sharing economy growing at a very fast pace, home exchange is a great way to travel.  IVHE.com offers traditional direct home exchanges, where two parties decide to swap homes at the same time.  IVHE.com also offers a unique solution for members that already own a vacation home.  IVHE.com’s credits system enables more flexibility and options for second home owners.  The ingenious system gives credits to the host member when someone stays at their property.  They in turn can then spend these credits at any of the properties in over 70 countries around the globe. 

Join IVHE.com members around the worlds that are enjoying exclusive vacation homes while saving thousands of dollars.  Your best home exchange vacation can easily be planned today – enjoy relaxing in a vacation / holiday home with full amenities, and live like a local when traveling. 

Read More

Love Nature and Hiking, Try Tennessee

---

Thank you our IVHE member

Austin for this personal review of IVHE property #0983 in Tennessee.

I visited Pigeon Forge Tennessee and stayed in a quaint little cabin on the side of a mountain. I was able to book the property easily and communicated with the owners.  

They gave me some ideas for things to do in the area and were very helpful.  The cabin was clean and just as pictured. It was easy to check in and we had everything that we needed.  

It is a nice place for a couple or small family.  It was near the Pigeon Forge downtown area and about 20 minutes from SmokeyMountain National Park.  There is lots to do in the area and the cabin has a nice, secluded feel to it.  I would recommend it especially if you are a hiker or love nature.

Read More