Dream Vacation for Young Families

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Turn the dream of a vacation into reality - a guide for young families

Imagine yourself on vacation in Costa Rica, sipping coffee on the veranda with your spouse, while your children play in the surf nearby.  Sound realistically and financially impossible and totally out of your reach? For many families with young children, renting a hotel room or house right on a beach is an impossible dream, not to mention overwhelming in terms of logistics. Traveling with kids takes so much effort and planning.  But with home exchange becoming more and more popular, families can make it happen with minimum planning and even less financial output.

Turning the dream of a vacation into reality

The concept of a vacation home exchange is very simple.  Exchange your home for someone else’s home.  Enjoy vacation with free lodging.  Sounds easy when you are a couple with no children to think about.  But what about when you do have young children?   Young children are messy, young children get upset about people “touching” their toys.”  Young children are loud!  In short, young children can be a liability.  

All of these fears can be put to rest.  When exchanging your home for someone else’s home, families with young children are exchanging with other young families so they are able to relate to each other and understand one another.  Both homes have toys and both homes have child proofed areas.  If something gets broken (which is unlikely) the family staying in the home pays for the damage.  A common practice is to put breakable or valuable items out of reach.  Everything is discussed with the other family beforehand. 

What are the benefits of home exchange for young families? 

•  First, the obvious - savings.   Families can save literally thousands of dollars when not paying for lodging, no matter what part of the world they holiday.  And the savings doesn’t just stop with lodging. When you have your own kitchen, you cook in your kitchen, resulting in more savings.  These savings leave more money for things such as car rentals, tours and activities.

•  Save time on packing.  Packing toys for children are the bane of every parent’s existence.  With home exchange, there is a host of new toys for children to play with.

•  Children love it.  Who’s house are they in?  Where did the family go?  There are endless imagination possibilities and young children love that there are toys, games and various other things for them to play with.

•  Feeling a part of the community.  In a house, you are part of the neighborhood and truly experience the vacation as a local. In short, you feel at home.

If you are a family and certain places in the world seem out of reach, consider home exchange.  The savings and opportunities can turn your vacation dream into reality.

Originally from Chicago, Melissa Downham is a portrait photographer with Z. Noelle Photography and a travel blogger at www.theroamingfamily.com.  She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and two children.

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Good Photos Make Good Exchanges

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Good Photos Make Good Exchanges

Photo source: flickr, Ralph Bijker

The Golden Rule for home exchangers is simple: Convince me through pictures that your property is special and I will do the same with mine.

As a guest, you want to SEE that where you might be spending your IVHE home swap credits and your precious vacation time is a place that will make you feel comfortable and at-home.

As a host, you want your potential guest to SEE the elements of your property that make it attractive -- intangible elements like ambience and vibe, and solidly real things like comfort, cleanliness, convenience, and scenery.

The Home Exchangers' Golden Rule applies to personal profile pictures as well. Many home swap members choose not to include them, but personal pictures are an important part of your listing. They give it personality and satisfy a natural curiosity. Show me your happy, smiling face and I'll show you mine. Hopefully, you will be able to tell that I am not a crack-smoking skinhead raver (credits-rich though I may be), and I'll be able to tell that you are not a Voodoo priest who might sacrifice chickens in my living room (even though you do have a verifiable telephone number).

How important is showing and not just telling? How important are pictures in your IVHE listing? They're critical. It may be time to take a second look at the photos you have posted.

Pretend for a moment that you are trying to sell your property and that you're working with a rather fussy real estate agent. She calls and wants to bring a client couple 'round to take a look. She reminds you again, for the hundredth time, to clean up the place, put things away, get rid of the clutter, open the shades, turn on the lights, make it look light and airy, and put the cat outside. You do all that  and, without being told, put out fresh flowers and fruit as a nice extra touch.

She arrives with the clients. As they approach your house, the agent remarks, "Look at this stunning view" as she gestures at the vista before them. Then she turns to the house and says, "Isn't this architecture amazing?" and comments in glowing terms on the exterior. As they enter the front door, she'll say something like, "Oh my, can't you just feel the love?" The tour of the house begins, and she grows more breathless in each room. The living room, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the patio -- she encourages her clients to envision themselves in each room, and damn near passes out when they get to the master bedroom.

Take your photo tips from the way a real estate agent shows a house. Stage your shots for the best appeal, and include the view, the exterior, bedrooms, bathrooms, lounge areas, kitchen -- the more you show the more assured your prospect will feel.

Quality images, high resolution, will showcase your property beautifully. Use a professional photographer, if possible. It will be well worth the cost. Or, if you are handy with your own camera and savvy about lighting and composition, go for it. Check the images on your computer and upload the best ones to your IVHE home exchange listing. Use captions to describe if you think they're necessary.

To edit your photos, log into the members area of the IVHE home swap site, click on your property, then - Edit - Photos - choose a File - Upload. Once they are in, they can be dragged and dropped into any order.

If you wish to add a personal profile picture, you can chose to have it viewed by the public, by IVHE members only, or just by those members you are communicating with regarding an exchange or trade.  

The old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" is oh so true. Pictures speak for themselves without embellishing the truth. What you see is what you get. And isn't that the kind of honesty you want when you engage in a home exchange?

If you are not a member of the International Vacation Home Exchange and would like to learn more, go to www.ivhe.com and picture the possibilities.

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Luxury Home Exchange and home swap- how it work

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Simple Video Explaining Home Exchange Systems

Wouldn't it be great to have holiday homes all over the world rather than just one in the same old place? Well, with IVHE swap system you can have just that! No, we’re not suggesting you go out and buy more properties. In fact you don’t need to spend any more money, just put the value of your current vacation home to better use.

Unlike conventional home exchanges, IVHE allows you to trade holiday homes without the need for both parties to swap at the same time or with each other. It also gives you the flexibility to trade up to a larger home, or a more exotic location.
Home Exchanging really is a simple way of saving thousands on your vacations. a simple explainer video on the different types of home swap options that you can chose from.
Just imagine turning your one wonderful vacation /second property into thousands of options around the world, with home exchanging and trading you can do just that.

Take a look at www.IVHE.com. Also, check out our membership options, low costs, and the benefits of our credits-based system of home exchanging.

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