Dorset Exchange
Trading Homes with the British
by
Gary Clites
Everyone knows the British drive on the wrong side of the road. But as I fought my way down rural lanes into the English West Country at the wheel of someone else’s Volkswagen Golf, I quickly learned that keeping left was the least of my problems. As my family and I searched the ancient abbey town of Sherborne, Dorset for the house we had traded for our own in rural Calvert County, we learned that the British also drive in the middle of the road, across the road and off the road.
Worse, they tend to park anywhere they like, often in the middle of the lane of traffic you’re trying to drive through. All of this down roads cut for the width of a horse and cart.
Perhaps trading cars at the airport and beginning our home exchange with a drive through the famously tangled traffic around London’s Heathrow had not been the best plan, but as we finally rolled to a stop in front of the three-story Victorian which would be our home for the next three weeks the idea of trading houses for a budget holiday in Britain still seemed like a good one.
Over the following weeks as we lived the lives of the Sherborne family with whom we’d traded homes and toured Southern England in their car, the advantages of a home exchange to Britain, especially with children, became apparent. The most obvious, of course, was the thousands of dollars we saved both in hotel rooms and car rentals. Beyond that, having a home base to return to every evening gave our children a sense of stability they’d never have had traveling from hotel to hotel. A small country packed with exciting places to see, England is ideal for exciting day-trips, picnic lunches and lovely pub dinners on the way home. Mornings, our nine year old was thrilled at being allowed to walk downtown to the market for our daily picnic supplies; evenings, our four year old looked forward to getting home for a bath in the house’s antique red claw-footed tub.
Time and again, both in the picture-perfect English countryside and here at home, everyone we mentioned home exchange to reacted the same way: They’d thought about it in the past but simply didn’t know how to go about it. It seemed everyone wondered the same thing: Would anyone really want to trade houses and lives with them?
We had wondered much the same thing the previous Winter as we settled in to plan our Summer vacation. Our home is an utterly ordinary 1,600 square foot ranch house in a small community on the Chesapeake Bay. But as we considered our location just over an hour outside of Baltimore and Washington, it occurred to us that we would be interested in a similar house located the same distance outside of London. Why not take a chance at trying to arrange an exchange?
The system for home exchange is fairly simple. A number of clubs and agencies exist in both the U.S. and abroad to facilitate house trades. They do not arrange a trade for you. Rather, each publishes catalogs of advertisements placed by people around the globe who are interested in trading houses. To be included, you pay a fee ranging from $15 to $70 and write an ad describing your house, its location, etc. A photo of your house can be included for an additional fee.
It’s then up to each individual member to go through the directory picking out those members with whom they’d most like to exchange homes. The rest of the process is an entirely private affair as members write letters to one another, generally including photocopied pictures of the house’s exterior, main living spaces, amenities, etc. and asking whether the recipient is interested in arranging an exchange.
A number of agencies have been arranging such deals for decades using traditional mail. Recently, a number have moved onto the internet allowing for nearly instant communication with families with whom you are interested in trading around the globe. One even offers free initial memberships to get you to try out their services (see sidebar).
We contacted a number of agencies, eventually settling on the Worldwide Home Exchange Club, which has offices in both London and Silver Spring, Maryland. As we were fairly certain we wanted to exchange to Britain, they seemed like a likely club.
Their directory included 13 pages of genuinely helpful information on working out an exchange and over 200 pages of advertisements for homes (a Spring supplement of 46 pages is mailed out in April listing homes of those who miss the deadline for the main catalog). Edward Levy, the club’s representative in Silver Spring, said that in 1996 their guides included approximately 1,500 homes in 37 countries. As we’d expected, the United States and Great Britain made up by far the majority of the listings.
Next came the daunting task of combing through the ads to identify the 20 or so we would answer. With two daughters, we determined to stay away from major cities like London and Manchester and to look for something in the British countryside where we would feel secure walking the streets with children. Further, we decided to forego the grander house offerings (of which there were many) in favor of a simpler house which would make a fair exchange for our own. We were also interested in those listings offering an automobile exchange to save the expense of a rental car (generally higher in Britain and Europe than in the U.S.).
With the help of a map of England, the Fodor’s guide to Great Britain and a neighbor born and raised in Wales, we came up with a list of 16 possibilities to send a personalized form letter along with color photocopies of pictures of our house.
To make a successful exchange, be flexible about where you want to stay in the U.K. Choose a region of the country to tour rather than a specific town (although there are plenty of listings in London) and contact at least 15 - 20 possible exchanges early, so you have time to explore others if those don’t work out. For short overnight trips in country, Britain is littered with available bed and breakfasts. If you’re traveling with children, however, you may want to consider using the American-style Travelodge chain. With 172 locations scattered around the British Isles, they are convenient and cheap (for 1996, most offered a rate of £36.50 [about $59] for one room sleeping four). Despite the generic appearance, you might feel secure knowing the kids will be able to find and operate the bathroom during the night.
By early March, the responses, along with a few letters answering our ad, were rolling in. About a dozen families wrote to tell us they had already arranged an exchange for 1996 (most asking us to keep them in mind in future), while about half that many expressed an interest in investigating an exchange. The process was then to begin answering and asking questions about one another’s homes, cars, location, etc.
By April, we had narrowed negotiations down to two families, one in Berkshire less than an hour outside of London, and the other the family of Andrew and Tracy Stooke in Sherborne. With two children, their family closely mirrored ours. Further, their location in the beautiful West Country of England, home to Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen and T.S. Eliot appealed to us. After numerous letters, phone calls and e-mail messages, we decided to try for a final deal with them. The Stookes later told us they decided on Maryland as a safe location for the children near enough to the art galleries in D.C. and Baltimore for day trips.
The sticking point for the Stookes as well as us, then, was the price of air fares. Our travel agent was reporting round-trip prices of $700 per person with no discount for children during July and August. The Stookes were getting similar quotes on their end. At over $2,800 for each group, this was a budget-buster for both families.
Combing the internet and ads in newspaper travel sections, we began searching for a less expensive alternative. Finally, an ad led me to a special from Virgin Atlantic Airways offering discount fares of $499 for adults, $349 for children on sale for only two weeks at the end of April. The Stookes found the same fare offered in Britain, so we quickly closed the deal on our exchange and locked in plane tickets on both ends.
Then came questions regarding insurance and other liabilities. There is generally no real contract between parties setting up an international home exchange. Such a document would be wholly unenforceable anyway: Just how and where would you sue a foreign national? Rather, exchanges depend upon the honesty of the two parties and a willingness to work toward the common goal of a successful exchange. Therefore, details of things like automobile exchanges and long distance phone calls are worked out through personal agreement.
As suggested in Worldwide’s literature, our homeowner’s insurance company had no problem with our lending out the house. After all, a home exchange is essentially the same as arranging for a house-sitter to watch the place. Our car insurance company stated that we were well within our rights to lend our car, asking only that I make certain the Stookes had the policy number handy and knew what to do in case of an accident. In Britain, the Stookes were not quite so lucky, finding that their automobile insurer required them to pay a small fee to cover us as temporary drivers.
Another advantage to trading places emerged over the next three months as each of us planned our respective holidays. Several times a week we exchanged e-mail messages asking about destinations in each country, restaurants, things for the children to do, babysitters, etc. Having a partner planning for you at your eventual destination is a definite perk. Eventually, we left one another guides to local restaurants, markets, tourist sights, routes, etc., which came in very handy for both families during the actual exchange.
Working from a base to which you must return every evening does limit the area you can cover while visiting another country. A good home exchange should be looked upon as an opportunity to explore the region you choose much more thoroughly than would be possible in the type of whirlwind package tour most people choose.
For the Stookes, that meant concentrating their holiday on the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore-Washington area. For us, it meant planning a thorough tour of Southwestern England. Luckily, that allowed us to cover many of the most beautiful sights in Britain; from London two hours to our East; to the beautiful Southern Coast 45 minutes to our south; to Shakespeare’s Stratford-Upon-Avon two hours or so to the north; we determined there was plenty to see and do within easy range of our house.
Sherborne, set in the beautiful farm country of Dorset County, was a wonderful choice. With its abbey church founded in 705, its plethora of medieval buildings and two ancient castles, the town turned out to be the place in England we enjoyed most. Living normally in the suburban sprawl of the Maryland countryside, village life with its convenient bakeries, butchers and the dozen friendly pubs scattered around town turned out to be a great joy. We quickly settled into a pattern of touring afield two days then spending the next in or near Sherborne to allow the children a chance to rest and experience life in a rural English community.
We were pleased to find the people of Southern England exactly as advertised. They were uniformly friendly and helpful in every situation. Spending evenings in the pubs, I quickly gathered a group of friends who invited us to parties, out to dinner and who helped us plan days in the countryside outside of the loop of sights included on the standard tourist routes. Shopping the markets and antique stores (which were plentiful and included items which were antique when Sir Walter Raleigh lived in the town) my wife and children met neighbors who invited the children to play and my wife to tea.
We arrived in England with a list of historic houses, castles and towns we hoped to visit, but unsure of just how much history our children would be willing to stand. Planning a budget holiday, we were also well aware that the British charge high fees for everything. There was an entrance fee virtually every place we visited, ranging from £2.50 (about $4) for an adult admission to a cathedral to £8.50 (about $14) to get into the Tower of London. With days on tour including up to six different properties, we were looking at a substantial expense just in admissions.
We therefore chose to buy the British Heritage Pass for my wife and myself which covered admissions to over 500 historic sights throughout the British Isles (though not to the religious properties). At £25 ($40) for seven days, £36 ($58) for 15 days and £50 ($80) for 30 days the passes seemed a bit steep, but in the end they saved us hundreds of dollars. The passes can be purchased at larger Tourist Information Centers in country or from travel agents in the U.S. along with your airline ticket. The pass period doesn’t begin until you visit your first site, so purchase accordingly. They also come with a 32 page book which serves as a good guide for planning your trip.
We chose not to buy them for the children. Kids under five are generally admitted free to sites taking care of our youngest, and children five to 15 are generally admitted for half price. This turned out to be an especially good move in that about half the places we visited checked in our passes and nicely winked our nine year old through without charging her an admission.
In fact, the staffs at most heritage sites seemed particularly pleased to welcome well-behaved American children, often going out of their way to see that the kids had a good time learning about British history. At Cardiff Castle in South Wales our four year old earned us a private tour just by asking a guide nicely. Normally reserved for entrances to the grand hall by the royal family, an ornate red staircase had caught Mallory’s eye on the regular tour. After the site’s normal closing time, we were allowed to revisit the castle so she could make the entrance like a princess. At other locations the children were given badges, private explanations by guides and pretty much anything they needed to have a wonderful time. Our concerns over the children’s attention spans turned out to be unfounded as they were fascinated by the country’s castles, homes and ruins.
After three weeks in the British countryside, we made a much calmer journey back to Heathrow down the now familiar crazy British roadways. Returning to Dulles Airport only reluctantly, we found our car washed and waiting for us in the airport parking lot. The Stookes reported an equally pleasant experience and a similar reluctance to return to everyday life back in Sherborne.
As we’d expected when we considered the exchange during the snowy Maryland winter, the grandeur of the homes hadn’t been a factor in setting up a home exchange. Rather, both parties had been happy to find a clean, average house in an interesting foreign location to spend a holiday. We all agreed that this would not be the last time we’d fight our way through airport traffic to exchange lives with a family from far away.
If You Go...
Home Exchange Clubs: There are numerous clubs available to help you arrange an exchange with more popping up every day on the internet. A few places to contact:
ComputEx Worldwide Electronic Home Exchange Service: Lists homes on the Internet only at http://www.computex.co.uk and offers a first year membership free.
Discovery Holiday Exchange: Find them on the Internet at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/discovery_holiday_exchange, or write P.O. Box 16, Tenterden, TN 30627. Internet-only listings cost $15 for one year, print listings cost $20.
HomeLink International: On the Internet only at http://www.homelink.org. They claim to list over 11,000 homes in 30 countries. Listings cost $70 to $90.
The International Home Exchange Network: Find them on the Internet exclusively at http://www.magicnet.net/homexchange/index.html. Listings cost $29.95 per year.
Loan-a-Home: Write to them at 7 McGregor Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543, or call Murial Gould at (504) 548-4032. This agency specializes in long-term exchanges, although they so facilitate some shorter trades. Listings are free, but they charge $40 to $50 for the directory.
Worldwide Home Exchange Club: With offices in Maryland and London, they facilitate a large number of exchanges with the U.K. Write the local office at 806 Brantford Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20904, or call Edward Levy at (301) 680-8950. For 1997, an ad for your house will cost $31; listing an additional house costs $6; including a photo will cost an additional $8.
In addition: Yahoo! operates a listing of 18 exchange clubs on the ‘net at: http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Travel/Lodging/
Home_Exchange.
Airlines: Most of the major international airlines fly from Baltimore/Washington’s three international airports to London’s Heathrow and Gatwick. In the high season of Summer, however, all of them are pricey, offering regular fares between $699 and $749 round trip. Consider going in Spring or Fall when rates are considerably lower. If you hope to find a discount, start planning your trip early, and be prepared to put in the time on the phone chasing a good price. Also, make it clear that you are willing to fly out of any of the D.C. area’s three airports as airlines often offer different specials airport to airport (ours was only good from Dulles).
Forte Travelodge: You can call Travelodge for a listing of locations at 011 44 0800 850950 or visit their website at http://www.fortetravelodge.com/roomline/.
Information:
British Tourist Authority, 551 Fifth Ave., Seventh Floor, New York, NY 10176, 800-462-2748
The Comprehensive Guide to U.K. Tourism, an excellent page of links to British tourism sites on the internet, http://www.mistral.co.uk/hammerwood/ukindex.htm
© Gary Clites. 1996
