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In This Issue: Travel Talk
Featured Listings:
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Home exchange was once considered a rather peculiar way to vacation, used mostly be teachers, with exchange opportunities sent out a few times a year in a printed directory that was obsolete before it reached its Members. Now home exchange is mainstream, as evidenced by the number of articles and TV and radio interviews we do almost every week, not many people confuse us with timeshare anymore. Now the Travel Channel wants to produce a pilot for a TV series about home exchange. They are looking for candidates who would be willing to have a TV crew spend a few days with them (not the whole exchange). You may have already been contacted, but if this sounds like fun, please click here to provide us the information we need to send on to the producers, and they will contact you.
I have been home exchanging since 1992 and love being able to share this wonderful program with you. Besides the hundreds of new Listings we are adding every month, we are excited about all the new things you will be seeing on the website. We welcome your ideas and comments. Regular features of the Newsletter will include:New features on our website Highlighting new features and how they work. Meet a Member
MY SAVED LISTINGS with MULTIPLE CONTACT
Now, an easy way to keep track of Listings you are interested in, this feature will allow you to:1. Keep track of Listings you are interested in. 2. Send the same exchange inquiry to a number (up to 25) of Listings at one time. Just check the Listings you wish to contact and fill in the message in the Message Area below. Click "Submit" and your inquiry will be sent to ALL the checked Listings at one time. 3. Keep notes on Listings. 4. Add or delete Saved Listings at any time You may have noticed the  button at the top of every Detailed Listing. If you are logged in (and we suggest you log in every time you visit the site), clicking this button will "SAVE" the Listing in a folder in your Member Control Panel.
Now you can go to the MY SAVED LISTINGS , create one Inquiry Message, click which Listings you want to send Inquiries to, and they will each get an individual Inquiry. We urge you to take advantage of our new DETAILED SEARCH function. It's a simple, yet powerful tool. Go to the new detailed search page here. With this new search tool you can get even more specific as you search for the perfect home exchange vacation. Want to find someone in London with golf nearby? Just enter LONDON as a destination city, and GOLF as an amenity, and you will see only matching results. Each search category can be combined with another for an endless variety of searches. But do remember, the less you search for, the more results you will get. It's always a good Idea to start off with a location and then work your way into more criteria if you aren't getting the search results you are looking for.
A NEW WAY TO EDIT YOUR LISTING Look for new fields like "weekend exchange" "baby items" and "single traveler." Login to the site now and bring your listing up to date. it will help others find your listing and get you on your way to your next exchange.
Home Exchange Profile Hello! We're David and Elizabeth Rowland and we live in Fletcher Hills, a suburb of San Diego, California. Elizabeth is 61 and retired a year ago from Nordstrom. I'm 62 and work 3 days a week as a construction project manager. I was going to retire last year, but decided I still enjoy working too much to stop, so my part time schedule is great! Elizabeth's hobby is gardening; she devotes a few hours every day to keeping our garden looking beautiful; my contribution to the garden is to dig the holes where she tells me to; her thumb is green while mine is black. My hobbies include golf and old cars. We've been members of HomeExchange.Com for 3 years; it took us a whole year to work up the courage to do our first exchange, but once we did, we were hooked! Since then, we've had 10 wonderful exchanges and have just renewed our membership for another 3 years. We've exchanged with families from Beverly Hills to New York. We've found that without exception, our home exchange partners have been wonderful people; when we arrive at their home and find a bottle of wine and maps and suggestions of places to visit waiting for us, it makes the experience so much better than staying in a stuffy hotel room. On our exchanges, we usually make breakfast at the home we're staying in, and then spend the day exploring the city, returning "home" for dinner and relaxation. Other days might be spent just lazing around, and reading a good book. We've met the neighbors of many of our exchange partners and I've even played golf with their friends. It's such a fantastic way to visit new places and with the money we save, we're able to take far more vacations than we otherwise could. We're currently arranging an exchange in France; the possibilities are endless!! In addition to longer stays in far away places, we also enjoy long weekends at places that we can drive to.
We have been asked to post this request to participate in a Survey for a new book on home exchange. It is on-line and will take about 3 minutes.
I thought I would carve out a little niche for myself in here so you can get to know me better. I also plan to share some tips on how to get the most out of your HomeExcange.com listing, and other computer and Internet tips as well. As for me, I've been married for close to 14 years and have 4 great kids who keep us busy each week with baseball, softball, soccer and more!
Aside from my incredibly witty banter and other useful information, we will be showcasing a HomeExchange.com member in each newsletter, as well as sharing some new and interesting listings. You can learn about new website features and enhancements here as well, so we hope you will enjoy reading our new HomeExchange.com newsletter! Until next month, or the next customer service email,
We hope you have enjoyed reading this issue of "Switch". Please feel free to send your friends a copy. Bon Voyage! The Staff of HomeExchange.com
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Welcome to the first issue of the official HomeExchange.com Newsletter! We will be expanding the Newsletter to include travel tips, Members’ stories and recommendations, a 30-second survey to get your opinions, and much more.
Most Members we have contacted about this program were very excited, a few expressed concern that such TV exposure would somehow be a detriment. We want to assure you that we are closely involved with the production of the show and its intent is make many more people aware of the opportunities offered by home exchange, which in turn offers more exchange opportunities for everyone.
If you go to your Member Control Panel and click 
Members who have recently updated their Listings are likely to be actively searching for an exchange, so display by "Last Time the Listing Has Been Edited" let's visitors know which Listings are most likely to be responsive.
I play the bass, and am always on the hunt for my dream instrument, an early 1960's Fender Jazz Bass. Check under your beds and closets! I also collect game worn hockey jerseys and have a half dozen or so from some of my favorite players. I have also been active on the Internet and in Internet related businesses since 1992.
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