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Message from Recovered Home Exchanger in LA

July 30th, 2009

In May of 2008, an unusual home exchange request reached the larger home exchange community from Los Angeles.

A member of Home Base Holiday had been diagnosed with leukemia and she was also pregnant. She was looking for home exchange accommodation near Cedars Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills during the course of her cancer treatment immediately after her baby was born late July.
In a joined effort, several home exchange clubs among them JewettStreet, contacted their members in LA in order to help Leslie, the pregnant cancer patient, to find suitable accommodation. In the process Leslie and I developed an interesting and profound email correspondence. Needless to say the contact faded as the estimated due date was nearing.

I have been thinking ever since what happended to Leslie and her baby. This week I got mail from her:

“Thanks for checking in on me.  I am doing very well.  My baby, Merceda, just turned 1 on the 15th and both she and I are healthy.  I had chemo in Sept. and went into remission in October.  I feel entirely normal except the way I look at life is very different now.  I am extremely grateful and try very hard to live in the present moment.  I understand what a gift is each moment that I am healthy and alive.”

Leslie has written about her unusual journey in her own blog


Hospitality Exchange in Italy for Washington DC - Scambio ospitalità in Italia per Washington DC

July 27th, 2009

Talking about hospitality exchanges… A long-time member of JewettStreet is looking for non-simultaneous hospitality exchanges in Italy on her visit from August 19 – November 4th, 2009.

Washington DC JewettStreet Home Exchange Offer 2464

In her own words:

“I plan to visit Amalfi Coast, then go to the wonderful land of the Tuscan sun, hoping to stop at Assisi, Siena and Florence… I have a girlfriend in Siena and we get out to all the museums, etc., but the perfect place would be in Siena and from there it is easy to travel to outlying areas.”
 
Jeanne founded and was the Director for a Sunday School in New York City with the Dominicans for a number of years, while teaching, writing and performing.  

“I feel a great desire to “give back” and volunteer my services… so I would like to do nonprofit or mission work, while in Italy.   Recently served in a mission in the Philippines, teaching English, directing Christmas plays for the children, teaching catechism, working with our mission benefactress in getting scholarships and gearing the university students to work in the “western” marketplace, doing some marketing for a retreat mission in the rice fields, giving conferences on the differences in Filipino and American culture, etc.”

Jeanne is interested in hospitality in exchange for her offer in Washington, DC, at a later date. She is also interested in a “sabbatical” exchange for longer term in Italy.  

More about Jeanne’s hospitality exchange offer, listing # 2464

You can contact Jeanne via her listing or write to ursula@jewettstreet.com.


Hospitality Exchange – for Many the First Step Toward Home Swapping

July 24th, 2009

15 % of all JewettStreet members with an own listing indicate their interest in a hospitality exchange in addition to the more popular home exchange option.  Offers are evenly spread across Europe, North America and the rest of the world and across urban, suburban and rural regions.

If you are new to home exchange, but resist the idea because of the thought of having strangers in your house, you might be a candidate for a hospitality exchange. 

Instead of exchanging homes, hospitality exchangers stay with you as your guests and then, at an arranged date, you stay at their home as their guests. It is a great first step to becoming familiar with home exchanging without leaving your possessions to strangers. As a second step after you have gotten to know your house guests better - you might like to exchange homes with them.

Why not start out with a hospitality swap in your own region for a weekend? A short stay works well, too, if your home has limited guest capacity.

Of course, there are the inveterate hospitality exchangers as well. They prefer to be hosts. It gives them the opportunity to socialize and meet interesting people from all walks of life and from all over the world. You can’t beat that!


Some Interesting Facts about Hospitality Exchangers

37 % of all JewettStreet members who like hospitality exchanges are entrepreneurs/ business owners

31 % are academics

30 % are retired/ semi-retired

25 % have kids

72 % have a home with 2 or more bedrooms

26 % have a home with 3 or more bedrooms

Here is a list of hospitality offers in your area. Use the Advanced Search and select specific criteria such as geographical region, type of residence, amenities, activities, access and much more to find your dream swap.


The JewettStreet BlogHaus

The founder of JewettStreet.com, Ursula Godwin Niesmann, maintains this blog for JewettStreet members and for anyone interested in Home Exchange.

If you have any questions, or suggestions, feel free to use the JewettStreet contact form. See you soon again!

Yours,
The JewettStreet.com Team


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