- Using the AARP App
- Finding Interesting Accommodations with the Airbnb App
- Using Foursquare to Enhance Your Travel Choices
- Exchanging Homes Is a Great Way to See the World
- Arranging Travel Using the Kayak App
- Finding Your Way Using the iPad Maps App
- SeatGuru by TripAdvisor
- Communicating in a Foreign Country Is Easy When You Use Talking Translator
- Getting Travel Advice from Others Using TripAdvisor
- Getting a Ride Using the Uber App
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Exchanging Homes Is a Great Way to See the World
Exchanging homes with like-minded folks around the world is quite possibly the best way to experience a foreign country. Home exchangers can live like a local, shop in local markets, cook as if a local, get to know neighbors and friends of the homeowner, and in many cases, become lifelong friends with the people they exchange with.
Using Intervac Home Exchange
The two oldest, and most popular, home exchange sites are www.usa.homelink.org and Intervac. For this task, I have chosen to take a look at the Intervac app. Although you can search the site to get an idea of what options might be available, to actually initiate an exchange you must join and list your own home as an option for exchange. There is a fee for joining. The amount depends on the type of membership you choose. The following task provides a look at this cool and inexpensive way to see the world.
Search the App Store for Intervac. Tap Get, and then tap Install to download and install the app. After it has loaded, locate the Intervac app icon on your iPad, and tap it to start.
The email address, button.login, is for existing members to access their accounts.
Tap the View listings button to access the visitors view of the exchange options available. A variety of options appear.
Tap the green Select country bar near the top of the screen to restrict your search to the country you are interested in visiting.
Scroll down the list of countries to make your choice of listings to view by country, and then tap Next. For this task, I chose France.
The France options are listed randomly; I chose to tap the first Paris listing.
The first photo of this apartment in Paris appears. Details about the listing are seen at the bottom of the page. Tap the green View All Photos button to see all the photos for this apartment.
The next page includes many photos that the apartment owner has chosen to show. This is a great opportunity to get a feel for this location as a potential exchange.As a visitor using this, you can get a general feel for the home exchange options available through Intervac. A visit to the website gives you the options to refine your search by date and those who are interested in visiting. I would suggest taking a look at the website prior to signing up—there is a fee involved to be a member.
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