House Swapping for Families

~ This is the fourth in an occasional series of articles about house swapping your home with another family, thereby making the most of your travel experience in another city or country. The first article was House Swaps: The Practical Way To Go; the second article, House Swapping for Seniors, provided practical advice for that age specific group of travellers; and the third House Swapping for a Better World discussed how this concept can help break down barriers between different nationalities and cultures. These blog entries are sourced from, and used with the permission of the Aussie House Swap website.

While virtually every individual and couple can enjoy lots of advantages through a house swapping (home exchange) holiday, perhaps families stand to benefit most of all.

Think about it.

Firstly, there are the monetary savings to be gained: no accommodation costs; cooking "at home" instead of going out for meals; free use of car; free laundry, clothesline, dryer and DYI ironing.

No doubt there will also be other savings. For example, you can't stay cooped up together in a hotel room for long. You'll need to spend a good deal of time out and about for the sake of your mental health. And while you're out, you'll inevitably end up spending money on something.

Besides, there's so much more room in a house and yard. Even a normal apartment will be a lot more spacious than a hotel room. So you won't have to go out for your sanity — just to visit local attractions, go shopping and so forth.

Here's something else to think about if you've got children. Why not arrange to house swap with another couple who have children of a similar age? Then you'll each have the necessary items on hand when you get to your destination — whether it be a cot, a high chair, a stroller, a trike or bike. Plus toys and games, books, children's videos, DVDs and the like. None of which (other than one or two special favourites) you will have to take with you. So you'll be able to travel that much lighter.

Even if you're travelling by car, and have a little more room to take things with you, you won't need to cram every corner to get bulkier items in. You'll be able to travel in a lot more comfort.

You may even find a backyard cubbyhouse and swing set at your destination. (Or maybe you'll be on the lookout for things like this, before deciding on which house swap to choose.)

And what if it rains during your holiday? Staying in a normal house is a whole lot more pleasant for a family than being cooped up in a hotel room, or a cramped guesthouse, caravan or tent.

Having constant access to a laundry and iron will also help you travel lighter, since you can pack less clothes when you're able do the washing more often. Especially kiddie clothes, which tend to need changing more than once each day!

Let's return for a moment to the monetary savings you make through house swapping, which are likely to amount to at least hundreds and possibly a couple of thousand dollars. Instead of rationing visits to fun parks, aquariums, "sea worlds" and the like, you'll be able to afford to take the kids to explore as many of these attractions as you like. And STILL come home with a lot more of your hard-earned cash, rather than an empty wallet or purse, and a credit card that will take months to pay off.

When you add it all up, house swapping (home exchanging) really is tailor-made for families!

How much does it cost?

Aussie House Swap membership is only $65 per year! However, if you do not manage to house swap in your first year we will give you another 12 months membership absolutely free! This is our guarantee to you! For $65 (less than the cost of one nights motel accommodation) you can make as many house swaps as you like within your 12 months.

Article courtesy of Aussie House Swap website. Like our Partner site, Home Away, Aussie House Swap gives you the opportunity to stay in someone else’s home, while they stay in yours.

Image for illustration purposes only

In Review: The Mole People (1993)

~ There were many times during my stay in New York City in the spring of 2008, when I stood on a subway platform beneath the streets of Manhattan, and watched some work detail, or maintenance squad disappear into the dark, dimly lit tunnels of the New York subway system.

I remember thinking how a tour of that subterranean world would make my New York stay an even more memorable and fascinating experience than it had already become. So when I saw a copy of Jennifer Toth’s The Mole People at my local resellers of “quality books” – I couldn’t resist picking it up to read and review.

However, The Mole People is not a story about the thousands of maintenance men and women working for the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority. Instead, the book claims to tell the true story of thousands of New York’s homeless who had turned abandoned subway tunnels deep underneath Manhattan into their homes.

In 1993, Jennifer Toth was a 24 year old intern working for The Los Angeles Times when she began researching and writing The Mole People. I say, ‘claims’ because the book was originally met with some scepticism, and Toth was criticized for her lack of precise details regarding many of the locations mentioned throughout the book. Nonetheless, what is not in doubt or in dispute is the fact that there was then – and still are – homeless people living in abandoned and derelict sections of the labyrinthine New York subway system.

On April 23, 2009, the The Coalition for the Homeless released its tenth annual "State of the Homeless" report, an annual assessment of homelessness in New York City. The report finds that currently more than 36,000 homeless New Yorkers, including 15,500 children, sleep each night in municipal shelters. “Thousands more sleep rough on city streets, in public parks, in the subway system (my emphasis), and in other public spaces.”

Jennifer Toth reported that some of the people she met had been living underground for only a matter of weeks or months, while others said they had been living beneath New York’s towering skyline for up to 15 years or more. Some die underground, struck by trains, or electrocuted by the dangerous ‘third rail’. Others die of natural causes or diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and pneumonia, and still more die as a result of violent confrontations with other members of the homeless community.

There has been a concerted effort to clean up the subway system in the years since Toth’s book was published, but it is patently clear from the Coalition for the Homeless report mentioned above, that the system is still the shelter of choice for many individuals.

Some live underground simply because they can not afford to pay rent for even the most substandard housing in New York. Others are on the run from the police, or their abusive parents or (in the case of some teenage tunnel dwellers) from foster parents. Still more suffer from some type of mental illness, or are drug or alcohol addicted. Some stay underground for the freedom it affords them – because they can’t deal with the regimentation associated with staying in emergency accommodation or government run shelters. Despite the hardship they face, some are able to form supportive communities underground, and generally try to look out for each others welfare.

Part melodrama, part exposé; part history, part Gothic horror story; veering between sociological study and classic investigative journalism, Jennifer Toth’s The Mole People is a depressing indictment of modern America, and its inability to help the most vulnerable and most disenfranchised people in the wealthiest country on earth.

But is the book true? I have no doubts that the story Jennifer Toth exposes so graphically, is as accurate as any 24 year journalism intern can hope to make it. In the book Bernard Isaacs, one of the long-term tunnel dwellers, makes the point that the most important truth about underground people is that there is no single truth about them.

“They tell many stories and there is truth in all their stories,” he says. “You just have to find it.”

One can only hope that things have changed dramatically since the book was written in 1993. Sadly, judging by the figures already referred to above in the Coalition for the Homeless report – I wouldn’t count on it.

--o0o--

More Information

The New York Times archives: New York Times journalist John Tierney was one of the first to write about the tunnel dwellers and bring them to the attention of the general public. If you visit the New York Times website and search for "Mole people" John Tierney you will be presented with several articles John wrote as far back as 1990.

On Film: I have tried in vain to find the title of, or information about a documentary I saw many years ago (probably back in the 1970s) which showed some of New York’s homeless living underground. I clearly remember one scene in which a homeless man barbeques a large rat over an open fire before eating it! And no, it was not Voices In the Tunnels: In Search of the Mole People, the 2008 documentary by Vic David. If you want to view the trailer for Voices in The Tunnels, click here…

Other Books: New York Underground, By Julia Solis, and Invisible New York, By Stanley Greenberg & Thomas H. Garver, both shed light on this fascinating topic.

Margaret Morton: Scattered throughout The Mole People, are a number of stark, black and white photographs depicting some of the homeless featured in Jennifer Toth’s book. The images were taken by New York photographer, Margaret Morton. Morton has published several stunning pictorial books documenting the lives of New York’s homeless, and these are available for purchase via the 'Reading List' box on the left, or directly from Margaret’s website.

Jennifer Toth Today: Jennifer Toth continues to write books with strong social themes. Her second book, Orphans of the Living (Simon & Schuster, 1997) examined the system of foster care as it existed – and may still exist – in the United States at the time the book was published.

In 1998, Toth served as the editor of the book, Keeping America's Promise to North Carolina's Children. Unfortunately (at the time of writing this), apart from the title, I haven’t been able to find out any more about the book or its main theme. Just what is “America’s promise”, to the children of North Carolina?

And finally, her last book (as far as I can ascertain), is What Happened to Johnnie Jordan?: The Story of a Child Turning Violent. Billed as “…a riveting narrative of youth violence in America,” What Happened to Johnnie Jordan? was published in 2002.

Finally: More adventurous readers may be inspired by this…

--o0o--

Click image below to purchase The Mole People from Amazon.Com...

The Week That Was #3

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: San Fermin ‘Running of the Bulls’ Festival. Yes, it is that time of the year again, when thousands of Spanish citizens and international visitors try their luck, and risk their lives at the nine-day San Fermin Festival.

More popularly known as the Running of the Bulls Festival, the event is currently underway in Pamplona, Spain. Each year dozen of participants are injured and occasionally some die as a result of their involvement in the daily runs. In fact, since 1924, 15 people have died and over 200 have been seriously injured in the event.

The Useful: Trip Advisor Forums. Sometimes, even I can be a bit slow on the uptake. So when I discovered the Trip Advisor Forums on the Trip Advisor website recently, I knew I was amongst friends. I have no idea of the number of forums on the site, but certainly there must be thousands, since every major region in the world has its own section on the site, and those regions are subdivided into smaller sections, which are in turn subdivided into smaller zones, which ... well, you get the picture. If you are planning a visit to Paris, France (or Paris, Texas for that matter), you will find a forum with members willing and able to answer your questions and provide useful advice. Highly recommended.

The Downright Bizarre: Bizarre Travel Complaints

Travel agents must have thousands of stories to tell (both hilarious and horrifying) about their clients. Like the holidaymaker who said he felt inadequate after seeing an aroused elephant, which in turn ruined his honeymoon. Or the tourist who complained that “the beach was too sandy,” and another upset when they discovered fish swimming in the sea. Huh?

In another complaint a British guest at a Novotel hotel in Australia said his soup was too thick and strong, not realising he had been supping from the gravy boat. In an even stranger twist, one traveller blamed a hotel for her pregnancy. "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant,” the guest said. “This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Other complaints included “there are too many Spanish people in Spain” and “too much curry served in restaurants in India”.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Click above image (if you dare) to view full size…