An anti-cruise crusade

I am on a kind of "anti cruise crusade", having enjoyed the benefits of home exchange and more affordable forms of travel.  Instead of briefly, very briefly,  visiting ports of call on a cruise itinerary, home exchange gives you the opportunity to live the culture you are visiting, shop and walk the streets the way the locals do.  It is a rich experience which surpasses anything a brief hop off a cruise ship can allow.   

 

These pictures, showing a man doing ablutions before entering a mosque, a couple at a bank machine and seniors working out on exercise equipment in a park illustrate what I mean.

Imagine walking the streets of Istanbul at leisure, watching and photographing its people in their daily routines, because you have the time..... that is what a home exchange offers.

Walking the Streets of Paris

What could be more exciting than to walk the streets of Paris at leisure?  Only when you "live" in the city, albeit for a short time, are you able to enjoy this rare pleasure.  Home exchange offers this opportunity of living the daily lives of the people you are visiting.  

 

The Joy of Street Walking

Instead of standing in line at the next tourist attraction, which is fine when your time is limited and you are on a scheduled tour,  the alternative is to do a home exchange, walk the streets or sit in a sidewalk cafe and just watch peopleas they go about their daily rounds and routines. For me, at least, there is nothing more enjoyable than people watching. 

 

Living a Culture

The beauty of home exchange is that it allows one to stay longer and "live the culture" one visits.  No hurried bus tour or directed tour can replace the pleasure of simply walking the streets at leisure and "soaking up" the life the surrounds you. 

 

Record and Share your memories

An excellent way to record and share your home exchange memories is to collect and copy your favourite pictures with accompanying text in a professional-looking book -  I recently downloaded the free sofware from www.mypublisher.com and now have wonderful coffee table books of our ventures in Turkey, France and Scotland to share with my family and friends.   The software is very easy to use and the cost is most reasonable. A 30 page book cost me only $30 plus shipping. Here is another affordable way to see and share the world.

Melbourne, Australia

B & B's, Another Affordable Way To Go

Besides Home Exchange or the Affordable Travel Club, there is another wonderful way to explore the world the affordable way:  The Bed and Breakfast way.  Some of our most memorable vacations have been at B&B's in France, Scotland and Australia.  But these are not the only possibilities. At this very moment, we are exploring B&B possibilities in India, Cambodia and Viet Nam.   Just one word of advice:  do your planning and exploring early.  Unless you book a B&B at least 9 months to a year in advance, the best locations are gone.  But it's worth the effort.  The early bird catches the worm and there are some incredible worms worth catching out there!  The internet is a wonderful resource and most B&B's have excellent websites, allowing you even to select a particular room with that special view.

Our B&B in Burgundy, France