~ Home swapping ~

Have you ever heard of home swapping?? Exchanging your home with somebody else on the other side of the world for a vacation??

We do that!



We take advantage of vacationing in another country by NOT paying for accommodation. It is a fantastic way of staying in a real great place, you choose yourself. An apartment in the middle of a big city, or a house on the beach, or a lodge in the mountains, if you can imagine it you can go there!

You just swap your house with theirs!!

We do that! And we like it!!

We are part of people all over the world who swap their homes for a short or longer time, you can go to this website, which we are part of, but there are actually many of these websites. However, we liked this one, because it had a huge number of homes ALL over the world. So you have to look out for that, that there is enough variety. Then you pay a yearly fee and you are free to swap, as often as you like.

Sounds good or what?? To me it does!

The only hard part is, if you have only 1 house, a lot of people on these sites have 2 or more... then you need to swap at the same time with other people who want to be in your house, and you want to go to that country at that time... so that is sometimes tricky. So it would be easier if you have 2 houses, and you can swap with the one that you are not living in full-time, but we have only 1 house and it worked out for us!

I am going this summer to Bethany Beach in Ocean View ~ Delaware in the USA and those wonderful people of that house came to ours last year during the World Cup Soccer, while I was away on Koh Samui. So in this case it worked out just fine. And I can't wait to go to the beach in Delaware this summer! I am sure we will have a grand time. And all for free!! No money is exchanged, they stayed in my house and I am staying in theirs.



How fun is that?? OR.... do you have reservations?? It's all based on an honest description of your house, and having respect for other peoples property. It worked out fine for us, so I am sure that this time it will work out too. Like buying something on Ebay, you need to give feedback, so if you don't tell the truth it will come out eventually and nobody wants to swap with you anymore. And in general when you check out the houses and the families they are all very well educated, have nice homes, take good care of their stuff, and they will do the same to your house.

Check it out, and see if it is something for you?? HERE is the link of 1st Home Exchange. And if you like to see my house registered there type in 21810 in the REFERENCE slot on the left.

But go and browse a bit in countries you always wanted to vacation and see what is available, it is so much fun to start dreaming and seeing yourself in that beach house in a tropical location. Or in the centre of Paris you can rent a cute little pied-a-tiere. How fun!!

Tell me what you think of this idea??

Have a fantastic day, fantasizing about your DREAM LOCATION ~ FOR FREE!!

I am researching BALI for next summer 2012, first I was thinking of going to Thailand again, but now I am thinking I want to go to BALI ~ Indonesia for 8 weeks. So hey if you know somebody who wants to swap a house with me, put me into contact!!



Mireille xx

Out of Africa... and Indonesia.

I found this beautiful website via another blogging friend of mine. African Digital Art is an online collective, a creative space, where digital artist, enthusiasts and professionals can seek inspiration, showcase their artistry and connect with emerging artists. If you go to this website you will find the most amazing artists which are not yet well known.. at least not in the international scene.

So I wanted to share some of these fine artists, so you can be as amazed as I am what a continent as Africa has to offer!! There is not only poverty and misery here, there are beautiful artists making the most amazing pieces of art!

The first one I would like to share with you is Joey Lawrence, he is 20 years old and takes the most amazing and brilliant photographs of indigenous people. He travels around the world and goes deep into the jungle to find groups of people who have never seen people from other cultures, they are just mind blowing these images! Go and see his website you will LOVE it!!

Abyssinia, the Cradle of Mankind
Abyssinia is the old name for Ethiopia, which translates to “beautiful.” (Ethiopia translates to ‘land of burnt faces’.) It has no political meaning, but simply a nice way of describing the ancient in this country. Although disputed, many people believe that humankind first blossomed from an area near the Ethiopian/Kenyan border due to strong archaeological evidence. And also disputed, many people also believe that Ethiopia is the region of the Garden of Eden mentioned in the bible. Regardless, it is safe to say that perhaps some of mankind's first peoples originated in this region, and it’s people remain ancient and diverse… However, in this present day they are also people of change.





See more stunning pictures of this Ethiopian tribe on his website: www.joeyl.com

And here another set he did of the Mentawai people in Indonesia.

The Mentawai: Shamans of the Siberut Jungle
The Mentawai have one of the earth’s most fascinating and best-preserved indigenous cultures. Tragically, it is perilously close to being extinguished by the unchecked tidal wave of Indonesia’s modernization.

Here you see Joey with the Mentawai tribe. He is still so young, but oh so talented as a photographer, just amazes me!!





This photographer and many more great artists are to find on AFRICAN DIGITAL ART, go and see for yourself if you are interested in art but also interesting people and stories from all over the world!

Have a great day,
Mireille