The moment I spotted the title “The Home Exchanger” I had an idea that the site I was to come across was not going to be personal, and I was right. In fact, The Home Exchanger offers precisely as its name suggests, services for people wishing to exchange homes for vacations. An interesting concept, and one certainly worth exploring further. I have never come across a weblog covering this topic and, at least for me, this made it unique.
First impressions are a fairly straightforward 3 column layout powered by typepad. The site is, perhaps, a little generic, but is businesslike, and there are plenty of images of potential home exchanges to add a little colour to the template. The category links in the left hand column are particularly useful for getting a little background and advice on home exchanging. I did not find any section detailing precisely what the site was about, or its origins for that matter, but when I finally found the beginning of the archives I found a small piece entitled The Trip begins .
I had never considered a home exchange as a possible alternative to renting property, something I happen to do often, but this site was informative and interesting enough to make the idea appealing. I’m not sure it would ever be something I would seriously consider, but at least I understand a little more about it now, and can appreciate that this site would be particularly useful for people who are considering or already participate in home exchanges.
In brief, all links worked, and the archives were relatively easy to navigate, and I believe that the choice of category archives suited the subject matter. I do believe some sort of link to the first post would be of some use to potential readers.
This is a specialised weblog dealing with one subject matter; exchanging homes. Yes, in one way it is likely to have a limited appeal – to those interested in home exchanges, or already participate and want some advice. Yet, I believe that such a site could open up the idea to other people as a form of experiencing another culture from a unique perspective – by exchanging a home. Its only been in existence a couple of months, and I can see some room for improvement – with a unique design, tailored to the subject matter I can see this being a top scoring weblog purely because it is unique, and is, potentially, a useful source of information. The Home Exchanger