FRANK KELLY, Irish organiser of the Intervac home exchange
MY WIFE AND I first got involved in home exchanges in the 1970s. We were both teachers and wanted to travel during the long summer holidays, but we didn't have the means.
I came across Intervac, thought it was a great idea and signed up. Our first swap was with a Swedish family in 1974. We're still friends - they came to visit us last summer.
In 1977 I took leave of absence to get a master's degree, and I was sitting in the library in UCD when I saw an ad looking for an Irish organiser for the agency, so I rang up and started straight away.
I have always done it on a part-time basis. You wouldn't do it for the money, but we get to one or two Intervac conferences each year in different parts of the world, so it's great. I also just think home-swapping is a great way to travel.
I retired from the Department of Education in 2005, aged 61, so now I have more time for Intervac. Most recently, I've been very involved in taking it all online. These days I work from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday.
Most of my time is spent answering questions. People tend to ask the same things, such as whether or not I visit their house to inspect it before letting them join. Actually I don't: house-swapping is very much based on trust.
They also want to know about car and home insurance. They may be leaving a car behind, or borrowing someone's abroad, and I can fill them in.
Occasionally, a couple might have teenage kids who don't want to go on holiday with them and are wondering if they can stay at home when the exchange family is visiting.
They can if everybody agrees. It can work out great to have someone on hand to recommend all the best places an exchange family should visit. Again, it's all about trust.
I always tell people to build up regular communications by e-mail with potential exchangees, so you can get a feel for them before swapping. Ask for photos of their house and references if you like.
At the end of the day, however, there's no point worrying unduly, because you're both in the same boat, trusting someone else with your home.
By far the most frequently asked question is how clean the house should be. I just tell people not to worry - once it's generally clean and tidy that's enough. You don't have to go overboard, although people do, especially on a first exchange.
Things do go wrong occasionally, and I'll spend some time on the phone dealing with those issues, too. It helps that we've been through it all ourselves.
Once we went to an apartment in Paris and had specified no pets, as one of our sons had asthma. When we arrived there were cats everywhere, so we had to call the Intervac organiser and find somewhere else, fast.
Another time we were house-sitting in France when the owner's horse went missing. It turned up eventually, but only after I'd spent hours driving around, searching and wondering how I was going to break it to the guy. Still, it's all part of the adventure.
I'm under a bit of extra pressure right now because I'm studying for a law degree, and have my finals in 10 days. I'll probably go on to study at King's Inns.
Keeping up Intervac is no problem, though. I've always studied, even when I worked full-time. I have three primary degrees and three master's at this stage. To me an interest in travel and an interest in learning are definitely linked.
In conversation with Sandra O'Connell