The local tourist adventure - international

Even though many of us have traveled to countries far away, we haven’t discovered the hidden gems of our hometown and surrounding towns yet. In this swap we’ll go on a local adventure. With that I want to challenge you to not spend too much money. The cheaper the better. As it is local there will be lots of options to stick to a very small budget.

The assignment will be to explore your hometown and at least 1 surrounding town. More towns is encouraged. Journal your quest, take lots of photographs (it’s optional to make short videos), and share it with your swappartners. That way we all will get a fun local vacation and get to experience an exotic vacation through the journal of our swappartners.

Some ideas for your trip/journal

• parks
• monuments
• museums, as they are local they usually are cheaper or free.
• historical sites
• local culture
• forests
• local history/myths/legends/ stories. No creepy stories please.
• wildlife, no scary insects or spiders though, as most people don’t like it.
• …

There’s a lot to choose from and a lot without spending to much money. This is a great swap to include your partner/spouse/children. So you could make it a fun family project. :-)

Tips to save more money

• Don’t eat out. I will only eat out for snacks like an ice cream or waffles. but otherwise you can save a lot by making a prepackaged healthy lunch with a bottle of water and some fruit. Let everyone carry his own backpack. If you really need something else, plan beforehand and buy it at your supermarket.
• Take public transport. As it is local, taking the bus/subway/train should be very cheap.
• Or even for free, take your bike or go on foot if it isn’t so far.
• Don’t spend money on souvenirs or set a strict budget for this. The same goes for other shopping like clothes, books,…
• …

How will you send the swap?

Write the journal in an e-mail or a blog post. Do not send downloads, as they can contain viruses. The contents have to be at least 10 A4 pages with decent size pictures. This does not mean huge pictures. So 5 pages for your hometown and 5 about a town near you. The text has to be equal to the pictures or more. So it can’t be a swap with only pictures but it has to be a fun reading experience with some pictures.

How to measure the amount pages when writing it as an e-mail or blogpost? Write in a Word-document first, there you can see how many pages you’ll have. Then copy/paste it in your e-mail or blog post.

If you wrote a blogpost, share the link in the e-mail and otherwise send your e-mail with the journal written in. Please place your swap partners in bcc for sending to not reveal their e-mailadresses to others.

II’ll set a maximum of 5 swap partners. Of course the more reading the more fun, but it probably isn’t too realistic to read and rate more swaps. I want everyone to get a fair rating from a swappartner who has actually read your swap.

Safety tips?

Anything can happen when you’re on ‘vacation’ even when it’s local like with this project. I cannot be held responsible for anything that happens while you’re on this adventure. I can give you some tips to make it a bit safer though:

• Don’t take any valuable items like: jewels, designer backpacks, designer clothing
• Don’t take a fancy camera with you, use your smartphone to take pictures. The quality from smartphones is good enough for quality photographs.
• Use a simple shoulder bag or a backpack facing front that can be closed with a zipper. Backpacks or open handbags are easy victims.
• Pack lightly. Fill your bag with your lunch, drink bottle, small snacks, wallet,… only the essentials. If you’re packed like you’re moving you’ll be an easy victim for theft.
• Don’t bring too much cash, credit cards are safer.

I hope these tips help. It’s important to stay safe, but also to enjoy this adventure. Be alert to potential danger, but don’t let it spoil your day.

Other swap requirements?

You must have a minimum of a 4.98 rating . You must have done a minimum of 40 swaps, have received a positive rating from them, and at least 10 of those have to be e-mailswaps. So this means no Newbies or unrated swappers. No recent or unexplained 1s or 3s. I will check profiles thoroughly, if anything looks suspicious or when you don’t meet the requirements then I will remove you from the swap. Please no flakers! I know for some, these requirements seem strict, but I want to make sure everyone in this swap is safe from flakers and that everyone receives something nice. I will angel, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.

Even though to many this ‘just an e-mail swap’, but rating is a requirement. We will all put a lot of time and energy in this swap, so it’s a sign of respect to your swap partners to rate. If you’re not willing to do this or if I get a glimpse of non-rating on your profile, you will be removed from this swap.

If you have questions, you can always pm me or leave a comment below. ^_^