Q and A
Home Exchange Sources
Q.
I am trying to find organizations that facilitate international home exchanges. -- Ann Jung, Olivebridge, N.Y.
A. Here are three services that publish lists of homes and apartments for exchange. Subscribers, who can list their own homes, contact the owner of a home in the directory and make their own arrangements. To make an exchange, it helps to be flexible about dates and exact location.
Intervac U.S., Post Office Box 590504, San Francisco, Calif. 94159; (800) 756-4663. This company publishes directories in February, April and June of houses and apartments for exchange (and some for rent). The total number of listings is about 8,400, with 80 percent international. Subscribers pay $62 for three direcotires and a listing in one; for those 62 and older, $55.
Vacation Exchange Club, Post Office Box 650, Key West, Fla. 33041; (800) 638-3841. This company publishes directories in January and March followed by monthly supplements, with a total of about 16,000 listings, about 60 percent of them international. The cost is $50 a year, including a listing in one of the directories.
Trading Homes International, Post Office Box 787, Hermosa Beach, Calf.  90254; (800) 877-8723. This new service will publish two directories a year. It expects to have about 2,000 listings, 40 percent of them international, in its first directory this December; the second will appear in May. Membership is $65, which includes a listing in both directories.
There are companies that, for a fee, search for homes to exchange for yours. One is Better Homes and Travel, Post Office Box 10664, Marina del Rey, Calif. 90295; (310) 821-5500. Send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope if requesting material. There is a $50 registration fee, which, if no exchange is made, is credited toward a rental; the closing cost for an exchange is $150 to $600 depending on location, length of stay and type of accommodation. The company deals primarily with properties in France, Switzerland, Italy and England.  Walking in Winter
Q.
My husband and I would like to find a group walking holiday this winter in a warm climate. Do you know of any such trips? -- Ethel Roskies, Montreal
A. Wintertime walking tours are available in Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand and other parts of Asia and, for those who don't mind sweater weather, in southern Europe. Here is a sampling of tours in the winter. They may be booked, at the same cost as from the organizer, through All Adventure Travel, Post Office Box 4307, Boulder, Colo. 80306, (800) 537-4025, which represents operators of hiking vacations all over the world. All rates, based on two people sharing a room, include accommodations and most meals but not air fare. In all of the tours, luggage is transported from lodging to lodging, so walkers need carry only a day pack.
"Big Island Walking," on the island of Hawaii, six days, emphasizes volcanoes, flora and fauna. Operated by Backroads Bicycle Tours of Berkeley, Calif., it costs $1,195 a person.
"Caribbean Rain Forest," on the island of Dominica, seven days, is offered by Earth Tours of New York.  Participants stay in country inns and small hotels. The cost is $990. There are monthly departures (including groups especially for older hikers).
Costa Rica, with its rain forest and beaches, is popular for winter hiking, and several companies offer trips there. One, "Costa Rica Nature Safari," 12 days, is $1,495 and is run by Avenir Adventures of Park City, Utah.
Our winter is summer in New Zealand. "Great South Island Wilderness and Walking," 9 days ($985) and 13 days ($1,470), takes walkers to country hotels, bed and breakfasts and farms. It is operated by Alpine Recreation of Lake Tekao in New Zealand). The seasons are also reversed in Australia, where "Wildlife, Wildflowers and Wilderness," run by Monarch Nature Tours in Canberra, Australia, takes in six national parks in southeast Australia in 14 days. The cost is $1,968.
In "Thailand Tropical Adventure," 16 days, run by Bolder Adventures of Boulder, Colo., participants hike in the hills of northern Thailand and stay in villages. They spend the last five days on the resort island of Phuket. The cost is $2,295.
In Europe, it is possible to make "self-guided" village-to-village walks along the mountainous ridge in the west of Majorca, Spain. The weather is in the 60's; December and January can be rainy, though. The operator, Sherpa Expeditions of London, makes lodging reservations and supplies maps and instructions and arranges moving of luggage from place to place. The cost is $619 for eight days. A similar trip can be made on the Greek island of Rhodes. A seven-day walking tour there, offered by Avenir Advenures, is $699.  Foreign Coins for Charity
Q.
Is there a charitable organization that solicits the foreign coins travelers have when returning to the United States? -- Mary H. Pollack, New York, N.Y.
A. There are sometimes receptacles at airports that solicit traveler's coins for various charities. Once you are home, there is an organization, called Change for Good, based in Washington, that accepts foreign coins. Operated by the Potomac Area Council of the American Youth Hostel, Change for Good collects coins (paper money is accepted too), which banks have agreed to convert into dollars without charging a commission. The money is used for community programs, among them Partners in Education, which arranges outings bringing together disadvantaged children and young people who stay at the hostels. For more information, or to send foreign money, contact American Youth Hostels Change for Good, 1108 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 783-0717.  Hawaii, Wet and Dry
Q.
We will be in Hawaii in January. I have heard that the weather on one half of an island can be drastically different from that on the other half. Is this so? -- Sandra M. Pulver, New York, N.Y.
A. It is indeed. The north and eastern coasts, which are exposed to the trade winds, get much heavier rainfall than the south and western coasts. For example, Hilo, on the east coast of the island of Hawaii, has a total annual rainfall that averages 128 inches while Puako, in a sheltered part of the island's west coast, gets just 10 inches a year. More representative of a southern climate is Honolulu, on the southwest coast of Oahu. It gets an average annual rainfall of 23 inches. In January, Honolulu gets an average of 14 rainy days, with a total of 4.1 inches. Still, rain is intermittent, and there is sunshine almost every day there. (For comparison, New York has 12 days of precipitation in January with a total of 3.7 inches.)