We live in a small beach town. Surfing, kayaking, windsurfing, kitesurfing, sailing, and beachcombing are popular pastimes here. We think our beach town is fantastic, and so does a national expert. When USA Today (national newspaper) called “Dr. Beach,” also known as Florida International University professor and coastal expert Stephen Leatherman, for 10 Florida destinations that combine sand, surf and a welcoming sense of community, Cocoa Beach claimed a spot among his choices. Readers of the National newspaper, USA Today voted Cocoa Beach as the 3rd best beach town in Florida.

We have art festivals, sand-sculpting festivals, and even bird-watching festivals, as many North American birds live in our lagoon over the winter. We are the closest beach to Orlando, so the Orlando theme parks can be part of your vacation plans!

We live in the south part of town, which is largely residential. Our beaches in this part of town are quiet, with single family homes rather than condos or hotels. You can bike to to the beach, less than 1 mile away, on a bikepath. If you prefer to drive, easy free parking is at the end of the street. Public tennis courts and a playground are even closer, about 1/2 of a mile away. A public golf course is 3 miles away. You could also bike to town, about 1 mile away, and visit a coffee shop or a number of local restaurants. If you travel about 3 miles north, the town is more tourist oriented, with many surf shops (including the famous Ron Jons surf shop), restaurants, hotels, and bars.

We are about 15 minutes from Port Canaveral, home to Disney Cruise Lines as well as Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruise lines. We are 30 minutes from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and 1 hour from Orlando International Airport. Disney World, Sea World and Universal Harry Potter are also nearby, about 1 hour and 15 minutes away. The newly opened Legoland is just under two hours away.

We are a family of four. My husband is a physician who now works in administration in the public health sector. I formerly worked in International Healthcare systems marketing, but now I stay home with the children. We have two sons, ages 13 and 16, in International Baccalaureate Schools. They both are learning French (and some Spanish and Chinese) and enjoy playing musical instruments.

We love to travel and have been to Rome, Athens, Cairo, London, and Paris within the last few years. We had wonderful exchanges in France and Belgium, another in Washington DC, and a December exchange in London. Our most recent exchanges were in the French Alps and Croatia, which were great.

Most of our exchanges are simultaneous, however, our home is available on a nonsimultaneous basis from June 21-28 and during Thanksgiving. We would always like ski locations in December 2013 or late March 2014. Since we are planning to stay in a hotel in London during the 2nd week in July, a simultaneous exchange to London at this time is also possible.

Otherwise, we are interested in any locations with something different, such as a historic city or in a rural area with cows and horses, especially in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, or France.

We have enjoyed the opportunity to have "local" experiences in other countries. We want our children to learn about and appreciate other cultures by experiencing them first-hand. We have found the best part of our trips are meeting the people that live in the areas of our exchange. We are especially interested in our boys meeting children in other countries to learn more about other cultures and to practice other languages.

My son and husband are allergic to cats and dogs, and cannot stay where a dog or cat remains inside the house during the exchange. We do have a special small non-shedding allergy-friendly dog, but she stays with friends during the exchange.

Often, depending on the location, we travel with another family, so room to sleep 8 people is something we usually need.