London Home Exchange

House swapping is believed to have developed in the 1950s, but rose to prominence in the 1970s as more people got involved and considered it to be a viable vacation option. Some estimates indicate that 15-20% of travelers are participating in some form of house swapping. Summer is traditionally the peak season for house swapping, due to families traveling during summer vacations and house swapping allows families to try out a location for a short period of time.
-Wikipedia

I've always liked the idea of saving a bit of money by doing a holiday home exchange, but my home would need some serious cleaning before I would want to offer it in a home exchange. The idea that someone would travel across the world and spend a couple of weeks camped out among my odds and ends while I was camped out among there's is kind of interesting.

It is fun to read some of the listings for vacation exchanges, a lot of people seem to want to travel to Sydney or New York, so I guess if you have a home in Sydney or New York then you'll do good on the whole home exchange front. But I also found people in London that wanted to home swap with people in New Mexico and just the USA. There are a lot of home exchanges for California as well.

A quick searches find that there are worldwide exchanges and property swaps seem possible to just about anywhere you'd want to go. Paris seems to be a hot vacation home exchange site, though the people in Paris seem to want home exchanges with people in Italy or California. There seem to be a few adventurous types who do house exchanges and want to go anywhere at any time. Must be nice to have that kind of freedom. I tend to feel a bit trapped myself at the moment.

Of course, it would be different if I had a vacation home swap, if I had that extra house by the lake or in the country. If I had enough money for a vacation home, would I still be interested in the whole house swap thing? Sure, if I had enough money, it would just mean that I could do all the holiday home exchanges I wanted and see more of the world.

London and HomeExchange

The travel company called HomeExchange.com was simply one of several companies working in the field of vacation and home exchanges (Live like a local – Stay for FREE. 18,000+ Worldwide Listings. Local-weekend-international swaps). Then Hollywood produced an silly but very enthusiastic movie about a home exchange (The Holiday, starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) in which the owner of a mansion in southern California swaps (for a time) her gigantic residence-with-swimming-pool-and-grounds for a cozy cottage in Great Britain. There are also a number of great exchanges in London. Reference was made in the film to HomeExchange.com, which is portrayed as bringing about the fictitious swap. The entire transaction, as depicted in the film, took less than 24 hours to arrange.

A lot of bookings took place. The phones rang off the walls, and thousands of people from all around the world rushed to add their houses or apartments to the vacation inventory of HomeExchange.com. There are only a few London exchanges, which is not too surprising since housing in London is always at a premium. But there are flats in London, so it is worth a look. And if you live in London, this would be a good time to think adding your place to the listings. Why not let someone enjoy a London Vacation, while you are off enjoying someplace you've always wanted to go?

At the Los Angeles Times Travel Show, the owner of HomeExchange.com was in attendance, along with his expanded staff and a recently-hired public relations representative. His firm has grown in size, and charges a fee of $99 a year for its assistance. If you don't find a home exchange the first year-your second year is free.

HomeExchange.com has over 18,000 listings -- repeat, 18,000 houses and apartments around the globe whose owners are willing to exchange with you. While HomeExchange.com may not be the largest such exchange firm, it's a contending for the top spot-and should be considered for your own next vacation.

Home Exchange is the single most logical, reasonable, and economical method of travel. It permits you to use an asset -- your own home or apartment -- to enjoy a free-of-charge stay in someone else's house or apartment. You live at the destination as a resident, not a tourist. Feeling at home in London would a lot easier with a real home in London.