Swapping of homes

Home exchange, like the one featured in the Hollywood movie, The Holiday, is something which is picking up pace. If you have yet to watch the movie, it is a movie about two women who put their houses up for listing on a website that does this home exchanges.

What it entails is actually putting your house up on the market for someone you do not know from halfway across the world and then you move into the stranger's house for the duration of your stay in that country and hers/his in your home. Of course, you can always say no until you find that one which you want to exchange with.

The attraction of this is actually to minimize the cost of travelling. We all know that the biggest fraction of any travelling cost is lodging. This home exchange thing would cut your spending and gives you more to sight see, or whatever you plan to do in a foreign country. 

There are many websites that offer this services for a fee. The fee is a joining fee for a year or two or three. You can see listings for free, but if you wish to contact the person and swap homes, then you've got to suscribe to it. In the many listings that I came across did list countries of their choice. Some would leave it open for suggestion. 

It would be a good experience going over to someone else's house. I do wonder if they have to be certified genuine or not. It might be the case of someone putting up someone else's house for swap and then swapping for real. That would need more checking up on.