A British couple enjoyed a stay-for-free HomeExchange after watching Cameron Diaz swap homes with Kate Winslet in the blockbuster movie The Holiday

In the movies, the stars change theirs as they swap homes between Los Angeles and England. The romantic comedy also features Jude Law and Jack Black.

“We watched The Holiday film and had heard about people exchanging homes,” says Home-Exchange member Emma. “My husband had a substantial number of air miles and after a trip to New York last September we decided we would like to take our children to the US. In order to keep the vacation ‘affordable’, we looked on the internet at HomeExchange.com.”

Home exchanging means that, except for getting there, a holiday nearly anywhere in the world doesn’t have to cost any more than staying at home. With no hotel bills, the benefit of free accommodation and the ability to exchange everything from cars to boats and bicycles, home exchange has become the best way to experience the world like a local and to stay-for-free. It provides the perfect opportunity to take a long haul holiday, or weekend trip, this festive season and throughout the year.

“The home exchange was a fabulous experience all round,” says Emma. “It was great to get behind the ‘tourist trap’ and live in a real neighbourhood, albeit for a short time. It gave our family an insight into how different family life is in the US and living in general – it was an experience and most certainly an education for us all.”

HomeExchange.com is featured in The Holiday and serves as the movie’s plotline. Director Nancy Meyers came up with the idea for the script while browsing the website and a hit was born.