HOME SWAPPED HOME While a popular concept abroad, the idea of home swaps has just begun to find takers in India. With the current economic climate remaining bleak, it’s an attractive option for inveterate globe-trotters,

HOME SWAPPED HOME

While a popular concept abroad, the idea of home swaps has just begun to find takers in India. With the current economic climate remaining bleak, it’s an attractive option for inveterate globe-trotters,

In the 2006 American romantic comedy The Holiday, wedding columnist at The Daily Telegraph Iris Simpkins (the delightful Kate Winslet) discovers at an office party that her selfish but achingly handsome lover is engaged to another woman. She manages a smile as only Kate Winslet can, but breaks down the moment she returns to her cottage in idyllic Surrey, England. A thousand miles away in California, Amanda Woods (the effervescent Cameron Diaz) is having issues of her own: she’s just learnt that her boyfriend’s been cheating on her. The two women log into a home exchange website and decide to swap their homes for two weeks over a sparkling web chat, where Simpkins assures Woods that Surrey is completely devoid of eligible bachelors and, by extension, potential heart breakers. Once in LA, Simpkins gets her life in order. And Woods? Well, she bags Jude Law, who plays Simpkins’ sensitive brother. In the real world, home swaps are mostly a cost-effective way to travel around the world, involving little drama and no dishy strangers. While the concept is a boon to frequent travellers from elsewhere in the world, especially in a difficult economic climate, the idea’s just begun to find favour in India. Getting started Alexandra Origet du Cluzeau, director of International PR, HomeExchange.com, explains that even though the site has not been officially launched in India, a handful of Indian families have already signed on, offering to swap their houses for vacations. One thing holding people back may be security, but Cluzeau says such fears have little basis. “In 20 years and tens of thousands of exchanges, we’ve never had a report of a theft, malicious vandalism, or a case of someone getting to their exchange home and finding a vacant lot,” she adds. Unlike a home stay or even CouchSurfing, the parties involved most often get an entire house at their disposal. “The process is simple,” explains Anjali Pamnani from Knok, a home exchange website operated from Spain. “You join a reliable home exchange community (like a home exchange website), register your home and start contacting members in those destinations you wish to travel to.” When Katherine Hay came to Ladakh 15 years ago as a researcher, she fell in love with India and decided to stay back. Hay, a Canadian, married an Indian and the duo have been living in Delhi ever since. They also own a five bedroom traditional villa in Goa, which Hay calls their ‘vacation home’. So far, Hay has successfully participated in eight home exchanges, travelling in that mode to England, Denmark, Thailand and Australia. “I have gotten offers from all over the world, like China, Croatia, Turkey, Hawaii and Paris. Some of them are from very far away places that you wouldn’t go to. But it’s fun to daydream about travelling to these places,” laughs Hay. Swim with seals Hay takes a while to choose her best home swapping experience. There was that retired couple from Brighton, UK, who owned a three-bedroom converted carriage house which was “minutes away from the ocean”, making it possible for the Hays to explore the British Coast. The couple even arranged for their neighbour to baby-sit her kids on the days she had to step out. There was also that time when Hay swapped her house with a wealthy couple in Koh Samui, Thailand. “It was a beautiful five-bedroom house right at the beach, with a cinema hall. The house also had a lovely team of house managers who took great care of us and cooked amazing Thai food,” she says. And in Vancouver, the quirky neighbour next door pulled out his boat and took Hay and the kids fishing. “We fished for crabs using crab traps … we cooked and ate crabs that we caught minutes ago!” But she is eventually partial to her vacation in Maine, USA, where she stayed at a three-bedroom cottage right by the Pacific Ocean and a tiny fishing community. “It was so wonderful,” remembers Hay. “We swam in the Ocean with seals!” The first time Montreal-based Tony DiCaprio exchanged his house for one in Hawaii, their exchange family had arranged for friends to pick them up from the airport. “The pick-up was a typical Hawaiian welcome complete with a fresh flower lei (garland) greeting. The highlight for our children was the night the family invited us to join them and their friends on the beach for a BBQ and children’s movie.” In Buenos Aires, his exchange family left them with addresses of great places to eat out and go tango dancing. “They (the exchange family) lived in Boedo, a not-so-touristy area. We ended up at a milonga (tango dancing evening) where but for two other persons, we were the only tourists in sight out of about 200 dancers,” he says. “We had an eye feast of beautiful dancers, their attire, shoes, dresses and their amazing dancing techniques. We left at around 3am, when people were still dancing with a lot of heart.” Taken in by the concept, DiCaprio created the home-exchange website, 1st HomeExchange.com .  The cost factor remains the concept’s most attractive advantage, reducing or eliminating accommodation, restaurant and car rental expenses. “A home exchange allows for a holiday that is no more expensive than staying at home,” DiCaprio explains. “Also, most exchangers make friends that they never would have met had they stayed at a hotel.”