Home Exchanging in Australia featured on CNN
 

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video...ef=videosearch

Yes, I am in the piece.

Very cool, Lauren! Hoping for a detailed trip report upon your return.

We did a six-week house exchange in Luxembourg several years ago. Great way to travel.

I have been so fortunate with this-in 2004 I did a house swap for a month with a man in Sydney. He came to my place in NYC. I found him through friends and it was totally legit. He was also older so I knew he wouldn't wreck my place or have crazy parties. His home was 3 blocks from Bondi Beach and it was lovely. We met and got on great.

We swapped again in 2005 and have kept in touch ever since. I made him promise me to call me first if he wanted to come back to NYC as I will make any excuse to go to Sydney! I was there in March 2008 for a wedding so we had lunch, and I just got an email from him saying he would like to figure out another swap time. He moved to Double Bay into a fabulous apartment that is all new....so I can't wait!!

It isn't weird to me to have someone in my home at all, maybe because I know this man and I'm in his place at the same time. He even went out to visit with my parents and they loved him. If it works out well it is totally worth it.

My trip saga is being posted currently on independenttraveler.com. Look on their boards if you are interested.

Wouldn't it be more neighborly to post your trip report here rather than send us to another site?

Safe journey.

Sadly, I can't find the trip report. I searched in Australia, and with your name, but cannot locate it ):

My trip report is on independenttraveler.com. You go to the message boards to find it, then to Australia. It is not in the trip report section there because I will do that after the trip is all finished and I have time at home to do it. Again, it is on the message boards there.

I no longer post trip reports on fodors. I do not like the format and I feel the site is not appropriately monitored for flames. That is one reason I no longer participate regularly on fodors as well. I only came back on the site to comment on the CNN business.

The thread to look at on independenttraveler.com is "One Big Trip Down Under". The link is here:

http://boards.independenttraveler.co...ad.php?t=13264

My name on IT is LSKahn.

http://www.independenttraveler.com/t...ts.cfm?ID=1667

http://www.independenttraveler.com/t...ts.cfm?ID=1668

I am correcting the links to my trip reports on the independent traveler. The link I posted was to my running commentary on the independent traveler message board (I posted while the trip was ongoing). The above links are to the trip reports I wrote after the holiday.

The video has been taken down and is no longer available. I wish I had copied it but I didn't. I thought it would be available forever.

Such is the nature of evanescent fame.