Welcome to People Like Us

Here you’ll find a diverse group of people from all over the world with varied home exchange experiences but there is a common set of values. We believe in sharing, trust, generosity, respect, communication, equality, cooperation, honesty, hospitality, friendship, flexibility and adventure.

We take pride in our homes and we care about the environment in which we live: our village, city, country and our planet. We care about the ethos of home exchange and we do it because we love it.

Join us, and you’ll find people here just like you.

Hi, I'm Drew

This is People Like Us and I built it for people like you. People Like Us brings together my love of travel, my nerdy love of software development, and my aspirational love of language learning.

When we travel, we learn about and begin to understand people and how they live. We're more likely to listen to others' views and believe that they can be different from ours and still valid. Travel spreads goodness.

Open your home to the world and the world becomes your home.

How did PLU get started?

My wife and I live in Sydney with our son and we love travel. In 2017, we were having a chat about what future life might look like after school. We want to travel overseas for three to six months at a time. We want to improve our language skills. The conversation inevitably got to how we'd afford that and we talked about home swapping to keep the costs down.

We had an idea to set up our own community. We know a lot of people overseas and we thought it would be fun to run our own network. And so, the idea of People Like Us was born. The original idea was to have private communities but it turned out not as popular as our public community so that's what we focus on now.

The site was launched on the 1st of April 2018 and, in a very short space of time, has grown into the world's friendliest community of home swappers. We're people who want to share, who love home exchange, who want to see what it's like to actually live in a destination. We're a mix of people who have loads of experience and complete newbies but we’re engaged and actively looking for our next swap even if that's two years away.

Why is it called People Like Us?

Literally because that's how I described who it would be for to my wife on Day 1, before I'd written a single line of code.

The "us" originally meant people like my wife and me but it's evolved to mean our community. If you believe in the ethos of home exchange, if you're people like us, then join us. You'll be very welcome here.

How does it work?

People Like Us is a site for you to swap your home with other members for your holiday. Sign up, list your home and activate your listing, then browse through the other listings until you see one you like.

Chat to other members by sending them messages through the site. You'll find a button on their profile page. Introduce yourself and tell them what you're looking for. Some members can travel at any time and others will be looking for something very specific so don't be put off if you get a rejection.

When you're ready to offer a swap you'll find the booking form on the member's listing page. Fill in your dates and details about your travelling party. The other member can accept or reject your offer or mark it as 'considering' if they need some time to think.

We also have a vibrant Facebook Group called People Like Us Home Exchange https://www.facebook.com/groups/peoplelikeus.world. Most PLU members are also members of People Like Us Home Exchange. Join up and be a part of the conversation.