Blog
Stay across the latest news, member stories and travel thinking from the People Like Us community.
Featured StoryNow the Feed does the looking for you
Write where you'd love to go, in plain language, and the Community Feed now tells the members who could host you
Here's a small change with a big effect. Until now, when you posted in the Community Feed about where you'd love to go, you had to hope the right member happened to scroll past. From today, the Feed reads your post and tells the members who could actually host you, and it works both ways, so you'll also hear when someone is looking for a home in your area. Write an ordinary sentence, be specific about your dates and what you can offer, and let the matching happen behind the scenes. Have a read, we think your next exchange might already be looking for you.
Drew
Aug 13, 2026 · 4 min read
Latest stories
Showing 9 of 227 posts
Your Story Belongs Here
We've given the PLU blog a proper makeover: a magazine-style home for the stories, tips and inspiration coming out of our Community every day. And now that it's open to all Premium members, we want to fill it with your stories. Thousands of good exchanges happen every year, full of small moments worth telling, like the neighbour who left flowers, the city that felt like home by day three, the swap that turned into a friendship. If you've got one of those, we'd love to help you tell it. Have a read, then have a think. Your story might be next.
Drew
Aug 6, 2026 · 2 min read
Negotiating Back-to-Back Exchanges
Ever wondered how some of our members manage six, seven, even eight exchanges back to back? Sara and Brian have been doing exactly that between their homes in Phuket and Sapporo, and this month they're sharing exactly how they make it work: from shared WhatsApp groups to laundry hand-offs and tailored welcome letters. It's a lovely, practical look at what trust and communication can do across a long string of exchanges. Have a read, we think you'll pick up a tip or two for your own next stretch of travel.
Sara and Brian
Jul 30, 2026 · 5 min read
Trusts: Your Reputation Can Arrive Before You Do
Remember your first exchange, back before anyone had left you feedback? We do too, and it's why we've built Trusts: a way for members to show trust in each other with a personal reference, separate from exchange feedback. If you know someone newer to the Community, whether it's the friend you introduced or someone you've met at a meetup, you can now put your name behind them, and it'll show on their profile from day one. You can even give a friend their first Trust before they've joined. Have a read, and think about who your first Trust should go to.
Drew
Jul 27, 2026 · 3 min read
Stepping Stones
During our exchange in Calgary with Amanda, I was trying to put my feelings into words, and I really don't know why, but "Stepping Stones" came to me, right in the middle of my French thinking. So back home, I decided to sit with it. What started as a phrase became something bigger. Every exchange we've made has laid down another stone in a wall of friendships that now stretches from Montana to Belgium to the Netherlands. Have a read of Corinne's story.
Corinne et Jef
Jul 23, 2026 · 4 min read
I Met a PLU Member on a Train Platform. I'd Love to Find Her
In 2024, our member Nikki was sitting on a train platform on the Gold Coast when a chance conversation with a stranger changed her life. The woman she met had been a PLU member for years -- but had quietly let her membership lapse after losing her husband. She mentioned it in passing. Nikki went home that same day and signed up on the spot. Nikki has been with us ever since, and we finally heard the full story when we met her in person at our Brisbane meetup last weekend. Now we're hoping our Community can help solve a small mystery: somewhere out there is a woman who has no idea the words she shared with a stranger on a platform led someone wonderful to find a whole new way to travel. We'd love to find her. Have a read -- maybe you know her.
Nikki
Jun 24, 2026 · 3 min read
Who We Are, and Why We Do This
People Like Us didn't start with a grand plan. It started with Drew and Kathy, two people who loved to travel and discovered that home exchange wasn't just a smarter way to see the world, but a different way of living in it. What grew from that small idea is a Community built on trust, generosity, and real curiosity about people and places. We've written a piece that captures who we are and why this Community exists, whether you're brand new here or have been exchanging with us for years. Have a read.
Drew
Jun 17, 2026 · 3 min read
The New PLU Feed is here — and it's ours
The PLU Feed has been rebuilt from the ground up — and if you tried it before and it didn't quite click, we'd love you to give it another look. This relaunch is faster, more beautiful, and works the way we always imagined it should. You can share gallery photos of your home, mention other members, link directly to home profiles with a rich preview snippet, and get notified when someone replies. It's a social feed built specifically for home exchangers, inside a platform we all own together — no algorithms, no noise, and no dependence on spaces we don't control. Head over and take a look.
Drew
Jun 12, 2026 · 3 min read
Searching, Dreaming, Searching, Dreaming...
One of our members has written a wonderfully practical guide to finding your next home exchange — and it's a good read for newcomers and seasoned swappers alike. From writing a listing that actually gets noticed, to searching smart, sending messages that feel personal, and staying open to places you hadn't considered: it covers the full picture, honestly and warmly. Have a read — we think you'll find something useful in it.
Shawn & Bill
May 29, 2026 · 3 min read
Introducing PLU Meetups: real people, real places, real connections
Meetups aren't new to PLU — hundreds of them have happened over the years, coordinated through our Facebook group. What is new is where they live. We've built Meetups a proper home on the PLU platform itself, so the whole Community can find them, join them, and host them — not just the members who happen to be on Facebook. There's a deeper reason too: in-person gatherings are where the trust that makes home exchange work quietly gets built, one coffee and one long lunch at a time. Our first two Meetups are live right now, one in Brisbane and one in Oslo, and we'll be opening it up for new hosts in about a week. Have a read — we think you'll find an excuse to host one of your own.
Drew
May 25, 2026 · 4 min read