We recreated the movie The Holiday in real life!

Who hasn't dreamed of living the adventures of their favorite movie characters? The HomeExchange team is not going to deny it! And for Christmas 2021, after two complicated years, we have decided to make this dream a reality...

In partnership with Thursday, a popular new dating app, we've recreated the famous Christmas romantic comedy, the Holiday, in which Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz's characters swap homes and lives for a few days at Christmas thanks to the HomeExchange website (true!), for the better... and for love!

The partnership between Thursday and HomeExchange

One morning in November, the HomeExchange team discovered, flattered and delighted, a message from Thursday, a new dating application that's a bit unusual...

Thursday's mission?

To make Thursday the day to be single, following the observation that people spend too much time on dating apps and are often disappointed. So the Thursday team is working to make dating more exciting and to make Thursday THE day of the week that singles look forward to by encouraging them to chat only on Thursday, and to meet on that day. Why? Because there's more to life than dating apps.

Their proposal for HomeExchange?

Flirt... and join forces to make this Christmas 2021 even more magical by recreating The Holiday "in real life"! Because who better to do this than a dating application and the first home exchange website in the world, the very one which allowed Cameron Diaz to meet Jude Law ;) ?

The concept: how to recreate this iconic Christmas rom-com

To help encounters...

The concept was simple: send a New Yorker to London and a Londoner to New York for the vacations in search of love. Thursday users and singles in both cities (where Thursday currently operates) were given the opportunity to sign up for HomeExchange through a dedicated link that automatically made them part of the "Thursday Club", making it easier for Thursday members to find each other and for us to pick the winners.

... To go on a home exchange...

Two winners, Lizzie (aka our Iris, true to the movie since Lizzie is a journalist for the Telegraph, just like Kate Winslet's character!) and Camille (our Amanda) were drawn and got to spend a few days in each other's city as part of a dream home exchange (airfare, accommodations and HomeExchange membership covered), where they were able to set up meetings with local singles looking for their very own Graham, Miles, Iris or Amanda.

The two girls quickly became friends by exchanging messages on HomeExchange and decided to coordinate their trips to meet at the beginning and end to catch up on each other's lives. Camille flew to London and met Lizzie to exchange keys and share tips on their cities before Lizzie flew to New York.

... And find love?

Once there, each of our two winners arranged dates via the Thursday app: Lizzie met Evan, whom she really liked, and Camille met Paddy, with whom she went to the pub where "The Holiday" was filmed, on their second date, for Camille's very first Sunday Roast! There is even talk of Paddy going to New York soon...

Or simply make friends!

Like many members of the HomeExchange community, Camille and Lizzie agree that beyond the trip, the best thing that came out of this experience was the friendship they developed by swapping lives for those few days. A friendship that may last for years, or even a lifetime, like many others made through a home exchange with HomeExchange...