I love the idea of house swapping or subletting a home or apartment for vacation, don’t you? While I enjoy a nice hotel, I do like to stay in places that have kitchens and a bit of local character to them that may be off the beaten path and provide an opportunity to mingle with the locals vs. other tourists in the typical hotel lobby scenario. This is why I love Caravan and the concept behind it. Have you heard of this Australian company yet? I stumbled upon it today, they had an ad on a blog I was reading so I clicked over and felt this was cool enough to share….

Caravan is a free house swap and sublet resource for creative people only – they call themselves the craigslist for creatives! It’s for commercial creatives and those working in the advertising/media/fashion/art and design industries. From California to Brooklyn, Paris to Sydney… are you ready to get away? Here’s some more information taken directly from their website.

“If you’re an art director relocating internationally for a new job, you can find sublets for far less than the price of a hotel. If you’re a photo assistant wanting to try New York on for size, you could post a ‘house sitter available’ ad and have no accommodation costs at all. And if you want to do some marketing in Paris, maybe someone in Le Marais has a vacant apartment you could rent very cheaply for a few days in exchange for walking their little Bouledogues Français. A room in LA for a bedsit in New York? A harbourside Sydney apartment for a Collingwood terrace? The possibilities are endless and the costs are miniscule compared with even a modest hotel bill, not to mention the savings of being able to cook at home.”

Sign me up!

(images: caravan members)

29 Responses to “Caravan: Craigslist for Creatives”

1 Beth commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 11:42 am

This is so cool! Thank you for sharing this. I saw your Twitter message. :]
Beth´s last blog ..Books that inspire me ~ to get creative, hunt for the treasure, explore the out-of-doors, comfy up my home, and more
2 Kristin commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm

That is SO awesome! It reminds me of the movie The Holiday where the two lead actresses swap homes for, well, the holidays. This is definitely something I would be interested in doing someday… and you’re right, talk about a total money saver!
Kristin´s last blog ..Trust Creative Society in Finland
3 Gina commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

Oh I would love to try this out!! Great concept!! :-)
Gina´s last blog ..Trains | sushipot
4 Passementerie commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 1:08 pm

Sounds like a great idea! We’re doing a house swap in January with another academic couple, so I quite understand the emotional security of knowing that your house will be occupied by people with at least some of the same interests as you!

As I mentioned today in Passementerie, traditional hotels are a thing of the past for us now because of the baby – I’m all about self catering and house swapping now.
Passementerie´s last blog ..A machiya in Japan, a Georgian townhouse in Bath or a cottage in Scotland?
5 cristin @ simplified bee commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

What a brilliant idea!

xo,
cristin
cristin @ simplified bee´s last blog ..Charlotte Moss and A Flair for Living Book GIVEAWAY
6 fat mum slim commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 1:20 pm

I’m in Australia and have never heard of that company, but I love it. Such a neat idea.

We often rent houses for weekends away, and really enjoy it. It’s so much different than motels, and so much more fun. In my opinion. x
fat mum slim´s last blog ..Skinny For Santa
7 Annie May commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

This is wonderful! I’ve been looking for a place to list our Venice Beach apartment for the Christmas holiday and this is PERFECT! Oh and I love their background image…it’s Peekaboo from 39.22…my fav!
Annie May´s last blog ..Love the Black and White
8 Lydia, Clueless Crafter commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

I think it’s that no commitment aspect of Caravan that is so sexy appealing.
Lydia, Clueless Crafter´s last blog ..Armed and Aproned
9 Merri Cvetan, The Design Coach commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

I’m going to check this idea out next fall for my trip to Paris. What fun to be “living” in Paris instead of just visiting!
10 My Owl Barn commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

I love all the houses in the picture. I’ll happily swap my house to have a quite vacation in the house shown in the top second picture.
My Owl Barn´s last blog ..Made By White
11 Susan Erickson commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

If they will take care of the dogs and keep the fire burning it would be fabulous! We live in the most beautiful, remote area and I would love a little city living for awhile. I’m in!
Susan Erickson´s last blog ..mute please
12 Susan Erickson commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 3:56 pm

even though my style is more on the rustic, peeling paint side……..I love the opulence
Susan Erickson´s last blog ..mute please
13 Marie commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

What a fantastic idea, I wish i’d known about this before relocating from London to Sydney for a year. it would have been so much easier than having to pack up my wares back home and start over again here
14 blue bicicletta commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Wow, I’m totally checking that out!
blue bicicletta´s last blog ..Life as an Artist: update 3
15 little room la commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

such beauty in such simplicity! :D
16 Marina commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

Interesting.
Marina´s last blog ..My creative space.
17 Catherine commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 7:03 pm

Wow, I had never heard of this before! Thanks for sharing~ :)
18 Karen commented:
November 9th, 2009 at 8:21 pm

Wow – how good is that!! Which place will I go to first ……..
I haven’t heard of this before either, and I’m in Australia too!!!
Have a lovely day :-)
19 erika at delphine commented:
November 10th, 2009 at 1:02 am

Wonderful! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while. When we travel to trade shows the last thing I want is to cram into a tiny hotel room. Thanks so much, as always, for sharing your resources, Holly.
erika at delphine´s last blog ..delphine slideshow
20 room elegance commented:
November 10th, 2009 at 2:59 am

what an amazing idea! i can’t wait to check out the different places to stay :)
21 Tanja commented:
November 10th, 2009 at 3:41 am

I was wondering if you can help me; Do you have some example photos of living room in dusty rose-salmon-light coral as basic colour. Thanks very much! :-)
22 Heather commented:
November 10th, 2009 at 9:10 am

This is a great idea. A few years ago I did an apartment exchange through Homelinks and ended up with THE most amazing apartment overlooking the harbor in Monaco. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Since I used miles for the airfare, the most expensive thing? A convertible that we used to explore the surrounding area! So Grace Kelly!
Heather´s last blog ..Brunch is for Wimps
23 Nicole commented:
November 10th, 2009 at 3:36 pm

How neat – have to check that out! We were just talking about wanting to do a house rental somewhere for a while & experience living somewhere new… this is perfect!
Nicole´s last blog ..Gorgeous Word Art
24 sandra commented:
November 11th, 2009 at 3:48 am

this is so great! holly, you always serve such great stuff :)
sandra´s last blog ..Two walks, twelve pictures
25 Simone Walsh commented:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

This is such a great idea. I have it bookmarked. I’d be up for some house swapping at some point!
26 ktrn commented:
November 15th, 2009 at 2:02 pm

This is really an awesome concept! I made it a bookmark as well. Thnaks!
ktrn´s last blog ..you warm, them warm!
27 Penny Patten commented:
November 16th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

This is so cool! If I ever get to travel this would be so much fun!
Penny Patten´s last blog ..Nature’s Beauty
28 Jessica commented:
November 30th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

Yes, very good to know. I will certainly look this up when I travel abroad. Thanks for sharing.
Jessica´s last blog ..Living Slash Dining Room
29 Emily commented:
February 8th, 2010 at 3:16 pm

I love the Holiday – such a cool film.

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