WHILE it may seem a little early in the year to be thinking about holidays, especially if the Christmas splurge still has to be paid for, nevertheless travel agencies are already enticing us with the latest brochures.

But maybe you're not one of those who wants to be lured to the Costa del Wherever again this year. You could be looking for something a little bit different. Maybe you don't have a lot of money to spend? Or you have young children, and don't fancy being cooped up in a small apartment or mobile home? Or perhaps you are looking for a "greener holiday - somewhere away from artificial resorts.

For any or all of these reasons, you might consider swapping your home with another family. It is not as crazy an idea as you might think. Think of what you will get in return - rent free accommodation, with only travel and living expenses to pay, and the rest to spend on the holiday. It's worth considering.

Frank Kelly runs an organisation called Intervac Ireland, a home exchange service, which is based in Drogheda. It is part of a world wide organisation with up to 10,000 members.

The idea of house exchanges, Kelly explains, started with people involved in education in the 1950s. Teachers' unions in Switzerland and the Netherlands began to develop the idea and in 1973 Kelly, then a teacher, got involved here in Ireland.

At that time there were only one or two Irish families registered but in the intervening 25 years, mainly through word of mouth, house exchanging has become increasingly popular. There are now 400 Irish families registered with Intervac Ireland.

Relative to its population this country is now one of the biggest exchangers, Kelly says. There are, for example, 2,000 families registered in the US, 2,000 in France, 1,500 in Britain, 600 in Sweden and Belgium and 300 to 400 in Austria. Thirty countries worldwide are listed.

Kelly charges a £55 fee for registration. Details of your home are then published in Intervac's directory which is sent to other members worldwide. You then make direct contact with other participants to arrange house exchanges.

While there is an obvious attraction in house swapping for the teaching profession, who enjoy long holidays, Kelly says the concept has broad appeal among all types of people, including families, retired couples and single people.

The Kelly family, with their three children (now aged 23, 21 and 15), have exchanged homes all over Europe, and have built up a wide network of friends, many of whom still keep in touch with them. "They (the children) feel comfortable going to any European country now as they can always contact someone there, which is a fantastic benefit," says Frank.

But what about worries that your own house isn't suitable, or may not be in prime condition? Kelly says that when people first join Intervac "they go through a phase of renovation and cleaning they really work hard at making their house what they think people want". After a while they come to realise that everyone is the same - they are looking for a relative standard of cleanliness and comfort, not something too sparkling, and untouchable, he says.

He admits there are people "who will never take to it", they may exchange once but complain the house they go to is not like their own, or was below their own standard. Or there are those who would never allow strangers in to their homes. But, as Kelly points out, if you are worried about any of your possessions, you can always lock them away.

It's through experiencing the many benefits of house exchanges - getting involved in the local community where you are staying, meeting the neighbours, friends and shopkeepers, sampling locations off the beaten track which tourists rarely visit, that makes this sort of holiday different to your average fortnight along a strip of coastline in Spain, he points out.

Like any holiday where the unexpected can happen, home exchanges aren't without their pitfalls and misunderstandings. Frank remembers one holiday, in a little village outside Paris where the horse he was left in charge of ran away. The stray animal eventually turned up but not before Frank had scoured the neighbourhood making inquiries in broken French. In another instance, again in France, an Irish family mistook the note left for them in the kitchen and helped themselves to the family's wine cellar - which did not go down well when the latter returned home.

It's a good idea, Kelly feels, if you can organise somebody, say a relative or neighbour, to act as a liaison with the visiting family in your absence. This arrangement, he adds, can often lead to good friendships being forged.

Marie Murphy, who runs Homelink International, another home exchange service, advises members to be as honest and upfront as possible when describing their homes in the catalogue.

"In 12 years I can count on one hand the number of complaints I've had, and they're usually to do with housekeeping standards - some people are very fussy, others aren't fussy enough," she says.