Miriam and Padraig Tiernan are house swap enthusiasts, having exchanged their Dublin home for houses in New Jersey and California. "Our first house swap experience was in 1994 during the World Cup in the United States," Miriam said. "My husband is a great football fan so we thought it would be a good idea to do a house swap and travel to matches from one base. Staying in hotels, we reckoned, would have been a lot more expensive. "I was nervous about people coming to stay in our house, thinking the usual things - like they might wreck it, go through our belongings or leave windows and doors open.

"However, we went ahead, paid our annual membership to HomeLink International and put our name and address in the book, saying we were interested in a house in the United States. "We got several letters from people keen to swap with us and settled on one in Brigantine, outside Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was a lovely split-level house in a quiet town. We had use of the owner's car, which we used to drive to the airport when we were flying to different matches. Also, there was a residents' swimming pool. "Our experience was so good that we left our details in the book for the second year. This time, we decided to swap with a woman whose home is in Santa Barbara. As with our first swapper, the lady from Santa Barbara left friends for us to contact and we even went to a pot luck party, where everyone brings along some food. From Santa Barbara, we drove to neighbouring towns and visited LA and San Francisco.

"The nice thing about house swaps is that you are outside the tourist areas, which can be very busy in summer time. You are also in someone's home, so you can have quiet drinks in the evening, listen to their CDs and read their books. Having access to a private telephone number is also much easier if anyone needs to contact you while you are away. You can choose flight times instead of relying on charters and, finally, you don't have to worry about leaving your home empty."