‘I home-swapped my London flat for a New York apartment and ended up falling in love – it felt like The Holiday’

An artist manager swapped her London flat for a gorgeous apartment in New York for just over a month and described the whirlwind romance that ensued as “something out of The Holiday romcom”.

Frustrated with work and fed up with situationships, Tracey Kasongo, 33, could not believe her luck when she saw a call-out on Kindred, a home exchange community, from a couple looking to swap their New York pad for somewhere in the UK’s buzzing capital.

Drew and Sydney lived minutes away from the Brooklyn Bridge, something that had been on Tracey’s vision board for years, and the artist she was working with at the time was on a hiatus, so she leapt at the opportunity to stay there throughout August and September.

“I was in a place where my relationships weren’t really making sense and work wasn’t really working out, so I really just needed something new,” Tracey told PA Real Life.

“I had reached my breaking point and needed a burst of a new experience, new people, a new feeling and a new environment.”

She first fell in love with The Big Apple, which she describes as “magical”, on a trip to visit her friend in May earlier this year, and was keen to go back and experience it as a local.

“I was looking for months and was asking around for any sublets and things of that nature and the only things I found were just super expensive and not feasible,” said Tracey, director at 20 Twenty Mgmt.

“I was thinking oh my gosh, I’m going to have to sell my right kidney and a limb to be there again – but I couldn’t care less, because I was desperate to return.

“New York is literally the most magical place and a combination of the most ambitious but eclectic people all in one melting pot.

“When I came across Kindred and I just thought I’m going to do a house swap and experience this for five weeks and just see how life goes. I had no expectation, no real planning, and even when it happened I was still like this is too good to be true.”

She stayed in Dumbo (acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), a neighbourhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, which surpassed all of her expectations.

“It was honestly like stepping on to a set of a movie,” said Tracey. “The street was like one of those Hollywood sets, where everything feels makeshift. One time I was going out for a run and saw Ed Sheeran filming around the corner, and another time I was at The Blue Note Jazz Cafe and Wyclef Jean came and went into a whole full-blown set and started singing Maria Maria.

“I was like this can’t be true, this can’t actually be happening right now.”

With a heart open to new experiences and possibilities, Tracey’s impulsive house-swap decision was the catalyst that led her to meet filmmaker Baramee.

Like many modern romances, their love story began with a DM on Instagram.

“When I was there, I decided I wanted to film the whole thing to document this whole process,” says Tracey. “I had seen some of the work that Baramee had done on social media and thought it was really cool so I reached out to him to see if he would be interested in helping.

“I didn’t go to New York with the idea of finding love, but what started out as a coffee brainstorm date quickly became something so much more.”

She found the New Yorker’s assertiveness a refreshing contrast to the men she had dated in London.

“He just turned out to be the most amazing, patient, encouraging, ambitious and generous soul,” said Tracey.

“I had gone from having situationships in London, with men being a bit wishy-washy, to a full-blown I’m intentional, and I want to go out and I want to do things kind of man. When we would meet up, I would get butterflies.

“I guess you could say it was Kindred love story, because if it wasn’t for that and if I didn’t have the opportunity to go back there again and to experience the five weeks then we wouldn’t have met.

“It was almost like The Holiday film in terms of love, romance, but also like Sex In The City, as every day felt like an episode. Every day something new and unexpected would happen.”

Tracey is not alone, as a recent survey of 2,000 people, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Kindred, found that 44% of Millennials and Gen Z reported that they love The Holiday movie so much that it would inspire them to try a home swap in the future.

In addition, more than a quarter of Gen Z (27%) said the romantic comedy has already nudged them to try home-swapping, like the characters in the film.

Some of the highlights from Tracey’s trip include going to the US Open, seeing Wicked on Broadway and a double date with Drew and Sydney when they got back.

“I extended my stay for an extra week and stayed at a friend’s house because I felt like I needed a couple more days, and then Drew and Sydney came back and there was an overlap so we all ended up going for a double date,” said Tracey.

“It was so lovely, they were telling me all their stories, and we were all just yapping. There was so much excitement between all four of us.

“I feel like Kindred is more than just a platform. It’s a community and a safe space where you can build relationships with people.”

After a jam-packed six weeks, Tracey described getting the flight home as extremely emotional.

“When he dropped me off at the airport, I was like when am I going to see you again? He said we’ll figure it out and it was just so emotional. Then we kissed and I got on my flight home,” recollected Tracey.

“I was crying at the airport and on the flight on the way back. It was so upsetting, but at the same time, I was just super happy and grateful that I got to experience that.

“It was definitely something out of The Holiday romcom, it was six weeks I will never forget.”

Since returning to the UK Tracey said that the couple have been FaceTiming non-stop and are hoping to spend Christmas together.

“The plan is to potentially go out there for Christmas, or just after Christmas to spend New Year’s there, so that’s going to be insane if that happens,” says Tracey.