Lincoln woman hopes to find “the Cameron to my Kate” ‘Holiday film-style’

A Lincoln woman with a passion for travelling is looking to make the concept of one of her favourite films – The Holiday – a reality after her Lincoln/USA house swap video on TikTok attracted over 30,000 views.

Jessica Foley works from home for a London-based luxury travel agent and over Christmas and New Year her family, who she would usually spend the festive period with, are away in Jamaica and she wants to plan a spontaneous trip of her own.

The 32-year-old, who has travelled to over 40 countries, has seen The Holiday over 20 times, which stars Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black. The film follows two women troubled with guy-problems who swap homes in each other’s countries, where they each meet local men they fall in love with.

@whereisjessica_x bonus points if you have a cute, single brother 😉 #theholiday #homeswap #lincoln #england #fyp #foryou ♬ The holiday theme – Siyana &lt3

Jessica describes herself as an “old school romantic” and told The Lincolnite she would love to make her dream a reality and temporarily swap homes with someone in another country in finding “the Cameron to my Kate – The Holiday style”, for her next travel adventure.

She recently watched The Holiday, again, on a projector in her bedroom and said she would love to replicate the concept of the film as she wants to “make the most of my time off” over the festive period.

She uploaded her ‘Holiday’ video onto TikTok on December 13, which at the time of publication has close to 400 comments, and in the caption she included the comment “bonus points if you have a cute, single brother”.

Within the comments of the video, people have already offered her options, including a girl offering her home in Southern California, as well as options in New York and Minnesota, and even for Lincoln in Nebraska.

Jessica lives in a house which she bought on the street she grew up in close to Lincoln city centre which, when she is away travelling, she rents out as an Airbnb and has become a Superhost.

She caught the travelling bug ever since graduating from her law degree at Swansea University. She took a year out and travelled with her best friend at the time to teach English in Thailand. After training in Bangkok, she started teaching in Chon Buri and whenever she had any time off she would go travelling.

She went to work in a shop at a scuba diving resort in Ko Tao, where she also trained as an instructor. After her best friend returned home to England, Jessica saw the different side of solo travelling, “meeting new people and making it work”, before travelling around south east Asia.

Even when Jessica returned home to Lincoln, it wasn’t too long before she was off travelling again – this time to Australia. She has also travelled to Northern Ireland, Greece, Italy, Malta, France, Peru, India, and Dubai.

She told The Lincolnite that she was overwhelmed by the reaction to her video, saying: “It has definitely reached a lot of people in the USA. It’s exciting, and to think that’s all it takes to have all these options. It’s the best way to travel in my opinion, I prefer the raw and real, off the beaten track experience when it comes to travel.

“I was quite astonished at what people were willing to swap. A lot of comments were from women who are fans of the film, including the most popular comment of ‘Tomorrow too soon?’ which is a quote from the film.”

Jessica is no stranger to her videos attracting attention on TikTok. She previously uploaded a travel-based video opening Tinder in Italy, which gained over one million views.

She added that people have also been commenting on the comments of the latest video as they want to help make it happen, for her to do another video, to find out the outcome, and to see both sides like in the film. Jessica said if it does happen she would “definitely vlog it”.

“There are a lot of logistics to sort, but I am looking to go at some point over the Christmas period,” she said.

“I am open to anything with the location, but I have always dreamed of being in New York City for Christmas, and if I do go there I would have to have a Home Alone style Christmas.

“My friends have said they can hear the excitement in my voice when I talk about it. It feels kind of like the movie, and like a dream that I want to make a reality.”

Although she has been to a plethora of locations across the world, her top five destinations are Thailand, Hawaii, Mexico, Italy, and Brazil.

Her adventures led Jessica to do even more travelling and is “very serendipitous”. She met people in Thailand who she later visited in Hawaii and Mexico and have become life-long friends.

Jessica said: “I’ve met hundreds of people whilst travelling and ended up visiting a lot for hem and their families in their home countries. I feel completely comfortable with sharing my home with a like-minded stranger. It’s the best way to experience another culture in my opinion.”

She says if she is to go ahead with the plan she will arrange a virtual meeting with her host/guest and then make the plan from there.

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