A mother-of-four has revealed how she saved approximately €50,000 (£41,487) while traveling the world over a 16-year period with her family.
Fionnuala Brennan, 53, from Tramore, Ireland, has managed to travel on holiday all over the world, including the United States, Australia and Italy, by swapping her home.
The 53-year-old, a lecturer at South East University of Technology in Waterford, has completed 87 exchanges since she started, saving her thousands of pounds.
Fionnuala’s preferred platform, HomeExchange, works in two ways: Classic Exchange, where two families exchange homes, either simultaneously or on different dates.
Or tourists can use ‘guest points’, meaning they can stay in a house without giving up their own abode, and earn points at a different time by allowing people to stay at their property.
Although Fionnuala heard about the platform from a friend when she was 30, she didn’t use the website until after having her fourth child in 2008, making hotel travel too expensive.
“With four kids, we felt it was too expensive to go anywhere, so we decided to give it a try,” she told Femail.
Now, the mother of four has created lasting memories with her husband and children around the world and even prefers it to other trips because of the authentic experience it provides.
Fionnuala Brennan (pictured, center right), 53, from Tramore, Ireland, and her family (pictured) have traveled the world through HomeExchange.
The mother of four and college professor first decided to travel through HomeExchange to save money.
Fionnuala and her family’s first home exchange holiday was in France: ‘We flew to Nantes and stayed in Vendée, in a small coastal town.
‘We live in a small coastal town in Ireland, so we swapped an Irish coastal town for a French one and our own family home for a family home in France, which was perfect.
‘They had little children like ours. His house was full of Lego and all the toys; The children had a great time.
“It was a very calm and very relaxed holiday, with a garden, swings and slides, and we were within walking distance of the beach.”
‘When we started doing it in 2008, it was all direct exchanges. “So that’s more challenging because you need to find someone interested in coming to the south-east of Ireland, and that’s what we did for the first few years.”
‘For the first few years we did European exchanges, and it was mainly French families that were on the Home Exchange website and then we started going to different places.
After having four children together, staying in hotels during the holidays became too expensive for Fionnuala and her husband.
Fionnuala believes traveling with HomeExchange can offer a more authentic way to experience a foreign country
The family has enjoyed trips together around the world, including the United States, Australia, France and Italy.
‘We went to America, Australia, Spain, Italy and other European destinations. So they were direct house swaps… and we often swapped cars as well.
“Of course, as we have four children, we needed a seven-seater car and we often swapped it with families of similar size and that worked well.”
By saving on accommodation, Fionnuala and her family can spend money on other parts of the holiday, such as airport transfers, to make the trip as easy as possible for her family.
But while spending a hotel vacation usually requires a little preparation, organizing a home exchange can take a little more time.
Fionnuala explained: ‘So we would prepare our house, and there is always work to do in that, fixing things and doing all the repairs, cleaning and leaving the place beautiful, clean and tidy.
“So it’s a challenge and maybe not everyone is willing to do it before they go on vacation, but I will say it’s a great pleasure to come home and everything is fixed, working and in perfect condition.”
He added: “We’ve never had one where someone left the house in worse condition than when they received it.”
‘They leave it as clean and tidy as we left it and often in better condition, so that’s never been a concern. There is a great trust in it because you are in their house while they are in yours.”
Without HomeExchange, Fionnuala and her family would not have been able to visit so many countries
The houses that Fionnuala and her family visit are often equipped with bicycles and toys for the children.
While the family saves money by exchanging their home, the biggest benefit for Fionnuala is the authentic experience.
She explained: ‘I was in Estonia, in Tallinn, a beautiful city, for a work conference, and I didn’t want to stay in a hotel.
“I was there for a week and stayed in a small studio next to a family house.
‘I was able to have a coffee in the garden and the family was there and I felt safe and comfortable and it was a much more authentic experience than staying in a hotel.
He added: ‘I was with Estonian people and (I had) a great feeling of comfort. You feel like you’re traveling and really getting to know another place.’
The mother of four said house swapping is also often a sociable way to travel: “Often people will let their neighbors know you’re coming or their relatives will come and check that you’re okay.”
“There’s a great sense of community… you get to know different people and how they live and it’s a really positive thing.”
Elsewhere, the family has enjoyed trips to Rome, France, the United States, Malaga, Lucca, Lake Como, Cadiz and Venice, to name a few.
Fionnuala warned that spending the holidays by house swapping might not be suitable for those who are very proud of their house.
The mother of four said HomeExchange can be a good route when traveling with children because people’s homes are often more equipped than hotels.
The highlight for her children was spending Christmas in Sydney on a home exchange, with a family who spent December 25 in Ireland.
While it is difficult for Fionnuala to give an exact breakdown of how much she has saved in total, in the last year alone she has saved £6,700.
“While I’m estimating the cost of what we might have chosen differently, the quality of the accommodation we stayed in with the exchanges was much better than the hostels, Airbnbs, or anywhere else we would have opted for, and some of the trips would have been better. It wouldn’t have happened if we had to pay for accommodation.
‘So what I would say is that we travel as people who are much better off than us.
‘We get to travel and stay in beautiful places, beautiful houses in beautiful places and we do it regularly.
“So putting a figure on it is difficult, but in these 16 years we can be sure that we have saved more than 50,000 euros, without a doubt.”
While she still occasionally stays in a hotel or Airbnb, Fionnuala finds the comforts of home often unbeatable.
‘It is very comforting to stay in a house that has everything. If you cut your finger, you’re going to get the first aid kit or you’re going to get the umbrella for when it’s hot.’
However, the mother of four warned that home swapping might not be for everyone.
She said: “I recommended it to a lot of friends and it didn’t work for everyone.”
‘It works for most people, (but) it usually doesn’t work if people value their home highly and find it uncomfortable to have strangers in their home.
“So I think if you feel that way, then don’t do it,” he said.