Genius! Irish Family Saves Money While Travelling Around The World, Swaps Houses With Strangers
An Irish family has saved thousands on accommodation on their holidays by swapping houses with strangers. They pay ?135 (Rs 13,000) per year for a subscription with Home Exchange.
A family is travelling all around the world while saving thousands of dollars by swapping their house with strangers.
The couple, Sharon Holland and Jer, from Cork, Ireland just pay for their flight tickets when they have to travel. They save tons of money on their stay cutting down the most expensive travel cost.
The couple travels abroad four times a year with their three children Cian, 23, Miah, 13, and Faye, 11. The couple has exchanged their house with over 40 strangers over a span of 13 years and they think it is pretty great.
Sharon told The Mirror: "I couldn't imagine travelling any other way now. Swapping our Irish Georgian farmhouse for another property abroad is amazing. "There's home-style houses, modern city apartments and beautiful architectural period houses too.
"Every holiday is different and staying on someone else's property enhances the experience as it takes us off the trail. "We are able to meet more locals and understand the culture more than we would if we were to stay at a hotel resort."
The family has visited various countries including America, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and their home country of Ireland. Both Sharon and Jer work as school Deputy Principals which particularly means that their jobs allow them to travel for long periods of time during school holidays.
They pay ?1,250 (Rs 1.2 lakh) per annum for flights.
Sharon said, "We are exceptionally lucky with our shared holidays. We bring our laptops during the summer weeks as we are both responsible for timetabling and school planning but this can be done at a distance. We tend to spend four to six weeks abroad in the summer."
The couple pays ?135 (Rs 13,000) per year for a subscription with Home Exchange.
She added, "We initially signed up to the website in 2009 as it made travelling more affordable. We have been hooked ever since."
Sharon celebrated her 40th birthday in Budapest, St Patricks Day in Amsterdam and experienced July 4 in New York City. She says that her family loves Italy the most and they have visited the country six times.
"Over the years, every experience has been fabulous - from taking in the architecture to the food. We have made some wonderful happy memories for less," Sharon said.
The family also shares all their adventures on their Instagram handle now_and_then_home.
What an adventurous way to live life.
H/T: The Mirror
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Building, coordinating and crafting engaging content for lifestyle brand 'Evolve' at Indiatimes. Successfully revamping the lifestyle section including topics such as mental health, relationships, self, skin care, music etc. I collaborate with experts from various fields to gather insights and create well-structured pieces.
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