Cork family: We've done 50 home swaps to see the world

A CORK-based mum of three who has undertaken more than 50 home exchanges with her family is urging others to give it a go this summer, and says swapping houses is a sustainable way to see the world.

Sharon Holland, who is deputy Principal at St Aloysius’ College, Carrigtwohill, started home exchanging in 2008 after her second child was born.

“As teachers, my husband Jer and I have regular holidays but are always tied to travelling during peak times, which makes travel expensive,” she explained.

“We both have a strong sense of wanderlust but with a new mortgage having gotten married, closely followed by a new baby, funds were tight and holiday prices were exceptionally high and rising.

“We had learnt a valuable lesson on honeymoon, having booked a number of high-end resort experiences in Cost Rica. In spite of having spent a lot on our honeymoon and thoroughly enjoying every moment, we realised a trip we’d taken to Cuba on a shoestring budget staying with local people was infinitely more enriching and enjoyable,” said Sharon, who is mum to Cian (25), Miah (15) and Faye (13).

They first heard of home exchanging from a teacher couple they worked with, and loved the idea.

“Both Jer and I are quite open and trusting people so the options and opportunities which home exchange potentially afforded us seemed too good to be true. I did a little research online and signed up to a three-month trial with home-swapping platform homeexchange.com whilst on maternity leave,” she said.

The family live near Ballycotton Bay in a stunning early 18th century farmhouse that has been Jer’s family home since 1905. They moved in during 2021 having completed a full renovation of the property.

Sharon is well known on Instagram, having set up @now_and_then_home to record the renovation project.

However, when they started home exchanging, they were living in a modernised, but unfinished, 1970s bungalow.

“But by being clear about the accommodation and finish of our home, there really was no issue with our home being unfinished,” said Sharon.

Lots of people on my account are initially concerned that the location of their home isn’t as appealing, or that their home isn’t large enough, well enough finished, etc. I can promise you there’s a place for everyone on home exchange.

“We’ve exchanged to tiny apartments and large detached homes with gardens and swimming pools. We’ve experienced various standards and styles in decor and finish within homes, but the key thing is having a clear sense of what you’ll be experiencing on exchange. Don’t try to pretend to be or have a home that you don’t - this is inauthentic.”

The initial leap of faith is probably the hardest part of a home swap, she admits.

“I remember getting on the plane in summer, 2008, to embark on our first exchange to Auteuil in Paris and feeling slightly sick about all of the things that could potentially go wrong! They haven’t, and we’ve subsequently completed over 50 exchanges!

“I’m naturally the worrier in our relationship and it was a leap to try to get my head around the idea of ‘strangers’ in our home.

“I stayed focused on the positives, the opportunity that this presented, the fact that thousands of home exchangers reporting positive experiences couldn’t all be wrong, and the fact that homeexchange.com has great live 24/7 support and extra layers of guarantees and protection also helped the nerves!”

They tended to stay within a three to four hour flight when their children were younger, and most frequently visited France, Spain and Italy.

“We’ve also travelled to Berlin, Amsterdam, Scotland, Hungary, England. We’ve exchanged within Ireland a lot, both north and south of the border, including multiple trips to Antrim, Derry, Galway, Dublin, Kilkenny, Clare and Kerry,” said Sharon.

In more recent years, they’ve done two extended summer trips to the U.S - one to New York and Boston, the other to California, taking in Vegas and Palm Springs as part of the same trip.

“My favourite memory is probably our holiday to the heart of Tuscany where we stayed at a beautiful, ancient villa surrounded by rolling Tuscan hills and friendly neighbours,” said Sharon.

Our girls made friends with the neighbouring children and spent the evenings paddling in the pool and playing in the olive trees while we relaxed with the adults or read books in the sunshine. Happy children - happy parents!

“Another personal favourite memory was our first full day on our New York adventure in Summer, 2018. We started the day at 4am on the Metro North train line into Grand Central, and walked through the city at sunrise to Central Park. We attended a Good Morning America Summer Concerts Series featuring Florence and the Machine and were front row for the entire performance. Our girls even met Florence briefly as she left the stage.

“We moved on from here to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and rounded the day out with a trip to Ellis Island to learn about immigration and the Irish immigrant story.

“Our girls were delighted to find the statue of Annie Moore on Ellis Island. Annie was the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island on January 1, 1892, having left Ireland from Cobh. We took our girls to visit Annie’s statue in Cobh before letting them loose to find her in Ellis Island on the other side of the Atlantic - my favourite single day of HomeExchange thus far.”

HomeExchange, Sharon said, has provided opportunities for the children to experience the world within communities instead of apart from them.

“Our children have grown up with home exchange being the norm for travel and it’s given us fabulous opportunities to travel over longer periods during school holidays.

We could never have afforded to pay for accommodation on trips like this. HomeExchange is also a wonderfully sustainable way to travel, with money being invested directly into the communities of both exchange partners, instead of to hotel chains.

The only disadvantage, and it’s a small one, is the pre-tidy up!

“We complete a whole home clean-up for each exchange, but knowing that there’s usually an exchange around the corner also keeps us organised and on top of things.

“The more experienced you become, the more systems you create within your home to make life easier too. Whilst I do dread ‘the big clean-up’ day, the satisfaction is great when it’s done, knowing that when we return home, our house will be just as neat and tidy so we gain as much from this extra effort as our visitors do!

“We do tidy away some personal possessions but you do not need to strip out the personal effects of your home. Lots of people lock private materials away into one room or others place a lock on the attic or basement to allow a layer of privacy for paperwork or other possessions.”

Her advice to anyone thinking about it is to take the leap of faith – and she points out that it’s an equal leap. Communication is also key.

We generally do a few FaceTime calls with our hosts to set things up, get to know them a little, and iron out provisional details like dates, airports, transfers, house rules, etc.

Her other advice is to start small and plan a long weekend or weekend away within Ireland.

“We hope to travel further afield in the years ahead as our children are now older, and to enjoy longer term exchanges well into retirement - still a long way off!

“My older son Cian, who is now 24, started home exchanging when he was 10 and will hopefully continue to join us on trips from time to time. Both of us, as parents working full-time, it’s challenging at times, but our HomeExchange holidays provide us with time out to relax and really enjoy quality time together in homes that are welcoming, spacious, wonderfully located with beautiful decor and surroundings. We can forget the daily routine and focus on each other.

“Life is for living and we really do only get once chance to live it to our fullest, so our approach is to seize the day and achieve as much from life as possible in all aspects. I’ve very few regrets from using this philosophy and many happy memories of home and abroad as a result. If you’re tempted to join the home exchange community too, follow along @now_and_then_home and just do it!”

For more, see homeexchange.com

Advantages of home exchange:

The obvious one, says Sharon, is free accommodation in exchange for the use of your home so you have a cost neutral means of travelling in Ireland and abroad.

You could also consider car exchange in addition to home exchange. It’s an additional saving and one which is a huge part of holiday budgets currently with car rental costs spiralling.

Local knowledge: are there local discounts for theme parks, cultural events, concerts, etc, that your hosts might be able to help you with? Local knowledge is a powerful thing.

Agree a reciprocal grocery shop so the fridge is full on arrival. Sharon said: “We usually plan a reciprocal shop, agreeing to a spend eg. €50, and check if there are specific items that our visitors would like or need at home on arrival. This can be really useful so there’s no rush to the supermarket or for children who are fussy eaters.”

Security: having your home occupied by home exchangers means it is effectively cared for so there is less worry involved regarding burglary or break ins.

Both of our girls completed their first HomeExchange trips at six months old and have never looked back. Baby equipment was organised by hosts and support with having nappies, food etc, pre-purchased was a great ease to us travelling with babies. We often have additional equipment such as bikes, kayaks, etc, available as part of our exchange and we offer the same to our visitors - all of these home comforts are extras on holiday which add to costs but are a standard part of home exchange.

Budget breakdown

This summer, Sharon and her family will travel for four weeks to two destinations. Here’s the budget breakdown:

Accommodation:

Two weeks at Plage du Verdun in South of France - four bedroom seaside home only steps from the beach and village life

Two weeks San Sebastián in the Basque Country - city centre, two-bedroom apartment five minute cycle to the beach with car exchange included. Costs x4 people

Aircoach to Dublin - €62

Flight: Dublin to Marseilles - €223

Train: Plage du Verdun to San Sebastián €190

Flight: Biarritz to Dublin - €398

Car parking Dublin airport (our visitors from San Sebastián will drive our car to the airport where it will be waiting for us on return home) - €13.50

Total cost: €886.50 for 4 weeks

Additional costs: Normal home running costs at home during visitors stay - food and miscellaneous entertainment while abroad.