I’ve been on over 100 holidays for free including Hawaii & Florida – here’s how
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A FAMILY in the UK have stayed in places like America, Canada, New Zealand, France and Italy without spending a penny.
Jill Brown, 66, has been going on free trips with her family since 1992 after she learnt about house swapping.
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Jill and her husband have been swapping their home for over 30 years in a bid to bag cheap holidays.
Before she joined Home Exchange in 2009, Jill used a giant paper directory to find her free stays.
In the last 30 years, the family have been on 100 free holidays, which have taken them all over the world.
Jill told Sun Online Travel: “We didn’t have very much money to go on holiday, so that was the draw for starting it.”
“For our first one, I was seven months pregnant with our daughter, and I remember the horrendous crossing from Plymouth to Roscoff.
“But then we arrived at this little house, and I’ll always remember it because down in the basement there were pinball machines.
“We also had our three-year-old son with us and the house jutted out onto a beach.
“During the day, we would sit where the edge of the house was and he would play on the sand.
“It was an old French house, quite plain inside, with bare walls, but it was an experience and we had a lovely time.”
Over the years, Jill and her husband nabbed several other interesting stays, including a double exchange in North Carolina and Walt Disney World in Florida.
Other holidays where they bagged free accommodation include a trip to Oahu in Hawaii, which coincided with Jill’s daughter’s 13th birthday.
She added: “We had a beautiful house, with a swimming pool, that was a two-minute walk from a beach with hatching turtles.”
“Our favourite was probably when our children were seven and 10 and we went to Canada.”
The family were upgraded to business class on their flight, and they were collected from the airport in a Rolls Royce by their hosts.
Jill added: “He took us back to the house, which was in North Vancouver.
“It was a beautiful house built into the rock, where we would ocean liners go by while drinking a glass of wine.”
On the same trip, Jill’s children were invited to take part in a local parade where they rode on another Rolls Royce.
The family were even invited into a four-seater helicopter and treated to an aerial tour of North Vancouver by their hosts.
Other favourite stays include a trip to the Rocky Mountains, a five-week holiday in New Zealand and villa holidays in the south of France.
Jill’s top tips
In an average week, Jill will receive four home exchange offers for a small end-of-terrace house in Devon.
Jill told Sun Online Travel: “Everybody always thinks nobody would want to come to their house, but that’s not true.”
“The most important thing about home exchanges are communication, describing your house exactly how it is, having good photographs, and being honest about what you can and cannot do because people hate it when you over promise.”
While the family used to swap their main house in Oxfordshire, they’ve recently been able to swap a second home in Devon.
Even though it’s easier to swap a second home, Jill and her husband successfully swapped their family home for years.
The pair have plenty of Home Exchanges swaps planned for the remainder of this year, including overnight stays in Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Sheffield and Nova Scotia in Canada.
Other Home Exchange stories
And Jill isn’t the only person who has used services like Home Exchange to secure free holidays.
Lizzi Seear has been going on free trips with her partner Alun Westoll, 52, for the last six years after she learnt about house swapping.
In the last six years, Lizzi has hosted 48 guests in her home in Ealing, West London.
She said: “I remember that first time someone stayed in my flat, it felt like the weirdest thing to think about them in my flat – even though they were lovely people.”
But she quickly adapted to having holidaymakers stay in her home.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Best staycation locations for 2024
1. Bristol
The arty harbour city was the top spot on the list and is bursting with culture and trendy cafes scattered along the River Avon.
A bubbling hub for creatives, Bristol is the birthplace of street artist Banksy, and you can admire some of his best early works on a free walking tour.
2. Hull
The Humberside port city started to get recognition last year, and it has a thriving nightlife scene – if that’s something you’re after.
The old town is crawling with history and classy buildings, whose walls have many stories to tell and The Deep is a fascinating aquarium attraction.
3. Isles of Scilly
Just off the Cornish coast, it’s easy to see why the archipelago made it into the top three.
Here, you can expect golden sandy beaches where you will be able to spot dolphins beyond the shoreline, as well as seafront pubs serving up hearty grub.
She believes there is more “trust” between travellers who chose to swap their homes because everyone is in the “same situation”.
Meanwhile, one content creator has saved £11,000 by using house sitting websites to bag free holidays abroad.
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