A WOMAN has revealed how she’s been on several holidays for free and stayed in places like France, America, Finland, and Sweden without spending a penny.
Daniela Spinello, 40, has been going on free trips with her husband Angelo for the last six years after she learnt about house swapping.
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Daniela told the Sun Online Travel: “I signed up with Home Exchange after I did some online research and found their website.”
She came across the website in 2017 after deciding she wanted to travel more but spend less money.
In the last six years, Daniela has hosted many guests in her home in Edinburgh.
She said: “The very first one was actually a guest point exchange. We had a family stay in our apartment when we were away on holiday.
“It was a weird experience to have other people in my home but I was reassured by the guest reviews on the Home Exchange website.
“The family who stayed with us had really good reviews and our messages back and forth were really nice, which made me say yes.”
Daniela quickly adapted to having holidaymakers stay in her home.
And over the years, she believes she’s saved thousands on accommodation costs through house swapping.
She added: “I can’t remember the first Home Exchange I went on specifically, but we went to Finland and Sweden for two weeks between December and January in 2019.”
During their trip, the couple used five different house swaps to slash their accommodation costs.
Daniela added: “We just had to pay for the flights and attractions. It meant we were able to stay for so long without having to rush around.”
The savvy traveller has used house swaps to tick some bucket destinations off her list.
She said: “The best trip was being in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras celebrations.”
Before she attempted to swap her apartment for a free stay, Daniela researched the price of accommodation, which she said would’ve cost £600 per night.
She added: “But I found this amazing place [on Home Exchange], which was right in the city centre.
“I wouldn’t have been able to go to the Mardi Gras celebrations if it weren’t for Home Exchange.
“Last year, in December, we spent six weeks in California, and for 90 per cent of that time we used Home Exchange.
“We spent 10 days in Los Angeles, we were also in San Diego for one week, and San Francisco for another.
“We were able to afford that trip because we weren’t paying for accommodation.”
As well as trips across the pond, Daniela has also been on free stays in Europe including Nice in France and Lazio in Italy.
Because Daniela works remotely to recruit volunteers for a charity called Little Village, she’s able to work as she travels.
While Daniela doesn’t have any Home Exchange swaps planned for this year, she’s still ready for her next adventure.
She said: “If you own your property, anyone can use Home Exchange to get a free holiday. You just need to be slightly more flexible with the dates.”
And Daniela isn’t the only person who has used Home Exchange to snap up free accommodation across the UK and Europe.
Anna Bundock, 46, and her husband Pete have used the house swapping website to go on 12 free holidays with their children in tow.
While Lizzi Seear has used the site to go on 84 holidays with her partner without spending a penny.
Keith Barker has also used house sitting programmes to travel the world for free.
In the last 15 years, he’s lived in Mexico, Hawaii, Panama, and Portugal without spending a penny on hotels and other accommodation options.
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