Story of Maggie and Laura's first home exchange in Australia

We’re a family from Australia and we love to travel and explore new places. 

We first learned about HomeExchange from a retired family member, who was using the platform during a European holiday. We loved the concept and wanted to try it for ourselves. We listed our house, in the historic gold mining town of Beechworth, (Victoria, Australia) and started dreaming about where we could go. 

We were thrilled to receive a request for an exchange from Pamela in the beachside suburb of Tamarama in Sydney, Australia. She reached out to us suggesting a direct exchange and we thought “what a nice surprise, of course, we’d love to spend a week by the beach in Sydney!”. We loved living like a local in Pamela’s house, enjoying all of her recommendations, chatting to her friendly neighbours and exploring the best local beaches. And it also gave us a lot of joy knowing that Pamela was simultaneously having a fabulous time at our home in Beechworth. We experienced the unexpected glow that the generous act of sharing gave us. And we were surprised by the feeling of friendship and intimacy that developed, despite never meeting!

Overwhelmed by the benefits of our first HomeExchange, we made sure we finalized our next HomeExchange before we left Pamela’s house. This time, we reached out to propose a HomeExchange with others, and found a perfect match with a family living on the Sunshine Coast (Queensland, Australia).

The conditions were perfect - a low-cost airline had just begun servicing our respective regions, making the trip an easy and affordable two-hour flight. Our kids were a similar age, so we knew there would be age-appropriate books, toys, prams, and bath toys to utilise. And because we’d both be leaving our cars at the airport, it was decided that we’d swap those too! We couldn’t believe how easy it was!

After completing two exchanges, we are certain that this is the future of travel. We want more people to benefit from a HomeExchange membership, and are excited to share what we love about it:

HomeExchange makes travel affordable

There’s no denying that this is one of the most compelling reasons to use HomeExchange. Accommodation is often the largest expense in any holiday. And with people navigating higher interest rates and cost of living pressures, many people are feeling like going on holiday is out of the question. Once you remove the high cost of accommodation, holidays are infinitely more within reach! HomeExchange enables more regular holidays and travel experiences. Removing the cost of accommodation from the equation frees up money for other indulgences, like cafes, wineries, and stimulating tourist attractions. Let the good times roll!

HomeExchange makes you feel welcomed

With HomeExchange, you’re welcomed into someone's home, and into their local community. It’s a special feeling, a sense of warmth and belonging. It shapes the experience.  

HomeExchange fosters generosity and gratitude

It’s something special to let someone share your home, especially a stranger! In a world where people feel more distanced from each other, it’s such a heartwarming act of community and trust. In a world that is becoming more and more commercialised, it feels good to belong to a community where generosity and trust are the currency. Trusting in the goodness of other people opens up a special part of your heart, and makes you believe in community again! 

HomeExchange keeps the heart of communities alive

Accommodation platforms have contributed to the hollowing out of neighbourhoods, as more homes are transitioned to permanent holiday accommodation. This has impacts on local communities, compounding the housing affordability crisis. We love that HomeExchange facilitates travel in a way that doesn’t have these negative impacts. 

HomeExchange lets you showcase where you live

We live in a beautiful house in a beautiful part of the world. We get excited by the opportunity to share this with others. It’s fun to curate a list of recommendations to ensure our guests are able to maximise their time and discover the best of our region. We love where we live and we want others to experience it and fall in love with it too.    

The magic of HomeExchange shapes your holiday

Ever decided to go on a holiday, but the amount of choice is overwhelming? Or you’ve narrowed it down to one town, but then there's countless generic looking accommodation options, with nothing to distinguish them? With HomeExchange, you get the dual benefit of being approached for exchanges (you never know who might reach out) and also initiating exchanges - it’s a fun process that involves casting the net wide, sending out some requests, and seeing where you end up! 

HomeExchange can take you anywhere, even places where you might never have known you wanted to go! There’s a bit of magic there - a sense of a whole new world opening up, beyond the frame of the seemingly endless options of typical commercial holiday accommodation. 

HomeExchange builds community, and new connections

Our Sunshine Coast family shared stories with us about enjoying our Beechworth life - playing at the playground at our local lake, visiting neighbouring towns, and exploring our favourite wineries and breweries. And we shared photos of our exploits with them - our visit to their local aquarium, the ‘big pineapple’ tourist attraction, their favourite kid-friendly beaches, and the impressive local ginger factory. We feel like we really got to know our exchange family and the icing on the cake was getting to meet them in person (after we flew back into Albury airport and before they boarded their return flight home). We greeted each other like long lost friends! This is no regular accommodation experience - HomeExchange builds intimacy and community. 

When you take the cost of accommodation out of the equation, regular travel becomes more achievable. Experiencing and learning about new places is so enriching, and we want to be able to do this as much as we can, especially as a family with young children. Our hosts had a poster in their house with a quote from Lewis Carroll - it sums it up really. “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures”.

Thanks, HomeExchange - here’s to many more!