I’ve been on 84 vacations for free – here’s the secret to how to do it

She traveled the world in 80 vacations.

Lizzy Ciar, 51, claims she has traveled to 84 countries in the past six years with her partner, Alan Westall, 52, and she only paid for airfare.

Ciar said she was used to discounts while working at IHG Hotels & Resorts, but after changing jobs, she was looking for a new way to get cheap holidays.

Cue HomeExchange. The website boasts listings all over the world with an annual membership that starts at $175 per year. There are plenty of houses you can stay at at no extra cost – the only catch is that you change houses with the owner of your vacation spot.

“I’ve stayed in some amazing places, including two weeks in Bali,” Ciar told the Sun. “I had to stay in a private two-bedroom villa in Bali with a private pool and a housekeeper who brought breakfast every morning.”

“It was a real moment because the whole trip only cost us £400 per flight,” added Ciar, who also revealed she had traveled to Italy, Spain, Finland, Hungary and Germany.

HomeExchange is an alternative to the popular Airbnb rental service, which got into trouble with the New York authorities. Not only has the app successfully penetrated the housing market and hurt hotel revenues, but some critics accuse it of contributing to the city’s housing crisis.

Tight new measures went into effect in January targeting the short-term rental site, prohibiting landlords from renting out “an entire registered dwelling” and requiring them to also provide proof of permanent residence, as well as schemes and lease agreements. Failure to comply with the new rules could cost hosts up to $5,000, with Airbnb being fined $1,500 for violating the rules.

Ciar said she was hesitant to list her apartment on Airbnb, explaining that she felt better with HomeExchange because of the “trust” between fellow travelers who are in “the same situation.”

She said she received 48 visitors at her home in Ealing, West London, in six years, recalling that the first time guests stayed there was “the strangest” despite being “lovely people”.

When she was away for work and wanted to rent out her house instead of trading in, the site allowed her to accumulate trading “points” to use later. Now she not only travels to popular tourist destinations (Barcelona is her favorite), but also tries to visit hidden gems.

“I started looking at Baden-Baden in Germany and thought the Black Forest looked very beautiful,” she said. “We stayed in a very nice house which was a 10 minute walk from [town] center and right in the black forest.

A Vodafone employee is urging people to try a house swap, reassuring reluctant travelers that it’s “not the size or location” of their home. Just “if you have a comfortable bed and free closet space”, that’s what matters.

“I went to an apartment in Bologna that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for a month,” she said. “We kept our things in suitcases, but we were only 10 minutes from the center of Bologna.”

“People should make the most of what they have,” she added. “Your home doesn’t have to be big or spacious or in London because you never know where people want to stay.”

HomeExchange seems straight out of the 2006 cult romantic comedy Vacation, in which Cameron Diaz’s character trades houses with a British journalist played by Kate Winslet and finds love in a small town.

The unlikely couple even shared a similar sweet encounter via the HomeExchange website in 2021, when the New York woman switched houses with a Londoner and met their British prince. But in December, she announced that she was no longer with a man.

However, the two women who switched houses became friends through the experience.

“Neither of us are still with the man we met: despite the grand plans, the stretch of the Atlantic was a greater force than the fizz of the romantic connection that I discovered,” Lizzy Frainer wrote in The Telegraph. “But somehow my friendship with Camille grew stronger every month.”