I've travelled the world with my family of six and saved £41,000 on accommodation over the years thanks to secret holiday hack
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A mother-of-four has revealed how she has saved an estimated €50,000 (£41,487) pounds while travelling the world over a period of 16 years with her family. Fionnuala Brennan, 53, from Tramore, Ireland, has managed to holiday around the globe, including in America, Australia, and Italy, by exchanging her home.
![[The mother-of-four, who is a university lecturer, first decided to travel via HomeExchange to save money]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/15/93126449-14190479-The_mother_of_four_who_is_a_university_lecturer_first_decided_to-a-16_1735313478003.jpg)
The 53-year-old, a lecturer at Southeast Technological University in Waterford, has completed 87 exchanges since starting, saving her thousands of pounds. Fionnuala's preferred platform, HomeExchange, works in two ways: the Classic Exchange, where two families swap homes, either simultaneously or on different dates.
![[After having four children together, staying in hotels when on holiday became too expensive for Fionnuala and her husband]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/15/93126465-14190479-After_having_four_children_together_staying_in_hotels_when_on_ho-a-20_1735313478135.jpg)
Or tourists can use 'guest points', which means they can stay in a home without giving their own abode up, and earn points at a different time by letting people stay at their property. Despite Fionnuala hearing about the platform from a friend when she was 30, she didn't use the website until after she had her fourth child in 2008, which made travelling via hotels too expensive.
![[Fionnuala believes that travelling with HomeExchange can offer a more authentic way to experience a foreign country]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/15/93126469-14190479-Fionnuala_believes_that_travelling_with_HomeExchange_can_offer_a-a-19_1735313478059.jpg)
'With four kids, we felt it was just too expensive to go anywhere, so we decided to give it a go,' she told Femail. Now, the mother-of-four has made lasting memories with her husband and children around the globe and even favours it over other travelling arrangements due to the authentic experience it provides.
![[The family have enjoyed trips across the globe together, including in America, Australia, France, Italy]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/27/15/93126447-14190479-The_family_have_enjoyed_trips_across_the_globe_together_includin-a-17_1735313478007.jpg)
