A woman from the Peak District, Derbyshire, was looking on house swap sites after wanting to take her six-year-old son to Super Nintendo World in Los Angeles, US
A woman and her family lived out a real-life version of ‘The Holiday’, swapping their home for a villa in Cyprus with strangers they met on Facebook.
Emma Coulthurst had been browsing house swap sites, hoping to take her six year old son, who is obsessed with Mario Kart, to Super Nintendo World in Los Angeles, US.The 37-year-old posted on a Facebook group and received an offer from a family in Zeytinlik, Cyprus, to swap homes. Six weeks later, the family spent £1,600 on flights to Cyprus in July 2024.
They enjoyed three weeks in a three-bedroom villa with a pool, indulging in local cuisine, visiting waterparks, and seeing baby turtles. The total cost of the trip was £3,000 – the same amount they would have spent if they had stayed in the UK for the summer holidays. Emma, who runs an art supply company and owns holiday cottages in the Peak District, Derbyshire, said: “We said we wanted to live rather than holiday. We just spent a lot of time just at the house.
Do you have a story to tell us? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
“We had everything we needed there. We were able to chill. It felt low-key and very relaxed. It was food for the soul. We felt so at peace and calm.”
Emma and her husband, Martin, 37, a project director in construction, started doing holiday let swaps in 2022 after being strapped for cash while renovating their home. The family got to visit the Pembrokeshire coast, a caravan park and Blackpool for free – just by letting other rental owners stay in their holiday home. Emma had a blast with the concept, joining Facebook home exchange groups. Post-renovation in 2023, her place went on Airbnb to finance a Disneyland Paris holiday.
She reminisced: “People said we were crazy because we’d just finished renovating it. We finally had this beautiful home and we’re going to let some strangers stay in it.” After a successful first attempt, Emma got hooked on house swaps, occasionally perusing swap sites. The real quest began when aiming to take her son to Super Nintendo World in LA.
“My son is obsessed with Super Mario,” she explained. “He talked about it all the time.”
Discovering a theme park online, her aspiration soared despite financial concerns, leading her to think: “So I thought why not see if anyone wants to do a swap.” Posting her wish to go to Hollywood on Facebook got folks comparing it to the film ‘The Holiday’ but no initial bite for a switch.
Surprisingly, six weeks later in September 2023, an offer from Northern Cyprus popped up. Emma shared the commentator’s words: “It said we’ve got a place in Northern Cyprus. Would you like to talk further? She explained she is English and her husband is Cypriot and they were looking to spend three weeks in the UK to view houses. She said it’s like The Holiday but with less Jude Law. I thought this seems like it could be fun.”
In a twist of fate, Emma’s mum happened to be holidaying in Northern Cyprus at the same time and decided to meet up with the couple. She was even given a tour of their villa.
Emma recalled: “I was just hoping my mum would say hi and check they were real. She said ‘you’d love it’.”
After waiting for flight prices to drop, the family booked their trip in January 2024. The next day, the other family informed them that they had found a property to buy in the UK but promised to still go ahead with the swap. In July 2024, Emma and her two children, aged six and eight, flew out and were overjoyed when they saw the villa.
She said: “We had seen the lovely surroundings. The sun was going down. We went round the side of the house and there was the money shot — the pool with lush greenery around it. It was just so exciting. That first evening itself was just pure magic.”
They spent the next three weeks basking in the scorching sun, savouring traditional mezze, and enjoying some relaxation and exploration. They also visited a water park, spending only £80 on entry for the entire family. Emma noted: “That’s probably less than the cost for one person in the UK.”
Emma had also wanted to see baby turtles and visited Alagadi beach for a private hatching. She described: “There were buckets with wriggling little turtles – all climbing over each other. They gave everyone a turtle to hold.”
The family returned home in August 2024 and are open to doing another house swap in the future. Emma revealed: “It cost the same as if we’d stayed at home and done all the stuff we normally do in the summer holidays. We like to go for dinner once a week and the kids have summer clubs and day trips. Our holiday let was still running so it meant we had an income. I just felt so grateful and they felt the same.”
Emma is a proponent of house swapping but suggests doing your homework first. She advised: “The house swap was incredible. It was different and so special. We did experiences for the children that they would never usually have had on a family holiday.”
