It's been a bit quiet around the blog lately as we've been busy planning, packing and going on our very first house swap holiday. House swapping is an idea I've been keen on for a while now but this is the first opportunity I've had to actually do one so we swapped our house on the Gold Coast with a family from Wellington for 8 days and so far, the swap has been a great success all round.
The ethos of house swapping works really well with the idea of reducing waste and using what we already have but with a slightly different slant. This way, we've been able to have the holiday we wanted to see our NZ resident rellos without having to drag two small children through hotel room living. We've been able to spend more than we would have at local Wellington businesses and have had no need to hire cars, pay for hotels and generally hand our hard earned cash over to multinationals at every turn. We can self cater if we want to and have access to everything a family needs to feel at home. Perfecto!
I should say though that we have been very lucky this time to have been able to set up the swap with a family who, although we have never actually met them, came recommended to us through our NZ contacts (and presumably vice versa). I sort of look at this as an easy introduction to the house swap world but I have to say it is something we will definitely do again in the future. It's also let me see what works, what I'd do differently etc. so that next time if we swap through an agency, I'll have a better idea how to play everything.
All up, we've had a lovely week in a beautiful Wellington home with all the comforts of our own home. I've also admired many of the lovely pieces of antique and vintage furniture in the house, spent time at craft and handmade markets and checked out the vintage clothing and furniture shops in the City. Wellington has a lovely feel about it and they seem partial to vintage and quirky so I've got lots or ideas and inspirations to bring home and get started on. There are a few things I'm itching to get going with as soon as I get back, I can't wait.
