Family live real life 'The Holiday' after swapping home with strangers from Facebook

Get the latest Daily Record breaking news on WhatsApp

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info

Join us on WhatsApp

In a real-life version of 'The Holiday', a family swapped their home for a villa in Cyprus with strangers they met on Facebook.

Emma Coulthurst, 37, was browsing house swap sites with the aim of taking her Mario-Kart obsessed six year old son to Super Nintendo World in Los Angeles, US. After posting on a Facebook group, she received an offer from a family in Zeytinlik, Cyprus, who were willing to swap homes. Six weeks later, Emma and her family spent £1,600 on flights to Cyprus in July 2024.

They enjoyed three weeks in a three-bedroom villa complete with a pool, indulging in local cuisine, visiting waterparks and observing baby turtles. The total cost of the trip came to £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."

She added: "We just spent a lot of time just at the house. We had everything we needed there."

She described the experience as low key, very relaxed and food for the soul, saying: "It was food for the soul. We felt so at peace and calm."

Emma and her husband, Martin, 37, a project director in construction, began doing holiday let swaps in 2022 due to financial constraints while renovating their home. This innovative approach allowed the family to visit the Pembrokeshire coast, a caravan park and Blackpool for free, simply by allowing other rental owners to stay in their holiday home.

Emma found joy in the world of home exchanges, joining dedicated Facebook groups after completing her home renovation in 2023. With a desire to take her family to Disneyland Paris, she decided to list their freshly done-up property on Airbnb.

Emma shared: "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."

Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

The positive outcome of this venture led her to consider house swapping more seriously, especially with an aim to bring her son to Super Nintendo World in LA. Emma explained: "My son is obsessed with Super Mario. He talked about it all the time."

Her son's enthusiasm for Super Mario and discovering Super Nintendo World on YouTube sparked an idea.

Emma said: "I thought I would love to take him there but it was so out of our budget. So I thought why not see if anyone wants to do a swap.

"I did a post and put it in one of the Facebook groups saying we'd like to go to Hollywood. I got loads of comments coming back like 'it's like the real life Holiday'. But I had no takers wanting to swap."

Persistence paid off when, six weeks later in September 2023, she received a promising comment. Emma recalled: "It said we've got a place in Northern Cyprus. Would you like to talk further? " Curious, she responded, "I said 'why not? '."

The commenter revealed: "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 for 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 honour 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 described: "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 following three weeks basking in the scorching sun, savouring traditional mezze, and enjoying some downtime.

They also visited a water park, spending only £80 on entry for the entire family. Emma pointed out: "That's probably less than the cost for one person in the UK."

One of Emma's highlights was visiting Alagadi beach to see baby turtles hatching.

She reminisced: "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 considering doing another house swap in the future.

Emma explained: "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. The house swap was incredible. It was different and so special."

Emma reflected on the unique opportunities they had, saying: "We did experiences for the children that they would never usually have had on a family holiday."

You can find out how to rent Emma's holiday cottages by visiting https://woodcockfarmlets.com/. For those interested in Villa Shifa in Cyprus, information is available at www.simplyowners.net/northern-cyprus/p/277117/.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.