Ellena has been part of the Love Home Swap team since 2017, so she’s well-versed in how to help our members arrange and enjoy the best home swapping experiences. But without a home of her own to swap on the site, she had never home swapped herself… until recently! Find out how she exchanged her life in London for a cosy fisherman’s cottage on the Cornish coast for her first ever home swap.
I knew everything about home swapping – without actually having done it myself!
I joined Love Home Swap as a recent graduate back in 2017, whereupon I launched my career in the membership team. This involved speaking to newly-joined members and chatting to them about all things home swapping. I then joined the Marketing team where I still work today in a small but mighty team delivering email campaigns, social media ads, content for our blog and much more.
Yet despite being part of Love Home Swap team for years, I’d never experienced a home swap myself. This is mainly due to the fact as a graduate living in Zone 2 London, my accommodation has consisted of renting rooms in various house shares, so I haven’t been able to offer up a home of my own to other members. However, when Love Home Swap launched their employee membership scheme, (which enables employees who may not have homes themselves to swap for Points) I knew I had to jump on the chance to experience the home swapping lifestyle.
Fran’s cottage ‘Trepen’ was the perfect hideaway for a week long home swap in Cornwall
Organising my first home swap was a surprisingly simple process.
As this was my first swap, I wanted to keep it local by staying in the UK. Living in London, I was keen to escape somewhere rural for some much-needed peace and quiet. I was after a coastal break, so I started looking for home swaps in Cornwall, specifically the ‘wild west’ which I love for its dramatic, rugged coastline. This is my favourite part of Cornwall, as it’s dotted with amazing little towns and some of the UK’s most stunning beaches and landscapes. Places like Porthcurno, Penzance, and St Ives all looked ideal, but then I found a stunning cottage in Mousehole, a small fishing port around 4km south of Penzance, and I knew I had to send a swap request.
I messaged the homeowner Fran about her charming fisherman’s cottage which is one of two properties that she offers to share with Love Home Swap members (she lives in a stunning modern home just outside Mousehole if you’re after more space) then sat back and waited. I know swaps can sometimes take a while to organise and get the details ironed out, so I was amazed to hear back within a day! Fran was happy to host me, and as I could be flexible with dates, we were able to confirm dates quickly.
The communication was seamless, and after messaging each and other on the platform to confirm the specifics of the swap, we exchanged phone numbers for the nitty gritty details such as how to access the keys to the cottage.
Fran’s main home in Mousehole, which is also listed on Love Home Swap
The village of Mousehole is very well connected to other areas of West Cornwall
Getting there was easy.
Travelling from the capital to a tiny rural fishing village might not seem like an easy journey to take, but the town of Mousehole is just a short drive or bus ride from Penzance, which is a convenient direct train ride from London Paddington – making this a great spot for anyone looking to enjoy a car-free holiday on the coast.
This was a workcation with a difference.
I’d always intended for this to be a ‘working’ holiday as I was travelling solo, and I simply fancied a change of scenery where I could work from someone else’s kitchen table. And luckily for me, Mousehold was everything I’d hoped it would be, and more!
Mousehole and the surrounding area is very accessible on foot, meaning there’s plenty to see and do within walking distance. I loved exploring Mousehole itself, and taking lunchtime walks along the coastal path. I was able to enjoy cooking in Fran’s well-equipped kitchen, saving those much-needed pennies so that I could splash out on some amazing meals at Argoe and Mackerel Sky (both do incredible seafood caught locally in Newlyn, the largest fishing port in England) as well as The Old Coastguard in Mousehole.
Although I was working from ‘home’ for the majority of my stay, home swapping allowed me to enjoy a much longer stay in Cornwall than I would have been able to afford if I was renting – plus a working holiday meant that I didn’t have to eat into my annual leave. Before starting work in the mornings, I swapped my usual swim at my local reservoir in Hackney for a quick dip in the harbour, and one lunchtime I was even able to squeeze in a walk along the coastal path, which was a big change from my usual lap of my local park.
Ellena was able to swap walks in her local London park for walks along the coastal path and Mousehole harbour
On my days off I was able to travel further afield.
One of my key highlights was a long walk from Sennen Cove to Porthcurno, stopping at Land’s End, Nanjizal Beach and Porthgwarra Beach along the way. I was fortunate to have a sunny day on my side in November, but it was great to explore this route (especially Land’s End, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Cornwall) at its quietest without the crowds.
Views of Nanjizal Beach along the South West Coast Path
I even managed a day out to St Ives to explore the galleries, artist studios and the town itself. I loved this day out in St Ives as it’s such a contrast from visiting this stunning town in the peak of summer, where the streets are flooded with tourists. Instead, the town was peaceful so I got to see even more of it. Although I had to embrace the unpredictable November weather, St Ives is stunning on a winter’s day – and I was able to enjoy off-season ticket prices to The Tate and the Barbara Hepworth Museum.
Views over St.Ives from the Tate Art Gallery
Ellena and her host Fran and her partner Adrian in their home in Mousehole
I even managed to meet my swap host!
I had the pleasure of meeting Fran, her partner Adrian and their son Logan during my stay, which made my home swap experience all the more special. They were lovely enough to give me a tour of their main home in Mousehole, which they did up during the lockdown to turn into a home that would be big enough for their family to visit from Australia (which they’re currently trying to secure a swap for in November 2023.)
Like many other locals, Fran and Adrian have renovated a 1960s bungalow, and have done it up in a way that allows them to rent it out during the peak summer months. They’ve done this by creating a second private hideaway at the top of their garden which they lived in during the renovations, and where they now stay when other home swappers or renters want to stay in their main home – meaning they can be particularly flexible! The old fisherman’s cottage in Mousehole (where I was staying) has been in Fran’s family for generations, and was her father’s family home for a long time. They’ve done an incredible job of renovating it to be a really comfortable stay, whilst maintaining all the charm of the original building.
Fran and Adrian and their dog Meg in their home in Mousehole
I’ve been blown away from my first home swapping experience.
It sounds ridiculous, as I’ve spoken to countless Love Home Swap members over the years about their experiences home swapping, with many having swapped well over 30 times to far-flung exotic destinations. Every time I’ve spoken to our members, they’ve said home swapping has changed the way they travel for good, however this doesn’t truly sink in until you experience it for yourself. It’s incredible to me that I’ve been able to stay in this cottage as part of my annual membership, when cottages of a similar size are rented out for at least £500 – 600 a week. It’s also been great to take my time travelling slowly, where I was able to enjoy a change of scenery and a different pace of life – all while taking hardly any time off.
Ellena was able to enjoy a week long stay in Cornwall despite only taking two days of annual leave
This has been an invaluable experience which has made me feel even better equipped to continue supporting our members with the best and most relevant content, plus the chance to continue building and improving our service. It’s impossible to not get the home swapping bug once you’ve tried it, and I’m already searching for my next swap for 2023. I’ll definitely be back for another swap to Fran’s gorgeous cottage!
Fran and Adrian are looking for a Points or Classic Swap to Sydney in late November 2023 for Adrian’s daughter’s wedding. If this sounds like something you’d be open to, why not pop her a message? If you’re feeling inspired to head to the South West Coast, why not explore homes in Cornwall and homes in Devon? Or if you need more coastal inspiration, read our round-ups of the best UK beaches and the best sandy beaches to get you excited for your next home swap (come rain or shine!)
