Some of you will know that I get about a bit. I have found various ways of doing this 'on the cheap', including home exchange. I found my last one by putting a post on one of my expat forums, but I used to belong to an organisation that charged me about £100 for a year and gave me access to about 11,000 homes all over the world. I even exchanged for a luxury villa on the Caribbean island of Bequai. You don't need to have a luxurious home, or live in a beauty spot. Many people from overseas just want a base to visit England/Europe and it doesn't have to be like for like.
I don't want to advertise, so if anybody is interested they can send me a pm for details.
I have also stayed in a good hotel in a little village south of Zaragota, with ample food and wine, but it was quite hard work as we had to chat to Spanish business executives for about 5 hours a day. Again, pm me for details.
Or, of course, you could offer to dog/cat/house/plant sit for somebody who lives in a lovely area of Switzerland (well, it works for me!)
Or you could send your offspring to live in a lovely far-off country.
For those of you who like work, there are lots of schemes which enable you to stay on a farm or vineyard in exchange for some labour.
I would welcome any more ideas from you creative Gransnetters.
Daughter not allowed to know new baby’s name until she visits him
Good Morning Saturday 1st August 2026
What was directly across the road from the school you went to?
