Petra Novak used to travel one or two weeks every month as part of her work as an auditor, before Covid hit, something she missed tremendously.
“When life returned to normal, my boss realised that the job could be done remotely and I missed out on the travel element,” she says. “Travelling, for me, was a perk of the job.”
Petra, 35, decided to re-organise things so that she had a contract agreement and could work remotely – abroad if she wanted to – and decided to explore ways she could do so without breaking the bank.
“I Googled what options there were for my property,” she says. “The financial side was important to me because I couldn’t afford to live half of my life in an Airbnb.”
Petra, who owns a one-bedroom, new-build flat in Brixton, London, came across house-swapping site, Kindred, which allows members to swap houses all over the world.
Since joining in July 2024, she’s spent 29 weeks abroad, including 14 weeks in Madrid, six weeks in Barcelona, three weeks in Paris, two weeks in Amsterdam, two weeks in Zurich, two weeks in Lisbon and one week in Berlin.
All of her stays have been in one-bedroom flats like hers.
“My two favourite places were a penthouse in Lisbon with a panoramic view and cool art on the walls, and a very modern flat in Madrid with a pool, gym and co-working space. I’m going back there in June,” she says.
Petra estimates the total cost of her accommodation, had she paid for it, would have come to £20,400 and once cleaning and Kindred’s fees have been deducted, she thinks her savings – instead of paying for hotels – are around £17,900.
Aside from the financial advantages, she prefers this way of travelling over staying in impersonal hotels. “I like meeting interesting people, even if it is just online, and it’s comforting going to someone’s house – they always have a blender, air fryer etc – things you wouldn’t get in a hotel,” she says.
“I also love seeing people’s personal stuff.”
Petra Novak said she has strict rules on who is able to house swap with her and asks people not to put greasy food in the air fryerThere is no payment between guests and hosts on Kindred but it does charge a service fee. For those only planning to be away a few nights of the year, this varies from £15 to £35 per night, depending on the location. Alternatively, the Kindred Passport costs £475 per year and means members pay £0 service fee, no matter the location or duration of their stay.
In addition, members pay a cleaning fee, both before they stay and after they leave, which also covers the provision of clean bedsheets and towels. The cleaning fee depends on the city and the size of the house but, as an average, for a one-bedroom flat, it comes to about £90 per trip. As the cleaning is done before and after your stay, the longer you stay, the better the value.
Kindred’s ‘swap’ element uses credits as the base of the system. If you host someone in your home for one night, you get one credit, which can be used by you to stay one night somewhere else.
There is no differentiation when it comes to property size so a credit ‘earned’ from one night in a one-bedroom flat can be ‘spent’ on one night in an eight-bedroom house – although the cleaning bill is likely to be more.
“It doesn’t need to be a like for like swap,” says Petra. “You don’t need someone staying in your home at the same time you are staying in a property elsewhere. I stay with my sister a lot and I collect nights and credits in my London home when I am there.”
Under Kindred’s arrangement, if a host cancels within a certain time frame, it will either arrange similar accommodation or, if none is available, pay the cost of alternative accommodation for up to two weeks.
Petra Novak swaps her one bedroom flat in Brixton with people around the world to save money on travellingFor hosts, if a guest causes any damage to your home or possessions, the insurance will cover this.
Petra said: “On one occasion, a spoon went missing [from my flat]. There was insurance in place for such a situation, and I was provided with a new set of utensils. Another time, the air fryer started making a strange noise after a guest had left and Kindred paid for a new one.”
All members are automatically covered by the $100,000 Host Protection Guarantee Policy, Trip Protection Program, and General Liability Insurance at no extra cost. To join, prospective members must have a home that meet’s minimum requirements for safety and quality.
The company also verify members’ identities and encourages new members to take part in a call with a member of the team before they host or stay somewhere, so they know what to expect. During a trip, a concierge can be contacted by text should members need any support.
While Petra has full confidence in the vetting process, she still prefers to exercise caution with who she allows to stay in her home.
“Whenever someone applies with a ‘stay request’, I look up their home and, if there are empty alcohol bottles, I would say ‘no’. I also look at their social media accounts, like Instagram, and I won’t let anyone stay if they don’t have a Linkedin profile because I want to check them out,” she says.
“The ones I accept are the people I feel comfortable with. There is a section [on the stay request] where guests can write a letter to the owner and I like to have some details here, rather than just ‘I am coming to London for two weeks.’ I am letting them use my home.”
There is also scope for adding in ‘house rules’ when you set up the profile of your home. “There’s a set template so you can add things like ‘don’t smoke inside’ or ‘use coasters for mugs’. I added a silly one: ‘Don’t put anything super greasy in the Airfryer’ as it’s impossible to clean,” says Petra.
She also empties a chest of drawers and cabinet in the bathroom for guests to use, and locks away valuables in a built-in wardrobe.
Petra has already planned her next trip. “I’m going to Madrid for eight weeks in the summer,” she says. “I’m super-flexible so living the high life.”
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