Marci and Derek Morris joined ThirdHome in December 2024, and in less than two years they’ve taken an impressive 35 trips. It’s no surprise Marci has appointed herself the club’s “unofficial Ambassador,” a role she takes seriously. When she tells friends about the club, her pitch has little to do with square footage or destinations.

“ThirdHome is more than a business transaction,” Marci says. “It is a culture, and at the risk of sounding hokey, it is a family.”

Last holiday season, she and Derek saw that play out firsthand.

A guest from just down the street, 10,000 miles away

Marci and Derek had a booking at their Snowmass condo from the Heywood-Smith family. In their first messages back and forth, they learned the family lived in Adelaide, Australia. That got Marci’s attention right away. Right after law school, she had spent a year working in Adelaide, and she had lived about half a mile from the Heywood-Smiths’ house.

The connection was immediate. It turned out they had more in common, too. The Heywood-Smiths were taking their family on a month-long trip through several ThirdHome properties, a “ThirdHome-a-thon,” as Marci put it. “People after our own heart,” she said.

Dinner in Cabo

Then came one more coincidence: both families would be in Cabo at the same time.

Marci and Derek invited the Heywood-Smiths to dinner. Derek and his sons had been out on the water and came back with fresh fish, which became a feast of several courses: sashimi, ceviche, and grilled tuna and marlin. Two families who had started out as host and guest spent the evening around one table, half a world from Adelaide and a long way from Snowmass.

“We had the most delightful evening,” Marci said.

What ThirdHome is really about

For the Morrises, the night summed up why they love being members. “If this isn’t the best endorsement for ThirdHome!” Marci said. “And so fitting as we enter the holiday season, making new friends and relationships that will last a lifetime.”ThirdHome members since December 2024 · 35 trips and counting

The story

Somewhere in Punta Cana, there may still be a tiny banana tucked behind a planter…

During a family week at Tortuga Bay Private Villa, Shannon Doell hid miniature bananas all around the villa and the resort for her family to find. Each color was worth a different number of points and some of its challenges brought in the resort staff.

The kids got hooked right away and the adults weren’t far behind. The week ended with an awards ceremony and medals. Team Shark won the scavenger hunt, and Hudson took home the coveted title of “Top Banana.”

“I think those tiny bananas will be a family joke for years to come!”

A hospitality pro’s first impression

Shannon knows hospitality from the inside. She owns Paradise Breeze Vacation Rentals & Realty in Southwest Florida, where guest experience is “something I think about every day.”

She joined ThirdHome in August of 2024. “I’ve always appreciated beautiful properties and exceptional hospitality,” she says. “ThirdHome offered an exciting opportunity to experience extraordinary homes and destinations in a completely different way.”

Like most new members, she had questions. Would the homes live up to expectations? How would the exchange work?

Her first stay answered both. In January 2025, she booked a home in Aventura, Florida, while attending a business conference in Miami. “Everything went so smoothly that I immediately felt confident exploring more destinations,” she says. “Any hesitation quickly turned into excitement about what was possible.”

A week that brought everyone together

Since joining ThirdHome, the stay that meant the most was Punta Cana.

Shannon gathered her partner, Mike, her brothers Jeremy and Jeff, along with their extended family for days filled up with bike rides, swimming, exploring, and long meals together. Beny, Katia, and the resort team looked after them well throughout.

One small routine stands out. “One of my favorite memories was biking with my brother Jeff in the mornings before heading to the gym.”

“Even now, thinking about that week makes me emotional,” she says. “With everyone’s busy lives, uninterrupted family time is incredibly precious, and this trip gave us exactly that.”

Nobody tried to make every moment elaborate. “We simply enjoyed each other’s company, and those ordinary moments became some of my favorite memories.”

Welcomed into someone’s home

Her hosts are part of the story too: Teresa in Turks and Caicos, Jeff in Marathon, David in Punta Cana, and a homeowner in Grand Cayman.

“There’s something special about being welcomed into someone’s beautiful home,” she says. “I never take that trust for granted.”

As a host herself, she notices the details: presentation, cleanliness, thoughtful amenities, and good communication. She often comes home with new ideas for her own rental business.

She also credits the ThirdHome team, naming Ciara, Breanna, Janine, and Bailee. “It’s wonderful knowing there are people behind the scenes who truly want members to have exceptional experiences.”

Seven stays and counting

In just over two years, Shannon has completed seven ThirdHome stays. Two more are booked for 2027.

Her advice for new members is simple: “Just give it a try!” Start somewhere that feels comfortable, talk with the homeowner, and enjoy it.

“And don’t just think about the beautiful homes,” she adds. “Think about the memories you can make and who you’d love to share them with.”

“When I think about Punta Cana, I don’t just remember the gorgeous villa,” she says. “I remember biking with my brother, hearing the kids laughing, watching everyone compete over tiny bananas, and sharing those special moments as a family.”

We came to Seven Hills as twelve,

with different roads behind us,

different stories in our hearts,

and names most of us had never heard before.

A mother came carrying both love and loss,

missing the husband who should have been beside her,

and with her came their two daughters and a son—

three children missing their father,

four hearts carrying the same beloved man

in their own tender ways.

They reminded us, without needing to say it,

that love does not end with goodbye,

and that those we have loved deeply

still travel with us.

Another couple came looking toward April—

toward vows still waiting to be spoken,

a marriage soon to begin.

And traveling beside them,

Dad and an “almost Mom,”

already discovering that sometimes

family begins before the wedding does.

Two couples arrived as the best of friends,

comfortable in years of shared memories,

yet strangers to eight others

whose stories they had never heard.

And so we gathered.

Twelve people.

Some family.

Some friends.

Most strangers.

But then came the table.

The meals that lasted longer than expected.

The laughter that grew easier each day.

The stories that began with,

“Have I ever told you…?”

and somehow opened a door

into another person’s life.

We spoke of the people we love,

the places we have been,

the joys that shaped us,

and the losses that changed us.

We laughed.

We listened.

We remembered.

And yes, perhaps we shed a tear or two.

Somewhere between morning coffee

and evening conversations,

between adventures and quiet moments,

something beautiful happened:

we stopped being strangers.

And at the heart of Seven Hills was Paola.

She welcomed us not simply into a villa,

but into a place that felt like home.

Through her kindness, generosity, and care,

she became a blessing to each of us—

in ways she may never completely know,

and in ways we will remember long after we leave.

Paola gave us more than a beautiful place to stay.

She gave twelve people

a place to find one another.

And Seven Hills became more than a villa.

For one unforgettable week,

it became our home.

Soon we will pack our bags

and travel again in different directions.

April will bring a wedding.

Life will bring new joys,

new sorrows,

new chapters,

and stories we have not yet lived.

But we will carry something from this place

that cannot be packed in a suitcase.

We will carry one another.

Because twelve people came to Seven Hills

not knowing quite who they would meet.

And we leave knowing something

none of us could have planned:

Sometimes family is given to us by birth.

Sometimes by marriage.

Sometimes through years of friendship.

And every once in a while,

God brings twelve people beneath one roof,

gives them seven days,

a table filled with stories,

laughter enough to fill the rooms,

a few tears shared without embarrassment,

and a gracious woman named Paola

who opens not only her home,

but her heart.

And somehow,

almost without noticing when it happened,

twelve strangers became twelve friends.

And twelve friends

became something that felt very much

like family.

We came to Seven Hills as guests.

We leave as family.

And wherever the road takes us from here,

a little piece of each of us

will always remain together—

here at Seven Hills.

We love you all, including Liz who curated this amazing culinary & wine Adventure for all of us to forge new lifetime friendships with!

When did you join ThirdHome, and what made you decide to give home exchange a try?

We joined in March, 2024. I was fascinated by the idea of an organization that was tapping into what would otherwise be unused space – people’s second homes because they can’t be in both places at the same time. What a brilliant idea!

Where did you go on your first ThirdHome trip? Did it feel different from a typical vacation rental or hotel stay?

We went to Cape Cod for Christmas of 2024.  It felt different from a typical vacation rental or hotel stay.  It felt more like our place for the week, including our two sons and their families – 10 of us altogether.  

Did you have any hesitations before your first exchange? If so, what changed your mind?

No hesitation, just a bit of anxiety that immediately went away once I heard from our host – the owner of the waterfront home on Cape Cod – who was warm and personable when he welcomed us to his home within minutes of making the booking.

How has the way you travel changed since joining ThirdHome?

We love to travel and ThirdHome has enhanced our travel experiences.  Before joining ThirdHome, my wife and I had visited nearly 40 foreign countries and all 50 US states.  Traveling with ThirdHome is fun and relaxing.  Some of the homes in the program are spectacular and all of the hosts are so nice!  

Your French Alps trip sounds incredible. What made that trip so memorable for you and your family?

The property itself was incredible!  A French chateau that will be 1,000 years old in 6 years. The property manager, Remi, and his girlfriend Roxi prepared “salty crepes” for us in the wine cellar one night. They joined us for dinner as we enjoyed their crepes with delicious wine my wife and I picked up in Meursault in the Burgundy wine region before our stay at the chateau.  And my 9 year old granddaughter Allie singing “Count On Me” in a cave off the wine cellar was the best birthday gift I’ve ever received.  This ThirdHome experience, with our family of 11 was like a dream come true!

Any funny, unexpected, or “only on ThirdHome” moments you can share?

Where else can you be swimming with your grandkids in a pool with a 1,000 year old chateau on one side and the French Alps on the other?

Have there been any other ThirdHome trips or moments that have been especially meaningful to you?

During our first ThirdHome stay in Cape Cod, I dressed up like Santa and snuck into the rooms of our four grandkids, who were ages 5-8 at the time.  Two were so sound asleep Santa could not wake them, but the two who saw Santa were true believers at that moment.  

You mentioned how nice the owners are — have you built any friendships with other members through your travels?

Yes – momentary friendships with guests as well as hosts.  We had guests from Germany who I took for a ride in one of my vintage Porsches to a nearby plantation in Charleston. This was special to them because it is a significant automotive brand from their home country.

What advice would you give to someone who is nervous about taking their first ThirdHome exchange?

Don’t be nervous.  Travel to places you’ve always dreamed of.  Rest assured that the professionals at ThirdHome have properly vetted your hosts.  And remember, hosts are potential guests and everyone will treat your property with the respect it deserves.  

You’re building a place on Edisto Island specifically to add to ThirdHome. What made you want to create a home with ThirdHome in mind?

We like the program that much.  We are building a “Barndominium” with living space above on a 27 acre marshfront property on Edisto Island in the South Carolina ACE Basin, minutes from the Beach and we look forward to welcoming ThirdHome guests to our property on Edisto Island.

Looking back on your ThirdHome experience, what does reaching 100,000 bookings mean to you?

It means the business model is sound and should be around for a long time, creating memorable trips for people from around the world.

“I hope more members recognize the value and take that first step toward their own journey. Maybe someday our paths will cross somewhere, perhaps on one of the beaches of the world.” – Bruce R.

When Bruce Royer and his wife, Teresa, joined ThirdHome in 2012 through their second home in Topanga, California, they weren’t just looking for a new way to travel, they were looking for a way to build travel into their lives. Fourteen years and nearly 100 exchanges later, Bruce calls it “the best travel decision we could have imagined.” By the end of 2026, he’ll cross the finish line on a goal he’s been pursuing one adventure at a time: 100 trips with ThirdHome.

For Bruce, an award-winning filmmaker and founder of Royer Studios, travel and work have never been separate pursuits. Since 2014, he’s built a “working vacation” into his routine, spending roughly one week each month somewhere new, with his laptop open in the mornings and adventure waiting in the afternoons. A ThirdHome apartment in Paris’s 6th arrondissement, steps from the Luxembourg Gardens, became his home base while he filmed an episode of his travel series. A pair of exceptional exchanges in southern Costa Rica did the same for another episode. “Travel is a choice, but where? Often, availability through ThirdHome drives our decision about which destination to explore next,” he says.

That availability has taken Bruce and Teresa, often with friends and family in tow, everywhere from a 13,000-square-foot Argentine estancia, where a gaucho named Don Chaz greeted them on horseback and the staff hosted a traditional Argentine barbecue, to a Four Seasons residence on Costa Rica’s Papagayo Peninsula. It has also introduced them to hidden gems such as Guanajuato, Mexico, and Sumartin, Croatia; destinations inspired by ThirdHome availability. Some of Bruce’s favorite trips haven’t required a plane ticket at all: Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Mammoth, San Francisco, and Napa are all within driving distance, proving that the ThirdHome lifestyle doesn’t always require a passport stamp. So far, they have enjoyed 25 close-to-home exchanges and counting.

If you ask Bruce his secret, it isn’t luck, it’s flexibility. “Be flexible with your dates rather than committed to a specific destination and keep a reserve of Keys on hand for when opportunity presents itself,” he advises members. That approach once turned a six-day gap in his itinerary into an unplanned stay in Cannes, which became one of his all-time favorite cities. It has also led him to 52 Keyless exchanges, stretching the value of his membership even further.

But ask Bruce what he loves most about ThirdHome, and the homes themselves are only part of the answer. It’s the community. Over the years, he and Teresa have built genuine friendships with fellow members around the world—from a Swiss host who welcomed them with a fondue night, to a Budapest member who arranged tickets to a sold-out opera, to a French château owner who greeted them upon arrival with several bottles of local wine and a tour of the extensive grounds. “ThirdHome is a community as much as it is a travel club,” Bruce says. “Sometimes, the hosting members help make the destination unforgettable. We certainly make an effort to enhance our guests’ experience while they are staying at Tuscali.”

As Bruce closes in on trip number 100, he’s already looking ahead to the next hundred and to welcoming new members into the fold. “Every one of our nearly 100 exchanges began with a single booking,” he says. “I hope more members recognize the value and take that first step toward their own journey. Maybe someday our paths will cross somewhere, perhaps on one of the beaches of the world.”

From Topanga to Buenos Aires, from working vacations to lifelong friendships, Bruce Royer’s journey is a reminder of what membership can become when you embrace it fully: not simply a way to see the world, but a life built around it.

Renu Bonner is a loyal Member who has been on over 100 trips with ThirdHome. She was referred by a friend in 2016 and was admittedly a little hesitant about the program at first but soon realized that having a community of like-minded travelers with common standards for travel put her at ease. Then, after her first stay any worries, she had were gone for good.  

Renu keeps a ThirdHome “bucket list” so she knows a multitude of homes she’d love to stay in. That way, when one of these has weeks added, she’s ready to book then and there. Recently she spent the most Keys she’s ever spent on an exchange, but because her sights had been set, she knew it was worth the splurge.  

Time of year rarely matters to Renu, especially with the quality of homes she’s witnessed in her ten years with the Club. She says if there’s a home that you’ve been dreaming of, then just go. According to our veteran traveler, there are ThirdHomes where she’d be content reading a book in a new room each day if the weather required.  

Not only has Renu visited amazing homes, but she’s also built lasting relationships through ThirdHome’s community. She met Leo and Linda P. through a booking. Later, they met for drinks in California and when it was time for Leo and Linda to visit India, Renu provided them with recommendations and when they got there even had lunch with Renu’s sister. On a ThirdHome Adventure to New Zealand early in her membership, she met Jeff and Karen V. from Tennessee and immediately hit it off. Now the group takes trips together, stay at one another’s homes, and even have an Africa trip in the works.  

ThirdHome has given Renu and her family opportunities to accomplish things they hadn’t dreamt of before. She even visited all 50 states without meaning to! However, for Renu going on 100 ThirdHome trips is not the most important part of her Member story. It’s all of the distinct experiences, properties, and opportunities the exchange has provided her, her family, and her friends. ThirdHome has changed the way she and her family experience the world, and she is very grateful for that gift.  

“For anyone feeling a little nervous about their first exchange, we’d say: embrace the unknown! Our own hesitations quickly vanished after seeing the exceptional quality and personal touch of our first host home. Trust in the community and the curated selection of properties.”  – Patrick and Shari H.

ThirdHome has reshaped Patrick and Shari’s understanding of luxury travel and transformed their wildest travel aspirations into a reality. Throughout the family’s military career, they’ve been fortunate to see many parts of the world. This instilled in them a profound appreciation for travel and the diverse tapestry of cultures across the globe. Now with ThirdHome they continue to explore. The concept was novel when they first heard about ThirdHome and initially there was some hesitation about the practicalities, consistency, and overall quality of a home exchange. However, after their first exchange all of their reservations completely disappeared. 

Their inaugural ThirdHome trip was to South Africa, and it stands out to Patrick and Shari as a pivotal point in their membership. The blend of luxury accommodations with culinary adventures and wildlife encounters was life changing. On that first trip they realized ThirdHome was more than just a perk; it was a lifestyle. Their stay included a home with a hidden trap door, thousands of bottles of vintage wine, and immense generosity from the hosts. Since this first stay, they’ve seen Cabo, Hawaii, California, and more, but this journey is the biggest yet… 

Currently, Patrick and Shari are spending 10 weeks playing golf at 63 of the world’s top 100 golf courses. They’ll play 20 in Ireland, 33 in Scotland, and 10 across England, Wales, and London. Along their journey they’ll visit a variety of ThirdHome stays including centuries old castles and architectural wonders.  

“It’s almost a 10x [cost savings] difference…like Dare Manor, that’s typically $3,000 for one night and one round of golf. That’s what a lot of places are like without using ThirdHome…this would be half a $1,000,000 trip if we didn’t have the connections with ThirdHome and golf,” said Patrick.  

What elevates these experiences even more is the human connection and community that ThirdHome is built on. With ThirdHome stays, their hosts have often transcended that role and become friends and guides to the cities near and dear to their hearts.  

Patrick and Shari are having an amazing time on their 10-week golf adventure, and the trip serves as a powerful testament to the power of ThirdHome from cost savings to experiential travel and all wrapped up in community and connection. Reflecting on their journey with ThirdHome as the Club reaches 100,000 bookings Patrick and Shari say that the milestone signifies a growing family or discerning travelers who, like them, have discovered a more profound, luxurious, and often astonishingly affordable way to explore the world.