Keelin and Matt

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Keelin and Matt joined the Signature Collection earlier this year. This family loves to experience different cultures and traveling, so we were lucky to have been invited by Matt during his first stay in his new August French Riviera home, whilst he was on his annual solo trip. Find out more about his family story and why August made sense for them.

‍"My family is interested in exploring and seeing new places. It's a passion for us and we've been looking for an eventual retirement plan and came across August.‍

We enjoy experiencing different cultures and want to expose our daughters to other places and ways of life. One of our daughters and great friends who we travel with often, desperately wants to go to Spain. Seeing the architecture, experiencing new cultures and how people live is so different to what we're used to, it's nice to be able to share that with them.

I also travel a lot on my own, my wife not so much but I enjoy seeing new things, meeting people and just the cultural aspect to solo travels. Walking tours are a great way to see the areas so I always look out for local guides. When it was time for my annual vacation, we had just recently joined August so it was a great way to start my travels. Here, I am, in the South of France, which I've never been to this part before so it's really great to check the area out before bringing my family here next year. I've tested out some of the August Recommends places such as the Michelin star restaurants. As a family we'll try and drive between the two homes - Valbonne and Chamonix as it'll be a different experience with the girls and I'll get to drive through and show them around.

When we came across August, it seemed like a leap but I thought to myself, at home, the maintenance issues are a hassle, let alone dealing with this abroad and this is the question that often popped into my head; how would we do this?

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August seemed like an interesting idea as they look into the details of how to live in a foreign country and everything that goes with it, August had a lot of those problems solved.

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When we were looking for a place, we often found ourselves wanting a home that accommodates our family and friends. In the past, we've stayed in a number of Airbnbs and traveled around the United States and one thing I've always had a problem with was the comfort of everything. The furniture and the beds. A lot of the Airbnbs go for durability and sturdiness, which can be uncomfortable but here, the interior and features are comfortable like a home should be and it's really well appointed.

‍You really can come in and see this wonderful place, the practicality and comfort is something I wouldn't have put together on my own. Our favourite thing is that it's maintenance-free living, where we don't have to do anything.
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The locations are within Europe so it's a great mix, so we'll use each of the homes for a period of time, at the top or tail we might go to a different area and experience that new location for a few days. Everyone is very excited!‍‍

‍We're looking forward to just being able to come in and enjoy. It is really like a home away from home. ‍

When I arrived, the homes were exactly what I was expecting, the videos and the images, along with the online materials all represented the homes well. So when I got here, it was what I thought it would be and even driving through the gate and walking through the doors was pretty amazing. Once you're in and experience the house, it's quite awesome that its mine, I'm an owner!"