Travel Hack House Sitting

During my first Nomad Cruise, I went to a workshop with the title “Travel the world by house and pet sitting”. It turned out that the speaker was a mother of a 10 year old girl and they are traveling with house sitting only. I was excited to learn about this new possibility to get around and live like a local.

What Exactly is House Sitting?
It’s actually a simple concept: Imagine you have a house, even pets, and plants that need to get taken care of. And then you can’t be at home for a certain period of time. You go on vacation, or on a business trip, or whatever reason you have to leave your home for a while. But you can’t take care of your pets, the plants, and the mail yourself… Nobody would be staying in your home which is raising the possibility for burglars. Wouldn’t you as well try to find an easy solution for all these problems?

This solution is called house sitting! A house sitter stays at your place – just like you normally do. Meaning they take care of pets, plants, snail mail and are simply there. Actually, I’ve seen house sits without animals and plants. The house owners just don’t want their home to be empty.

And What’s in it For You?
One big thing is that you can stay in your house sitting place for free. Accommodation is one of the big expenses and you get rid of it very easily by house sitting. And more: you have a whole apartment or house for yourself. Additionally, you can do what you as a nomad probably love most anyways: live like a local. Plus most of the house sitting places are definitely above average when it comes to luxurious living. Most of the times you will have a pool, sometimes a gym. And a well-equipped kitchen is really nice to have. Even a cleaning lady was included in my two sits.

There Are Downsides, too,…
…but I think it’s still more than worth it! One is that most of the apartments are rather far away from the center. Both of my house sits were 40 to 60 minutes from the city center by public transport. In addition, the dates are almost never flexible. The house owners have a booked trip and, in the best case, you can decide whether you arrive one day earlier and stay another night afterward. But if you already have a planned trip to a place, it is very unlikely that you will find the appropriate house sit. In the best case, you will find a sit for a part of the stay.

In general, however, it is a win-win situation!

Which Platforms Are There?
There are different platforms, which bring house sitters and house owners together. The yearly costs are between 20 and 100 Euros. Normally, however, a single house sit should be enough to make up for the annual fee. I have had two house sits (one in Dubai and one in Singapore) and would definitely have paid a lot for accommodation in the two cities. So now, I have paid around 2.50 Euro per night. And that in spacious apartments with pools around the corner in two of the most expensive cities in the world… Not bad at all, I would say.

The platforms are:

Trusted Housesitters (go to barbaralicious.com/trustedhousesitters to get 20% off the signup fee)
Mind My House
House Carers
Nomador
House Sitting World
Luxury House Sitting
Housesit Match

After hearing that Trusted Housesitters is the largest platform, I have created an account there without hesitation. The account itself is free! However, you can only apply to house sits and create your profile correctly when you are a paying member. So you can follow the newsletter and check out the house sits. As soon as there are a few that look interesting, you can pay and create your profile.

Check out this page if you want to learn more about the platforms: Which House Sitting Site is Best?

Who Should do House Sitting?
House sitting is a perfect opportunity for nomads who do not have fixed travel plans. Also, it is ideal if you are animal-loving and maybe even miss the possibility to have a pet while traveling. This is how I feel when I am on the road: I am always happy when there is a cat in my accommodation. And even more when I can look after it.

So once again, house sitting is just for you if:

You like to travel, but you are flexible and can adapt to the dates of the house owners!
You would like to live like a local!
You love animals, know how to deal with them and can also deal with problems (eg when they get sick)!
You like to live alone and you do not need much going on around you to feel good!
You have no problem to stay outside of the city!
This is How You Will Get House Sits

Tip #1: Your Profile
Slip into the house owner’s shoes for a second! They leave their home and their beloved pets to a complete stranger. The least we can do as house sitters is giving them the best possible impression of us. So fill out your profile in detail and give them a good overview of who you are.

Tip #2: Your Photos
Use photos where your face is visible, where you’re smiling and looking nice. A bonus is if you add photos of you playing and cuddling with animals. Show the householders that you love pets.

Tip #3: Security Check
There are different security check levels you can go through that increase your trust base. The basic check includes a verification of your e-mail address, telephone number, and ID. In addition, you can have reviews written by acquaintances. These are of course not as important as “real” reviews (made by people who use the platform), but for the beginning that’s better than nothing. The last stage is a criminal check. It’s 65 pounds extra, so I haven’t done it so far.

Tip #4: Your Own Page
It is best to create a very own site for you as a house sitter. Either you make a landing page, if you can, or simply an own Facebook page. This has several advantages:

You can upload more photos, videos, and texts about you.
You can collect reviews from different platforms and also from outside all platforms. So, for example, if someone privately asks you to take care of their animals, you normally have no way to get a review. With a page of its own, you do.
Basically, if you have a site you can take the house owners with you during your house sit. Post Selfies of you with their pet or share other information that might be relevant. When you apply for a new house sit, the new house owners will see what you have done in the past to give the house owners and animals a good feeling.

Tip #5: Be Quick
Especially with house sits in “cool places” it is important that you are among the first ones to apply. Because the number of applications can go up quickly. For Bali or islands in Thailand like Phuket, I have often seen that over 50 house sitters have applied. Being the first one can make the difference.

Tip #6: Skype-Call
It is best to offer a Skype call in the very beginning. Some will accept it, others will be able to see your photos. Everyone is different. But the fact that they have the opportunity to communicate with you more directly will show them that you are serious about it.

Tip #7: Names and Breeds
When applying for a house sit mention the name of the animal. If possible, you should also talk about the breed. This is how you show that you’ve read the listing and selected the sit because it suits you and not because of the place.

Tip #8: Quality
Be a good house sitter! Do as if this was your own home. Give the house owners an update every now and then, even if they do not ask for it. They will be happy to know that their best friend is doing well. If they are really happy with you, the review will be much better. And this has a positive effect on future applications.

I hope you will have a blast on your first house sit! I’m looking forward to reading your experiences with house sitting in the comments!

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