Whether you’re a nomadic traveller, location independent with a laptop-shaped office or you’re on the hunt for an adventurous way to pick your next holiday, looking after somebody else’s home and pets might just be the key to affording the ultimate lifestyle.
It might sound too good to be true, but we’ve found an amazing way to live without paying for accommodation.
For years we’ve worked around the world, lived on boats and in buses and vans, and spent more nights under canvas than a middle aged back can handle.
These days work and family commitments keep us in the UK more often than not, and while we wait for our old home (a 45 foot widebeam houseboat in East London) to sell, coupled with extra savings needed to afford our dream (a rural farm to convert into an outdoors retreat) we needed to find a way to live cheaply.
And we’ve done it, completely removing rent and household bills from our outgoings, at the same time as staying all over the country in some glorious properties.
Our secret: TrustedHousesitters, a website and app that pairs owners with house sitters, and creates a network that leads to an intensely homely way to travel.
Almost always there are pets as part of the bargain, which to us has been a bonus from the beginning. Ever since Em and I met, she has been suggesting we get a dog (or three) but we travel a lot for work and right now it wouldn’t be practical to have our own pet. This is where TrustedHousesitters comes into its own, we get to look after dogs (and other animals) without the commitment and expense of owning one ourselves.
This feels good
There’s more to TrustedHousesitters than free shelter and dogs to cuddle, the ethos of the site reflects our personal values and general approach to life.
There’s an initial sign-up fee paid to TrustedHousesitters for membership (£89/year for sitters & owners, £49/3 months for owners, or £114/year combined for those who own homes and also housesit), but after that no money is involved. There’s no transaction between house sitter and home owner which makes the whole arrangement feel holistic and…right.
Click here for 25% off your new TrustedHousesitters Membership
Without money there’s less pressure and more trust, and the very process of applying to look after someone’s house and pets is driven by care, not need.
A pair of true YesDogs
Em and I run a community called the YesTribe, which thrives off a set of basic values such as kindness, looking after one another and not being afraid to make an adventurous (or unconventional) lifestyle choice when you feel the urge. House sitting certainly fits into this idea of taking the path less followed, and as with all out of the box ideas, it tends to work out in the end if you go into it with an open mindset.
It feels wonderful to find a home owner who trusts us - as strangers - to effectively step into their shoes and look after a (furry) loved one in their own home. It should come with a lot of pressure but actually it doesn’t feel that way, the whole process brings out the good in people.
And in return, we’re more driven to prove they made the right call, which means looking after their place as if it was our own, and giving their pets plenty of time, care and cuddles
You’re staying where?!
Browsing through available sits on TrustedHousesitters can be an exercise in self control, a smorgasbord of dreamy opportunity. We’re planning to carve out a few travelling months this year letting TrustedHousesitters guide our movements but for now, palatial apartments in Sydney or sprawling countryside properties in Colorado just whet the appetite.
We’re slowly searching for our perfect basecamp and house sitting means we’re able to check out different parts of the country from the comfort of…someone else’s armchair.
The English housesits we’ve enjoyed haven’t exactly been shabby. When it comes to accommodation our basic needs are few; I need good Internet for work, Em likes a decent kitchen (which compared to our van is a pretty easy ask), and a nice place to lounge at the end of a long day is always a pleasure. We don’t need much, yet still relish staying in comfortable places. I mean, why not?!
But while we’ve stayed in suburban homes, converted barns and delightful rural cottages, the pets have always been central to our stays.
The Christmas Present Station
It’s a dog’s life
Don’t try to tell me you haven’t been searching under the tree for presents
Dogs have an amazing ability to show unconditional love. From the moment the owners leave, it’s as if we become the only humans in the world, and that bond is the DNA of any housesit. There are so many mental health benefits to having a dog around (and this is coming from a lifelong cat person!): the incentive to get out of the house for walkies, a warm furry ball flopped at your feet when the TV or laptop is on, endless playfulness and back-rolling, the wag-tailed enthusiasm at any sign of a door being opened. Or just that cheeky look when they need to go out.
Best friend, right there. And it’s hard to leave them when the sit comes to an end.
The downside
Another downside: there’s no guarantee your shoes/ slippers will be where you left them
“You’re living the dream.” If we had a pound for every time this is suggested we’d already have our own home to let other people look after. But of course, nothing is ever 100% perfect.
We’ve more or less adapted to the gentle upheaval of packing and unpacking each time we find a new temporary basecamp, and to that squeezed van life in between sits.
And that extra edge of necessary care when we’re in someone else’s home. Making sure there’s a coaster underneath a hot mug, not leaving the lights on and ensuring we don’t skimp on the chores are part and parcel of modern day living, but we can never totally relax, not 100%. This isn’t debilitating by any means, but there’s a conscious desire to ensure the owners return to a clean, unspoilt house and the subsequent positive review.
Oh, and when the dog disappears out of sight during walkies there’s always that thought, ‘oh god, what if she doesn’t come back?! How would that conversation go down?!’
Then there are the goodbyes. The sadness you don’t prepare for, that final hug with your new best friend. Especially heart-twangy when they know you’re leaving, the puppy dog eyes are in full effect, and like our last pupsit, when she wouldn’t even get up and laid in her basket, mad with us.
Which of course, just gives us more incentive to leave the house spotless and get asked back time and time again.
Reasons we love using TrustedHousesitters
Living in the midst of an adventurous life means it wouldn’t be practical or fair for us to get a pet right now. By using TrustedHousesitters, we get all the benefits of having a pet without the complications of actually owning one. It’s Uncle Syndrome, the best of both worlds.
For us, this is an absolute winner as we will probably choose our first pet the same day as we get the keys to our new home, and by then our house sitting experience will have made the decision for us.
We get to experience different sizes, breeds, temperaments and all the while have the peace of mind that we are looking after someone else’s pride and joy. We get immense happiness through looking after animals and showing them the love they deserve - if you’re a pet person, then I’m sure you understand.
When it comes to applying for sits, we love that there’s no middle man, we speak directly to home and pet owners to establish a relationship before we arrive. The whole process hones that self awareness of how we come across and takes trust on both sides to reach a ‘yes.’
There’s also an added intimacy to staying in homes instead of hotels. People have essentially trusted us with their lives, we’re stepping into their shoes while we’re away and we never take shelter for granted, and our gratefulness ensures that we do the best job we can.
Time to go
So, bit by bit we’re saving money, exploring the country, revelling in each new 5* review and the easing of the process of applying for new housesits (which is so much easier once you have good feedback from past owners).
With a bit of forward planning we’ve managed to reduce the gaps between upcoming sits to a matter of hours, if not a day or two, and in between we live out of our van or visit friends who we wouldn’t usually be passing.
We’re starting to look ahead at longer housesits, and we know it’s still the right lifestyle to lead because recently we found the option for a pretty cool dream home of our own, but still preferred the idea of house sitting. Each new sit is an opportunity, and living flexibly, open to the serendipity of the right stranger in the right place deciding to go on their holiday at just the right time, it’s a lifestyle choice too good to ignore right now.
One thing’s for sure, when we do finally find our own home, we’ll definitely use TrustedHousesitters when we go away.
Even if you have a home or a long-term contract and need to be in the same place for work, then you could use TrustedHousesitters on your next holiday. There are hundreds of opportunities listed around the world for varying lengths of stay, why not find your ideal housesit and let that guide your destination choice? Just a couple of nights sitting will pay off the annual membership, so what have you got to lose?
For our thoughts on how best to use TrustedHousesitters, with plenty of practical advice and suggestions, check out the other blog we’ve written on this subject.
And if you can’t resist the idea of giving this a go, save 25% off your annual membership with the code: SAYYESMORE when you sign up.
we worked in partnership with TrustedHousesitters on these blogs, and all words, thoughts and experiences are genuinely our own
