In early 2018, we were in need of a change and stumbled upon pet & house sitting through TrustedHousesitters. This may sound a little overly dramatic, but it honestly changed everything for us. We are finally traveling to places we only dreamed of, saving a ton of money by not needing our own home base, and – our favorite part – having fluffy pals to hang with at each new home we temporarily live in. This may not be a great fit for everyone. But it suits us extremely well, and we are happy to share more about this lifestyle in hopes others have the opportunity to benefit from it!
Want to learn more about pet and house sitting?
All of this still feels pretty new to us, but we’ve learned a lot so far and are excited to share our best tips. Plus, we love telling everyone why this is a fantastic way to travel, test out new lifestyles, and get tons of love from sweet pets. All while helping out other travelers (who, more often than not, end up being good friends). Win-win-win-win-win!
Thinking house sitting may be for you? Read about our first impressions of traveling full-time by pet and house sitting and our Q&A of top questions people ask us about this lifestyle.
For a look into a long-term travel adventure through house sitting, check out our article about how we housesat in Europe for 5 months.
But stay tuned, because there will be way more to come! We are just getting started on this house sitting adventure. And if you have any questions, feel free to contact us!
Interested in where pet & house sitting has taken us so far?
During our first year of house sitting, we completed 14 house sits in six different countries. That comes out to a grand total of 202 days of house sitting (with a ton of opportunities for amazing between-sit trips). We’ve taken care of 39 pets – mainly dogs and cats, as well as a few feisty chickens! And we have become quick friends with many of their wonderful human parents. Plus, getting to try out life in different places has been an absolute blast.
Some of our favorite experiences so far were spending two weeks in amazing Molokai, Hawaii, with a sassy cat, and five weeks in Inverness, Scotland, with two goofy pups and their sweet older sis. But we have SO MANY MORE great memories!
Check out our timeline from TrustedHousesitters for a look into our travels so far:
Who knows where our next sit will take us?!? That’s the most exciting part!
Is pet & house sitting through TrustedHousesitters the right fit for you?
As we mentioned, this won’t be for everyone. But if you are an animal-lover looking for authentic, budget travel, there is a good chance you’ll really enjoy it!
We use TrustedHousesitters and rave about it! You can read more about that here. But the top reasons are that the site is much easier to use than any others we have looked at and there seems to be a constant flow of sitting opportunities all over the world. Plus, the review system for both sides of the sit is great. And while the fee of $119 per year (for homeowners as well as sitters) may seem high, we think it ensures only serious people sign up which makes for a better experience all around.
So, if you’ve read this far, chances are you are really interested! And we say GO FOR IT! If you are nervous, take an easy, short sit near home first – that will help build up your reviews as well. Then branch out from there. Or just dive right into a six-month, international trip if that is more your style. The possibilities are really endless.
Whatever you decide, please let us know if you are going to be a fellow sitter! We love connecting with others on this unique path and are happy to share our tips. 🙂
P.S. We’ve been shouting from the rooftops how much we love TrustedHousesitters since we joined. So, we decided to become an affiliate for them because we genuinely love this amazing travel option. If you click any of our links, we get a kickback for referring you. That’s it. If you’ve found our content about house sitting helpful, we’d love for you to use our links or share them with friends who may benefit from joining. It helps keep this site up and running while spreading the news about this awesome lifestyle!
