Author:
Zoe – an eco Scottish solo traveller and digital nomad: @girlwiththesuitcases and girlwiththesuitcase.com
What is housesitting?
Housesitting jobs give you the chance to have completely free accommodation. Simply look after a house and any pets the owners have whilst they are away. If your positive reviews build up, you will start being accepted for bigger and better sits. So, one day you could be sipping on a cocktail overlooking a Mexican beach while living there for free!
Bear in mind though that I wouldn’t recommend signing up to a housesitting site if you are not an animal fan. There are rarely sits without them and you do need to be totally aware of the responsibility that comes with looking after a pet. If you are an animal fan though, then this is the ‘job’ for you. Housesitting can be ideal for full-time travellers, as you have a world of free stays available to you all year round.
Where to find housesitting jobs?
- Trusted Housesitters
- Mind my house
- Nomador
- Mind a home
- House sitters UK
Are all good starting points.
Trusted Housesitters is the site I use. It has the most housesitting jobs available compared to other housesitting sites, so is absolutely worth the slightly higher sign up fee. I was accepted by the first 3 house sits that I applied for.
There is also more variety on this site. You will find the more experienced house sitters are applying for the more popular house sitter jobs, leaving the less popular house sits for newbies like me – but I have still found plenty of choices available.
Copy and paste this discount code for 25% off of Trusted House sitters: https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF473296/?utm_medium=refer-a-friend&utm_campaign=refer-a-friend&utm_source=copy-link
What does house sitting involve?
Basic requirements:
- Turn up on the agreed date and time
- Feed the pet/pets
- Give them some exercise, often sits say no walk is needed as sometimes they have such large grounds
- Keep the house clean
- Put the bins out
- Put mail where required
- Enjoy your stay and relax with your new furry friends.
Is it worth the responsibility?
You must remember that you are responsible for another person’s home and most often their beloved pets. Just as things go wrong in your own home or travels, things can go wrong while house sitting too so it is quite a responsibility. However, if you choose the appropriate house sit for you, then generally everything should be fine.
There is frequently nothing overly difficult with house sitting. The most biggest issue with my current house sit is giving liquid medication in a syringe to Scarlett the cat. She isn’t a fan, but I’m getting used to it now. The good thing is that I can say to future house sits that I have experience with providing liquid medication.
What if something goes wrong?
There will be information in a guidebook left by the owners on who to call. For example, if the pet gets ill then there will be vet information. Or maybe the electricity stops working, there will be guidance on all things like this. Quite often, the house owners give you their family or friends numbers of those who live nearby to call so all will be perfectly fine.
What sort of person is house sitting right for?
House sitting is for all types of travellers, as there are all lengths of sits from overnight stays to long term house sitting jobs. Free rent makes it entirely possible to travel long term. During house sits I tend to spend Monday to Thursday 9-5 teaching English online and writing articles for people ,while also working on my site. If, like me, you wish to take off around the world then check out these 5 ways to earn money online.
Most house sits involve pet sitting so being an animal lover will make your membership more worthwhile. You don’t have to absolutely adore animals though, just be comfortable with and responsible for them.
Some stays, such as one I recently had, only involve putting food out for the pet so they don’t always require you to be intensely involved with the animal. However, you should at least like animals of course.
If you are a true animal lover, then house sitting is perfect for you. You have free accommodation often with a garden and a furry friend to watch TV with.
Oscar was cute as a button and no trouble at all. I had the loveliest, cleanest house to stay in along with a perfect little garden. There was a lovely bath, a large TV with access to all TV apps, DVDs, food free for me to eat and it was in peaceful surroundings. House sitting allows you to recharge (and do the laundry etc) between before returning to the road.
Filling out your house sitting profile:
About yourself
Firstly, tell the truth. Don’t make yourself sound like some sort of animal whisperer. You often meet the host beforehand so you don’t want to have to put on some sort of act. Write some general information about yourself to show what kind of person you are and what you do in life.
Why you want to house sit
Show your interest in looking after the animals as well as an interest in visiting other places. If you’ve had pets, say so.
Housesitting job experience
Again, stick to the truth. If you have only ever looked after goldfish then don’t make out like you have handled a pack of Great Danes and 10 Huskies. You may think it will be easy to take a dog out for a walk or 2 a day what ever type it is, but many can be hard work. Dogs can be very strong so it is better to err on the side of caution if you think the dog may be beyond your control.
My 2nd house sit involved a lovely dog called Smudge who I had thought would be manageable. He was delightful, but unfortunately he was insanely strong. It would have been fine, but he was deaf so I had to constantly keep him on the lead. Each walk was basically him dragging me along. The walks made it quite stressful, so I don’t think I would choose to look after a deaf dog who is super strong again. However, I’m sure deaf animals are a rarity, fortunately.
Really think it through
Really thinking about what you believe you can manage is critical. This is as much for your sake as it is for the owner and the animals. If you go ahead with out proper consideration, you will most likely have a stressful time and the dog will not find it enjoyable either.
The form:
When sending the host a message, make sure you sound enthusiastic about the animals and not just the sit.
- Introduce yourself
- Explain why are you on a house sitting site
- Show enthusiasm about their animals
- Show interest in the area e.g. if it has castles you could mention an interest you have in history
- Apply to house sits as soon as you find suitable ones
- Start with a few short term ones to build up your reviews.
- When you come across a suitable house sit, don’t wait – apply straight away before the vultures start circling!
- Be enthusiastic about the host’s pets and the area they live in.
Finally, how to get that important five star review
Message the owner throughout your stay. Every day for short stays and perhaps less often for the longer the sits. My current housesit is 6 weeks long and I am sending a message with a photo or video of Scarlett every 3 or 4 days.
Send the owners photo updates and little videos if it is a pet sit. They love this!
Make sure the house is spotless. If you don’t like cleaning, put some music on or a tv series on in the background and this will make it much more bearable. Also, make sure to clean throughout the stay so that there is less to do at the end.
Either bring a little gift for the owners or buy them one to see upon their return. Flowers are a nice touch.
So far I have bought chocolate for the owners. A simple chocolate orange for a short house sit if you are on a budget is perfect. For longer house sits, perhaps a tasty box of chocolates. I will be checking out the local French chocolate shop nearby for a small but thoughtful gift.
I’m Zoe, a 26 year old girl who grew up in the Scottish Highlands. The only time I truly feel at peace is when I travel, I am definitely not a 9 – 5 person – I am a ‘let’s get lost, meet new people, try too much new food and drink and become immersed in new cultures’ sort of person.
My mission is to inspire and inform like minded travellers. I want to share it. From the bad to the good.