5 Reasons Housesitting is the Perfect Way to Travel
Though many people—animal lovers included—dream of seeing the world, the high cost of travel may stop them before they get to the boarding gate.
Here’s how housesitting helps you flex your passport while keeping your travel expenses in check:
1 SAVE ON ACCOMMODATION
The most obvious benefit of housesitting is the money you’ll save on hotels and holiday rentals.
2 STRETCH YOUR BUDGET
Many owners of architect-designed homes, beachfront properties, and city penthouse apartments register their homes on TrustedHousesitters.com every day. Sitters stay for free in these highend properties and enjoy a standard of accommodation that would normally be beyond the average traveler’s budget (that Game of Thrones castle, for one!)
3 DISCOVER NEW PLACES
By being flexible about where you housesit, you can discover amazing locales you may not have thought of visiting otherwise.
4 MAKE NEW FRIENDS
Many house sitters make lifelong friends, not only with the homeowners they sit for but with friends and neighbours, too.
5 LIVE LIKE A LOCAL
Housesitting lets you experience an area in a way you wouldn’t staying in a hotel. for those particulars—say, certain types of pets at a certain time and in a particular region. Homeowners can then shortlist the sitters that respond to their listing by experience, references, background checks, and other comprehensive information.
In this way, a sitter’s profile is key. “It really starts with your profile and making sure it demonstrates and reflects your quality and trustworthiness as a sitter,” Martin emphasizes. “It’s important to spend some time creating your profile, adding any previous experience you may have with pet sitting, references, photos, and even videos—as much detail as possible that will make a pet owner feel good about letting you into their home and into the life of their pet.”
Once sitters start to gain experience through the site, they receive reviews from pet owners they’ve sat for, much like the rating systems on Uber and Airbnb. This helps sitters build up a favorable reputation on the site and expand their opportunity to sit for more owners.
“The site really regulates itself, though we have put a lot of time and effort into ensuring it’s a positive experience for everyone,” Martin says.
Far from being removed from the process, she and Peck have continued to pet sit since founding TrustedHousesitters, applying for sitting opportunities through the website just like everyone else.
“For example, we’re off to Colorado in 10 days to look after a dog named Hamish,” she says, adding that, besides her love of discovering new parts of the world, a strict no-pets policy in her current apartment building adds extra motivation to the mix.
“Not only is this really a brilliant way to travel,” she says, “It’s also a wonderful way to enjoy the company of pets.”