7 Reasons Why YOU Should House Sit

One: By House Sitting your Accommodation is FREE!

No more renting, no more forking out for hotels. Even at their cheapest, hostel fees really do add up making sure that for most travellers accommodation is their biggest cost. 

Why wouldn't you want free accommodation?

Free accommodation was all it took to convince us, but once we started we found that there are lots more reasons to LOVE House Sitting. 

Two: The Houses you Sit aren't just Any Free Accommodation

Now we all know Couchsurfing is free, and fun! But with Couchsurfing chances are your accommodation isn't going to be all that fancy. Maybe you'll be sleeping in a tent, or a hammock:

House Sitting on the other hand, has tended to give us free accommodation that's a little more upmarket. Mansions with swimming pools for example: 

Photo published with permission from the owner, of course.

We've also House Sat homes with tennis courts, home gyms, nature reserves as gardens, deserted beaches round the corner and our all time favourite - an organic vineyard in Italy:

Okay, so not every House is straight out of a glossy magazine. We have sat some averages houses too, which takes me back to point one - free accommodation is free accommodation, and your average house is still better than a tent or a hammock. 

The Houses we sit in the city have all been a bit less fancy because of their prime location. 

Oh no wait I take that back, the Berlin House Sit was so fancy it had a sauna!

Three: The Perks

Most home owners treat you like a guest. They pick you up from the airport/train station/ bus stop. They cook you a meal or two and leave you some food in the cupboards. All gladly received when travelling on a budget - and even when you're not! They also show you the area and the secret spots only the locals know:

Some home owners go even further. We've had a few owners stock up for the apocalypse  and tell us they will be very disappointed if we don't eat everything. 

Our Italian favourites even cooked us a magnificent feast which including home cooked pizzas from their own pizza oven!: 

Other than transport and food, most home owners have  treated us to awesome day trips which have included a visit to the Gold Coast theme parks, taking us fishing and, the best, taking us to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:

But it can be more than day trips. As our Italian House Sit was during Italian's winter, the lovely home owners have insisted that we come back in the summer as guests to see it in the summer -for a month!

Furthermore, one of our favourite home owners in Australia insisted that we visit Kangaroo Island and stay in her unit. An extraordinary trip we are so grateful for:

Four Meeting the locals

It's great to get a real insight of local knowledge, they knew the best places to eat/go etc. and we really had a good look into how real people live. We've also made some great friends though house sitting, some of which will surely remain our friends for life, and all of which will be most welcome to stay with us (when we have a house)! One couple is actually visiting Europe in November, and we plan to meet up with them then.

Five: Comforts of Being at Home

I can't stress this one enough, no matter how homely your hotel or hostel is, it will never be as homely as a real home. We had the laundry, a bed that hadn't been slept in by over a thousand people, we had all the kitchen utensils you could ever want, and silly little things like oil and salt and pepper. Everyone needs those but you don't want to be lugging them around from place to place.

Six: Going to Places You'd Never Have Gone to

Whilst we've done sits in places like the Gold Coast, Stroud, Malaga, Berlin and Finland we also went to many places that we'd never heard of:   Glen Osmond, Hopetoun, Newcastle, Ancona. These are all places we wouldn't have gone to, but are so glad that we did:

Australian Newcastle - a lot better than the English one

Seven: Having a Pet 

I love pets, especially dogs, as a traveller the luxury of pets is not something you can really have. But with house sitting you can! You get a few weeks of all the perks (the walks, their personalities), but you don't have to worry about their food or vet bills.. 

Saying that, now is probably a good time for me to point out that you are fully responsible for your pet. If the pet needs a vet you need to get them there (though some house owners arranged for the vet to come to you).  Also if you're sitting in a foreign land, you've got to make sure you know about all their foreign dangers. As we were in Australia we had to learn about snake bites, ticks and how a cat reacts when it's bitten by a spider. 

So do you want excellent, free accommodation and friends for life (both furry and human)? 

Then have a look at this website:  Trusted House Sitters

If you have any questions about house sitting, leave us a comment!

P.S. Would you like to learn how to be a great House Sitter in Australia? Click here