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Discover what is housesitting and how it allows you to travel for cheap 

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Do you ever wonder how some people are constantly travelling? Many of them talk about “how to travel free” but the reality is it’s never really free. The accurate way to say it should be “how to travel for cheap”. 

Because whether you’re doing a work exchange program, being a digital nomad, on a press trip, or housesitting and petsitting in exchange for accommodation, it’s not entirely free. You will always be doing something in exchange.

how does trustedhousesitters work

I’ve written about doing a work exchange program before, but today we are talking about another option that also makes travel affordable: housesitting. Let’s get into what is housesitting, why TrustedHousesitters is so popular, and how does TrustedHousesitters work.

PS: if you’re already convinced about signing up for TrustedHousesitters, use this link and get 25% off your TrustedHousesitters annual membership fee with the code CONSCIOUS25.

What is housesitting and how does it let you travel for cheap?

Housesitting is when you look after someone’s home when the owner is away. You get to stay in their home without paying for the accommodation, but you have to do something in exchange, like look after pets, take care of the house, or water the plants. This is a great way to save money on accommodation costs when you’re travelling. 

Is housesitting and petsitting the same?

what is housesitting

Housesitting does not necessarily mean petsitting. Some housesitting situations can really just be about taking care of the house, without pets or plants involved. However, petsitting is quite popular.

Dos and Don’ts of a housesitter

Dos of housesitting

  • Discuss with the owner if you’re bringing your partner or children or pets
  • Discuss whether bills will be covered for long-term stays
  • Inform the owners if the dates of your stay have changed

Don’ts of housesitting

  • Leaving the house in a mess or dirty upon vacating
  • Moving things like furniture around
  • Leaving pets unattended for long or not taking care of the pets at all, or disregarding the instructions from the owners about petsitting 
  • Having parties at the house
  • Having guests stay overnight when it was not discussed with the owner
  • Not restocking food consumed

What is TrustedHousesitters?

how to travel for cheap

TrustedHousesitters is one of the most popular, if not THE most popular, platforms where you can find housesitting listings or request housesitting services. 

Note that most of the housesitting opportunities on TrustedHousesitters are looking for people who can also take care of their pets, therefore most of the listings are for petsitting. 

How does TrustedHousesitters work?

To find housesitting services, these are the steps:

  1. Open a free account on the TrustedHousesitters website with just an email to take a look at the house sits available. When you’re ready to join up, select from one of the plans (more on that below) and pay the annual subscription. Then fill out your profile, which should take on average about 30 minutes
  2. Upload photos.
  3. Do an identity check by uploading a photo of your ID. It takes about a day for them to do the background check and approve your profile and set it live. 
  4. Add at least 3 references. You can ask friends and family members to write you a reference (and they don’t need to be TrustedHousesitters members), by sending them the link that TrustedHousesitters will provide. It should not take them more than 5 minutes to fill out the reference link. 
  5. Once your profile is live, you can start looking for housesits. You can use filters to limit your searches, and make a list of your favourites sits for when they become available. 

I highly recommend taking the time to fill out your profile carefully and write about your experiences with animals and pet sitting, and why someone should trust you with their pet.

How much do TrustedHousesitters cost?

There are three plans to choose from — basic, standard, and premium — and you can select your annual membership as a sitter, a pet parent, or a “combined” member, meaning sitter and pet parent.

Membership plan if you’re a sitter (current prices at the time of writing)

trustedhousitters sitter plans fees
TrustedHousesitters Fees: Sitter Plans

Membership plan if you’re a pet parent (current prices at the time of writing)

what is housesitting
TrustedHousesitters Fees: Pet Parent Plans

Membership plan if you’re also a pet parent looking for a sitter (current prices at the time of writing)

trustedhousitters combined plans fees
TrustedHousesitters Fees: Combined Plans

If you use this link to set up your account and use the discount code CONSCIOUS25 you will get 25% off your membership fee. The code is valid indefinitely. 

What are the pros and cons of TrustedHousesitters?

what is housesitting

As with everything, there are various pros and cons to TrustedHousesitters.

Pros of TrustedHousesitters

  • TrustedHousesitters is the most popular platform for housesitting services. They are verified and legit, with highly positive reviews on Trust Pilot
  • The website and app are user-friendly, and you can use filters to narrow down what you’re searching for
  • You can choose to do a video call with the pet owner or sitter prior to accepting the application
  • With the premium membership plan, you have access to online vet services, and you are covered in case of cancellations by the pet parent (conditions apply)

Cons of TrustedHousesitters

  • Most of the housesitting options on TrustedHousesitters are for petsitting, so if you don’t want to take care of animals during your travels, which is totally fair, it might be challenging to find a listing
  • While all sitters are ID checked, the background check is only applicable to US-based housesitters

Final thoughts on how to travel for cheap with TrustedHousesitters

As a long-time traveller, I personally wish I had known about TrustedHousesitters years ago. It would have saved me a lot of money on hotels, plus I would have gotten to hang out with animals. 

So if you’re looking to save some costs during your travels, and you love animals and have experience taking care of them, I highly suggest signing up for housesitting on TrustedHousesitters.

Once you’re ready to create your account, use this link to get 25% off your TrustedHousesitters annual membership fee with the code CONSCIOUS25.

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