Do you love animals?

I’m talking fish, cats, birds, dogs, horse, sheep, rabbits and anything else you can think of… If so, I’ve got an amazing travel offer for you!

pet sitting in exchange for free ACCOMMODATION - all over the world.

People ask me all the time how I afford to travel and I totally get it. TRAVELING ISN’T CHEAP, but there are a ton of things that you can do to make it cheaper! Use us as a case study; when looking to travel to Vienna over Christmas, the absolute cheapest accommodation I was able to find was still well over 1,000 USD, which meant no Vienna for us. That was until I stumbled upon Trusted House Sitters. So here’s the dealio.

What is Trusted House Sitters?

It is an online, global platform that matches people who are willing to house/pet sit with those who need sitters. Using my link, you can get 25% off your annual membership, making it only 89.25 USD and allows you to do as many sits as you’d like over the course of a year. This may seem steep, but honestly, if you do one stay, it pays for itself. (Check out the budget for our trip below).

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How does Trusted House Sitters Work?

Once you have joined you create a profile. You’ll need background information, photos, videos, and contact information for your references (which you will request through the portal). This process could take several days depending on how motivated you are and how responsive your references are.

Trusted House Sitters will then verify your identity and information and activate your account. Once it is activated, you can start searching for available sits. Sits can last anywhere between two days and several months.

Once you find a sit that catches your eye, you simply ‘apply’ and send a message to the home owners. On each offer, it will tell you how many people have already applied. I’m not sure if our circumstances are common or not, but so far we have applied to 1 house sit and we were accepted. I’m sure there is more competition for super in demand locations or times, but that was definitely not our experience.

One day after applying to the sit we were interested in, the home owners messaged us and we arranged a video chat so we could all ‘meet’ each other and talk about the sit. We all hit it off really well and the next day they accepted our sit on the website. We booked the tickets the next day and continued chatting with the home owners back and forth over the messaging portal on the website. The home owners we sat for were awesome and offered to pick us up from the airport and even left us a goodie bag!

Prior to arrival they uploaded a ‘handbook’ about their place, the doggos, the area, vet details - and all other information we might need. Upon arrival the home owner went over everything with us again and showed us around, which was SUPER HELPFUL and made us feel very comfortable. Throughout our two week stay we messaged back and forth with the home owners, and made sure to send picture updates, which they really enjoyed. Our departure flight was just a few hours before their arrival, so we simply left the key and hugged the doggos before we left.

Is Trusted House Sitters safe?

Yes! As much as anything can be! The verification process is quite extensive for both the home owners and the sitters and reviews are required for both parties. Additionally there is information and resources in case there is any sort of emergency during the actual sit. This is definitely something I would feel comfortable doing as a solo female traveler.

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All in all, our stay was very smooth and we can’t wait to do it again!

Just as a personal preference, I would rather pet sit while traveling for a longer period of time. I don’t think this type of travel would be worth it for me, if I was only going to be in a place for one or two days, because there are added responsibilities. However, this was the perfect option for us, being in Vienna for two weeks. We never once felt rushed, or like we weren’t going to get to do something because we were pet sitting. In fact, several days we were bums and just chilled out at home, and honestly, that’s what I want from a vacation.

Also, keep in mind when you are looking at sits, that some pets are less needy than others - cats vs. dogs, for example. Just know yourself and what you are looking for!