Want free accommodation around the world?
This post is about how to become a house sitter, mind people’s homes for free and save money to travel the world.
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Accommodation is one of the biggest expenses for any traveller.
But, imagine if you could immerse yourself in different cultures and enjoy free private accommodation as you travel the world.
No rent to pay, no bills, no worries!
How to Become a House Sitter and Travel for FREE
Who Can Become a House Sitter?
Anyone can become a house sitter. You need to be at least 18 years old and pay the membership fee to join up and build a good profile.
In saying that, you have to be committed once you’ve scored a house-sitting job. Remember, the homeowner puts enormous trust in you to take care of their home, pets, garden and property as if it were your own.
You must adhere to certain requirements with each house sitting assignment, such as walking a dog, watering the garden each night, etc.
You must be happy to do these things and, most importantly, be at home.
It needs to suit the lifestyle you lead or wish to lead.
Digital nomads discovered years ago how to become house sitters to drastically reduce their travel costs. We’re with them; we love it.
If you want to travel the world for free (or close enough to it), learning how to become a house sitter and signing up could be the best thing you have ever done. Now is the time to invest in a new and exciting lifestyle, allowing you to travel the world.
If all of the above sounds like a new life adventure for you, then all you need to do is sign up on a house-sitting website. Once you have registered and created your awesome profile, you can start applying for house-sitting gigs.
Reasons Why You Should Become a House Sitter
- If you’re lucky, some house sits even have a pet to care for.
- You may score a place with a pool, or perhaps a beachfront location.
- The additional bonuses such as high-speed internet and cable TV are luxuries you can enjoy if you become a house sitter.
- A great way to fully immerse yourself into the local culture.
- Save money so you can travel more
Why do Homeowners want House Sitters?
When people go away on holidays, whether it be a few days, weeks or months, many don’t feel comfortable leaving their home vacant all that time.
They often need someone to care for their pet and water their garden or even a few treasured indoor plants.
Plus, having someone present at their house reduces the chances of a break-in. Most homeowners request that you retrieve any mail from the letterbox regularly, so it appears that someone is still living in the home.
In short, all homeowners need someone reliable, tidy and trustworthy to take care of their home while they’re away. That could be you.
How long does a house sit last?
House-sitting gigs range from 1 night to 12 months and everything in between. You can filter your profile to suit what you’re interested in.
You can filter the duration of the house-sitting gig, the country, city, or region, whether you’re happy to mind pets, and many other things. It’s entirely up to you.
Why It’s Awesome
House sitting is easy, fun, and incredibly rewarding. Not to mention that your bank account will never look so healthy (especially if you’ve got the best debit card for travellers; you’re already saving loads of cash).
Just imagine yourself sipping on cocktails in your coastal house-sit somewhere along the French Riveria in France.
Or maybe house-sitting a large breezy home in Tropical North Queensland, complete with two gorgeous dogs, is more your style? (This is exactly what we’re doing in Cairns beaches in Queensland right now).
Of course not having to pay for accommodation is a huge bonus, yet house sitting is so much more than just free accommodation on your travels.
Housesitting allows you to experience life like a local. Nothing is better than getting to know people in the neighbourhood and learning about different cultures and ways of life. It’s kind of cool to be on a first-name basis with the locals in the area.
Get Connected with eSIM
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Caring for Pets
For us, getting the opportunity to spend time with family pets is priceless. Now, that’s something you don’t get from staying in Airbnbs and hotels.
As I mentioned earlier, we’re house-sitting a beautiful home in Cairns beaches in tropical north Queensland right now. Aside from the house being so beautiful that we’re house-sitting right now, we applied for the gig because we get to care for two gorgeous Labradoodles.
So, this means we get to enjoy a lovely home, including amenities such as a big kitchen, BBQ, space to exercise, Netflix, fast speed internet, a pool and two furry friends to play with.
- 🔥 Hot Tip: Book accommodation in advance on Booking.com
- 🎟 Book your attractions and tickets online: We recommend Viator and GetYourGuide
- 🔋 Stay charged: This Belkin Power Bank is essential!
- 📸 Join a Group Tour: Find some amazing Group Tours here
- ✅ Get Connected with an eSIM: Fast, easy and affordable! View easy eSIM options here
A win-win for everyone
Being a good house sitter will open many doors for you, literally. If you build a solid online profile, get some credible references and glowing reviews from homeowners, you can travel the world for longer.
The house sitting jobs never run out. In every corner of the world, homeowners are looking for people just like you.
Save Money so you can Travel More
If you want to travel the world for free, paying zero dollars for accommodation is a good start.
Learn how to become a house sitter and start living a dream lifestyle as you travel and save money at the same time
Becoming a house sitter allows you to get free accommodation. When we can’t find a house to sit, we usually book our accommodation with Booking.com as they offer the best range and prices.
However, as long term travellers, if we can house sit for free and save all this cash on accommodation costs (which is at least 50% of our budget), it allows us to travel for much longer.
As you might know, when we initially decided to embark on a journey to visit every country in the world, we set ourselves a budget of USD 50 each per day to cover all expenses.
When we researched the pros on becoming a house sitter, saving all that money strongly appealed to us.
Not only does house sitting cost you zero dollars for accommodation expenses, in addition you’ll also save cash on food expenses too.
We love having access to a full kitchen during our house-sitting gigs. We can make our own ‘real’ coffee on the stovetop each morning and keep fresh food in the fridge! Winning.
It almost sounds too good to be true. But it’s not. Becoming a house sitter is the key to helping you travel the world for free.
The Best time to become a House Sitter is RIGHT NOW
If you know how to become a house sitter with a good reputation, you can look after homes like this one all the time. Nice way to travel around the world isn’t it?
We have a feeling that many homeowners worldwide looking to take a break from their homes will start posting house sitting jobs very soon.
If you sign up today, our crystal ball tells us you’ll soon land your first housesitting job.
Disclaimer: Becoming a housesitter and travelling the world for free is quite addictive. You may get instantly hooked—we did!
GET 25% Discount on Sitter Memberships!
Sign up for Trusted Housesitters today and claim 25% off your membership by hitting the button below.
Become a House Sitter, it’s the best decision you will ever make
We hope you’re inspired to become a house sitter and travel the world!
We honestly believe this was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made allowing us to visit every country in the world.
More Travel Tips
We have so many tips to help you travel more!
These 21 cheapest countries to visit will help you stretch your hard-earned dollars further.
Read our top 6 travel hacks to save money and the 20 best travel apps to make travel easier!
For food lovers, don’t miss our top 10 best countries for foodies. And, if history is your thing, these 30 amazing historical places worldwide will fascinate you!
We have many tips to save money for travel and consider these 20 jobs that PAY YOU to travel the world to help you travel longer.
If you become a trusted housesitter, you can also get FREE accommodation worldwide. Read more about how this works.
Check out our ultimate packing list for travellers, and remember to pack travel insurance! We recommend these two travel insurance companies for excellent coverage.
Our 12 essential tips for safe travel in any country are worth a read.
You’ll need to stay connected while travelling the world. We recommend eSIM. It’s easy, reliable and affordable. View eSIMs for individual countries, or consider a Global eSIM if you travel to multiple countries or regions. This eSIM connects you in 124 countries, offering data-only eSIM and data/call/text eSIM.
The Global eSIM has been a game-changer; we couldn’t imagine travelling without it now.
If you want to travel with like-minded travellers, consider joining a group tour. Get the best deals on worldwide group tours with Tourradar.
Finally, check out our travel resources page for the best websites, tools and products we use to travel the world.
View the travel gear we use on the road, and don’t miss our best-ever travel tips compiled from more than twenty years of experience.
Travel Planning Resources
✈️ Flights: We use Skyscanner to book cheap flights worldwide.
🏨 Accommodation: Booking.com is our preferred platform for booking hotels and accommodation. We use Vrbo to book apartments and long-term stays.
🏥 Travel Insurance: We recommend Heymondo (Get 5% off Heymondo) & SafetyWing
🚌 Transportation: Trainline is the best website to reserve trains. We use Omio to book transport worldwide. For travel in Asia, we use 12Go.
🚘 Car Rental: We use DiscoverCars to book rental cars worldwide.
👫 Group Tours: G Adventures OR compare multi-day tours worldwide with Tourradar.
📸 Day Tours & Trips: GetYourGuide & Viator are the only two platforms you need.
📚 Lonely Planet: The Best Range of Travel Guides & Ebooks, and FREE Shipping! (use code RACHELDAVEY10 for a 10% discount)
🎒 Luggage: Osprey Farpoint 40L Backpack or Samsonite Luggage Range.
🛄 What to Pack: Don’t forget your Universal charger and a good power bank. To help you pack the essentials, here is our ULTIMATE Packing List for all Travellers.
🐶 Become a House Sitter: Join Trusted Housesitters and enjoy FREE accommodation worldwide. Use our invite to receive 25% off your new membership.
💰 Send Money Anywhere: WISE & Revolut are the best online accounts that let you send money, get paid, and spend money internationally. Both are so easy to use and way cheaper than any bank transfer.
📶 Stay Connected: Airalo eSIM allows you to get connected the moment you land at your destination, and you can avoid those expensive data roaming charges. We LOVE this product! Use promo code NOMAD15 for 15% off ALL eSIMs (new Airalo users only) OR use NOMAD10 for 10% off ALL eSIMs (for existing Airalo users)
✅ Check out our Travel Gear and Travel Resources for more valuable tips to save you money!
