Travel House- and Pet-sitting FAQ #1

Family, friends, clients, and strangers alike often have many questions about how I became a home-free traveling house- and pet-sitter and wonder what the work and lifestyle is like. I’m finally starting to jot down my tale, so here’s the first installment:

Q: How did you come up with the idea to become a traveling house- and pet-sitter?

A: When learning about my career/lifestyle, folks will often remark something to the effect of, “I didn’t even know you could do such a thing.”

I first encountered the concept in an article several years ago about a woman who made her living as a house-sitter, but it wasn’t anything I foresaw happening in my own life at that time nor did I have any idea how she’d gotten her start. I filed the information away until many years later when fate brought me unexpectedly back around to it in a few stages.

Q: What made you decide to get started in house- and pet-sitting?

A: This lifestyle shift arose from a difficult circumstance I found myself in and had to somehow make the best of. In July 2021 I ended up with a mysterious infection in my foot that required an expensive two-day hospital stay. Around that same time, my cat was diagnosed with feline lymphoma and I’d accrued some debt from her care and eventual euthanasia. After she passed and I recovered from my malady, I was in dire need of extra income.

Mentally overextended and on the verge of burnout at my day job, the notion of more work involving my brain held no appeal. I’d already dabbled in Uber Eats and Instacart the previous year and felt they weren’t optimal as a side hustle because of the low payouts coupled with the vehicle wear and tear. So, I needed something new — and ideally fun, or at least relatively easy — and decided pet care was worth a shot.

Q: How did you get started?

A: I signed up for?Rover?first and quickly received two requests for dog-sits in the clients’ homes. Once I established comfort in providing the extended, in-home service and had positive experiences, I wanted to see what other platforms were out there in order to expand my pipeline of prospective clients.

I then stumbled upon?Trusted Housesitters (THS), which describes its model as follows: “We enable pet parents to connect with care-oriented sitters who will sit for free in exchange for the chance to spend time with some wonderful pets and for free accommodation. Our community allows pet-lovers to travel and pet parents the chance to go away with peace of mind.”?

I hadn’t had a real vacation in a couple of years at that point and lacked the funds to arrange one, so although THS didn’t offer paid work, I decided to give it a try. It felt a little risky to commit to a sit out of town, where being left in the lurch in the case of a last-minute cancellation would be problematic. I also saw some listings that were requesting sitters for several weeks and decided something short and sweet would be the best way to see what sitting through THS was like before going all-in on something longer. So, I first applied to and was selected for a long weekend with two pups in Lancaster, PA, just a few short hours away from home.

Once that went well, I felt more confident about applying for farther-flung openings. When I saw the listing for a 10-day gig in dreamy Seabrook Island, SC, my pulse quickened and I squealed because the condo looked to be in a resort-like community with a private beach and several pools. It seemed too good to be true to get to stay there for free for nearly two weeks with an adorable beagle named Pete. After I wrote my spiel requesting the sit and clicked apply, I skeptically told myself not to get my hopes up too high, but lucky for me, the arrangements were quickly confirmed. Later that month I had an unbelievable time soaking in the sun on the shore, after which I was hooked on the sitting life.

Q: What made you decide to go home-free?

A: As summer segued to fall, I was still in desperate need of money to pay off the aforementioned bills from my cat’s illness and my hospital stay. I was also staying at my apartment less and less as my calendar began to fill with paid sits in Ohio and Pennsylvania generated through Rover and referrals in my network, alongside a few more THS sits in Philadelphia, PA, Arlington, VA, and Ann Arbor, MI. I realized if I could fill my schedule enough to give up the apartment entirely, then I could knock out my debt much more quickly without rent to pay. So, I got my landlord to agree to renew my lease as a flexible month-to-month arrangement and set to work on hustling up gigs.

Once I had a full three months planned out and arranged storage of the few possessions I was unwilling to part with at a generous friend’s place, I set the ball in motion. By September 30, 2021, I moved out of my apartment and officially became a full-time nomad.

In future installments, I will tackle several other FAQs, including:

• The best and most challenging things about working with animals
• An overview of the platforms I use
• How to establish yourself as a house- and pet-sitter
• Creating compelling profiles and application inquiries
• What it’s like to spend most of my life living in other peoples’ homes
• How I plan my calendar and fill gaps in my schedule
• Whether I plan to do this forever

What else are you wondering about? Let me know and I’ll do my best to address it in future posts!