My Wife and I Travel for Free by House Sitting for Strangers

My wife and I dreamt of traveling the world, but doing it without racking up a huge amount of debt seemed like a fantasy.

So, to realize a semblance of this dream, we worked hard and saved throughout the year to afford one annual Christmas vacation. We did this for about five years but were never satisfied.

Putting money aside for more vacations was a struggle due to bills and our mortgage, though, and we never thought our reality would change.

Then, in 2021, we met up with an old friend who told us intriguing travel stories and showed us pictures of all the different places he had been to, like Bali, India, and Prague.

We thought the only way he could afford to travel so much was if he won the lottery or came into a grand inheritance, but he hadn’t. He let us in on his secret that changed everything: house sitting.

We saved over $1,000 on just our first house-sitting gig

After passing an initial background check, we set up a profile, got verified, and immediately started applying to open listings. We landed our first house-sitting gig a month later.

Our first listing was in Canada, where the house owners left for a week-long vacation. We cared for a rottweiler named Rocket, watered houseplants, and spent time swimming and sunbathing around the pool.

We had an incredible vacation without spending a dime on accommodation or flights. It saved us about $1,600 — $1,300 for two round-trip economy flights and $300 a week for a car rental, which the homeowners agreed to pay.

Some homeowners will pay for these types of expenses, like travel and transportation, while most others won’t — we only opt for opportunities that pay.

We also kept costs down on the trip by enjoying low-cost day trips, chatting with locals, and visiting Niagara Falls, which is free to see from the Canadian side, aside from a small parking fee.

Plus, the homeowners were also kind enough to pay us $100 a day for grooming and walking the dog and coordinating mail packages. This was one of the few paying gigs we got — most just offered us free travel and accommodation.

House sitting has been a great way for us to travel on a budget

We treat house sitting as a side gig and work the job into our vacation schedules. So far, we’ve landed over fourteen house-sitting gigs in two years.

We use a few different sites and typically pick stays that last anywhere from two to 10 nights. We’ve even got some repeat gigs along the way.

Locally, within the US, we’ve been to Portland, Santa Fe, Charleston, and upstate New York. Our international house-sitting gigs, though, have been the most exciting, by far.

Some memorable countries we’ve visited include London, for a quick three-day experience with a house cat. We made it to the London Bridge.

We’ve also traveled to a rustic villa in Tuscany, spent two weeks in Sydney, Australia, and lived in a colorful colonial home for seven nights in Merida, Mexico.

We still yearn for the local Yucatan life, with quesadilla stalls, fresh produce markets all around, and Cafe Riquez — a wonderful hidden gem with Mexican delicacies and beautiful art for sale, a few pieces we took home.

House sitting has been challenging for us at times

We’ve met difficult homeowners along the way.

Some have strict rules about pets not entering their master bedrooms or cleaning the house twice or thrice a day, which requires us to be more proactive and go out of our way to get it all done to their liking.

We’ve also interacted with pets that have taken time to warm up to us. Some memorable experiences include running into three house snakes (which the homeowner did not warn us about) and a pair of macaws that would retreat to their cages and fluff up their feathers when they heard us approaching.

We’ve had to practice patience to see some of the jobs through. However, house-sitting has been a great opportunity to travel more on a budget.

Overall, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for us, and we plan to continue house sitting for the foreseeable future. We don’t know where our next trip will take us, but we’re looking forward to it.