Comments on: Using Your Network to Housesit Around the World

By: remie

remie — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:05:54 +0000

Hi Sherry,

I’m beginning to love you already! I have always wanted to travel and blog, exactly what you do but then no time yet. Can’t take off from work, need to work as of the moment. I love what you are writing and will be reading everything you write here for sure. I just read about you in MSN and I now wanted to be like you.

You have been an inspiration, been reading your blog since I log in to work today and I am about to log out after an hour, I will visit your blog once I get home.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:15:51 +0000

Oops! Sorry – my bad for not reading all of the info!

By: Sarah Ether

Sarah Ether — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:07:57 +0000

Hi Sherry, confusion! I was referring to John Johnson’s response, not you! Great blog by the way, its making me want to pack my bag and go further afield, just need to figure out how! You’re very inspiring! Thanks

By: Sherry

Sherry — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:02:38 +0000

Thanks for your input – but I dont actually email my friend and contacts directly about being available for housesitting. I simply put it out on my blog for whomever wants to read it and on my Facebook wall post for whomever wants to read it. Therefore I don’t consider it spamming my audience. However as I continue this travel I will look into various house-sitting sites too. Thanks!

By: Sarah Ether

Sarah Ether — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:07:13 +0000

Hi there – I’d say def give it a go with http://www.trustedhousesitters.com It’s awesome for finding housesitting opps. Not tried any others yet but so far am enjoying success with this one. I’m probably going to sign up for all of them though so i can get as many chances to housesit so i don’t have to spend out on hostels haha!

By: Sarah Ether

Sarah Ether — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:03:09 +0000

You are also the business owner of said website and are clearly spamming! I’ve used several websites and have found the most comprehensive one to be http://www.trustedhousesitters.com – they have a space on your profile where you can upload references and it’s really easy to search for ‘live’ listings. I did one through them earlier this year to Spain and spent a fab fortnight in a stunning mountain home, no way could i afford to rent that for my hols!

By: Ebi Atawodi

Ebi Atawodi — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 09:44:49 +0000

Well if anyone just happens to be mad enough to house sit in Lagos. I have a beautiful minimalist 3 bed flat in Lagos with views of the lagoon. I’m in Paris at the moment and I do a lot of travelling generally! Every time I leave I loose a plant!

Return flight to Lagos is about £600.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:46:19 +0000

Sounds fabulous! I will have to check that out when I need to find my next place to sleep! Right now I’m booked up with other travels until October!

By: Dalene

Dalene — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:35:01 +0000

I’ve gotten both of my jobs thru mindmyhouse.com, although I am also on housecarers.com. This latest one (in the beautiful Caribbean!)…the homeowner actually found us. I think we might just do this for the rest of our lives!

By: Sherry

Sherry — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:49:38 +0000

How did you find the current housesitting gig? I haven’t yet used a website service – so far I”ve been lucky and found the opportunities through friends and my website and facebook streams! So I can’t really say if they are worth it or not – sorry!

By: Dalene

Dalene — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:35:32 +0000

Awesome post! Hubby and I are on our second housesitting stint (first one in British Columbia, now we are in Honduras!) and plan to make this our way of life for as long as we can. Have you ever used caretakers.org or trustedhousesitters.com? We haven’t tried those yet, wondering if it is worth signing up for…

By: admin

admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 05:24:04 +0000

I’m sure if you throw it out there to your social networks – you’ll find some takers! No one ever paid me to housesit – and I never expected that – but it was a way for them to have their pets and home taken care of and it was a way for me to have a place to stay for a while and explore a new city/country! Good luck and let me know if I can help!

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:27:18 +0000

I’m definitely considering trying this during the coming year. We live in Washington DC and for about 4 months this coming year neither my boyfriend nor I will be in the US (though we’ll be in different places). We don’t want to give up our amazing place, nor foist our cats into a new environment with friends, so housesitting may be just the ticket.

By: John Johnson

John Johnson — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:07:25 +0000

Thanks for writing about housesitting. I have tried all the housesitting websites and have found http://www.caretaker.org to be the best for housesitting assignments. I recently started using http://www.caretaker.org and have found two housesitting assignments there so far.
John

By: bessiejulia

bessiejulia — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:33:50 +0000

Great post, Sherry! I appreciate the inspiration. I’m definitely going to start putting out the feelers for people that might be interested.

And as it happens, we’re cat/ apt sitting for a friend, and I love your idea of giving the owner photos of their pet. I’ll be photographing Journey – I’m sure they’re treasured gifts!

By: admin

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:30:44 +0000

Ha! Sometimes I think I should be a pet photographer! It’s probably a great niche to be in!

By: jessiev

jessiev — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:07:12 +0000

wow, you’ve GOT IT. anyone would be so happy for you to stay!! esp with the incredible pet photos. brava, you!

By: Janelle

Janelle — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 11:47:28 +0000

I love this article! As always, full of brilliant ideas. You continue to inspire me, Sherry.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:03:42 +0000

Ah sorry, by next summer I actually meant this coming summer. (Well next summer 2011 as well probably). We don’t have exact dates yet but we usually go home to Canada sometime in August but normally we’re flexible. If you’re interested drop me an email. We’re centrally located and can probably offer a car as well.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:31:51 +0000

I’ve never been to Brussels! That actually sounds like fun! You’ve already planned a trip for summer of 2011 – wow – that’s takes some long term planning! If you’re serious – I would definitely love to talk more about the opportunity. I have no idea where I’ll be at that time, but can always make a trip to Europe work!

By: Nancie (Ladyexpat)

Nancie (Ladyexpat) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:59:25 +0000

Excellent post! I’ve done house sitting for friends who have 7 dogs, so I definitely have a reference. I’ve tried the website to try and get a spot in Mexico, but no luck. I’ll have to figure out who I know there that might know someone……..Thanks for the idea.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:14:49 +0000

This is such a great idea. I will definitely try this as a cheaper option for visiting new places. If you’re interested in being in Brussels next summer, I have three cats that need looking after for three weeks

By: Noble Beacher

Noble Beacher — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:42:48 +0000

Many thnks for writing such a fascinating post. All too often you see the same thing over and over so this makes a refreshing change.

By: Heather on her travels

Heather on her travels — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:11:29 +0000

Useful information – don’t underestimate the power of personal contacts and word of mouth. However, I’m noting that you could end up house-sitting in places where most other people would rather not be which makes me realise that it’s not such an easy holiday option. But great for you if you want a comfortable and free base for a while.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:21:58 +0000

Lisa I can’t believe you are getting an apartment of your very own again! Let me know when you need a house sitter!
I don’t have concrete plans to come thru Chicago before TBEX as of now. I will be back n NYC in May and then house sitting in Boston for June/July (NYC for TBEX). After that I’m not completely sure.
Can’t wait to meet you in person though!

By: admin

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:19:05 +0000

Thanks Brian! I like the way you think!

By: admin

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:18:41 +0000

I would suggest to try to find the expat communities in S. America and see if you can network within them. Often many expats travel and they would like to have someone watch their home short term. Good Luck!

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:46:10 +0000

Great idea to use your networks to find house sitting assignments. We have recently left the UK to travel indefinitely and house sitting is something we want to try. There seems to be less opportunities in South America (where we are now) but in Central and North America it looks better. Not sure we could cope with those winters though!

By: brian

brian — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:58:40 +0000

That is fantastic that you were able to do all of that via word of mouth and not use any of the websites set up to put people and houses together.

Just goes to show if you tell enough people what you want, someone will know how to get it to you.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:42:46 +0000

Great post Sherry!
How is it that we have so much in common?
Through word of mouth I cat sat in Istanbul for 1 1/2 months.
And then in LA too…a friend’s boss needed someone in the Hollywood Hills. Nice! I too, drove them and picked them up at the airport.
Good going! Where to next??
I’m back in Chicago now–i”ll have a futon for you to crash on when i move into my new apt in May!! Either way, see you in NYC in June.
Lisa

By: Anil

Anil — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:28:53 +0000

This never occurred to me, it’s a wonderful idea!

By: Barbara at Hole in the Donut Travels

Barbara at Hole in the Donut Travels — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:28:24 +0000

I have GOT to try this. Great post with all the info anyone would ever need.

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:37:53 +0000

Sherry-
This is such a good idea to save money and have a place to stay between your travels. Not to mention that it also takes you to new places. Very cool!