Can you imagine being able to travel to many countries of the world, especially the rich and rather than paying a fortune on hotels, have at your disposal all the comfort and privacy of someone who lives on site home while the owner himself travels? Imagine if you could borrow the prospect of a place for a few weeks or months to feel part of the neighborhood and the dynamics of a neighborhood and a different culture, without paying anything!
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This is the house where I stayed for free to take care of pets while the owner was traveling in Normandy, the French countryside
The frustration of many people traveling is the difficulty to go beyond the superficiality of being more a tourist in one location. Everyone wants to feel more connected to the target, part of the community, interact with people, make local friends. For this there are some sites like HomeExchange you home exchange with someone on the other side of the world during your vacation, the workaway you work a few hours a day in exchange for food and lodging or couchsurfing, I've used for staying in more than 30 countries for free.
Travel only by couchsurfing, for example, can be tiring especially for us, digital nomads, who do not stop traveling. Sometimes we want to anchor somewhere for longer without worrying about having to interact with host, have a quiet, private and comfortable space to put the work day while we are traveling, meeting new cultures. Imagine still that place did not have to worry about rent, paying bills, contracts, etc.
It sounds too utopian? I also found it hard to believe until I and Rafael went to France for our first experience last October and break just earning a scholarship to study French and even had a car at our disposal, for free! If traveling this way you interested, welcome to "house sitting"!
What is house sitting:
They are sites that bring home owners and their pets to travelers looking for a home during their travels. House sitting means literally, "take care of the house" and house sitter, "household account holder". The traveler is responsible for taking care of the house and / or pets while the owner travels. It may seem a homemade service but not so much. Usually a home is in a separate room in the owner's house and the house sitting, you use the space and comfort of the owner. The home also has responsibilities and much larger work that house sitters. For example, in the house that took care once a week someone came to gardening service and a cleaning lady. Ie I was there mainly to provide care and food for the animals, which turned out to be good friends! These sites are becoming increasingly popular especially in expensive countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, France, Singapore, Scandinavian countries, etc. The structure of these sites and profiles are always written in English.
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The cat took over while traveling in France.
Advantages for the owner:
- It saves money because it will not have to pay a fortune with kennel.
- Pets will be happier and less stressed without habitat change.
- The house will be clean when it comes.
- The garden will not catch dryness of fire, the horse will not be dead and parched, the pool will not be like a full frog pond, the house will not be burgled, colorful aquarium fish will not be in a state of putrefaction, the box mails will not be nearly bursting with accounts, real estate advertisements for sale, how Jesus Christ can save your life, disk-gas (because many of these countries have piped gas).
Advantages for the traveler:
- Meet and discover places, people and new flavors.
- Save money (a lot!) With accommodation.
- If you interact with the neighborhood and the city from the eyes of a resident, not a tourist.
- Having to stay with privacy, comfort and luxury that you may not be accustomed.
- For those who like pets, the opportunity to have new companies.
- Of course, it's free!
House sitting is safe?
As in couchsurfing and workaway security is based on a reference system. The more references to quality you have, the greater your chances of someone trust you and call you to take care of her house.
Unlike couchsurfing however, the person writing your reference does not need to have a profile on the site to write about you. It may be the mother, brother, friends, but it must be in English. The person reading your profile will know if these references are personal interactions or whether a househusband for example. It is the responsibility of the home owner to trust or not these personal references (character reference).
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Um dos perigos do House Sitting: Se apaixonar pelos animais da casa e não querer ir embora!
How it works:
Usually for an annual fee ranging from $ 20 to $ 100, travelers and home owners can put their profiles or ads on these sites, in English!
When the home owner publishes his advertisement for an account holder, he must put the home details such as size, location, neighborhood, comfortable, has garden, pool, pets, responsibilities expected in the house and the desired period.
The traveler must have a profile with your general information such as age, traveling alone or accompanied, like pets. Why he wants to take care of a house. Both can look each other, but as the competition is much higher among travelers, just the householder post your ad to appear dozens of requests. Although my profile as a traveler is public and available to all countries of the world I never received an invitation no I have not made the first contact with the home owner.
Tips on how to get a assignment (task of taking care of the house)?
To achieve an assignment you have to write to the landlord explaining why you want to take care of his house and why he should choose you, preferably on the day of publication!
The more filled his profile higher your chances of getting a place. Capriche in the preparation of responses in photographs (preferably smiling and pets) and can record a short video talking a little about yourself and the benefits that those who choose you have to select it.
Pay attention to the details of what he needs and emphasize that you are willing to leave the house or the animal the way he wants. Many home owners receive dozens of messages on the same day that they post the assignment, then remember that your message can be just another one that says something like: "What a fantastic place, would be my dream to spend a few days in this place and take care of their beautiful dogs. "Put yourself in the place of the owner and focus on the benefits that the owner will have it choose you to take care of the place.
Be creative, brief and concise!
If possible automate newsletters of these sites to receive the fastest possible opportunities for the countries you want to travel. Or if you are willing to receive dozens of e-mail per day and not miss an opportunity, set to receive an email every time someone put an ad!
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This is because Rafael said he did not like cats! A few days later I was calling them to lie together in bed!
Ready to embark on this new journey?
Browse these sites and find your favorite before paying the annual fee and make your registration. Most of them allows you to view the publications without having to become a member, but to make the initial contact, you will need to sign up.
Trusted House Sitters: This is my favorite because it has the largest number of available houses scattered around the world and easy to use interface. It was for him that I got my assignment in France. Unfortunately it is also the most expensive (U $ 95.88), but through this link, you get a 20% discount!
House Carers: It allows you to receive newsletters with threads of assignments for free, but to contact the owner is required to become a member. The annual fee is $ 50.
Mind My House: With one of the annual cheap rates (from $ 20) is easy to use but do not have as many options as the last two. You can see on the world map the house sitting options available without becoming a member.
Luxury House Sitting: I found this option while researching for this post. If the purpose is just to add luxury homes as the name says, it will take some time to expand the availability of them the world, but worth a given. It costs $ 25 per year.
Nomador: U $ 89 per year, but the free version allows up to 5 contact homeowners. I'm still testing but it seems to have few options around the world.
Care Taker: The oldest of them (since 1983), it seems that they were in the time remaining in publications still arrive by mail. But fortunately there is the electronic version that goes for $ 29.95 a year.
House Sit Match: A quick look at the map shows few houses available with most concentrated in Europe with "a pinged" in the US and Australia.
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Below are some photos of our trip to France
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