A few weeks ago, I shared a brief update on what I’ve been up to over the summer. In that update, I mentioned that I started pet sitting more frequently and I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about it. I can’t stop talking about it. So, naturally, I want to share with you why you NEED to give pet sitting a try!
Why I started pet sitting
During the height of 2020, I started listening to podcasts for the first time.
I know, I know, I’m late to the game. Whatever.
But I started listening to a podcast called Extra Pack of Peanuts, hosted by Travis Sherry (and sometimes his wife as well). It’s a travel podcast (duh) that also taps into the whole independent lifestyle genre. During one of the podcasts, Travis introduced me to the website Trustedhousesitters.com.
After perusing a bit, I kind of put it at the back of my mind. It was an old podcast, pre-2020, so it wasn’t something I thought I would use anytime soon. I wasn’t planning on traveling to places where I’d want to be responsible for pets, and my work doesn’t allow me to work remotely for months at a time (something the podcast talked a lot about).
So I carried that knowledge about Trustedhousesitters.com with me as I went about my life. It was a nice thought.
Then in the middle of 2021, I was looking for a new adventure close to home.
I had finished up my 30 adventures in 30 days challenge and was waiting for a few trips in September, but had nothing planned after that. One day, while bored at work, I started looking more into the Trustedhousesitters.com website and, for funsies, entered in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the search feature as the destination.
I’m not sure why it was such a shock to me, but I was surprised to see a handful of opportunities to pet sit close to home.
I felt a sudden rush of daring and decided to create a profile, with the hopes of revisiting the website one day when I had some more time to mess around with it.
Not a week had gone by before I had a message from a home/pet owner not too far away, asking if I could come stay at their house and tend their dog for a week so they could go on a last-minute trip. Um, okay sure.
And that is how I started pet sitting.
How trustedhousesitters.com works
There are a variety of websites that offer similar services for house and pet sitting, and have a similar layout and website, but by far the most well-known option is Trustedhousesitters.com.
The concept of Trusted Housesitters is quite simple. You create a profile on the website, both pet/homeowners and sitters, fill out all the necessary info, and match up.
Owners can search for sitters in their area, post dates that they need a sitter, and reach out to individuals.
This was how I scored my first sit with Porter the dog – his owners couldn’t find someone to commit, so they searched for sitters that lived nearby and wouldn’t mind taking a staycation.
Sitters can search their own area or an area they’ll be traveling to, apply to sit, connect with the owners online or via phone, and find a good match.
Although you pay an annual membership fee on the website, the sits are all done for free. And the fee is so low, (it’s NOTHING in comparison to lodging costs you’d have to cough up at a destination) if you do one sit a year, it basically pays for itself 10-fold.
At the end of the sit, you review each other and the reviews are posted on your profile.
The more you sit, the more reviews you have, which means you have a better chance at scoring a more coveted sit. Some of the options are unbelievable – chateau in France, castles in the UK, ranches, etc.
I should also mention that although the popularity of house sitting is growing in the USA, it’s far more popular and commonplace in Europe and Oceania, among others.
I started pet sitting more this summer
I’ve made it quite clear on this blog and in my circle of acquaintances that I don’t typically travel during the summer months. And for a lot of reasons I listed out in this article.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to have adventures during the summer.
Although I wasn’t going to be doing another 30 adventures in 30 days challenge this past summer, I wanted to do some fun things.
So I headed back over to Trustedhousesitters.com and figured that if I wasn’t going to be traveling over the summer months, I might as well do my part to allow others to do so.
I perused the website and found some pet sitting options that aligned with my work schedule and overall availability: a house with 4 cats in June, and then a house with 2 dogs for August.
I had other pet/home owners reach out to me throughout the summer with requests to sit, and while it would have been a blast, they just weren’t exactly what I was looking for at the time.
Plus, I needed to be in the office for the majority of July, so I wouldn’t be able to spend as much time loving fur babies as they required.
Why you need to try pet sitting
I started pet sitting for a whole bunch of reasons that I feel are relatable to a lot of other people out there, even you, dear reader. And although there are a wide variety of reasons why, I narrowed it down to 4.
Here are the top reasons why you NEED to try pet sitting!
Free place to stay
If you’re traveling to a new location and can be a little flexible, or have your travels magically align with a pet owner’s needs, you might just score free accommodations!
Of course, you’ll need to tend any plants, animals, or housing requests from the homeowners, but that’s a fair trade.
Especially in more expensive parts of the world, wouldn’t it be amazing to save $200+ a night, in exchange for snuggling with cute cats, walking an adorable puppy dog, or feeding some chickens twice a day?
I have yet to have this option, but hopefully by building up my profile with local sits, I can be more competitive when the time comes!
New location to discover
When you stay at someone else’s house, unless it’s your next-door neighbor, you’ll be in a new location. Everything has the potential to be new and exciting, creating natural adventures from going to the grocery store to navigating the neighborhood for walks.
Even if you’re going to be sitting close to your hometown, chances are high that you won’t be too familiar with the exact location you’ll be staying at. Although my 2 sits over the summer were fairly close to my home, I hadn’t really spent much time in the cities. Sure, I’d driven through them en-route to elsewhere, but never stayed long enough to count.
And although you might try a sit closer to home, it’s not home. So you have new streets to pound, highways to drive, and local businesses to check out!
A lot of times the people you’re sitting for will leave you some restaurant recommendations, gems of the area, and other fun places of interest and things to do.
Break from your day-to-day
One of the best parts of having adventures is the ability to get out of your day-to-day, where we tend to get stuck.
When I started pet sitting, I didn’t want to use vacation days, so I was able to work “from home/remotely.” Although I still had to work, I was in a new environment and it helped to break up the routine I was in.
Instead of just ignoring my break times, I spent them outside playing catch with some adorable dogs.
Instead of eating my lunch at my desk, I sat at a table while being stared at with literal puppy eyes.
There’s a new bed to sleep in, different restaurants to try, and new routines to establish (temporarily).
Play with cute animals
I saved the best for last. The BEST part about pet sitting is the time you get to spend playing with, tending, and loving cute animals.
This is the highlight for anyone who, like me, lives in a dwelling that does not allow pets.
And it’s not just dogs and cats, either! Depending on where you go, you might have the opportunity to tend horses, birds, fish, or reptiles. Each listing includes every animal on the property (along with a brief bio), so it’s not a surprise.
And, let’s be honest, you’re not signing up to pet sit if you don’t enjoy animals. Or at least you shouldn’t be.
If you’re interested in pet sitting, or would just like to peruse the website a bit, I encourage you to do so.
If you’re a pet owner and struggling to find a reliable pet sitter, hit me up on Trustedhousesitters.com!
Either way – if you click on this link and sign up, you’ll get 25% off of your fee! You’re welcome.
I’m so glad that I started pet sitting, and am so excited that I have more opportunities coming up with both familiar faces and new ones. Have you ever thought about pet sitting?
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