HOUSE SITTING
Welcome to our HOUSE SITTING page – a positively comprehensive resource of information for anyone interested in combining exploring the world with looking after two, four or even six-plus legged friends. And why wouldn’t you?!
We like to combine the relaxed comforts of house sitting with adventurous bursts of backpacking. But that’s just us. If you haven’t tried house sitting before you might just find that it’s the lifestyle you had no idea existed. And, indeed a lifestyle that’s easier to have than you might think.
Intrigued?
BLOG POSTS
PREPARING FOR A HURRICANE – A HOUSE SITTER’S GUIDE
You’re house sitting in the tropics and a potential Category 5 hurricane is heading your way? How do you prepare? Based on our life-changing experience surviving Hurricane Irma in 2017, here’s our guide to help you make the right decisions
HOUSE SITTING FOR BEGINNERS – 1. WHAT IS HOUSE SITTING?
What’s house sitting all about and how can you determine if it’s for you?
HOUSE SITTING FOR BEGINNERS – 2. HOW TO GET HOUSE SITTING JOBS
How to find a suitable house sit and what steps you should take to give yourself the best chance of being accepted for it
HOUSE SITTING FOR BEGINNERS – 3. HOUSE SITTING TIPS TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION
What to look out for on your first house sitting assignment and how you can start to build a reputation as a skilled and reliable sitter
5 RANDOM THINGS WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT HOUSE SITTING
From flooded bedrooms and being locked out of the house to forever regretting teaching the parrot a new phrase – here are our top five lessons learned from house sitting
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HOUSESIT IN RURAL FRANCE?
Everything you need to know about house sitting in the magnificent French countryside
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO TRAVEL AND MIND OTHER PEOPLE’S PETS?
Or how we’ve managed to combine travel and pet sitting to explore South West France
WHERE WE’VE HOUSE-SAT
LES CONSTANCIES
36 days
DATES:
29 Aug – 6 Oct 2016
PETS:
Marjie (cat)
PAYROUX
12 days
DATES:
6 – 17 Oct 2016
PETS:
Norman (cat)
SEMBOUES
11 days
DATES:
18 – 26 Oct 2016
PETS:
Plum, Nudger, Lucky (dogs), Boo (cat)
ST CHRISTOPHE
33 days
DATES:
29 Oct – 1 Dec 2016
PETS:
Bertie (dog)
ST AUBIN DES CHATEAUX
3 months
DATES:
5 Jan – 4 Apr 2017
PETS:
Genghis, Lou (dogs), Billy (parrot), 2 Chinese geese, 2 chickens
HALTON VILLAGE
9 days
DATES:
22 – 30 Dec 2016
PETS:
3 Chinese geese, 1 cat
ALFRETON
12 days
DATES:
8 – 20 Apr 2017
PETS:
3 cats
TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
19 weeks
DATES:
3 May – 13 Sep 2017
PETS:
Princess, Lucy, Oscar, Rupert (cats)
LYMM
4 days
DATES:
11 – 14 Oct 2017
PETS:
Cookie (cat)
DUNHAM ON THE HILL
10 days
DATES:
1 – 10 Oct 2017
PETS:
Pippa, Bella (dogs)
LONDON
5 days
DATES:
28 Dec 2016 – 2 Jan 2017
PETS:
Rocky (cat)
NORTH LUFFENHAM
6 days
DATES:
23 – 28 October 2017
PETS:
Jake, Monty (dogs); 3 guinea pigs
ANACORTES
5 months
DATES:
1 Dec 2017 – 5 May 2018
PETS:
None
MEDELLÍN
24 days
DATES:
18 Aug – 11 Sep 2018
PETS:
Sasha, Mollie, Rosa (dogs); Henry, Mooch, No Bibé (cats)
SAN RAMON
26 days
DATES:
15 Sep – 10 Oct 2018 (upcoming sit)
PETS:
tbc
BOQUETE
1 month
DATES:
30 Oct – 29 Nov 2018 (upcoming sit)
PETS:
None
LENGTH OF HOUSESIT
11 weeks
DATES:
31 May – 15 Aug 2018
PETS:
Oscar, Felix (cats)
NEED A HOUSE SITTER?
WE’RE AVAILABLE
in the UK from October 2019
Hi – we’re Ian and Nicky and we’re a non-smoking 40 and 50-something English couple who’ve swapped a corporate life for one of exploring the world.
We’ve travelled extensively over the past four years, including numerous house sitting assignments in Europe and North/Central/South America. Although we’re flexible about where and what type of house sitting assignments we’d like to do in the future, we’d prefer to be around animals, particularly as our lifestyle no longer allows us to have pets of our own.
House sitting provides us with the opportunity to continue exploring the world without the need to rush around from one place to the next. And it gives us the opportunity to once again share our lives with animals – albeit temporarily. And, of course, it allows us to indulge in some of our other interests such as food (cooking and eating), walking and photography.
Our experience comes from 30 years as proud homeowners in a semi-rural part of the UK, with a lifetime of living with and loving our pets.
Having being homeowners for so long we understand what your home means to you. So you can be confident that we’ll treat yours as if it was our own. And you can rest assured that your pets will be left in loving hands, too.
What a lucky day for us when Ian and Nicky responded to our advert! Such a responsible, warm and caring couple who looked after our pets with obvious affection and conscientiousness. It was obvious that animal routines had been followed carefully but it was also plain that all of them had been given much additional love and time. On our return, we found the house immaculate and a delicious meal prepared which we all enjoyed together. We were delighted when they stayed a few extra days with us. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Ian & Nicky looked after our three Chinese geese and cat over the Christmas period. They were a friendly couple who carried out all tasks asked of them. They were competent & experienced. We would gladly have them back to housesit for us should they ever return to the UK.
A very nice couple who clearly love animals. We were very happy to have them stay in our house for 3 months and care for our dogs, parrot, geese and chicken.
Ian and Nicky house sat for us for a month. Our prime requirement was that they look after our dog, Bertie, who was abandoned and rescued by us when he was a one-year-old. Because of this, he suffers from separation anxiety. Ian and Nicky looked after him extremely well. They were mindful of this problem and took him everywhere with them. They gave him lots of walks and affection and we returned to find a very happy and well looked after dog. We could not have asked for more and would thoroughly recommend them to look after animals.
Ian and Nicky looked after our cat, Cookie whilst we went on a short break and made every effort to ensure he was well fed and watered – and with plenty of love and affection thrown in for good measure. He just loves lots of attention and can be quite demanding on that front!
Our house was immaculately clean and tidy when we returned and Cookie had a happy, smug expression which assured us that we had made the right decision in choosing Ian and Nicky for this assignment! If that wasn’t enough, we arrived home to a lovely curry they’d prepared – one of their speciality dishes picked up after many months of travelling the world.
The Mackenzies are a lovely, warm couple with plenty of interesting tales to tell from their travels. We trust them implicitly and wouldn’t hesitate to have them back again or recommend them to anyone looking for house/pet sitters.
SELECTED HOUSE SITTING SITES
With over 20,000 registered homeowners and an annual fee of just $20 for sitters, Mind My House represents great value. Which is one reason why we chose it first to try out housesitting for ourselves. And we continue to use it today.
Trusted Housesitters is THE BIG ONE when it comes to housesitting sites. It has the most homeowners registered, but also the most housesitters. So, obtaining a house sit can be VERY competitive, although the choice is incredible. It costs $119 per year to be a member but you can get a special 20% discount to join by clicking here.
Established back in 2000, House Carers is one of the earliest house sitting sites and competes with Trusted Housesitters as the biggest around. But at $50 per year, it’s more affordable than the latter.
Probably the fastest-growing of all the house sitting sites, Nomador has nearly 60,000 members and costs £89 per year. It’s particularly good for European and especially French sits, but it has a growing selection of assignments all around the world, too. One advantage is that you can apply for your first three assignments free of charge before you commit to the paid membership.
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