House sitting in New Zealand
You may have noticed I often write about house sitting when I travel, that’s because house sitting is a great way to get free accommodation anywhere in the world. It’s so easy to get setup as a house sitter and anyone can do it.
House sitting opens up a world of opportunity to stay in amazing places you didn’t know about, or accommodation you wouldn’t normally have the budget to stay in when you’re travelling.
You could end up staying in a Caribbean beachfront apartment, a secluded log cabin in the Colorado mountains, an Italian villa on the Amalfi Coast or a lakefront lodge in New Zealand.
And you could stay in all for these places, for free.
WHAT IS HOUSE SITTING?
House sitting is an exchange of services by mutual agreement, whereby a house sitter gets to stay in a property for free whilst the owner is away and the homeowner has their property, possessions and pets cared for by you in return.
Often the house sitter is able to use all the property facilities and sometimes have the use of a car too.
Often the homeowner doesn’t want to leave their dogs in expensive Dog Kennels or pay a Dog Walker to come walk their pet every day, so getting a house sitter is a great solution for them.
It’s a trust based, fair exchange, arrangement where the house sitter gets to live rent-free in exchange for carrying out the tasks involved in caring for a house and pets. This usually involves feeding and walking the pets, general maintenance and cleaning of the house and keeping things running as the owner would.
Dog Walks on Mount Maunganui Beach
WHO CAN DO HOUSE SITTING?
Anyone can! That’s the beauty of house sitting, the skills required to house sit are life skills most people have already picked up in their day-to-day lives.
It’s perfect for single travellers, digital nomads, freelancers, couples, retirees, even entire families.
You could be a freelancer looking for somewhere secluded and inspiring to focus on work, a digital nomad or traveller using house sitting as a cheap way to travel a country, a couple saving for your first home, an animal loving retiree who loves to travel, or even a family who is looking to try out a different lifestyle in a new place.
If you can look after a house and care for pets, you can house sit.
CAN YOU REALLY GET FREE ACCOMMODATION & WHERE CAN YOU HOUSE SIT?
House sitting opens up some amazing opportunities to get free accommodation around the world or even in your local area. You don’t always have to travel to house sit, there are often house sitting jobs very near to you, in your local town or city.
You could be pet sitting in a modern, stylish apartment in downtown Manhattan, New York City, you could stay in a traditional French farmhouse in the South of France, pet sit in a poolside condo on the Gold Coast of Australia or be a dog walker in a beautiful Georgian town house in Central London.
During our many years of house sitting, we have been fortunate enough to stay in some beautiful houses, in some stunning locations.
Here are just a few of the house sit and pet sit locations we’ve done around the world:
HOUSE SITTING IN NEW ZEALAND
We’ve done a lot of house sitting in New Zealand. Like this one, where we were staying in a chilled apartment in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand looking after an amazing English Bull Terrier-Greyhound cross dog.
This house sit is just one road down from the beach and has a great backyard complete with palm trees and a hammock, a perfect location for beach hangs and exploring the beach town of Mount Maunganui.
This is one of our regular house sits that we do when we’re in New Zealand and also one of our favourites due to the awesome dog and great location.
Pet sitting this gorgeous girl in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
HOUSE SITTING IN BANGKOK, THAILAND
A Thai condo in the popular Sukhumvit area of Bangkok, Thailand, looking after two fun-loving fox terrier dogs.
House sitting in Bangkok, Thailand
It’s always doggy playtime – house sitting in Bangkok
HOUSE SITTING ON KOH LANTA ISLAND IN THAILAND
House sitting in Thailand at a Yoga Bungalow retreat on the island of Koh Lanta on the Andaman coast of Thailand, taking care of a laid-back Labrador.
House sitting a yoga bungalow retreat on Koh Lanta island, Thailand
Doggy beach walks on Koh Lanta island, Thailand
HOUSE SITTING IN PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
House sitting in Australia at a Victorian, suburban townhouse in Perth, Western Australia, looking after an awesome and cuddly Groodle.
House sitting in Perth, Australia
HOUSE SITTING IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
House sitting in Malaysia at a stylish apartment with a great view of KL skyline in Kuala Lumpur, taking care of a talkative, fluffy cat.
Amazing KL city skyline, house sitting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
House sitting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
These are just a few of the many house sits we’ve completed, just imagine where you could go. You could be spending your next Christmas on the beach and your New Years Eve in a vibrant city. Or imagine spending Easter in the mountains or your summer holidays at a lakeside retreat.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT HOUSE SITTING OR PET SITTING
I love being a pet sitter or house sitter, it’s the ultimate travel indulgence for me. I get to travel to amazing countries, get free accommodation and stay in interesting places, but I also get to live a completely different lifestyle.
I can live in properties I normally wouldn’t be able to rent and I can try out beach life, mountain living or an inner city lifestyle. It means I can go somewhere new and live like a local, explore local areas and experience the community and culture.
As a travelling freelancer, I do move quite often and being on the road all the time can take its toll. Sometimes it’s so good to stop moving for a while and have all the comforts of a house, plus pets to cuddle and hang out with.
Dog and beach hangs in New Zealand
WHAT ARE THE BEST HOUSE SITTING WEBSITES AND HOW DO YOU GET STARTED?
As a typical one-night stay in a hotel could be as high as $100 a night (in some cities it could be 3x this amount), house sitting can end up saving you hundreds, even thousands of dollars in accommodation costs.
So we think house sitting is the smart thing to do, if you want to see amazing places and get free accommodation. It’s a no-brainer really.
People often ask us what are the best house sitting websites for finding house sitting jobs. We use the highly trusted and global website Trusted Housesitters. They are the #1 most trusted and popular site for sitters and homeowners and we love using them.
Their website is user-friendly, informative and has everything you need to find your next perfect house-sit. I find myself browsing this website for hours sometimes, looking at all the incredible places I could stay in!
When you join Trusted Housesitters as a house sitter, your membership will include:
-
unlimited access to all the available house sits around the world
-
messaging services with home owners
-
a smart phone app so you can browse on the go
-
house sitting resources to build your profile
-
24/7 access to a vet assistance help line
All you have to do is sign up to Trusted Housesitters, pay one payment of $119 (or £89.00) and that gets you a whole year of house sitting membership goodness. Create your sitter profile and you’re good to go.
Sure it’d be great if all online memberships were free right? But sometimes to get something great, you have to invest a little.
We had 4 months of continuous house sits lined up when we were in New Zealand, so that sign-up fee was a tiny amount in comparison to what we would’ve paid, if we had to pay for 4 months of accommodation.
So after only two nights house sitting, your house sitting membership will have already paid for itself!'Click To Tweet
Summer House sitting in New Zealand
As a Trusted House sitters member you can browse hundreds of house sits all over the world anytime, on the website or using the app.
And you get a daily email of all the brand new house sit ad’s, a day before anyone else sees them. So you can always have a chance to be the first to apply.
Click here to join Trusted Housesitters now and get 20% off. Then you can get started planning your next dream house sit location.
It’s one of the greatest travel hacks I’ve discovered, after all – you can get free accommodation anywhere!
It’s always a ‘win-win’ situation and most of the fantastic places I’ve stayed in and the awesome friendships I’ve made, I owe to my happy house sitting experiences.