Trusted House Sitters is one of the best new ways to travel on a budget. It’s just like any other work exchange app (such as Worldpackers or Workaway) but on THS, you apply for pet sitting jobs around the world.

Sounds like the dream, right? You get to travel to wherever you want and all you have to do is care for and spend time with someone’s adorable pets for free accommodation.

Well, I’ve got quite a few pet sits with Trusted House Sitters under my belt now so I can share with you my real experiences with the app and the pros and cons of pet sitting as a way to travel.

I hope this gives you enough insight to figure out whether or not pet sitting with THS is right for you.

How Does Trusted House Sitters Work?

Trusted House Sitters is a type of work exchange platform where you can stay at someone’s house, anywhere in the world, and house/pet sit for free. 

The free work that you do by pet sitting pays for your accommodation. 

You can scroll through the app and find pet sits all across the world at various times of year and for various lengths of time. 

You can find sits caring for all different kinds of animals including dogs, cats, horses, birds, reptiles, and more!

All you have to do is apply to a pet sit for wherever you want to travel to, and if you get accepted you get to live there for free.

Types of Pet Sitter Memberships

Like most work exchange platforms, you have to pay to use their app. Trusted House Sitters is no different. 

When you first create an account on the app, you will be on a free plan. With the free plan you can still look at all the sits available but you won’t be able to apply to any until you upgrade your account to a paid plan.

You’re only able to apply to sits once you purchase a membership.

They offer three types of membership plans which I will outline below:

Basic	Standard (what I use)	Premium
-$129 per year -Free background check  -Unlimited sits worldwide	-$169 per year -Free background check -Free online vet support -Unlimited sits worldwide -Accident liability plan	-$259 per year -Free background check -Free online vet support -Unlimited sits worldwide -Accident liability plan -Sit cancelation insurance -Premium badge icon on profile

You can really choose how much you want to get out of your membership. We decided to get the standard plan because that is what’s recommended, and it has a little more coverage for if something were to happen to you or the pet. 

With the premium plan you are even more insured if something goes wrong. Of course you can’t plan for everything, but by knowing you have a little extra protection may give you some more peace of mind.

Plus, the little premium icon on your profile will stand out to pet parents letting them know you’re serious about pet sitting and it might make them feel better about booking you as their pet sitter.

Pros of Trusted House Sitters

You Can Travel With a Friend or Partner for Free

If you’ve ever used Worldpackers or WorkAway, you know that you must purchase a joint account (that is often more expensive than a single membership) in order to have your profile set up as two people traveling together. With these apps you each have your own separate profiles.

If you want to travel with someone else on Trusted House Sitters, there is not a different membership plan you need to buy.

You just choose which plan from above you want (basic, standard, or premium) and when you’re building your profile, you just have to make it clear that you will be traveling with someone else.

This means having both of your names on the account, pictures of both of you together, and information about both of you in the bio.

There is no additional cost for having two people on one Trusted House Sitters account.

If You Have Pets, You Can Also Accept Sits on Trusted House Sitters

Now this definitely won’t be for everybody, I’m not even sure if I’d like someone else staying in my house but, it is a nice option for travelers who have pets of their own.

When creating your account on Trusted House Sitters, you will first decide what kind of account you want to make. The options are shown below:

The Pet Parent membership is obviously for pet parents looking for sitters.

And the Sitter membership is for all of you reading this, who want to travel for cheap by taking care of cute pets.

At the bottom of the above photo you will see the option for a Combined membership.

This is for if you want the ability to book a sitter for your pet while you’re out of town, and if you want to travel and stay somewhere for free.

The Combined membership does cost a little more, but if you think this would work for you I think it’s a great opportunity.

Pet Sits Are Available for Months or Days at a Time

If you work full time and are just looking for a long weekend getaway, or if you’re living a nomadic lifestyle and want a place to call your “home base” for a few months, there are sits on Trusted House Sitters for you.

Having more options and all different lengths of pet sits available make traveling through this app so much more accessible to people of all lifestyles.

We were able to use PTO for a week-long sit in Oregon and we have also done a pet sit for two months in Arizona.

This gives us the ability to be more flexible with our travels.

Cons of Trusted House Sitters

It Can Be Hard to Find Time to Adventure When Pet Sitting

Now this will vary from sit to sit. We’ve done some pet sits where the animals only need food in the morning and night, and there’s a doggy door so we didn’t have to be home to let the dog outside multiple times a day. This is great for getting travel experiences out of house sitting.

But, we’ve also done sits where the dog had stomach issues that we didn’t know about beforehand, resulting in us having to be at the house to let her out more frequently.

Most pet parents on the app won’t expect you to be in their house 24/7, but some will want you to be there most of the day, or to at least check in every few hours.

Depending on what you’re looking for out of your trip, this might work for you.

When I travel I like to have the freedom to go out and spend the day hiking or take a road trip a few hours away, and this lifestyle won’t work for every sit.

Pet Sitting Can Be A Lot of Work

If you’ve ever done pet sitting before, for money, you know that it is a big commitment and responsibility. And depending on the situation, it can be some exhausting work. So think of this as another job. It’s just another type of work exchange.

As nice as it is to just rent an Airbnb and not have to work when you travel, these types of trips can cost a lot of money.

Using Trusted House Sitters can definitely help you travel more cheaply, but it definitely isn’t for free. It will cost you both time and energy depending on how demanding the sit is.

There Aren’t House Sits Available Everywhere in the World

You’ll find the most pet sits in the United States and European countries because these are the places where Trusted House Sitters is the most popular.

If you want to travel to more exotic places like Central or South America, sits are a few and far between. You will probably have to use a different platform to find work exchanges in those countries.

But, you’ll find abundant pet sits all across the US and throughout western Europe making this platform a great option to travel to these places in particular.

Tips For Booking House Sits

It can be difficult to finally book the sit you want in the destination you want. Below I’ve included some tips on booking your dream pet sit!

Do Some Local Sits First

It’s going to be really hard to book a house sit across the country or across the world when you have zero reviews on your profile.

My partner and I took three local sits before finally booking one in a different state. 

I think having the three 5-star reviews on our profile really helped us stand out against other applicants and let hosts know that we can be trusted to take care of their pets.

Put Time & Effort into Your Applications

You can’t just copy and paste your application from one host and send it to another. 

Pet parents want someone who is authentic, who has thoroughly read their description of the sit, and are excited about the opportunity to sit for them. 

I’ve found that when I put in a good 30 minutes of typing up an application and put a lot of thought into it, I am more likely to hear back.

Some things I like to include in my application are:

• Introduction (background info & who I am)
• Why I would be the best pet sitter choice for you & how you will benefit from having me as your sitter
• My experience with animals (if there are certain animals you have lots of experience with that are part of the sit you’re applying to, emphasize your strong background with that animal)
• Why I want to travel to that particular place
• How this sit would be fulfilling/ rewarding for me 

Include All Your Prior Animal Experience in Bio & Pictures of You With Animals

I touched on this in the above section, but this is super important!

In the biography section on your account, include all your experience that you have with animals.

For me, I’ve actually done quite a bit of pet sitting before traveling for family friends, and I’ve also done some volunteer work in cat shelters and on farms taking care of horses and chickens.

All this info helps your profile stand out to sits you apply to. 

Even if your only experience is taking care of your own pets, this is still animal care experience that you can include in your biography.

Upload pictures of you (and your partner/ friend if you’re traveling with someone else) with other animals and pets! Even if they’re just your own pet, having pictures of you with other animals will make your profile look better to hosts.

Always Video Call With the Host Before Agreeing to a Sit

This is another really important thing to do before accepting a sit on Trusted House Sitters. 

I’ve never ran into any scams on the app, and I haven’t heard of any yet, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be one. You want to know and see the host face to face before accepting the sit.

Doing a video call beforehand helps you get a feel for the other person. If you get any bad vibes from them on the call, then maybe you shouldn’t take the sit. 

We’ve sit for really great people on all of our sits through Trusted House Sitters, but there can still be bad hosts out there.

This also gives you a chance to ask questions you have about caring for their pets, the place you’ll be staying at, and to just get to know the host and their pets more. 

Tip: when I’m on a video call with a potential host, I like to have a piece of paper and pen with me to write down any important information that they mention so I don’t forget. This also looks appealing to them because it shows that you’re listening and being attentive.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Travels When House Sitting

There’s a few things I look for when searching for house sits to apply to:

• If you’re flying into your destination, look for a sitter that lets you use their car to avoid paying for a rental 

• Cats are typically lower maintenance and don’t require you to be home 24/7, so if you’re looking to go out and explore most of your trip, look for sits with cats

• If you plan to pet sit dogs, find out if they have a doggy door before accepting the sit. Not having to let a dog outside to go to the bathroom and/or go on a walk a few times a day will give you more freedom on your trip

• Ask if any of the pets need to be given medication. Especially if you have to give medication to an animal who doesn’t want to take it, or if it has to be administered multiple times a day. This can potentially take a lot of time out of your day if you have things planned to do.

My Final Thoughts on Trusted House Sitters

I think Trusted House Sitters presents an amazing opportunity to budget travel. It’s given me so many great experiences that I might not have never had without using the app.

However, some sits can be difficult and a lot of work which can take time away from your adventures.

Since I prefer to keep my travel as cheap as possible, I am willing to trade a few hours of my day to look after someone’s pets if it means I can live somewhere I’ve never been for free.

If you’re an animal lover and willing to do the same, then I think Trusted House Sitters would be a great way for you to travel.

I hope you got some useful information and inspiration from this post, thank you for reading!