Free accommodation in someone else’s home might seem like an easy hack for cheap travel, but there’s more to house-sitting and swapping than a free room. While sitting usually involves caring for pets in exchange for accommodation, swapping requires participants to make their own home available to others for the pleasure of staying for free in someone else’s.
Angela Laws, head of community at Trusted Housesitters, the world’s largest house-sitting platform with more than 200,000 active members, wants to be clear with those considering giving it a go: “It’s not a free vacation. It’s not free travel. It’s not free accommodation. It is a mutually beneficial exchange between pet parents and sitters.” She stresses too that anyone wanting to take advantage of the benefits needs to appreciate and honour the responsibilities it entails.
