Hi, a while ago I met a guy who told me that he has been housesitting for two years now and hasn't paid a single dollar in rent. He just returned from Europe, where he looked after houses and apartments in Italy, Holland and the UK. Sometimes the owners needed a reliable person for their animals, at other times they just wanted to have their gardens looked after and their place kept clean. I did some research on the internet about sites that bring house owners and house sitters together, but was taken back by the sheer numbers of available sitters. Have you ever tried anything like this? And did you find it difficult to get good offers?
I have not tried it yet, but my boyfriend and I are looking to travel on a budget in the future and have considered something like this. In Europe, there are many places such as vineyard where you work temporarily, for a few days of weeks, in exchange for room, board, and some spending money. There's also couch surfing, which is friendly people who let you crash on their couch, usually only for a few nights at a time. They would all be effective means to travel on a budget. I'm just paranoid about getting into a situation with a bad person who tries to hurt us or screw us over!
I have heard about this, but I don't know if I could ever do it. Living in someone else's house must be awkward, specially if you are house sitting. I don't think I could ever be comfortable like that. I have had friends that have gone abroad as Au Pairs (nannies that live in the employees' house), but that also isn't attractive to me. I would prefer so save up some money, and stay in hostels when I travel.
You would still be paying for the transport to that country which I don't like. If I'm paying to go on a holiday, I want it to be a complete holiday and I don't want to do chores around the house. You will probably also be very limited as to what you can do in the houses.
House-sitting would be too restrictive for someone who is traveling for fun. Or just to unwind. Visit parks and museums all over a country, interact with the locals. Would you want to miss all that out just because you don't want to pay for accommodation in a hotel? There are times when one shouldn't deny himself the good stuff life can offer. The best way to avoid paying a lot of money would be to get into one of those non-touristy hotels that don't charge you more just because you are a tourist.
