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Unspoken Rules of house sitting every house sitter needs to know

House sitting guidelines – Dos and Don´ts every house sitter should know and apply

Once you have landed a housesit, you want to make sure you do a great job. After all you want to get a great review. Maybe even get invited to sit again. But also, the owners should feel comfortable having you as a sitter. Above all, you are living in their house and taking care of their beloved pets. Last but not least, you representing all sitters

So after two years of house sitting and one year full-time sitting, I feel comfortable giving you these guidelines. Some should be pretty basic and commonly known. Others might be totally unexpected for you. In general, the longer the sit, the more responsibilities and the more guidelines. So let´s dive in.

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Know the rules and stick to them

If you are with TrustedHousesitters, a welcome guide is pretty standard. If you don´t get one, ask the owners for it. If you are using another platform, ask the owners for their house rules. If you are sitting pets as well, let them give you their routine, habits, likes and dislikes. You can find my complete question guide for it later this month.

However, most important, stick to the rules. It´s about respect and trust. 

If they want you to clean the floor every week in a specific way, do it! If they don´t want the dog on the couch or bed, don´t let the dog on the couch or bed.

Also, the owners have their rules for a reason. If you don´t understand their rules or the reason for them, ask. You are in a different country or even continent. You shouldn´t apply your common knowledge. Expect things to be different.

Keep contact – before, during and after a sit

Again, it´s about trust. Also, it´s about the owners feeling comfortable with you. After accepting a sit, keep them updated about your travel arrangements. Ask about their travel plans. Depending on their travel destination, they might be on a different continent in a different time zone. Maybe even off the grit. That´s good to know when you need to contact them. So don´t panic if someone doesn´t answer right away.

During the sit, especially if you sit pets, keep the owners updated. Ask in advance, how frequently they would like updates. Whereas some like to be updated daily, others like to be contacted only in emergencies. Apply some common sense for upcoming problems. Don´t contact them with every little question/ problem. Try to figure it out on your own or send questions in a bundle. Also, ask which channel they prefer.

Be organized

Plan your arrival and departure. You might want to arrive one day early, so the owners can show you everything.

Get all house rules and the pets´ routine in writing. Have a daily checklist. Especially if you don´t have pets, plants or a garden.

Make yourself familiar with the alarm system.

Have the emergency contacts on hand (vet, friends, plumber, etc).

Know where the junction box and fire distinguisher is located. Also, find out where you can turn off the main water pipe, if necessary.

Have one spot to collect the mail.

Keep all your stuff in one room. It´s easier to pack when you leave. Also, you never know if a neighbor or the owners show up nevertheless. Therefore, it´s also good to keep the house tidy and clean. Especially for longer its, clean on a regular basis. Even if you don´t do it at home.

If you move furniture, eat food out of the storage or just can´t remember where things go, take photos of the home.

Don´t leave pets alone over night

Should go without question. And for us that was never a question. But it seems some sitters do leave pets alone for a night or two. Because many home owners explicitly asked us to not leave their pets alone over night.

If you do end up sitting a home with no pets, spending one night somewhere else for travelling purposes might be an option. But do ask the owners about that in advance. 

But other than that I would NEVER leave pets alone over night. 

Also don´t leave pets alone on a regular basis on most days. You are there, so they are  not alone.

Always leave the home secure

Some will explicitly tell you to always lock windows and doors when leaving the house. Some might even suggest to do the same when being in the house. 

However, others tell you it´s a safe neighborhood and they never lock the house. Regardless, you should always lock windows and doors when leaving. At least for insurance reasons. And you never know. 

No guests or parties

Should go without saying. No parties! Also, no guests, especially not if you are only sitting for a couple of days. However, if you are sitting for a couple of weeks or months, you might invite guests. But not more than four. And always ask the owner first!

Be resourceful

If you are house sitting, it´s most likely it is the not so pleasant season in the country you are sitting in. There is a reason why the owners are away this time of the year 😉

 However, electricity is expensive in most parts of the world. So don´t cool the house down to 15 °C when it has 38°C outside. And don´t heat up the house to 24°C when it has minus 15°C outside. It´s not good for the environment. And you don´t want the owners to have a heart attack when they get the next electricity bill.

If you break something, say something

Unfortunately, it happened to us several times that we broke something. Or that something broke. Luckily, it was mostly a plate or a glass in the kitchen. Nevertheless, even so it can be unpleasant to tell, always inform the owner. Either right away or when they arrive. Apologize and offer to replace it or to pay for it. Most of the times, they won´t mind. But it´s about trust, respect and honesty.

Leave the house in better shape than you found it

Nothing is more pleasant than coming home from holiday into a clean home. We always try to leave the home cleaner than it was handed over to us. It´s our way of saying thank you. The owners will be thankful and it will reflect in the review. Promise!

The longer the sit, the more cleaning you should do. For example, we clean the fridge if we stay longer than a week. If we stayed a couple of weeks, we make sure the garden is good taken care of as well. You can find my whole cleaning list distinguished regarding the length of the sit here.

However, even if the owners didn´t leave you their home tidy and clean. You should at least clean up after you. Clean the bedroom you slept in as well as the bathroom you used. Strip the bed. If possible, wash the sheets and towels you used. Vacuum Clean the whole home. Clean the kitchen (do the dishes, clean the surfaces, take out the trash).

Stock up the essentials

Again, it depends on what you arranged with the owners. Some stock up the fridge and freezer for you as a thank you. Especially, if you are sitting for free. In this case, you don´t need to replace it.

Others try to eat up their food before your arrival. So you have all the space in the fridge for you… In this case it might be wise to replace what you took. Either way, make sure the owners have the basics when they come home. Maybe some milk (real or almond) and coffee or tea (if you used theirs). It also depends on where you are and what you find upon your arrival.

Last, make sure there is some toilet paper (if used in the household), as well as trash bags. Also, if you used up all the dishwasher tabs, buy some. Same goes for other cleaning supplies.

Bring or leave a little Thank you

Especially when you are sitting in a different county, bringing a little souvenir from your home country is a nice gesture. Being from Germany/Austria we brought chocolate, Austrian Salt, a little cow bell, a souvenir magnet, etc. 

You don´t have to, but it´s a polite thing to do. And don´t forget, the owners also travel somewhere while you are sitting for them. And most will bring you a souvenir as a Thank you.

Also, if you will leave before they get home, leaving a little thank you is much appreciated by owners. It can be a note, some home cooked meal or a little present. Whatever you like. And don´t forget to contact them after the sit. Ask if they arrived safely and found everything as they like.

Join the house sitting world

I hope those guidelines will help you on your house sitting journey. Let me know if you can think of some guidelines I missed. I am always happy to learn and be a better sitter.

If you like to do house sitting, I highly recommend TrustedHousesitters. They are the best platform and biggest house sitting community worldwide. 

Sign up here now and become a house sitter today!

If you liked this post, please share it with your friends and family! The more, the merrier! Let´s change the way of travelling together! 


The longer the sit, the more responsibility.

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Ultimate guide to save big on flights

The secret to snatch flights from the US to Europe for $100

When we tell people we fly from Vienna to London for 20€ or from Miami to Denver for 30$, they are surprised. When we tell them we fly from Germany to Florida in July (high season) non-stop for only 220€ or from New York to Paris for 130$ they are shocked. 

In General, the more flexible you are with your travel plans, the better. If you don´t need to travel over the holidays or during school break, don´t! If it doesn´t matter for you in which season you visit Barcelona, why not travel in the winter? If you don´t need much luggage, travel with hand luggage only! If you don´t like air plane food, why paying for it?

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Start your search with travel search engines

No matter where you go, always have a look on kayak.com, skyscanner.com or google flights first. It´s great to get an overview of the airlines, their destinations, prices and best dates to travel.

If you have a specific destination in mind, make sure to include nearby airports. You will be surprised how much of a difference in price that can make. Why? Because a budget airline may approach a smaller airport nearby. Also, different airports have different fees and taxes.

With kayak.com select +/- 3 days in your search, so you get an overview of the prices and best dates to travel.

With skyscanner.com you can select whole months to travel. You often still need to select a date in the low fare calendar to see the exact fares. But, if you don´t have specific dates in mind, it´s great to get a feeling for prices.

Also, if you don´t have any specific destination in mind, try the skyscanner app. There you can select your airport of departure and see all flight deals. Either for a specific date, a country or even a continent. Also, the app shows you popular travel destinations by month and let´s you explore by travel type (city, beach, long distance or short weekend trips).

Personally, I use Kayak.com if I have a specific destination or time frame in mind. I use skyscanner for exploring my options to find the cheapest flight from Europe to USA (you can select 10 airports for each continent). Why do I search that broad? Because once on the continent you can go with budget airlines anywhere with as low as 29$ or 20€ or take trains, buses or other more eco-friendly transportation.

Use airline destinations´maps

After you explored your options with kayak.com or skyscanner.com, you got an overview of the airlines. Now, it´s time to have a look on the airlines´ websites for best destinations by prices.

If you travel a specific route frequently, you know which airlines are best/ cheapest. For me flying at least once a year from the US to Europe and vice versa, I know to look at Norwegian and Eurowings.

So I visit their website for destination map. It allows me to see which airports they approach at certain times of the year. You can also see which airports they use for continental flights. Always good to know regarding non-stop flights and planning layovers.

So this April for example we are flying with Norwegian non-stop from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona for 190€ or something. We could have booked flights as low as 120€. But we weren´t as flexible with the dates this time. So we ended up flying right before Eastern for  a bit more.

Consider layovers

So this April we are flying to Barcelona, even though our destination actually is Austria. Why? Because I´ve never been to Barcelona and always wanted to go. Also, Norwegian doesn´t offer non-stop flights from the US to Austria nor Germany. 

So since we have to do a layover somewhere, why not Barcelona? I´ve never been and always wanted to go. And flights from Austria/Germany to Barcelona are most of the time as expensive as a flight to the US. So we even save money, because we would have visit Barcelona at some point anyways. And this way we only need a one-way ticket.

Look for low fare calendars

They are not always easy to find. Especially US airlines make it pretty hard. However, especially budget airlines have low fare calendars. So use them!

They sometimes help you to avoid a ridiculous amount of money. Think of weekends, holidays, Brückentage, school holidays, spring break, etc.

Also keep seasons and climate zones in mind. If you want to visit New York, mostly to visit museums, theaters, Broadway shows or to go shopping. Does it really matter what time of the year you go? If no, look for flights in January. Yes it will be cold, but you will be inside most of the time anyway. And January is soooo cheap to go.

Always keep luggage in mind

Nowadays with most airlines you need to book luggage additionally. So keep that in mind when comparing prices between airlines. Sometimes traditional airlines can be cheaper, when you need to have luggage, meals and drinks.

But if you are fine with hand luggage or one checked bag and don´t need meals or drinks on board, you can save a ton of money!

Be open to one-way flights and no-meals option​

Yes, you can even book flights from Europe to the US without meals. Why should you? Well with Norwegian you can save 70€ (one-way), if you don´t need checked bags and meals. Think about how much food you can buy for that.

Just get a good meal before the flight. And take snacks and reusable drinking bottles on board. Just empty the bottle before security and fill it up before the flight. I got my stainless steel bottle from Glacier Point on Amazon.com for my birthday. It´s so handy and saves so much money! Not just when flying. 

And if you are still hungry or thirsty on the plane (don´t worry, you will get water for free), you can always buy some snacks on board. Just make sure you do it within the first three hours on a long distance flight.

Find out the best time to book

Depending on your destination and the time of the travel, specific times are better to book. For us, flying from the US to Europe and vice versa, booking 7 weeks ahead seems to be the perfect time frame. However, we also found cheap flights only two weeks prior to the flight.

And if you are travelling within Europe or the US you can get crazy cheap flights a month ahead or only 5 days prior. How do you know when to book? Well, for this Kayak.com and skyscanner.com are made for.   

Don´t forget about currencies& payment methods​

Last but not least, you can also save money choosing the right currency and payment method. So for example if you fly with Norwegian, sometimes it is cheaper to book in NOK. But when booking one-way tickets it can also be cheaper to book in the currency of the destination country. Depending how exchange rates are at the moment of booking.

But, keep in mind if you book with your credit card in a foreign currency, you will need to pay up to 2% exchange rate fee etc. So even though it might be cheaper in NOK, if your credit card company charges you 2%, it might offset the original saving.

Some airlines (especially in Europe) also charge you for paying by credit card. So keep an eye on that as well.

“The struggle is real”

People often ask me, how we can afford to travel so much. Well, now you know. We never pay much on our plane tickets and we don´t fly much. Slow travelling saves carbon emissions and money. 😉 

All these tips might be overwhelming first but if you only apply one or two of the tips above, you are already saving money. 

The more tips and tricks you use, the more money you save. So it´s up to you to decide how much time you invest in searching for cheap flights. If you don´t have the time, just use Kayak.com or Skyscanner.com and the low fare calendars.

Also, check out norwegian.com for your next trip. They are not just the cheapest Airline for flights between Europe and the US, but are also the most environmental friendly airline there is.

If you liked this post and you think your friends and family might like it as well, please go ahead and share it.


Don´t pay for what you don´t need.

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How to stop skin picking

7 easy steps to help you stop picking your skin

Do you skin pick and can´t stop? You do know it´s bad for your skin, but you do it anyway. Often you don´t even realize that you are doing it? You are not alone!

Skin picking comes in many forms. It can be anything from playing with your hair to biting your nails to touching your face every minute

Until recently, I didn´t know, that I am a skin picker. Nor that it is a disorder/illness and so widely common. However, once I knew the term “skin picking”, I started my research and tried a lot of things to stop me from picking on my skin.  

The big secret? Acknowledge your picking. Know what triggers it. Reduce and redirect your urge to pick! And be patient with yourself!

Keep a journal

First of all, you need to identify causes and situations of your skin picking. Keeping a journal is crucial to identify the situations. Because before you can stop it, you need to know in which situations you are skin picking and why

Best outcome, you can avoid these situations and don´t skin pick anymore. Otherwise, you are at least aware of the circumstances and can handle them much better. 

Also, writing down your feelings when you are skin picking or when you have the urge to pick, can identify why you skin pick. Stressed? Anxious? Bored? Nervous?Knowing, helps a lot to stop! 

Most times hormone imbalances are to blame. So get that checked out. My urge to skin pick is much less since I use natural ways to balance my hormones. Besides a diet change, the Herbal Extract “Natural Balance” by Earthley helped me big time! They also have an Anxiety Relief Herbal Extract and so much more. It´s all 100% natural, hand made and safe for the whole family! 

Keep your hands busy

It doesn´t matter how but it is crucial that you do keep your hands busy. Why? Because when they are busy, they won´t end up on your skin/ in your hair or in your mouth. For me stress balls and my wedding ring work most of the time. Other have widget spinners, pens, hair ties, drum sticks etc. 

Lately, I fold my hands together, form a fist, place my chin on my folded hands, or twiddle my thumbs when I want to pick. 

Also, having a bottle of water on my desk, helps me. So every time I want to pick, I take a zip of water. Having nuts, berries or other healthy snacks in reach, helps as well. Plus, it keeps you hydrated and healthy. So it is good for your skin, body and mind.

Avoid mirrors

For me having acne makes looking in the mirror difficult. Every time I look, I see imperfection. This drives my urge to pick crazy. That´s why I try to look only in the mirror in the morning and evening, when I do my skin routine. But even then, I keep my distance from the mirror. This way I don´t see all the little black heads, white heads, scars, etc.  

During the day I avoid mirrors as best as possible. So no mirrors in the house except for the bathroom. Also, when going to the toilet, I keep my head down and/or the light off to avoid looking in the mirror. 

Hanging motivational quotes and “don´t pick” signs at your mirrors (and everywhere where your urge of skin picking is the highest) helps as well.

Avoid Sugar, alcohol and caffeine

The last months I had severe hormonal acne and had to change my diet completely. One thing I noticed in this process. My urge to pick on my skin decrease a ltd! So of course I did some research and found out, that sugar often triggers the urge to skin pick, as well as alcohol and caffeine. Once I knew, I watched my new diet closer. And except for some honey in the morning, I realized I don´t consume sugar anymore. Alcohol only on occasions and caffeine not more than one cup a day.

Good to know? All these ingredients alter our hormonal balance. And this triggers the picking. So do everything to keep your hormone levels balanced. Eat healthy, exercise (!), avoid stress, drink calming teas, try Earthley, do meditation or yoga, have sex. Whatever works for you. 

Keep your nails short and shiny

Doesn´t matter what type of skin picker you are, keeping your nails short helps. Try to skin pick with short nails… For me also having nail polish on helps. Every time I want to pick, I look at my nails and smile.

I read on another blog, that some people ware gloves to avoid picking. Others tape their finger tips. Do whatever helps you!

Cover the body parts you like to pick on

You don´t need to cover your whole body, even so you might. I cover the parts I am most likely to pick at in specific situations. For me these are my shoulders, arms and décolleté (can´t cover my face…). 

So when I am working on my laptop I wear pullovers or at least T-shirt covering the neck. Why? Because with my journal I realized that I pick mostly when working on my laptops. And in the summer, when I am wearing T-shirt and dresses, which uncover these parts.

Find support

Doing something alone sucks. So get support. From your friends, family or in support groups. Tell them, that you want to stop picking. Let them remind you when you pick. For example my husband checks on me when I am in the bathroom for longer than 5min. He knows that I am most likely skin picking. Also, he tells me when I am skin picking unconsciously. Because often I don´t even realize I am picking. 

“The Struggle is real”

There are many more things you can do and try. These are just the things that helped me most. So do your own research! 

Be aware that you can´t stop picking right away. It´s a process. Because it is a habit. And changing habits is hard. And in order to change them, you need to know what triggers them. So your first step should be starting a journal. 

I really hope some of these tips will help you reducing your skin picking. I will update this post when I find something else, that helps.

If you liked this post, and know friends and family members whom this post could help, please share! Let´s stop picking together!


Skin picking is a habit triggered by your subconsciousness.

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Ultimate Guide to start house sitting

Tips on how you get your first house sit faster

Free accommodation. Staying in amazing homes. Free entry tickets to local attractions. Getting to know local people and their culture. Meet like-minded people. Care for adorable animals. Explore the world and learn countless things and lessons for life. 

Sounds amazing? Then start house sitting now!  

Scotland_housesitting

I´ve been house sitting for over two years now. Thereof one and  a half years full-time house sitting in the US. Since 2017 I´ve done over 30 house sits together with my husband. We´ve cared for all kinds of dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, horses, a domestic pig and even some squirrels and hedgehogs. So I know what I am talking about. And I know what home owners are looking for. 😉

Let´s get you your first house sitting gig!

Sign up

first things first. You can always try to find sits on your own, but house sitting platforms make things so much easier!  There are many house sitting platforms out there. However, trustedhousesitters.com is by far the best one!

Yes, they are among the most expensive, but if you want to travel the world, go with trustedhousesitters.com. They are the largest house sitting community worldwide. They also have the best house sitting website (still not perfect but so much better than all the others), a 24-hour vet-line and so much more! They even have an app since 2018, which makes life as a house sitter so much easier!

Signing up with TrustedHousesitters is no big deal. You create an account and pay your annual fee. Last time I checked it was 119$/year. It may sounds like a lot. But it really isn´t. 

Even if you only do one house sitting gig a year. Let´s say a short one. Over a long weekend for three nights. Normally, you pay like 50$ and up per night. So even with only one short house sit a year, you already save money. So don´t miss this huge opportunity of travelling more and mostly for free just because of 119$ a year.

Nice extra with TrustedHousesitters? You can house sit solo, with your partner or even with your family. And you only need one account! So 119$ for one year for a family of four? That sounds like a favorable holiday to me.

Create a trustworthy profile

House sitting is all about trust! So when writing your profile keep that in mind. After all, you will be living in other peoples´ homes and will care for their beloved pets.

On trustedhousesitters.com there is a 5-step verification process. You don´t need to do all of them. But the more verifications, the better. And you can do all verifications online.

We have completed 4 out of the 5 steps. That means our Email and phone number have been verified. We have at least one external reference (see Get external references”) and got our Identity as well as IDs checked (e.g. Passport). The 5th step would be a criminal record check, which costs about 40$. But we did just fine with the first 4 steps. Plus, we wrote in our profile that we are Green Card holder. So they can be assured our background got checked intensely. J Other sitters for example mention their global entry (USA specific) in their profile.

Next, upload photos of you with pets and animals and write about yourself. Some do it in first-person perspective. Others use third-person. Whatever you like more. Have a look into profiles of other sitters to get a feeling about what/how to write. 

Write why you want to house sit. Write about your experience taking care of pets and homes, pools or gardens.

Also, mention your work and hobbies. Again, people trust you with their home and pets. They want to know you. And even though you can write this stuff in your applications as well, you sometimes may forget to do it. Also, if you are open for sits, some owners might contact you based on your profile. J 

Write where you come from, what languages you speak. Where did you travel so far? Where you would like to go? What kind of travel do you like? How you came to house sitting?

It´s about the little things. I think we got like four house sits in the US, because I am from Germany. Another one, because of the industry I was in (market research). The home owners felt some connection to us and that´s all they needed to trust and choose us.

Get external references

When starting out, you don´t have house sit reviews. But you can and should get external references to make up for it. It increases your chances of getting this first sit.

External references can come from your work, family or friends. You might did some sort of house- or baby sitting before. Or you took care of someone’s plants while they were on holiday. Or you are an Airbnb host or regular guest. You can also ask for character references.

Many people are concerned how you will treat their home. They want clean, tidy, quiet, responsible and respectful people. So a character reference might help with that. Also pointing them to your Airbnb profile with reviews, if you have one. 

Start Small

Of course you can always apply for a dream sit in a dream house in a dream location for three weeks or longer. But keep in mind, these sits are popular. Plus there will be people applying for these sits with actual reviews and more experience than you .

So when you are getting started, why not start house sitting in your home country? Especially, if you are a bit nervous about your first house sit. Use your home-advantage. The cultural differences are not as big. No language barrier. And you can set up a meeting with the owner before the sit. Maybe even see the house and animals. For many home owners having someone local plays in their hands as well. 

So how do you find these sits in your home country before everyone else does? You can save searches in the TrustedHousesitters app.  For example you can save a search for your home country, for June 2019, for a period of 3 days, with only cats. As you can see you can go quite specific. Whatever you like. You can save up to 10 searches.

In general your chances are higher when applying for fresh listed sits (you get these with the saved searches) and sits with up to 12 applicants. Applying for very popular sits (30+ applicants), where you don´t even get an answer, can be really frustrating. Believe me! I´ve been there.

So which sits should you apply for besides the ones in your home country? I suggest applying for shorter sits (for a weekend) and last-minute sits (two weeks before the sits start). You can also look for sits, where there are no or not so good photos in the listing. Most people get scared away by that. But you shouldn´t. You can always video chat before accepting a sit. This way you can ask to see the home. Also, sits in a countries not so popular season (Spain in August – hot, hotter, hottest) could be worth a try. Just save a search for Spain in August.

However, to find last- minute sits and sits with not so good photos, you need to look/search regularly on the website. And if you find something you like, apply right away. Some sits come up one day and are gone two days later. You never know. I had once written an application for a new sit and the time I pressed send, the sit was already filled. Crazy! Also, getting a sit is often on a first-come-basis.

BONUS TIP: Christmas time!!! There are so many people looking for sitters for the holidays! In the long-term and kind of last minute. It´s crazy! And so many sits are not getting filled. So why not start house sitting on Christmas/ New Year?!

 

Write customized Applications

You can apply for as many sits as you want. However, you won´t get any sits when you olny hit that “Apply button”. Your application should be detailed and customized. No three-line notes. No generalized application. But also no 5-pages long story of your life.

Do include the names and breeds of the pets you will be sitting. Maybe you always wanted to have a Poodle and that´s why you apply for this sit. Great! Let the owners know. They will be thrilled, because it´s most likely you will take extra good care for their poodle.

Make references to their listing. Maybe compliment them on their beautiful home. For example, in the US many people are proud of their home. So show them you appreciate the possibility of staying their home.

Mention the tasks they want you to do. Write in a way that shows them you are up for this task.Include your experience, in specific with pets. Did you grew up with pets? Did you or do you have pets on your own? Do you have experience with sick pets?

Write about your personality. Most homeowners are most interested in: Are you responsible? Are you/ do you like clean and tidy? Are you a non-smoker? Are you flexible (e.g. regarding the dates)?

Write about your travel plans. Why you would like to sit for them in this area? Do you do a road trip, world trip or just this one sit? It helps them to understand your commitment, flexibility, etc. Offer to video chat (or meet). Offer to come a day earlier, so they get to know you a bit. And you get to know the pets and their routine. (Also you see how the owners interact with the pets.)

If you have experience with taking care for properties (e.g. you owned homes) or e.g. are an Airbnb host, include that. It builds trust and shows that you can care for homes as well (and gardens).

If you do need to care for plants, write about your experience with that as well.

Also, do ask questions, e.g. about getting there or when they would like you to arrive. It shows you think this sit through and plan ahead.

 

Join the House sitting world

So getting your first sit can take some time. But keep applying and you will get it. I applied for 20 sits for our first house sitting trip to Scotland. And sit number 21 was the one. Our first sit! Four days long. Last minute (two weeks til the sit). Taking care of rescued hennes and feed some wild hedgehogs at night and birds in the morning.

So keep applying. Create a trust worthy profile including photos. Write customized applications and apply for the right sits. I recommend short and last-minute sits as well as sits in your home country and during Holiday season. 

I hope this post answered your questions on getting your first sit. If you have any other questions on house sitting, please feel free to contact me. Either on Social Media or via Email ([email protected]).

If you like to do house sitting, I highly recommend TrustedHousesitters. They are the best platform and house sitting community worldwide.

Sign up here now and become a house sitter today!

If you liked this post, please share it with your friends and family! The more, the merrier! Let´s change the way of travelling together! 


The secret to get your first sit:
The right sit. At the right moment.

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