Hi all.
My husband Dom and I are renting our house out for 6 months and are planning to look spend that time looking after other peoples houses via THS. Our kids are encouraging. Our parents think we’re mad and our friends and colleagues are mixed.
How was your decision to housesit met by the people you care about?
Julie🥰
We sold everything, including our home, to do this full time 2 years ago. Our close friends and family had heard us speak about it for a while so they were/are supportive.
I find most times people judge what they wouldn’t choose, rather than just acknowledging they wouldn’t choose it for themselves. 
We did the same 4 years ago and are still going strong.
Even now, its a 50/50 split of those who are super jealous of our lifestyle and those who think we are stark raving mad 
Ignore what your friends and family think at first, over time they’ll come to realise what fun you’re having with pets & what a fulfilled life you are living!!! It’s simply a brilliant way of living, and a much more meaningful, and simplistic life… and no accommodation or bills to pay for, because your new tenant is covering the costs of your own place.
We joined two years ago, and we loved it so much right from the start, that we turned our own home into a holiday cottage straight away and we’ve never looked back.
What surprised us most was that the pet owners that had been on THS for a while totally ‘got’ us, they understood us more than those around us. And a lot of owners who we sit for have said they’d be sitting themselves if they didn’t have pets of their own.
From friends and family we had “why would you sit for free?” or “why would an pet owner trust a total stranger to look after their pets?”… but overtime our enthusiasm for THS says it all!
It’s a wonderful life xx
I think you are smart to rent out your house for 6 months to help pay for your property taxes, air flights and in between hotels or Airbnb’s. No dipping into savings. Your parents will probably just miss you but once you tell them about all your new adventures with enthusiasm,
They will be happy for you and glad you took this time to do it while you both have your health. Enjoy the journey!
Go for it! If we didn’t have pets of our own, we’d be doing it.
Well life is a constant experiment so why not try this on for size! You’ll soon know…
I have been a full time sitter since January 2019 and rented my house out. When the pandemic hit I was in Australia so returned to England and got back into my house 2 months later. I re-rented my home in January 2022. I’ve been sitting in England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand and am currently in Ireland. However, I’m feeling tired of constantly being on the move so going back to my home in July from Ireland. I will continue to housesit but travel from home and do less. I’ve had a fabulous time. Some friends think it’s bizarre that I do what I do without payment, but they can see how happy I’ve been. I’ve also been able to afford some great trips too without touching my savings. It’s a great life and so many people I meet are envious but feel inspired to do it themselves.
I sit part time, either working from home or (mostly) on vacation.
Having been a member of Home Exchange for years, for me it isn’t mostly because of money It is about the way of travelling. You experience locations living like a local, where the locals live, visiting their shops, walking their trails. You get to see all the glimpses of everyday life. Schoolchildren, commuters, taking in the mail, saying hello to a neighbor, seeing the local temple/ church etc.
I’m on my way home from a sit near a major world tourist destination. It was so insightful to see tourists lining up to take photos of themselves in front of the things millions of others take selfies of - and then all the other things that I got to experience. So put on the other set of goggles - and see the everyday magic. Now that is the story you can tell your family.
You are wise to rent your home out for just 6 months.
We did this for 12 months and then agreed to add on another 6 months but things went awry at the 13 month mark - (we didn’t feel our home was being cared for as we would care for i)
I, too, was very tired of not having a home base, MY bed, MY kitchen, MY things. After being away from our own home for over a year I was happy to be home for a bit. Living out of a suitcase (even if some sits were for 2 months) can get old.
My husband would sell our house and be full time gypsies. Not me. I need a home base with my kitchen equipment.
No one thought we were crazy, in our case. Adventurous, yes. Some could not imagine it and some were jealous. I’d say most were jealous! lol.
You’re not mad, and even if you were, how is that anyone’s business if you’re not living off them?
It’s a good idea to rent your place out for the interim. That gives you the chance to see what works for you or not.
Personally (long before starting to sit part time), I used to think I’d be a great nomad. What sitting has helped me realize is, I love nesting and having my own place way too much to give them up. For me, the combo of sitting, doing nonsit travel and being at home is ideal, especially because I can switch up the ratios anytime I like.
For instance, I’ve been happily taking a break from sitting. I’ve been nesting and just started nonsit traveling again. And I plan to do way more nesting this year, because a remodel on our new-to-us home just recently wrapped up.
Cheers for having choices that meet our individual needs and preferences. Plus, we can always change our minds.
Who knows what people say behind our backs, but so far people are very envious about our lifestyle. We rotate between traveling in our motorhome, Airbnbs, and petsitting and no one ever knows where we will be because we don’t post it anywhere except for here every once in awhile. You are not mad, just adventurous
@Hillsidejap, nope you’re not mad at all. But the full-time housesit lifestyle is unquestionably bold.
We’ve been full-time housesitters for over two years now. Not planned, rather an opportunistic experiment that we actively determined to extend. We’ve now completed almost 50 housesits in many countries. With only limited exceptions then we’ve met wonderful people; cared for great pets; and looked after a diverse range of properties.
Returning to your question then we have faced a broad range of emotional responses from other people, including family, in regards our housesit.
Some family were initially concerned that there was some issue (not the case). We tried to provide assurances, using various tactics. Worked somewhat. But clincher was sharing periodic photos of our adventures - various tools for this but we relied on Shared Albums functionality with Apple MacOS Photo app. This not only provided comfort but also repositioned the whole conversation. We’ve been fortunate to visit some wonderful locations and stay at premium properties and choose geography to suit pleasant climates. Soon, concerns dissipated.
As noted by @colin, we observe that people view our world with starkly differing lenses. Many think that we’ve lost our marbles and can’t even conceive of the lifestyle (of housesitter or pet parent). Some think that it’s a permanent vacation (which it’s not). Some are envious on some aspect of the experience - whether that’s the varying locations; geographic flexibility; minimal-luggage mindset or otherwise. Curiously, we’ve become closer to some friends (similar mindset) and drifted from others. All good.
Ultimately family relationships are important. And casual acquaintances less so. Invest accordingly.
You’re not mad. Carpe diem. Enjoy the adventure. There’s a non-trivial chance that you may extend the six-month rental of your home 
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I just moved all my furniture into storage, gave up my apartment and became a digital nomad. If you are crazy so am I. Only thing my two grown sons asked of me was to keep a spred sheet with my location and dates that we share.
We’ve been sitting for 7 years, almost three years full-time without a base. They’ve looked after wonderful pets, met lovely people and visited amazing places but we are now missing having our own home. Things go wrong, people cancel without much notice, health issues crop up and it can be difficult to get medical appointments etc with no address. It’s sensible to keep your home rented for now but you’ll visit and meet amazing places and people, and most importantly the furry friends you’ll get to spend time with. Best of luck in your new adventure.
This is the top of the list of what people ultimately regrets the most:
No.1.Not traveling when you had the chance.
No.2.Not learning another language
..you’re mad not going🌍
Thank you all for your responses. All so positive and inspiring.
An update if anyone is interested. We’re moving forward . We’ve started viewings on the house, handed in our notices and making arrangements for our first sit without a base. 
A lot of people don’t like it when they see other people do things they don’t feel able to do, such as have an adventure. They don’t word it that way, because most don’t realize that’s what they’re feeling. So it comes out instead as judgment or criticism.
For example, when I was a young woman, I would get irritated that older women just asserted themselves and asked for (or even demanded) what they wanted or needed. How dare they, I thought. I was too shy/passive and unconfident to do that. But now that I’m in my 60s, I’m that older woman who will just come out and say what I want or need. I’m probably irritating some younger women, but one day they will be where I am!
Unrelated to THS (although we did sits during that time), my spouse and I ended up being nomads for 2 years after selling our house and putting our belongings in storage. We traveled for the first several months and then the pandemic hit and complicated everything. Almost everyone who knew us would ask how we could stand to live out of a suitcase, not have a home, etc. I actually could have done it even longer but my spouse was sick of it so we bought a new home after 2 years.
A secret to being happy in life is to not listen to other people trying to tell you what to do, feel or think. As my nephew told his mother after he was an adult, “Mom, how about you live your life and I’ll live mine.” Sometimes people have to hear something like that.
Going nomad is really a bold step, especially when you got hitted by the pandemic in the process which complicated everything, blames, thoughts will run through your mind., i wonder how you could have done it longer amidst the pandemic when your spouse was already sick of it. Movements were restricted during this period. Your spouse made the right choice in getting a new home for you both to settle.
Moral lesson : two heads are better than one.
If you had gone nomad during the pandemic believe me it wouldn’t be enjoyable anymore.
Hi @Hillsidejap
I think some people are very confused about the concept of letting ‘strangers’ stay in other peoples homes and look after their pets.
I’ve never worried about what other people think tbh. It works for me that’s all that matters.