I am a sitter who is about to embark on a nomadic year of THS sits. I am doing it to explore the UK and Europe, for the adventure of traveling. I have my brother’s home as a bolt hole between sits. I am pretty much exactly what you describe, but can assure you that in my case I am not scamming anyone for free rent. I have always found THS to be extremely genuine and trust worthy.
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Provence, why would home insurance differ for a digital nomad vs. a vacation sitter? Wouldn’t the length of the stay be the difference? Just curious. Thank you.
Is that specific to your insurance company? We didn’t have to provide that information at the sits we’ve done in France. The home owners knew our names and had our email address but other than knowing we’re on THS, they didn’t ask for ID or address.
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I see. Most digital nomads have a legal mailing address where mail is sent and then forwarded. There are specific services for this because nomadic life is becoming so common. Some also have legal mailing addresses associated with their business/work (if they are entrepreneurs). Paying taxes, health insurance, etc. Even nomads have these needs and have an official address. I am not a nomad, so I’m speaking from the knowledge of friends who are. Others will have direct experience. Good luck!
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Yes, I do remember your previous explanation and understand the explanation. I just wondered if it was a French law in general or just your insurance company. Sounds like just your insurance company then.
(I say that because I’ve not been asked this on any housesit I’ve ever done in UK, France, USA or Canada, nor does my insurance company require this information.)
ETA: Regardless, it might be a good idea for any home owner to confirm that their sitter has liability insurance, particularly if they are not a home owner.
This was discussed on another thread and my conclusion, like many others was I would definitely consider paying a reasonable amount for the energy if it meant I could turn on AC or heating when I needed them without worrying about the cost to the home owner. A reasonable amount to me would be perhaps anything over a fixed monthly figure agreed before the sit commenced.
Other utilities? They have to be paid if the home owner is there or not.
In the other discussion someone sited a home owner who grew exotic plants and their heating bill was astronomical. That’s not something a a sitter should pay for.
On the nomad question. Each to their own. I don’t judge and I don’t expect anyone else to judge me. I’m a nomad who goes home every six months to do two weeks of maintenance on my apartment. I love this life and will not give it up until life gives up on me. Maybe there’s a little jealousy in some instances.
Elsie
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We’re “homeless” by choice for three years now, and the animals are definitely always the highlight of every stay, whether we stay in a palace or a shack (and the reason why we continue doing this).
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Well for me as a “Homeless” I have never owned my own place and never wanted to. I do this for the love of animals and my need to travel.I really hope and I think I know that people choose me as a sitter for my reviews.
I have now been house sitting for I think 6 years. In the beginning I did it in the winter and worked at home in the summer. I even paid 300 Euroes for my first 3 month sit,just to get started and it really paid off already the first winter since the HO reccomended me to friends and at 2 sits I got more than my money back. I have also sat for both them and the friends after that. But I would not ever pay again. I don´t agree paying utilities. I having a person living in your house /apartment when you are away is a win situation for HO. Animals or not.
Now I am retired and have done it full time since August last year. Last winter I did not get any sits for about 3-4 months. Few people traveling and a lot of sitters applying. I had a base in a guesthouse in Southampton so I was good.
I always say in my applications that I prefer having animals. I have done a sit without and I did not like it to be honest. Like so many of us I love traveling and meeting both new people and also new animals. And I love my repeats. I just have to say I love this ways of living.
I now have plans about staying in UK untill fall and my only problem there is that I can not take very rural sits if a car is needed. I don´t drive on the “wrong side” I have also been asking for my travel costs within UK to be covered and I get 30 % discount on trains so we are not talking big money.
I hope this all is ok I know I am a bit of topic. Happy house sitting to all of you.
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@Mary-Kay - in your post you mentioned “full-time sitters” and “occasional sitters” and it brought a thought to mind. I’m a house and pet sitter and have my own paying clients where I live and I’m permanently disabled and mostly living on Social Security Disability. While permanently disabled I’m still pretty active. I’ve had 1 sit with THS in 2019 and 1 sit with THS in 2021 and I was wondering if homeowners may think there’s a problem or issue with the “occasional sitter”…??? While I’ve gotten really good 5-star reviews for both THS sits, I wonder if homeowners view sitters differently if they’re “full-time sitters” with lots of reviews versus “occasional sitters” with only a couple reviews…???
While I would love to travel to the West Coast and do some sits on the Pacific Ocean, living on SSD doesn’t really give me the money to travel so I’m mostly left looking for sits along the beach within driving distance of my home… thus I haven’t found many sits to keep me busy on THS…
Have any thoughts…
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When I’m not sitting I’ll usually base myself in lower COL areas - frequently in the balkans. I’ve definitely had sits in expensive locations where transport to get there, a hotel on the way there and back, local food costs, etc. cost more than if I just stayed at my base. It’s not a downside because I’m lucky enough that financially it’s not an issue for me. If it was, I just wouldn’t do the sit. But I want the creature time, so I’m ok with that time costing more than I would pay elsewhere.
The statement was more in response to some people on the thread making assumptions/implications that nomad sitters are only doing it because it’s free rent so they save money. Yeah, a month long sit in london would be cheaper than living in london and paying rent there, but it’s definitely not cheaper than just staying at my base in bulgaria. And since I’ve been to London a ton of times, I don’t play tourist there. I’m literally just there to hang with the creatures and eat scones. So doing sits in some areas are absolutely costing me more than if I didn’t do them.
Like I have an upcoming sit in switzerland. It will absolutely cost me more to go to switzerland and do this sit than to just stay where I am. But I want to cuddle the cat and look at some pretty scenery.
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Haha, we agree. Sometimes we travel for more than 10 hours just to cuddle with an unusual animal (we did this for a Sphynx cat) or go to great logistical lengths to be able to sit a raven.
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@CreatureCuddler - thanks for the reply. Now I better understand what you meant…
I would love to win a lottery so I could have the money to travel around the world and stay at different beaches and care for all types of pets…
I’ve never lived outside of Virginia in the U.S. and I’ve never visited any other country other than Canada when I was really young.
Unfortunately, I’m permanently disabled (but still pretty healthy and active) and living on Social Security Disability so I don’t have the money to travel. Living on SSD means I have to find interesting sits at beaches within driving distance of my home.
Kinda wish I could find a nice paying job using the computer so I could work from any sit and maybe be able to do a little traveling and meet some new and interesting pets…
Enjoy Switzerland!
If it helps, jobs like that exist. I work online while traveling full time. It’s not a lifestyle everyone would love, but it works well for me. Luckily VA is well placed for lots of great mountain and beach locations (I used to live in the DMV) so you have a good diversity. Imagine if you had to be within driving distance of wichita! 
(just kidding kansas people, there is beauty everywhere). Happy sitting!
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LOL!!!
I guess I am lucky that since I LOVE the beach I’m only about 3 hours from it. Just wish more sits would open up with interesting dogs and cats living right on the beach.
The 1 thing I have found is that the maps on a THS sit are sometimes not accurate. The 2 THS sits I have had both said they were at Virginia Beach but it wasn’t until after I had accepted the sit that I learned the house was like 20-30 minutes from the actual beach…
I’m still looking for that sit where I can walk a dog down the beach 
while I enjoy listening to and watching the waves… or sitting on a deck overlooking the beach while cuddling some pets… 
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Yeah, it’s definitely best to confirm the specific sit location. I learned this when I confirmed a sit for Southampton but found out I was actually in a small town about 30 miles away. That was not at all what I’d planned on. Hope you get your beach side sit!
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@CreatureCuddler - I actually exchanged emails with THS staff asking if it was possible to make map locations more accurate by using zip codes rather than just city names. This problem between zip codes and city names was highlighted when I saw a sit for Northville, NY where the map showed the job on Long Island (a very nice location and a beautiful dog). Unfortunately, there are 2 Northville, NYs and this job was really about 250 miles away from Long Island in the middle of NY State…
I felt bad for all the people that applied for this sit thinking they were trying to get a sit on Long Island when the actually sit was about 250 miles Northwest of Long Island… oops…
THS responded that it’s up to the homeowner to accurately mark the sit on the map and that they were unable to use zip codes at this time but thanked me for bringing this to their attention.
Thanks again for the replies!
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Hello -
I’m on my third trip with petsitters…and my first sitter is also my third sitter, and she’s in the exact situation you describe!
Debbie is just awesome - she is a retired teacher from Spokane, WA, travels by herself, and after building up a reputation decided to give up her permanent home as she does so many sits. She was very open about it being a great way to live a traveling retirement as she saves on costs and is never rushing around any city…she gets to experience it as a temporary resident. To me, her circumstance actually makes her an ideal sitter! She has a ton of reviews, and knows that being a stellar sitter in every way is quite literally crucial to her.
Debbie gained my Bootsie’s trust in my first ever sit, which I was nervous about. It took him 2-3 days to warm up enough to sit near her, then he moved on to asking for cuddles, and she passed the supreme test at the two week mark (I was gone for 3 weeks) when he climbed right up onto her for some tummy time cuddles. She loved Boston, offered to sit for me when I go away if she can…and so she’s back at my house right now. Bootsie remembered her fairly fast, tummy timed in about 5 days! With that, she’s doing a 3 wk sit for me next May - the more she sits for me, the more comfortable Bootsie becomes…so the fact that she’s living sit to sit has actually become a major plus for me.
So…it depends on the sitter, and their reasoning, and how they did with your sit. That’s my experience of it…hope it helps!
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HI @Nan4canada a very warm welcome to our community forum thank you for joining us and what a lovely insight into your THS story so far, how wonderful to read that Bootsie is so happy with his sitters and you’ve been enjoying sits as well.
Enjoy connecting with members from around the world and give our love to Bootsie and our regards to Boston … such a great city.
Angela and the Team
I’m both a HO and a traveler. When I look for someone to petsit, I look for the sweet spot—not someone who is going to be working from home all day every day, and not someone who is mainly here as a tourist.
I’m retired and spend a lot of time with my dog, but I also make sure there are times in the day when I leave her for 2-4 hours. Blessedly, she doesn’t have separation anxiety and I don’t want her to get it. It’s not about whether or not someone has a “home”, it’s more about how they see themselves in my space and with my dog.
On my Sitter profile, I put it this way, “I love getting to know the town and country I’m in, around your pet(s) needs and schedules”. The pets come first. If someone has a pet that they think needs round the clock presence, I don’t apply.
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@MichaelinVA02 - I’m not a HO, but the forum posts that I’ve read by HOs indicate that they put a lot of thought into selecting a sitter for their furry companions. While the number of 5-star reviews that a sitter has earned undoubtedly play a role in the selection process, I’ve been pleased that some HOs have given me (a new sitter with a small number of reviews) a chance. I don’t let the rejections bother me because I know that there is another sit out there waiting to happen. Does your profile include references from the people for whom you sit professionally? If not, that would be a helpful addition.
From your profile name, I’m guessing that you live in Virginia. If so, I understand what you mean about the difficulty of finding a nearby sit. I’ve been keeping an eye on coastal sits on the East Coast and they’re few and far between. The West Coast is a different story.
Best wishes for finding more local beach sits! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. 
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