Some of our friends and family just don’t get why we housesit. What are some of the objections you’ve been given for why they wouldn’t consider doing it themselves?
Top one for us- I couldn’t possibly stay in a stranger’s home (Then post about their lovely Airbnb! )
Yes being uncomfortable in someone else’s house/bed and the responsibility of looking after the house and the animals is probably their biggest concern. However time flexibility and wanting to holiday in certain places where sits are few and far between for example Indonesia or Fiji is another.
I think lots of people are afraid of the huge responsibility.
Also, you need to trust strangers doing this, and sometimes people do act unkindly.
Another thing people said to me is that they’d be afraid of breaking something valuable in the house.
In a nutshell, the responsibility that comes with a sit. Once they get it’s not a free holiday, it’s never as appealing. We lost our beloved house cat earlier in the year. We decided no more pets but I still was desperate for contact with animals - that was my primary motivator for joining THS - a nice house & location for a short break is the bonus.
It’s true, the responsibility is huge. We love housesitting. But oh boy, that sigh of relief when you do a successful handover back to the owners - it is a big responsibility.
I find HO’s must have a sharing mindset. I had a colleague who tried house swapping (home exchange) once and he got very upset because a pair of scissors went missing. Hmmm, I get it’s annoying to lose a pair of scissors, but you got so much more out of the experience than to complain about a missing pair of scissors.
Interesting question! My family in Italy cannot even fathom having someone stay in their house, subsequently, they cannot imagine themselves in someone else’s house. They probably also think that people should be paid for such service. Very sad to see, though, that in Italy a very high number of pets are abandoned, in the summer especially.
As someone else said, funny that these same people are perfectly fine staying in an Airbnb.
Re: Friends here in Canada (where I live), believe it won’t be a real vacation.
However, an acquaintance of mine loved the idea of having a sitter in their home and had a successful first experience, and a friend of mine, who was in between houses, sat for a couple of weeks.
Friends of ours just recently commented on that we were getting the short end of the stick doing this and we should be paid as sitters. As other have said, the responsibility is huge and a lot of people just aren’t willing to take this on. There’s a lot of work involved re preparing for the sit prior to arriving and a lot of people just aren’t up for that. On the plus side, we’ve stayed in some wonderful cities around the world in gorgeous accomodation so I feel it’s a win-win situation for sitters and homeowners.
I have a friend who I have known for about 40 years. When I started sitting 14 years ago she said that she “Didn’t feel comfortable about it”
I see her about once a month for lunch - she won’t talk about it at all, I tell her about places I have been but she gives me the silent treatment.
We talk in length about her holidays where she has rented cottages etc. so the conversation is all a bit one sided
It is sad
I have a few friends who used to think o would pet sit as I was a cheap skate and would not pay for a hotel room.
Ahhh, yes. After many years of traveling we’ve learned that most friends and famil just aren’t interested in our adventures. Thats why we treasure the many like-minded people we meet along the way. We’d much rather trade stories and advice with them, than people that dont (and don’t want to) understand.
@Louise7 Yes. A badge of honor to pay hundreds for a crappy room, rather than stay in amazing places worth 10 x that for zero. I totally get that we have responsibilities, but the well worth the effort required.
@Globetrotter maybe its the sits we choose -mainly healthy cats. But we really don’t have any onerous chores or massive responsibilities. Just normal adult care and attention to homes and pets. Like many other experienced sitters on the forum, we only choose sits where we feel were getting a fair exchange.
@Peonie19 I think people are starting to shift their perceptions. We certainly do our best to share what a wonderful lifestyle and win-win-win arrangement it is.
@botvot yes many people are very attached to their things. We gave up most of our ‘things’ many years ago in return for experiences.
@andrealovesanimals yes. Accidents do happen. Agree there is responsibility. But such a win-win-win for all involved when people see it as a mutual exchange and act like adults.
@Neil_and_Fiona agreed. Some parts of the world are more on board than others. Our philosophy is there is no such thing as strangers, just new friends we’ve yet to meet.
As the ever wonderful Nomadic Matt writes in this article below, he echoes my experience. (I know Matt is a THS follower). Worth a read and I think I have been asked, quoted to and been told these things countless times by friends and family over the past 12 years of travel, particularly being a single female traveller/sitter. I’m afraid they just don’t get it. I have learnt simply to not talk about my travels or my lifestyle, you can’t change people’s in-ground ideals and opinions. The only people I can discuss my lifestyle with is those that either live or dream the same. Also another quote (yet again 
) that is a total favourite of mine…
“It’s a funny thing about coming home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Interesting you should say that about Italy. Last year, I did a pet-sit in Reykjavik and I stopped to ask a passer-by for directions as I was a bit lost. This guy happened to be an Italian living and working there. We got chatting and he asked me what I was doing in Reykjavik. When I explained I was doing this, he literally could not fathom how complete strangers could entrust me, a complete stranger, with absolutely everything they own and their beloved pets. He was genuinely quite aghast at this whole concept and how this was even a thing.
Before I started on THS, I have been on home exchanges and on couchsurfing (and still on BeWelcome, Trustroots, Couchers). Many people don’t get that either: hosting strangers. And then asking to stay with strangers, that seems even more inconceivable and abhorrent to them. (I see that even on this forum sometimes.)
Pet sits are more comfortable. It is nice to meet the hosts, but next morning they are gone, and one has the house to oneself. For several weeks often, much longer than what it is nice to be a house guest. One enjoys all the comforts and one only needs to be considerate of the pet.
I try to explain that sometimes. Disadvantage is that is not always easy to schedule dates, so for people with job and school vacations it is less suitable. But for retired people, it is pretty ideal. Yet they don’t join.
Yes, I really enjoy that too.
When I asked to be hosted on Couchsurfing in the past, I never asked for more than 3 nights because it seemed cheeky.