Wanna Be a Nomad and Don't Know Where to Start? Try Housesitting!

by Carmen Bolanos

At Nu Nomad we often get emails from people who want to live a nomadic lifestyle but aren't sure how to make it happen. There are many issues to think about: finding an income source, preparing your home-front, planning your trip, etc. For a lot of people finances are a sticking point.

One way to save a ton of money as a nomad is to house sit instead of paying rent on an apartment or hotel room. Believe it or not, there are people all over the world who are looking for folks to guard their homes, walk their dogs or read stories to their cats while they go tour the globe themselves. House sitting opportunities can range from a few days to months or years duration. Duties required can range from as little as putting out food for a cat to exercising 26 sled dogs, shooting at bears, and clearing forests in Alaska.

Where do you find out about these opportunities? I belong to a house sitting website called House Carers. For a membership fee of $30.00 US per year, I can choose a variety of preferred destinations and I receive an email anytime a house sit becomes available in these destinations. It's a bit like a Match.com for house sitting. If a house sit opportunity looks attractive I can email anonymously to the owner. After a few exchanges, if we feel comfortable we can begin exchanging personal information and making plans for the sit to occur.

One thing to be aware of if you want to do this, however, is that you will have a lot of competition. Often I respond to house sitting opportunities, only to receive a canned response email that reads something like "We've had so many great responses....". So - if you want to raise your chances of being picked as a house sitter treat the situation as you would any job you were applying for. Here are a few things you can do:

* Get some house sitting experience from friends/relatives/co-workers when they travel that you can list for potential hires.

* The more variety of situations you can accumulate (types of pets cared for, types of property cared for) the better.

* Do a great job! Keep the animals like they were your precious children and keep the home clean and cared for.

* When the house sit is over ask for a letter of reference from the owner.

* Think about putting up a web page for your house sitting endeavor. Describe yourself, what makes you a great house sitter. List your experience and post your letters of reference.

At the moment I'm writing this I am actually house sitting for a friend. Our duties are to care for 2 puppies, a cat and a tank of fish in addition to bringing in the mail and keeping the home clean and safe. In exchange our family is enjoying a great pool (picture above) trampoline and all sorts of games and stuff we don't have in our own home. It's a bit like a vacation in our home town and will be a great house sitter resume builder.