5.06.2015

Review of Trustedhousesitters.com

Oscar, the Cairn Terrier I watched for three weeks.
Trusted Housesitters is essentially a travel website used between owners of pets and those that have experience watching pets. It's called the "win/win for pet lovers that travel."

Many of you know that I used this site recently for my long stay in London. I got a pet sitting job for 3 weeks! While the homeowners went on vacation, I stayed in their house for free under the condition that I watch their pet, Oscar, to their specifications. This included three walks a day and a special diet for the little pooch.

So what was my real experience with Trustedhousesitters?

I loved it. Looooooooved it. However, I will be completely fair and list the pros and cons of using a site like this (this post is not sponsored, in case you were wondering).




PROS: 

1. Free Accommodation: A FREE place to stay in London. That is pretty much unheard of.

2. Streamlined Website: The site is easy to use and has good tips on getting a pet/housesitting job. The site also has good support if you run into technical issues.

3. A Joining Fee: There is a fee for the site, which I think is necessary. It helps weed out the people that are not serious about this type of thing! I believe the fee is something along the lines of $80/year. Obviously, it's paid for itself by now!

4. The Best Benefits: I got to stay in a nice part of London with an adorable pooch.

5. Gracious Homeowners: The owners gave me tips on their favorite parts of Putney, including restaurants and pubs. They were also generous enough to buy me groceries, despite my pleading with them not to! Generally, the kind of people that are willing to open their home to you are going to be pretty open-minded, gracious, and amazing.

 A look into the neighborhood I was staying in! Putney is in zone 2 in London, which is extremely central and well connected to everything!

CONS: 

1. Animals are Time-Consuming: I've obviously been to London before, so walking the dog three times a day wasn't a huge deal to me. HOWEVER, if this were someone's first trip to London, scheduling three-a-day walks around sightseeing could get a little hectic. Trustedhousesitters, thus, would work better for second visits of cities. If you do use trustedhousesitters for a first time visit, I recommend a long stay (over a week). That way you can conquer the city/town little by little everyday, while still having energy and time for the dog.

2. You are on Vacation, But the Animal is Not: Obviously you already know this going into a petsitting job. But when it's 7am and the dog is jumping on your tired, lifeless body for his HOUR morning walk, and it's 30 degrees fahrenheit (0 degrees celsius) outside, and you had a couple drinks last night and can't be bothered to get out of bed--this is when you really remember that ANIMALS ARE FREAKIN' NEEDY. You must drag yourself out in the freezing cold and walk the damn dog, because this is what you signed up for! The compromise to this is of course opting for a cat sitting job, which would be a great deal easier.

3. It's Tough to Find Your First Job: You gotta do everything you can to get that first housesit. Background check, solid references, great profile complete with pictures of you holding a furry creature, a video--the whole nine yards. Even with all that, it's going to take a lot of energy and time scoring your first job, as well as a lot of let-downs. There were at least 2 or 3 people that told me they wanted to use me for the housesit, then changed their mind 3 days later. Frustrating! Let's also bring up that being a female has got to make it a lot easier to get a job than being male (the reality!)

4. You Must Be Comfortable with Buying Your Plane Ticket Last Minute: I bought my plane ticket a week before my departure. Even being the jetsetter I am, that was a little close for comfort! Of course, plenty of homeowners plan way ahead of time; however, I noticed a ton of jobs would pop up last minute, making your chances better of getting a job closer to the date they are needing you.

5. You Must Plan Your Trip Around Theirs: Forget whatever dates you had in mind, you must cater to the homeowner, period. For a site like this, flexibility is key.


So there you have it...a THOROUGH review of Trustedhousesitters.com. Even with all the cons I listed, I still enthusiastically recommend this site for both homeowners and sitters. And with a dog like Oscar by my side, it was all worth it.


20 comments:

  1. Wow, I've never heard of this...what a great travel website!

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  2. It's a major help on both ends of the spectrum, as pet care is also crazy expensive! I think this website is simply genius :)

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  3. That dog is adorable! I'd never heard of this website before - it's an amazing idea! Definitely going to look up more about it. xxx

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  4. Did I not show you a picture of Oscar before?? I felt like a superstar walking him about town...he was so popular with everyone!

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  5. ElleSees.blogspot.com4:21 AM, May 07, 2015

    that an awesome idea! i've had dreams of doing something like this!!

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  6. What an amazing idea! I don't have pets but for my friends that do, knowing where to put their bed when they go away is a massive concern. I'll let them know about this x

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  7. I have never heard of this site! I'm going to keep it in mind the next time I go away. I currently board Dutch at a vet when we go away and I do like the people and the place, but I'd much prefer someone to house-sit and watch him! Plus, much cheaper in the long run because, ugh, it is SO expensive to board.

    I think it would also be such a fun way to spend time in a new city - especially for pet lovers! Vey cool idea.

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  8. What's cool for the homeowners/pet owners is that you guys get a huge pool of applicants to choose from. Because when I have told some people about this the response usually is, "letting someone in our house? Is that safe?" Well with over a 100 applicants that usually apply to your pet job, you can really narrow it down to the exact person you want :)

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  9. it really is a fantastic alternative to pet hotels and kennels!

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  10. It's SORT of like The Holiday :)

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  11. Ah buying the ticket last minute probably won't work for me but I LOVE THE IDEA OF THIS.

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  12. Bob has been away from me about 2 weeks now and every dog makes me want Bob.

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  13. POOR THING. I miss Bob every day, too! hehehe. I will say buying my ticket a week before departure was a little extreme. I do think that's one of the worst case scenarios...but I wanted to be honest in this review with what happened!

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  14. That is a pretty idea. Although, my luck I'd end up with a cat. And, well ...

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  15. I will have to keep that in consideration for next year!

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  16. We're huge fans of housesitting in London as well (though we have been having housesitters at our place a bunch of times so we can travel). I totally agree with your pros and cons. The most content housesitters we've had are people who are working from home, or maybe live nearby and want to visit the city for a week, or something like that. Love it - and glad you enjoyed your experience!

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  17. this is so interesting. i love that you got free accommodation, though honestly the whole flexibility needed for booking and then lack of flexibility when staying wouldn't work for me, but it is a great option nonetheless!

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  18. You brought up a great point! I work from home and I think that was an attractive thing for the homeowners I sat for! It's cool that you've used the site on both ends :)

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  19. What's great is you choose what "job" you want to apply to. So just skip over all cat jobs :)

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  20. So that's how you got to London! That's awesome

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