Is house sitting changing?

by Vanessa Anderson

As full time house sitters approach the winter months in the northern hemisphere, we are all perhaps a little nervous of what the future holds for the travel and house sitting communities.

Many of us spent the spring months in lock-down, emerging cautiously in July to tip-toe back to the world of house sitting - mostly domestic sits and within local government guidelines.

Staycations became all the rage, and the prices of campervans and motorhomes sky-rocketed. The more adventurous holiday makers threw caution to the wind and flew off to experience summer as normally as possible, throughout Europe, in countries keen to give their failing tourist businesses a much needed boost.

Other house sitters found themselves permanently stationed in countries away from home, competing for the few sits that popped up from second home owners, intrepid travellers, and homeowners who themselves hadn’t made it back to their permanent homes.

So to some it may look like house sitting has returned to a more normal state.

But is that really the case?

We don't think so, no. Our active Facebook Support Group says otherwise. And that’s primarily because travel hasn’t returned to normal. As winter descends across Europe, so the cases of Covid are increasing again, and the number of house sits is diminishing.

House sitters all over the world are reporting cancellations, revised dates, a lack of opportunities and an urgent need to be more flexible and adaptable than ever.

And it’s no wonder, because the travellers we offer our services to are in just as much chaos with local lockdowns, curfews, changes to flights, cancellations and changes to quarantine regulations.

Nothing has any certainty anymore and this is important to understand if you are thinking of house sitting during the coming year.

Whether you are new to house sitting or a seasoned pro sitter or home owner, the chances are you will be affected in some way by the Covid pandemic as it continues to wreak havoc around the world.

Keeping house sitting alive

But for those of us able, we are doing our best to try and keep house sitting a viable option in our lives.

We have managed to maintain back-to-back house sits since July with only two small breaks, one of 3 days and one of 4. Happily these gaps gave rise to family visits after a long time of not being able to visit.

But during this time we also had 4 short notice cancellations. Despite hope, and no lack in determination from the home owners, each of the sits we had scheduled for summer before Covid, were withdrawn. Some because of flight and quarantine issues and others because of safety concerns.

No blame can be apportioned – it is what it is… a shit-show of uncertainty, upheaval, and the prospect of short-notice change. All coupled with the prospect of having nowhere to stay if a sit gets cancelled.

If we want to remain nomadic, continue to house sit and hope for occasional domestic travel adventures then it’s something we are going to have to get used to.

We’ll need to adapt even more and risk-assess the future of house sitting and travel… prepare ourselves for a new way of achieving our lifestyle choices.

So what might this look like?

Backup Plans

We’ve always advocated that you shouldn’t really be considering house sitting if you haven’t got a Plan B. Well now, I’m afraid that extends to needing a Plan C and possibly a Plan D and beyond.

You'll also need back-up funds.

This isn’t the time to be setting out on a house sitting lifestyle just BECAUSE you need free accommodation - because you are homeless or jobless. You may think, “no-one would do that” but honestly, we get emails regularly from homeless people asking how they can start house sitting.

My heart goes out to anyone struggling, but the uncertainty of house sits following through to completion is likely to cause you more problems than you will be able to financially cope with.

Options for house sitters without sits

What could you consider as a backup plan if your house sit is cancelled?

a. Staying with friends and family. This used to be an obvious and welcome solution for occasional gaps – a way to fill short term accommodation needs and catch up with those you love. But how often can you do this without feeling like you are a hindrance? What if local lockdowns or limitations on groups or households living in the same space, may prevent this from happening. We have to consider also whether the person we are visiting is considered vulnerable.

b. Airbnb – this has always been a popular option for travellers between sits or while on travel adventures. Airbnb has adapted well to Covid in terms of implemented safety measures. Guidelines for cleaning have been adopted and in many cases you can enter and leave a rental property without having to meet the owners. Long term discounts are possible, and will likely increase in availability as we head towards winter in northern hemisphere.

c. Long Term Rentals – back in March, we negotiated a long term monthly renewable rental including all utilities in Cornwall. We approached holiday home owners who were going to lose income during lockdown. I know many other sitters benefited from similar arrangements. There are numerous rental agencies online, both regional and national, and lots of Facebook groups too. Static caravan parks are another good source of longer term accommodation and winter lets.

d. Volunteering and workaway – Maybe this is something you’ve always wanted to do… now might be a good time if you lose a sit or can’t find house sits. Many charitable organizations need ongoing staff to stay viable right now. And these opportunities also provide great references for your house sitting profile, especially if you are only just getting started.

e. Second home owners – We’ve had offers from some of the home owners we’ve sat for regularly, of accommodation in their second home. The generosity we’ve seen through this pandemic is exceptional. By providing basic maintenance and garden services you are helping them at a time when maybe they can’t of don’t want to travel to their alternative home.

f. Buy a campervan – This has been our choice. Rather than buy a ready made van, we have recently completed the conversion of a Peugeot Boxer van to meet our specific living requirements. This will provide us with independent, off-grid accommodation if sits are cancelled or unavailable.

g. Take a break from house sitting – It might not be your first choice, but it might be your only one in some cases. If you can’t sustain regular sits, it might be more cost effective to take a break and rent, or move back into your primary home.

I think the key thing to see is that most options will involve having funds to pay for accommodation. If you are thinking that house sitting is your route to free accommodation at a time of financial difficulty, it might end up costing you more than you expected, and you’ll be totally disillusioned.

It's not all doom and gloom. There are some countries like Thailand, New Zealand and areas of Australia where they have the virus more under control and domestic travel is thriving. If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in one of these places, then house sitting will still be a viable option for maintaining your "new normal" lifestyle.

Vanessa & her partner Ian are full-time British travelers and house sitters who have published the online publication House Sitting Magazine since 2016.

They provide numerous resources for the community as they continue their explorations and slow travel adventures across the globe.

Find out more about Vanessa and Ian:

LongTermHouseSitters.com

Find out how to get started as a house sitter:

HouseSittingMagazine.com