House Sitting - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!



Go Back   TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards! > Budget Hostels, Hotels, and Accommodations > Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips

Hostel, Hotels, Budget Accomodations: Questions and tips Safety, services and general questions. Is there a camp ground in...

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-21-2004, 09:32 AM   #1
LiveFreeorDie
TPunk Emeritus
 
LiveFreeorDie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newly relocated to C-bus - USA
Posts: 2,858
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

I stumbled upon this site and thought it might have interesting possiblities for people who want a place to stay for cheap and want to try an alternative to hosteling. Granted, you may wind up taking care of people's pets or what not......but it could be cool to have a nice, free house in Australia for instance to stay in for an extended period. Not sure how easy it would be to get a house sitting gig long distance, i.e. many people would likely want a face to face meeting?? I don't know. Maybe if your already there, and would like a nice comfy house as a change from your hostel room. Anyway...I thought this could be interesting for someone. This site is based in Australia, but has some ads in the U.S. and England as well and covers the world, apparently. I would be curious to know if anyone has used house sitting as a way to get cheap lodging while traveling.

House Sit Ads
__________________
\\Jamie\\



"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin

"The plural of anecdote is not data"
LiveFreeorDie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2004, 09:57 AM   #2
omisan
Minister of Offense
 
omisan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: San Fran Disco
Posts: 6,528
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to omisan Send a message via Yahoo to omisan
Default

Hmmm... verrry eeenteresting.

I remember back in school, people would advertise for house-sitting gigs and apartment-swaps in our college newspaper. There were opportunities to stay in Europe, etc. I never called any since I never had the ability to travel at the time, but I always thought it was amazing that people were willing to swap homes with a stranger for a month, or weirder yet, simply let them house sit. Now that I think about it, I'd probably be up for a swap. Someone else can put up with my roomies' idiosyncracies for a while :P
__________________
¿Donde esta Omid? Omi-san wa doko desuka? Ou est Omid? Wo ist Omid?

Find out @ http://omidabroad.blogspot.com

omisan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2004, 05:33 PM   #3
Somnambulation
TPunk Emeritus
 
Somnambulation's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,692
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

The swap idea works because in theory both parties have property and will respect thier swappers in turn. Letting some dude in the local hostel come hang out for a couple weeks sounds pretty risky. Though being the guy in the hostel, it would be awesome.
Somnambulation is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-21-2004, 06:45 PM   #4
ChasinJason1313
TPunk Recognized
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Prescott, AZ
Posts: 942
Thanks: 2
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Sounds cool to me, I'd totally love to house sit someone's house in Oz for a month or so.

That brings up a new question:
If you're putting your profile up on that site as a possible house-sitter, how do you try to make people think that a 20 something year old American who really is doing it just to travel, and not cuz they have the altruistic desire to make absolutely certain that your Shit-Zu Precious' well being is the first thing on their mind, is someone that you really want watching your valuables for a month??
__________________
Live life so there is standing room only at your funeral

The beauty of this world will last
Much longer than its men
No need for man to test this fact
Enjoy the view instead----Me(Part of a longer poem)
ChasinJason1313 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2004, 12:18 PM   #5
xanthuos
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New York, NY & The Road
Posts: 1,447
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to xanthuos Send a message via MSN to xanthuos Send a message via Yahoo to xanthuos
Default

damn, though... $45 Aus?

I found one I'd like to e-mail the people, but especially when there is no guarantee I'd be selected to watch their house...seems like a lot of $$$ to fork over.
__________________
Regards,
Matthew
xanthuos is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2004, 02:55 PM   #6
theDOC
Members
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 83
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

hmmm the website looks fairly dodgy, are u sure this isnt a scam? Auzzies are fairly private especially in their own homes, so cant think of too many people that would be happy to do this. But I spose there would be a few...
theDOC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-22-2004, 02:57 PM   #7
theDOC
Members
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 83
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

and there isnt many houses to see here either, it all screams scam to me. I wouldnt touch it.
theDOC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2004, 05:41 AM   #8
The Monsignor
Don't cut the red wire...
 
The Monsignor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Washington
Posts: 1,419
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Send a message via MSN to The Monsignor Send a message via Yahoo to The Monsignor
Default

The sites I'd heard about were all ones that wanted to swap houses, not house sitting. In theory, (in a perfect world) it would be awsome!... you take care of my place... I travel without having to worry....

Course, it probably wouldn't help if you live in some place that nobody wants to travel to, but still...
__________________
"A bad carpenter always blames his tools!" - Grandpa Boris

Make war, not love! It's safer!


The Monsignor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2004, 07:21 PM   #9
Somnambulation
TPunk Emeritus
 
Somnambulation's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,692
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

But the vast majority of Australias population lives right near the beach. If I had a house to swap, Id swap it with an Aussie.
Somnambulation is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-23-2004, 08:11 PM   #10
zylah
TPunk Recognized
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 452
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Som define close to the beach? most ppl i know live at least 1/2 hour drive from the beach. and i guess in sydney or so it could be up to 2 or even 3 hours.

If u really want to house sit in oz, the first thing u need to do is get some references. (maybe see if u can house sit for some relos (with a different surname)/ friends for a wekk or so)
then u need to find a reputable copany to deal with. i know someone who housesits permanently and hes now high up on the list of house sitters so he can always get a job. i expect that when u sign up u may have to wait a while before u can get a job.
If u can show experience looking after pets/ gardens would be a bonus too.
__________________

zylah is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply






Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Any Brazillians in da house LostFarmboy TPunk Meet Ups 5 10-17-2005 11:39 AM
Party at my house! Tadpole Bored? Links/Jokes 36 05-16-2005 07:33 PM
India House CincyLSD North America Hostels Recommeded 7 01-31-2005 03:34 PM
New girl in the house! Eurochick Introductions and Announcements 9 04-16-2004 10:31 PM
My House Is Sold!!!! Canadian Dude General Discussions 9 12-18-2003 11:42 PM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:14 PM.



 

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unregistered)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121