House Sitting for Remote Workers 2026: Save €24,000+ 💻

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Quick Facts

We were in Cortona, Italy, working from a house in the valley with a view up to one of Tuscany's most beautiful old cities. I was mid-task on the laptop when Teddy, one of the two Labradors we were looking after, pushed his nose into my elbow with complete conviction. It was noon. The garden wasn't going to smell itself.

That moment captures something about what house sitting actually is for remote workers. You are not in a co-working space. You are not in an Airbnb where the neighbours are strangers and the kitchen is a single hotplate. You are in a real home, with fast internet and a washing machine and a reason to leave your desk at lunch. The interruption is part of the point.

Caro had a different kind of moment during our Athens sit. She was at the kitchen table reading an article about freelancers and stopped mid-paragraph. She had been selling digital teaching materials online for a while, making real money from it, but something about reading that article made it click. She is a freelancer. She is her own boss. She turned the laptop around and showed me the screen. We had talked about it plenty of times, but sometimes you need to read it somewhere else to believe it.

Both moments happened during house sits. That is not a coincidence.

The Real Numbers

Before Caro and I went full-time on the road, we lived in a small apartment in Bochum. Rent and utilities came to around €800 a month. Add insurance, food, petrol, and general living costs and we were spending closer to €1,500 a month before we had done anything interesting with our time.

In the campervan, that figure drops to around €1,200 a month. Fuel is a serious expense and we tend to eat out more because cooking in a small van is less appealing than it sounds. The campervan is freedom, but it is not cheap freedom.

During a house sit, our monthly spending drops to roughly €500. We are not driving much. We are cooking in a proper kitchen, buying food in bulk, and living inside four walls with heating we are not paying for. The maths are hard to argue with. We have saved over €24,000 through house sitting, and the bulk of that saving comes from the simple fact that accommodation disappears as an expense entirely.

One cost worth factoring in: both the Basic and Standard TrustedHouseSitters plans add a $12 booking fee per confirmed sit. If you are doing eight or more sits a year, upgrading to Premium (~$194 after our 25% discount) pays for itself in avoided fees. It also adds the Sit Cancellation Plan, covering up to $1,500 for alternative accommodation if a homeowner cancels last minute. For remote workers, a cancelled sit is not just inconvenient. It means finding a new office and a new home simultaneously. That plan is worth having.

For remote workers who are already location-independent, this is the obvious next step. You are paying rent somewhere. House sitting means you stop.

In Athens, we ran into friends who were doing the van life in the same city. They were paying for secure overnight parking, paying per use at laundromats, eating out most nights because cooking in a van in a city is not practical, and on top of that paying for a co-working space to have somewhere to work. When we added it up together, they were spending somewhere between €1,500 and €1,800 a month just to be in Athens and have somewhere to work.

We had a house, internet, a lounge, a washing machine, and a full kitchen. Our sit cost us nothing because we had already done enough sits that year to have covered the cost of the TrustedHouseSitters Premium membership from the savings on the first sit of the year. The €194 we spent on Premium was already paid for before we arrived in Athens.

We are not against spending money. When we save on rent and co-working spaces and laundromats, that money goes toward better trips, better experiences, and more interesting sits. House sitting does not make you cheap. It makes you strategic.

Working From a Sit vs Working From the Van

Caro and I work from laptops. That is the whole setup. A table, a seat, a power socket, and an internet connection covers everything we need.

In the campervan, we get a few hours of work done before the batteries need recharging. Sometimes that means a half day in a coffee shop or a shopping centre where we can plug in and run both laptops while topping up the powerstation. It works, but it requires planning every day.

During a house sit, there is none of that. There is a desk, or a kitchen table, or a sofa with a coffee table, and unlimited power. We can open the laptops at nine in the morning and still be working at ten at night if we need to. I personally like working from coffee tables. A house sit almost always has a comfortable living room, which means I can set up exactly how I prefer. Caro tends to prefer a proper desk. Most homes have both.

The result is that we consistently do our best work during house sits rather than between them. It is quieter, more comfortable, and there is no pressure to pack up and move.

The Wifi Question

This comes up a lot. The honest answer is that in three years of sitting across Europe and Australia, we have not had a single seriously bad internet experience. European homes in particular tend to have solid broadband as standard, and an increasing number have Starlink, especially in more rural locations where standard broadband is slower.

That said, verifying the internet before you commit is easy and takes almost no effort. If a homeowner has Starlink, they will usually mention it in their listing. It is a selling point and they know it. Rural properties in Tuscany, the French Alps, rural Ireland, or remote Spain that would once have been risky for remote workers are now often high-speed hubs because owners have installed Starlink specifically to attract reliable, home-based sitters.

If Starlink is not mentioned and the location is rural, it is not rude to ask. Frame it as who you are: "I work from home and need a decent internet connection for my job." Homeowners actually like hearing this. A remote worker who spends most of the day at home means the property is occupied and looked after, and more importantly the pets have someone around at all times. You are a more attractive candidate by explaining this, not less.

Asking for a quick speed check is simple. Send them a link to speedtest.net and ask them to run it and send you a screenshot. For consistent video call performance you need at least 25 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. For uploading large files like video, you want higher.

There is also a simpler test that most people overlook: the video call itself. If you can see each other clearly with no buffering, that is a reasonable indicator that the connection is solid enough for most remote work. If the call is clear, it is almost certainly good enough for emails, documents, and general tasks. The speed test only becomes essential if you regularly upload large files or run multiple simultaneous video calls. When in doubt, confirm with a speed test. When it is obvious from the call quality, you likely do not need to.

The View From the Office

Back in Bochum, Caro and I would sit at our desks and look at the desktop screensaver. Those images of mountain lakes and coastal sunrises and alpine valleys. They are on every laptop by default because they represent somewhere most people want to be but are not.

We are now, fairly regularly, sitting in those screensavers.

In Kefalonia we had a table with a view over the sea and the mountains. In Cries, Switzerland, we looked out at a mountain range that included Mont Blanc. In Lullin, France, we watched the mountains turn orange at sunrise and the same colour again at sunset, from inside a warm kitchen with coffee. In Athens we worked from an apartment in a city that most people visit for a week and feel rushed the entire time.

There is something motivating about a new working environment. Every sit is a fresh start. The view changes, the light changes, the rhythm of the neighbourhood is different. After a few days it stops being a novelty and just becomes where you work, but it is a version of where you work that you chose rather than one that happened to you. That shift in perspective is difficult to put a number on, but it is real.

Balancing Work and Pet Care

The structure of a working day during a sit is not complicated, but it does require being intentional. The pets set the rhythm and you build your work around it.

A typical day for us: Caro is usually up first and handles the morning pet routine. By the time I am at the table with coffee, the animals have been fed and walked and the quiet window for focused work has opened. That window lasts until around midday when most dogs need another walk. We treat that as a lunch break, which is probably healthier than eating at the desk anyway. Afternoons are another solid block of work. Evenings belong to the pets again.

Cats are considerably easier for heavy workloads. In Cries, Switzerland, we had three cats and the most demanding requirement was weighing out exactly 82 grams of food per cat twice a day. The rest of the day was entirely ours. Our Lullin, France sit involved two outdoor cats who needed feeding and occasional tick checks. We had complete freedom to structure the day however we wanted. For remote workers who need long uninterrupted working sessions, a cat sit or a small dog with a calm temperament is the natural fit.

What to Pack for Remote Work

Most homes have a table. Not all homes have a setup that works for a full working day. Beyond the basics, a few items are worth packing regardless of what the property has.

A travel mouse is essential. Working eight hours on a laptop trackpad produces wrist strain quickly. A small Bluetooth mouse adds almost no weight to your bag.

Noise-cancelling headphones matter for open-plan homes, properties near busy streets, and any sit where a dog is vocal during calls. Good earbuds with active noise cancellation earn their weight every time you take a client call from a house with a barking dog in the next room.

A USB-C dongle or HDMI cable connects your laptop to a television or monitor for a larger working screen. Many homes have a large television that becomes a perfectly functional second monitor. The first time you sit down to a 55-inch screen in someone's living room you will be glad you packed the cable.

Our full packing guide covers all of this with a complete checklist including the remote worker-specific additions.

The Visa Reality

This is the question we see most often in our DMs. We are both European, so it has not been a personal issue for us. When we entered Australia, Caro had a visa and I had citizenship, and nobody asked us anything about our plans beyond standard entry questions.

The honest answer is that the rules vary significantly by country and change over time. The UK and the US in particular have moved toward treating any exchange of value, including free accommodation, as a form of work, which can technically conflict with tourist visa conditions.

What is true is that house sitting is voluntary and unpaid. You are not receiving a salary. You are a guest who cares for a home and animals in exchange for a place to stay. If a border official asks, saying you are visiting friends or travelling for tourism is accurate. You are doing both. Our customs guide covers the specific framing that causes the fewest problems.

Finding the Right Platform

For international sits, TrustedHouseSitters has the largest volume and widest geographic range. The membership cost is recovered after one or two sits, and the review system means that once you have built a track record, the better sits become consistently accessible. Use our 25% discount to bring the Standard plan to around $97 per year.

For specific regions: Nomador for France and French-speaking Europe, Aussie House Sitters for Australia (use code HSG15 for 15% off), House Sitters Canada for Canada(code HSG15 applies here), and Kiwi House Sitters for New Zealand (code HSG15 applies here too). Country-specific platforms often have less competition for longer sits, which matters when you are looking for a three-month base rather than a long weekend. Our house sitting sites guide covers the full comparison.

Building a Profile That Gets the Long Sits

The sits that work best for remote workers, a month or more in one location with reliable internet and a manageable pet routine, are also the sits that attract the most competition. Homeowners posting them are going on extended trips and want someone stable and trustworthy.

A profile that shows consistency, clear communication, and real engagement with what the homeowner has written will outperform a generic one every time. We use the pets' names in every application message. We reference something specific from the listing. We keep the profile honest and specific rather than vague and enthusiastic. Our guide on getting sits without prior experience covers how to structure an application that reads like a person rather than a template.

Conclusion

For remote workers who are already location-independent, house sitting is the single most effective lever for reducing monthly costs. Accommodation disappears as an expense. The cooking improves because there is a real kitchen. The work improves because the environment changes regularly and the animals get you away from the screen at lunch.

We used to look at laptop screensavers of mountain lakes and coastal sunsets. Now we just look out the window.

Start with TrustedHouseSitters using our 25% discount, set duration filters to two weeks or longer, always verify the wifi before confirming, and build your review history with shorter sits first. The €24,000 in savings happened one sit at a time.

DM us @housesittersguide on Instagram if you have questions. We answer everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is house sitting a viable alternative to paying rent for full-time remote workers?

  For us, yes. Our monthly spend during a house sit is around €500, compared to €1,200 in the campervan and €1,500 when we had an apartment in Bochum. Accommodation disappears as an expense, you cook rather than eat out because there is a proper kitchen, and you are not driving so fuel costs drop. Over three years we have saved over €24,000 through house sitting. If you are already working remotely and location-independent, removing rent from your expenses is the single biggest financial lever available to you.

• How do I check whether a sit has fast enough internet before I accept it?

  Ask during the video call. Explain that you work remotely and need reliable internet, then ask the homeowner to run a quick test at speedtest.net and send you a screenshot. It is a professional, reasonable request that most homeowners are happy to fulfil. In our experience across Europe and Australia, internet has never been a serious problem. Many rural properties now have Starlink as a backup.

• What kinds of sits work best for remote workers?

  Cats and calm small dogs are the easiest to manage around a full working day. They set a loose rhythm of morning and evening care with long quiet windows in between for focused work. Large energetic dogs are harder to structure around deep work sessions. Whatever the animal, you need a property with a decent table or desk, good natural light, and reliable internet. Most European homes tick all of those boxes.

• How do visas work for long-term house sitting abroad?

  It depends on your passport and the country you are sitting in. House sitting is unpaid and voluntary, which means it does not fit the legal definition of work in most jurisdictions. That said, the UK and US in particular have rules that can treat any exchange of value, including free accommodation, as a form of work. Research the specific visa rules for each country before committing to a long sit there. Our legal issues guide covers the key considerations.

• Which platforms are best for finding longer, remote work-friendly sits?

  TrustedHouseSitters has the largest volume globally and the best filtering options for sit duration. For France and French-speaking Europe, Nomador is stronger. Country-specific platforms like Aussie House Sitters, House Sitters Canada, and Kiwi House Sitters tend to have less competition for longer listings, which is worth considering if you have a specific region in mind.

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