I haven’t paid rent in years but have lived all over the country – now I have a bonus £12k in the bank
IMAGINE living rent or mortgage free and waking up in a different house whenever you feel like it.
That’s exactly what Emma Truscott’s life looks like who hasn’t paid rent for over two years AND gets to travel the world.
And to top it off, she’s also got an extra £12k in the bank thanks to her house-hopping lifestyle.
Emma Truscott has been a ‘professional’ house sitter since 2022 and stays in other people’s homes free of charge, so long as she waters the plants, takes out the bins and cares for the homeowner’s pets.
She first dabbled in the rent-free venture in July 2022 during a visit to London,
The 37-year-old has sustained the way of life coupled with travelling ever since, having started remote work as a virtual assistant and copywriter.
Emma, originally from Cornwall, has so far stayed in 29 different houses – and says she is able to save an estimated £12,000 a year on bills.
“It became a bit of a game – seeing how long I could maintain a continuous schedule of travelling,” she says.
“The app I use – Trusted Housesitters – has thousands of active sits available at any one time, so it’s actually not too difficult to do it full-time.
“Plus, I was receiving some lovely five-star reviews, which made being selected much easier.
“I started house sitting two years ago and have been actively looking for back-to-back house sits for the past 18 months.
“As a single person, I imagine I’m saving around £12,000 a year by not having any bills or rent/mortgage payments.”
So far, Emma has visited London, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Dublin, Belfast, Vienna, Berlin, and is currently in Paris.
Her 30th housesit starts next week in Ghent, Belgium.
The idea for a life of full-time travel was sparked after Emma worked for a stint on yachts.
She says: “I disliked the job and didn’t want to go back.
“However, I loved the lifestyle – travel, free accommodation, free food, no bills.
“All the money I earned was my own, and it was great to spend it on whatever I wanted.
“I wondered how I could have this financial freedom, travel and do a job that I loved, so I looked into starting my own business as a virtual assistant.
“Before the yachts, I had my own beauty salon business for 12 years and felt I had a lot of experience and skills.
“Then, just by chance, I found out about house sitting on social media and thought I’d try it.”
She has since pivoted into copywriting work, which pays for her travel expenses.
Emma says: “The biggest perks are being able to live like a local in neighbourhoods around the world, see places I didn’t know existed, and pay nothing for accommodation.
“I love having the company of a pet, too, and ensuring they are happy is, of course, my first priority.
“To me, there are no cons, and I’ve had nothing but positive experiences so far.
“I understand it won’t be for everyone, but I love living like this.
Beware of visa rules around housesitting
While housesitting is a cheap and easy way to travel, it can land you in hot water.
In 2022 Madolline Gourley, 32, had been booked to stay in a house through TrustedHouseSitters, a website that lets people sleep in properties for free, in return for petsitting.
The problem occurred when she touched down in Los Angeles while she was trying to reach her final destination of Montreal, Canada.
She told Sun Online Travel: “When I handed my passport over to security, they saw that I’d spent 60 to 70 days in America earlier in the year, and then they started asking questions.”
Madolline, who lives in Brisbane, told them that she had been visiting the US but had returned home to Australia for several months.
She continued: “They had a couple of problems with that. They couldn’t quite understand why I was coming back to the States so soon and how I travel so often.”
Madolline explained to officials that she house-sat for free to help fund her trips, having used the service for years without any problems.
Following on from her answer, Madolline says the border official “wasn’t really happy with that”.
Asked to stay for further questioning, her phone and other items were removed before she was led to an interrogation booth in another room.
She said: “He asked questions about the house-sitting service. He wanted to know what I did during the day, where the house sitter stayed and how many houses I would be sitting for during my stay.
She explained that as a house-sitter she looked after the property and fed the pet, but she spent the rest of her time visiting art galleries, seeing Broadway shows and at other tourist attractions.
She said: “I was hopeful that they’d let me go, but at the same time I realised that I wasn’t going to Canada.”
“At the end of the second interview, he said ‘you are going to be deported.'”
According to a spokesperson for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), visitors entering the US using a visa waiver are banned from “any type of employment or getting compensation for services rendered”.
“It’s not exhausting like backpacking. You’re in a comfortable home, you can do a big grocery shop and unpack.
“Sure, there’s usually a day or two of travel every month, but that’s a small sacrifice to pay.
“Right now, I don’t see any perks to staying in one place and spending most of my money on bills.
“I feel like I’m really living – seeing things, meeting people, and having incredible experiences that will stay with me forever.
“Perhaps I’ll be lucky enough to make it to 70 years old and still be house sitting – what a life I would have had!”