Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/cat-sitting-for-accomodation/

Traveling is a dream that many people long to follow, but finances often get in the way. After all, traveling isn’t cheap, and paying for flights, gas, food, and accommodations adds up quickly.

31-year-old Madolline Gourley dreamed of traveling, and as an Australian-based writer, she’s got the flexibility to work remotely and hop from place to place. The only dilemma is money.

But, Madolline was determined to see her dream come to fruition so she got creative and dove into the world of house sitting and pet sitting.

Specifically, Madolline specializes in cat-sitting at people’s houses both across Australia and the United States.

According to Business Insider, Gourley explained:

“I discovered house sitting a few years ago, and since then it’s allowed me to stay in cities all over the United States and Australia for next to nothing. As a sitter, you house or pet sit for ‘free’ in exchange for accommodation.”

The travel hack has allowed her to exchange cat-sitting for a free place to stay and because of it, she’s been able to visit several cities across the U.S. and Australia and only had to worry about paying her airfare and food!

Madolline finds jobs through TrustedHouseSitters. It’s a competitive place to get gigs, but with her outstanding profile, she manages to pick up worthwhile cat-sitting gigs.

Apartments Apart reports that Gourley estimates she’s saved about $28,000 in accommodation fare so far. That’s a huge amount of money!

Naturally, people have many questions for Gourley about how she got started, the best way to find jobs, etc., so she started a blog called One Cat At a Time. On her blog, she shares details about the destinations she’s traveled to and answers many questions.

On her website, she wrote:

“While house and cat sitting for strangers has saved me thousands of dollars on accommodation-related expenses, I still need money to pay for things like my airfares to and from sits. That means I spend the other, less exciting part of my life working a regular Monday to Friday job in Brisbane, Australia, putting money aside for my next adventure,” she says on her website.

She added, “I’ve looked after 15 cats and nine different homes in seven cities across the country. I started out in Seattle before making my way to Austin, New York City—where I got sits in Chelsea, South Park Slope and Prospect Heights—Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, and Portland.”

You can learn more about Madolline’s cat-sitting gigs on her website, and check her out on Instagram, @madolline.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog