In our cynical world, housesitting as we are doing it might look like a seriously offbeat occupation. Anti-capitalist, subversive perhaps.

“What do you mean? You go into someone’s home, they’ve never met you before, and a short while later they go away and leave you in charge of their most precious possessions – their home and their pets? In some cases, you might not even meet the homeowner? And they don’t pay you? Isn’t that dangerous? Weird? A rip-off? How can that work? ”

How can it work? Exchange and trust.

The home and pet owner has their home and their pets cared for. They have peace of mind, knowing that their pets are safe in their own environment, and their home is not unoccupied while they are away. I’ve just been checking the prices for boarding dogs and cats; from what I can see, boarding for two dogs in kennels runs from £50 to £100 per day, depending on the season and the size of the dogs. For two cats, the price is about £25 per day. Additionally, insurance companies are becoming increasingly sticky about ‘unoccupied’ homes, meaning that the homeowner may need to arrange for someone to check on the house, too. The cost to the home and pet owner of using a Housesitter? Trusting someone with their home and pets.

As sitters, we get or stay in comfortable homes in new and interesting places; a week, two weeks, or more, getting to know a new area. The AirBnB cost of similar accommodation starts at around £100 per night. The cost to us of being Housesitters? A little of our time to care for both home and pets, and honouring the trust that has been placed in us.

We meet new people and make new friends. We get the loan of, and the company of some amazing animals. And it sure beats camping in the long, dark winter nights in the UK.

We’re continually humbled by the level of trust placed in us by the folk we meet. It reinforces our well-travelled observation that 99.99% of folk we meet are good folk, and want to be seen as such.

But isn’t it a bit weird, staying in someone’s home when they’re not there? Initially, maybe, but once you get used to the idea, it’s fascinating. Absolutely without judgement, you can step into someone else’s life and try it out. You can see how other people manage day to day tasks, how they organise their homes. You can enjoy their art, read their books, try out new equipment (thinking pizza ovens and wood-fired hot tubs). Occasionally, you can steal an idea (infrared heating panels, pans with detachable handles).

We have great fun examining the layout of different homes, figuring out the alterations that have been made and wondering how we would live there if it were ours.

Every home is different, and we get to figure out the oven and hob, the heating and shower, the bins and recycling each time. Every homeowner is different, too. Some cook, some don’t, some are gardeners, some aren’t. There are quirks that need to be managed – turning on the pump to clear the flooded garden; watering precious citrus trees, not walking the dogs.

Sometimes it can be challenging; to find a pot that doesn’t burn the contents, to locate the scissors to open a package, to find a knife that’s sharp. To discover that there’s no way of making coffee in a tea-drinking household, or to know that there must be a corkscrew somewhere but not be able to find it. Some challenges are of our own making. Because we read a lot, we like decent task lighting; this can be difficult if a homeowner prefers soft mood lighting. And I will swear that not a single home has functional oven gloves that will allow a body to hold a hot dish with both hands for more than 5 seconds. Just saying’.

For us, it’s an honour and a privilege.