The Accidental Nomads: How A Gap In Rent Became A Lifestyle

At the end of 2022, we found ourselves in a situation that required us to swiftly vacate our rental in Perth amidst the lowest vacancy rates for rentals in many years. I distinctly recall attending several property inspections and witnessing lines of over 50 people eager to view a single property, leaving us with a sense of hopelessness. It felt like house-hunting had become an extreme sport, and we were definitely not winning gold medals. Despite our attempts at crafting the most compelling rental applications known to humankind and offering rent that could rival a small fortune, the response was... well, non-existent. It was like sending messages to the void, a common lament among renters across the nation.

Ultimately, we made the decision to place all our belongings into storage and reside in Sam's one-bedroom apartment in Adelaide for a while. Sam had expressed a desire to spend more time in Adelaide, closer to family, and I was open to living there temporarily. While we knew it was a short-term arrangement, it provided a welcome change of scenery. As our extended trip to Europe in June approached, we deliberated on what to do with the apartment and contemplated our plans upon our return.

Sam’s sister had a 2-week trip to the USA in October and his parents followed shortly after with a similar length cruise. They both needed house sitters to take care of their pets while they were away, and Sam had offered to help.

This meant that we had a period of 10 weeks where we didn’t need our own place, so it seemed silly to pay rent on an empty property, or inversely not to collect rent on our own property. With rental prices so high, the opportunity cost of not doing so was quite apparent. Though this did leave us with a gap of about 6 weeks where we effectively had nowhere to live. We contemplated how to handle this – simply paying for an Airbnb or hotel would negate the effort we put our properties out to rent.

I had spent some time online reading about digital nomads and how these cool people could work and live wherever they wanted. I initially imagined it as the type of people who live like royalty in Southeast Asia, where a sandwich costs less than a smile. I thought it was an interesting way to live, but not something I could do for an extended period without coming back to my roots at home in Perth.

I then remembered how Sam used to live before COVID-19. The closed border situation caused by the virus forced us together in my apartment in Perth probably sooner than we would have otherwise. Before that, Sam would travel frequently for work, with multiple trips spanning over days and weeks to various remote towns and interstate cities. He was a ghost who travels, but frequently dropped by to see me. When he was in Perth, he would do a combination of housesits, staying with friends and hotel or Airbnb stays. Through this method, he didn’t need a permanent home, and he was happy self-identifying as a gypsy.

While I wasn’t so keen on the chaotic nature of the gypsy life, I did see a sort of middle ground. If we could find housesits across the country, combined with stays with family and at hotels, it could be an enjoyable way to explore new places while working remotely, thus minimizing our living costs. This would also fix that 6 week gap we had between Europe and Sam’s family housesits.

With that, I set to work on our housesitting profile. I had been recommended the site TrustedHousesitters by reading online and had a referral code with a discount to get going. I gathered up all the photos we had of us with pets, and there wasn’t really one that worked. So, we roped in my sister’s dog Moose for a photoshoot, who, after much bribery with treats, finally gave us the perfect 'happy pooch' shot.

I applied for a number of housesits with a date range close to that 6-week period after Europe. Building a trusted profile without reviews was like applying for a job where the only requirement is having done that job before. We were both elated when our first sit came through within a few weeks of trying. We were heading to Mt Gravatt in Brisbane to look after Billie and Meeko and would make a special stop at Hilton Surfers Paradise for a 2-week hotel stay using Sam’s Hilton Honors points first.

During this trip I was instantly sold on the idea of doing more housesits. We enjoyed having a large home to ourselves and Billie and Meeko’s company kept us smiling each day. We worked during the week and on the weekends explored some of the sights of Brisbane. Sam also had several contacts we were able to make plans with, so I didn’t really feel like we were that isolated despite being away from our home cities.

After the Brisbane trip, I applied for more short sits in Perth to try and boost up our profile reviews and to give my parents a break from me staying in the spare room. Sam finished off the Adelaide housesits and we had a few back and forth trips between Perth, Adelaide and Sydney to finish 2023. When staying with family, we always make a point to do things in return for the bedroom we are given. That means giving back – in our case, turning into part-time handymen, surprise chefs, and impromptu spa technicians. We absolutely don’t want to benefit from this lifestyle at the expense of others – in fact, we want them to benefit from it just as much as we do.

As we enter 2024, the first 6 months of this year are already planned out with more trips, housesits and fun activities. I wanted to start writing about this time because I believe right now we are creating special memories we will want to look back on in the years to come. So this is a bit of a personal journal of our adventures together, and we hope you’ll enjoy following along.

Nick and Sam