Cheap holidays are getting harder to find， so people are having to be a little more creative2 to get good deals3.

Something that more and more people are choosing to do is house-sitting4. Thatmeans staying in someone else’s house while they are away. You don’t have to pay tostay but you will have to look after the house， and quite often the owner’s pets.

It may not be a holiday everyone would enjoy， but for others it’s the best wayto travel on a budget5. And you really need to love animals： They’re a big part ofthe holiday. Yes， you’ll get free and “unique6”stays around the world， but thatmeans to care for cute pets.

Whether you’re house-sitting or looking for someone to look after your home，you’ll need to pay for membership7 of some company. Its memberships start atabout $129 for a year if you want to be a pet-sitter and $150 if you want someone tolook after your house and animals.

Some people like to house-sit for a weekend or a week—this gives them justenough time to get to know the animals and enjoy a quick holiday at the same time.However， others spend large parts of their year staying in other people’s houses forfree， which saves them a lot of money on rent8.

The number of house-sitters and pet-sitters has grown since the pandemic9.Many people got pets at the time to keep them company during the long days athome. The spending of hotels has also made people look for different ways to travelcheaply. But it’s not always easy. Caring for other people’s pets is a serious10 job—so， never let the cat run away！

便宜的假期越來越難找到，所以人們不得不發(fā)揮更多創(chuàng)意，以便做成好交易。

越來越多的人選擇做的事情是看家，是指當(dāng)房主不在的時(shí)候住在他們的房子里。你不必為住宿付費(fèi)，但你必須照看房子，而且經(jīng)常要照看主人的寵物。

這可能不是每個(gè)人都會(huì)喜歡的假期，但對(duì)一些人來說，這是最好的省錢旅行方式。而且你真的需要熱愛動(dòng)物：它們是這個(gè)假期的重要組成部分。是的，你將在世界各地獲得免費(fèi)和“獨(dú)特的”住宿體驗(yàn)，但這也意味著要照顧可愛的寵物。

無論你是看家還是找人照看自己的家，你都需要給某個(gè)（中介）公司支付會(huì)員費(fèi)。如果你想當(dāng)寵物保姆，會(huì)員費(fèi)一年大約129 美元；如果你想找人照看你的房子和動(dòng)物，會(huì)員費(fèi)150 美元。

有些人喜歡幫人照看一個(gè)周末或一周的房子———這給了他們足夠的時(shí)間去了解動(dòng)物，同時(shí)享受一個(gè)短暫的假期。然而，另一些人一年中有很大一部分時(shí)間都免費(fèi)住在別人家里，這為他們節(jié)省了一大筆房租。

自從疫情以來，房屋看守人和寵物保姆的數(shù)量增加了。當(dāng)時(shí)許多人養(yǎng)了寵物，好在漫長的居家時(shí)光里陪伴他們。酒店的（高）消費(fèi)也促使人們?nèi)ふ也煌牧畠r(jià)旅行方式。但是這并不是容易的事。照顧別人的寵物是一項(xiàng)嚴(yán)肅的工作———所以，絕對(duì)不要讓貓跑丟了！