How to travel the world for free

And look after other people's pets - by Rebecca Lowrey Boyd

If you love the idea of spending Easter surrounded by cute bunnies, fluffy chicks and spring lambs, you might like to consider house sitting for your next holiday.

House sitting website trustedhousesitters.com specialises in connecting animal lovers with pet owners.

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House sitting is a way to get free accommodation on your holiday, in exchange for looking after someone’s home and pets.

A French country house is currently listed on the site – and it comes with a clutch of chickens. Meanwhile, a beach-side apartment in Sydney boasts a pair of mini lop bunnies.

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If you prefer a more rural setting, a farm in New Zealand requires an “animal lover” to look after four cats, a fox terrier, three cows and two sheep. Or perhaps you'd like to collect fresh eggs each morning at an eco-friendly house in the UK.

TrustedHousesitters.com is available in more than 130 countries and costs $129 annually for members to list their homes or to register as sitters.

Rebecca Lowrey Boyd

Rebecca Lowrey Boyd is a former magazine editor and the founder of Wee Birdy, one of The Sunday Times’ Top 50 Blogs in the World. A design nerd and bird enthusiast, she can usually be found poring over Pinterest, knee-deep in Bunnings or sticky-beaking at modernist homes in Sydney’s bushburbia.