About the publishers - Ian & Vanessa

House sitting provides an almost limitless way to travel around the world, looking after other people's pets and homes, saving money on accommodation and living costs as part of a value exchange.

Find out more about how Ian and Vanessa, co-publishers of House Sitting Magazine, have incorporated house sitting into their semi-retirement lifestyle.

For press enquiries please contact Ian via the contact page

Featured In Image House Sitting Magazine

In the beginning

As two self confessed travel addicts, Vanessa and Ian's paths crossed in London back in 2013. Ian was passing through briefly while traveling back to his island home in Panama. Just a couple of months later, Vanessa joined him and they've been together ever since!

Ian's story began much earlier in 2008 when adversity catapulted him into the media headlines. After an unexpected divorce, and keen to put this unhappy period behind him, he decided to sell his whole life on eBay and complete his 100 bucket list goals in 100 weeks. This resulted in worldwide publicity, a movie deal with Walt Disney, and the purchase of a Caribbean island in Panama.

You can discover more about this period of Ian's life by watching his inspiring TEDx talk "A Life Unlimited". 

Vanessa talks about how and why she came to live with Ian in Panama in the New Lives in the Wild documentary produced by Channel 5 and hosted by Ben Fogle. The production team spent a week filming their lives as they went about their daily lives living off-grid on a mangrove island in Bocas del Toro.

A Life Unlimited - Ian's TEDx talk in Vienna

New Lives in the Wild Episode

Leaving the island to travel

Ben is a perceptive guy, and at the end of the program he made an observation that Ian and Vanessa were ready for a new, combined adventure. He was spot on.

After a year together on the island, getting to know each other, and working out how to create a sustainable travel lifestyle without breaking the bank, or using all their savings, Vanessa and Ian sold up both their properties and hit the road. While living in Panama they had discovered house sitting.

From this point on it was an easy transition for the couple to become international house sitters and to embrace a location independent lifestyle together. Travel and house sitting has become their passion, and now they spend a lot of time helping others achieve their own unique lifestyle design with the help of this alternative travel option. Their online video course has been available since 2014 and a magazine dedicated to house sitting from 2016. 

House Sitting Magazine

Vanessa and Ian began publishing House Sitting Magazine in 2016, quickly followed by the creation of a support group on Facebook for the house sitting and nomadic communities which now has over 10,000 active users.

The couple have spent a lot of time building their knowledge and expertise in the house and pet sitting niche, and regularly guest post for other publications within the community.  They are also called on to represent the community on radio, television and in news publications, where they talk about both their lifestyle and best practices within the industry. Vanessa also helps moderate and support the community forum for TrustedHousesitters.

House & Pet Sitting Conference 2019

The first ever House & Pet Sitting Conference was created and hosted by House Sitting Magazine in Swindon, UK in September 2019. Sponsored by TrustedHousesitters, HouseSitMatch, Housecarers, HouseSitMexico, Nomador and travel medical insurance specialist SafetyWing, this was the first coming together of house sitting platforms and house and pet sitters from all over the world.

TV appearances

TODAY - Channel 9 Australia

TODAY TONIGHT - Channel 7 Australia

Podcasts

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Guest Posts