Full-Time House Sitter ‘Lives for Free’ in N.Y.C., Has Moved Between 25 Homes in the Last 7 Months (Exclusive)

In July 2023, California native Alanna Parrish quit her corporate job and embarked on a 12-month solo travel journey that would reshape her life.

Seeking a way to prolong her adventures and cut costs on accommodations, she began house-sitting and quickly realized it offered both freedom and a sense of home on the road.

What started as a temporary, practical solution soon evolved into a lifestyle, and over the past year, the 33-year-old has made house-sitting her full-time job. Parrish doesn’t have her own place to call home and doesn’t pay rent anywhere, instead moving from house to house depending on her next job.

“I wanted the opportunity to live like a local in cities I had never visited but was curious about potentially living in one day,” Parrish tells PEOPLE exclusively. “House-sitting allows for longer, more grounded stays instead of quick, tourist-style trips.”

Since leaving San Francisco, Parrish has been living out of a large carry-on, which holds her clothes, toiletries and a few pairs of shoes.

She typically wears bulkier jackets or sweaters on travel days to save space. In addition, she carries a duffel bag for her laptop and travel essentials, along with a small purse for other items.

“For shorter sits, I typically don’t even unpack my suitcase,” she explains. “For longer ones, it takes some time to adjust, find a routine and learn where everything is.”

When choosing her next stay, Parrish looks for a few key “green flags,” such as a clean space, clear communication from the hosts, and, most importantly, easy access to public transportation, since she doesn’t own a car.

Parrish also prefers stays of at least one week, giving her enough time to settle in and explore the neighborhood.

Expectations, rules, and any specific needs from the owner are always discussed before she accepts a sit.

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In total, Parrish has house-sat in 15 different cities across the United States, from Honolulu to Miami, Austin, Texas and Portland, Maine.

She has also accepted jobs abroad in Vancouver, Canada, and Helsinki, Finland – securing them through Facebook groups, pet-sitting and house-sitting sites and personal references.

Although Parrish charges a house-sitting fee of $75 per night, she admits that 80% of her gigs are actually in exchange for a free stay.

“That is so valuable to me,” she explained in one of her videos. “That’s worth more than getting paid, and if I were to look into getting somewhere to rent in the city, it probably would be more expensive than what I’m getting paid to house it anyway.”

So far, the arrangement has worked well. Parrish gets to stay in places she wants to visit for free, and hosts receive pet care and peace of mind while they’re away.

“I’ve had so many occasions where people will leave me their car to loan. They’ll leave me gas money, they’ll leave me grocery money. They’ll leave me laundry money,” she said. “So they really are paying me back in other ways.”

Since April 2025, Parrish has stayed in 25 homes across New York and regularly shares the highs and lows of her experiences online.

“I love it. I think I might be crazy, but it’s fun for me,” she said in a video. “I wonder, would anyone else do this to live for free in New York City?”

According to her, the only downsides of being a full-time house sitter are “not having a consistent home base and the ongoing planning required to figure out where I’ll be living next.”

Recently, she posted a TikTok about traveling nearly two hours to Beacon, N.Y., for a house-sitting appointment, only to receive a last-minute cancellation text just as she arrived.

Unsure of where to stay, she began frantically searching for hotels and Airbnbs. Fortunately, the host offered up one of her spare bedrooms without any house-sitting duties.

The positives include the freedom of exploring different cities, spending time in a variety of homes and meeting new people.

“Of course, there are times of loneliness, but moving around also allows me to meet new and interesting people,” she tells PEOPLE.

“I have done a lot of solo travel, so I am used to being open to meeting new people and making new connections while still maintaining friendships that I’ve made with people all over.”

Parrish does, however, caution followers that her lifestyle is “not for the weak,” noting that it requires being comfortable with whatever sleeping arrangements the host provides.

“I don’t get to decide the mattress, the pillows, whatever firmness or softness… It’s just, it is what it is,” she said in a TikTok video. “So, it is a bit of an adjustment every time that I come to a new place, and I think that’s something a lot of people wouldn’t think about.”

While most people prefer the comfort of home and the stability of routine, Parrish feels most alive when traveling.

So, she intends to keep house-sitting and imagines a future spent living in different cities over the course of the next year.

To continue funding her personal expenses, Parrish also recently acquired a remote job working for a tele-health company – a position that she can easily balance alongside her house-sitting gigs.

“I can work anywhere in the world. It doesn’t have to be in New York,” she says. “So, I’m pretty free to go anywhere to house-sit, and that’s why I say I’m a full-time house sitter.”

Although she loves New York City, she knows that her desire to explore still outweighs her urge to settle down. If she ever does choose one place to call home, however, she admits New York is a strong contender.

“Community and relationships are important to me, so if I found the right person or the right people, I’d be more inclined to stay in one place,” she tells PEOPLE.