A couple who love to travel have revealed how they saved £3,000 when jetting off to Australia using a clever trick that meant they never had to pay for hotels or Airbnbs. British duo Molly Thompson, 24, and Tom Brown, 23, managed their dream trip without spending a penny on rooms.

The pair even explored Melbourne – one of the world’s most expensive cities – by sleeping in other people's homes all by simply exchanging a service that almost anyone could do. In return for a free place to stay while on holiday, Molly and Tom have taken care of the homeowner's beloved furry friends.

Petsitting meant that they were able to spend as much time as possible in Aus without running their bank accounts dry. The couple, of Beverly, East Yorkshire claim travelling while petsitting saved them thousands which has allowed them to continue globetrotting to further destinations.

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Molly said: "We absolutely love it. We knew we wanted to take a bit of time out of our day-to-day lives back home to travel and explore as much of this part of the world as we could while the time was right. And Australia really is an amazing country to do that in!

"It’s definitely saved us a fortune. Not even just the financial side of it, but there just wasn’t any availability anywhere at all. With house sitting it obviously works slightly differently to renting, so we actually found it much much easier applying for housesits and being accepted compared to applying for short-term rentals.

"I’d say overall this probably saved us just under £3,000 between the two of us across the two months. Which obviously is money we’d much rather have for our onward travels, so definitely worth it."

Molly and Tom say they spent £1,100 each on their plane tickets to Australia from London. That's not an unusual price, Skyscanner puts the cheapest London to Melbourne flight at £606 currently, but that means travelling for a whopping 38 hours and making two stops in China. Faster routes taking around 22 to 23 hours cost between £1,170 and £1,737.

The couple quit their jobs so that they could explore the city properly and managed to keep their trip in budget by looking after various animals. In one accommodation, they looked after an adorable ginger cat and in addition to the home, the generous homeowners – who are complete strangers – gifted the pair their car to use for free.

In another pad, Molly and Tom moved to the suburbs but their time there was far from quiet as they had four dogs to look after. So, you definitely have to be an animal lover and enjoy walks to get the gig. Molly and Tom were able to housesit by using the app, 'Happy House Sitters.'

Molly added: "The most memorable animal was the cat in our first house that featured in a lot of my TikTok and Instagram stories. We formed quite a connection with that little guy and leaving actually was really hard.

"We got really lucky as the cat was lovely and the house was perfect for what we needed it for. I’d definitely say that the biggest takeaway is becoming a cat person before I was fully a dog person. I’d never even considered getting a cat as I’ve always been around dogs my whole life, but now I’m converted."

While the pair got to live out their dream they did recognise that petsitting can be hard work and a lot of responsibility. You definitely aren't able to go out as freely as when you don't have animals to feed, walk and care for.

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Molly added: "I think we’d got used to a fairly unrestricted way of living while we travel, but animals are a big commitment. Especially when we were in the house with the four dogs.

"[The] dogs especially did require a lot of looking after – which was very different to our usual routine when it’s just the two of us. But, I wouldn’t say it was a con as such though, more of a learning curve.”

As their Australian Visa is going to run out, Molly and Tom are heading home to the UK just in tome for Christmas. But, they’re still keen to continue travelling and have booked a road trip in New Zealand for the end of the year – with a stop in gorgeous tropical Fiji.

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