Madolline Gourley has the most purr-fect job.
The 32-year-old writer from Brisbane, Australia gets to travel the world and spend time with cats. What could be better than that? Maybe the fact that she gets paid for caring for the cats through free accommodation.
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And since the caretaking only takes about 30 minutes per day, the rest is spent exploring beautiful destinations!
Madolline first got the itch to travel in 2017.
While working as a copywriter for state government websites in Queensland, she learned that some of her co-workers were using the housing app called TrustedHousesitters to live rent-free. But since she wanted to travel, she broadened her horizons.
She included all of Australia and the U.S. on the app and included information about her work as a lifelong cat owner.
Adding this set her profile apart, making it more attractive for homeowners with cats.
She also uses the apps MindMyHouse, HouseCarers, Aussie House Sitters, House Sitters America, and House Sitters Canada.
Now, the writer gets to travel the world and look after cute cats — not a bad gig at all.
“I’ve had cats since I was little and my mum is a big cat fan, too. She’s also had cats all her life,” she told The Animal Rescue Site.
“When I found out about the whole house/pet sitting for accommodation thing, I only wanted to do it looking after cats because I’ve only ever cared for cats.”
Gourley documents her travel on a blog called One Cat at a Time .
Her recent 75-day trip around America had her looking after the most cats yet.
“I’ve looked after 15 cats and nine different homes in seven cities across the country,” she wrote on her blog.
“I started out in Seattle before making my way to Austin, New York City—where I got sits in Chelsea, South Park Slope and Prospect Heights—Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago and Portland.”
The work she’s doing for the cats isn’t labor-intensive at all.
It takes about 30 minutes of her day to feed the cats, cuddle with them, and change their litter boxes. The rest of the day is hers to explore the city she’s in.
This small job has led to some big savings.
The cat sitter estimates that she’s saved roughly $28,000 in travel expenses over the past four years while visiting almost 50 homes across Australia and the U.S. Twenty-eight grand?! Are you kitten me?!
She calculated this figure by looking at nearby Airbnb and rental prices.
Since she recently stayed in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, she saw that it would’ve cost her roughly $3,200 to rent per month, according to Zillow. Her travel, however, is entirely on her own dime.
When she went on the 75-day American vacation, it cost her around $7,200 or $96 per day.
This includes the money she spent on airfare, around $1300. Some of the things she spent her money on include local transit cards, food, and local attractions.
Thankfully, she didn’t need to budget for her trip, as she gets money from her traveling fund on her Australian tax returns.
Another source of income for her could be writing a book about her cat-sitting travels! It’s an idea people have given her, but she’s still unsure.
“A few people have emailed me saying I should compile a book, and that makes me laugh,” Gourley said.
“I’ll still mull on the idea, but I don’t want to invest weeks and months and putting something together … It’s been a pretty cool experience, and an opportunity to save a ton of money.”
For now, you can check out her blog, One Cat at a Time !
