Woman goes viral for travel hack: 'Dude that's freaking genius'

A TikTok user has gone viral for a travel hack that has allowed her to find close-to-free accommodations anywhere she goes.

The woman, who goes by Deena on the popular social media platform, has been traveling throughout Australia, visiting places such as Sydney, Bondi Beach and the oceanside town of Manly. Her adventures have caught the attention of fellow TikTok users, some of whom have asked her how she’s been able to afford her trips.

“Basically, I haven’t been paying for hardly any accommodations since I’ve been here, just my tickets to get here and my food,” she says in her clip. “I use this website called ‘TrustedHousesitters,’ and you can housesit all over the world.”

TrustedHousesitters is an online platform where people with pets ask others to take care of their animals while they’re traveling. It has members all over the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Argentina, South Africa and China.

“You can get to stay there for free while they also get to go on vacation,” Deena explains. “Some people go for a really long time, some people go for only a few days.”

Although the website is free to browse, those interested in housesitting must pay a $119 annual fee. That, however, can pay for itself depending on how many trips a user goes on.

Deena’s tip has since gone viral, amassing well over 300,000 likes and nearly 600 comments.

“This is actually soooo helpful!” one person wrote. “Thank you!”

“Dude that’s freaking genius,” another wrote. “We could go somewhere for a long time for sooo cheap!”

In a follow-up post, Deena also recommended several sites where travelers can book cheap flights, including Skyscanner, Hopper and StudentUniverse.