Learning to Travel Using Pet Sitting

Chris and I have used pet sitting for eight years to trade accommodations in downtown apartments, water front homes and desert adobes for care of someone's home and pets. We’ve been able to live like locals in Argentina, blend with US and Canadian expats in Costa Rica and escape Nebraska winters by playing pickleball in Arizona and Florida
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We learned about house and pet sitting on a trip to Portugal, where we met a couple from New Zealand who spent half the year on house sits near their daughter who lived in the UK. We were immediately intrigued with the idea - we had been considering living at least part of the year away from our hometown and this seemed like a great opportunity to find out what it was really like to live in, not just visit, other communities.

A stubborn and greedy bulldog who snored all night.

and peed a gallon right inside the front door,

but still delighted us with his personality. 

Within a few months we had joined a pet sitting platform, created a profile and landed our first assignment 200 miles from our home in Kansas City. The pet owners were also new to pet sitting and, between our mutual lack of experience and naivete, that first five-day experience was horrendous. The pet was an anxious, aggressive dog that had been abused by previous owners and who terrorized us for five days. The owners were so compassionate to the dog that they did not acknowledge the extent of his damage and hostility toward strangers. He could barely be left alone and, within the first 24 hours, I had verified which nearby hospitals were in our medical insurance network because I believed that one of us would need treatment for a dog bite before we left. We had no way of contacting the owners once they left (they forgot their cell phone and we didn’t know enough to get the details about where they would be staying) but they returned as scheduled and we shared video of the dog snarling, growling and lunging at us.

So many people have commented “You’re brave” when we’ve described our plans for a year of travel and adventure. And, although we don’t feel much need for bravery on this undertaking, maybe they’re right and we are brave because only three weeks later we took another chance and flew to Bainbridge Island outside Seattle, WA for our second housesit. That experience was very different and by now we have completed nearly 50 sit pet sits in 10 US states and nine countries (and we’ve received five-star reviews for our care of the homes and pets on all of them!).

The biggest dog we've ever cared for - 160 solid pounds, 

but lazy, smart, obedient and one of our favorite pets. 

We’ve delivered asthma treatments to a cat, handled a dog's recovery from surgery, monitored very senior animals for any changes in their eating habits, cared for birds and turtles and fish, and even coordinated care and treatment for the final days of a beloved labrador that was already seriously ill when the owners left but didn’t display symptoms until halfway through the sit. We’ve stayed for weeks on multiple Caribbean islands, spent a holiday in a home in our own home town and followed the lead of our New Zealand friends by visiting our daughter and son-in-law by staying near, but not in, their small apartment. We’ve “lived” in palatial homes with views of the ocean and modest homes with views of the ocean but no screens to keep out mosquitos.

There are pros and cons to housesitting, and we’ve made mistakes and encountered snafus. We had three back-to-back sits that were planned to fill our winter in Florida all cancel within only a few days (due to illness and family issues). But, we hunkered down in a sea side cottage for a few days and rebuilt our schedule. 

By working as a team, Chris and I  have made the best of poor locations, transportation issues and getting locked out. We’ve learned the features that we need in a home and its animals so we can apply for sits that would be a good fit and just scroll by those that don’t interest us (we need pets that can be left alone for at least four hours, a comfortable bed, coffee maker, good wifi and NOT an isolated off-grid setting “suitable for writers and artists looking for quiet and long walks”).

A shy, but friendly cat who loved snuggling with her dog brothers.

We regularly promote house and pet sitting to interested travelers and pet owners and have made presentations to several community groups with members who wanted to learn more. We are starting this adventure on a two-week sit at a terrific condo in Washington D.C. and expect to do the same on more trips for years to come. 

If you've read this far, you may be considering housesitting yourself. There are many online platforms you can join as either a pet sitter or a home owner looking for someone to care for your home and pets. They all operate similarly: homeowners create posts that describe their pets, home, responsibilities and travel dates; sitters create a profile describing their skills and preferences and apply for the sits that interest them. Then the two communicate and interview each other to determine whether they are a good match. The largest platform, and the one we use the most, is TrustedHousesitters.com. 

If you’re interested in joining TrustedHousesitters, you can use our link to get 25% off your first year’s membership.

https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF92979/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=refer-a-friend&utm_campaign=refer-a-friend