Looking up from the keyboard, my gaze extends out over the neighbouring vineyard just waking up from its winter slumber. Escaping the dreary grey skies back home, my temporary office is the wisteria-shaded porch of the architecturally awarded house where I am staying in northern Sonoma.
I am here for three weeks to take care of two cats and a beautiful 13-acre property complete with olive trees and a fertile vegetable garden while the homeowners are away hiking in Japan.
I have always been a bit of a restless soul. I think it is a trait I inherited from my father, who was never one to sit still nor take the same road twice. Fulfilling that need was a challenge when I retired four years ago, but I have discovered something that satisfies both my need to roam and my partner’s preference for stability.
Housesitting allows us to embrace the best of both worlds: a chance to explore new places yet still have a place to call home.
My first experience housesitting was for my fiftieth birthday. I wanted to “live” in France for a month, and one of my clients had told me about her mid-life crisis experience caretaking a small winery near Bordeaux through a company called Nomador. I signed up and scoured the listings weekly for an opportunity that would fulfil my birthday dream.
A sit that met my search parameters came up for Nantes in northwest France. It was a renovated farmhouse just on the outskirts of the city and came with two black labs, one cat, and two egg-laying chickens. Though not an area of the country I had ever considered or knew much about, after communicating back and forth a few times with the homeowners using Google Translate, we committed to going.
Our friends and family thought we were crazy, travelling halfway across the world to stay at a complete stranger’s house, even suggesting we were going to be locked up and robbed. We ignored the naysayers, confident that should the worst-case scenario occur, we would always have our credit card and passports.
Our stay in Nantes turned out to exceed any expectations, and we have been hooked on housesitting ever since. The homeowners picked us up at the train station and made us feel welcome immediately. After sharing a lengthy, classic French apéritif and dinner (and perhaps a bottle or two of wine), we felt like part of their family.
Since then, we have travelled specifically for sits to Mexico City, Palm Desert, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Calgary, Vancouver and more. We have established relationships with many of the homeowners and have been invited for repeat stays at a few of our favourites.
The community I now belong to is appropriately called Trusted Housesitters. Founded in 2010 in the UK, the company now has over 200,000 members and operates in 180 countries worldwide.
Members pay an annual fee to belong and establish a vetted online profile. Although some sits may involve just looking after a property, most often they require taking care of pets. Pet parents value the opportunity for their fur family to stay in their own space rather than be sent to a kennel or other facility. There is a huge level of trust for both the homeowner to have a stranger stay in their home and for the sitter to follow through on expectations and responsibilities.
Housesitting is not for everyone. Pets have schedules that need to be followed. It may mean earlier morning wake-ups for potty breaks, taking longer and more frequent walks than usual, and even administering medication.
I have learned to give pills orally, transcutaneously, and most recently had to give an asthmatic cat a daily inhaler! I have cleaned up pet accidents from every orifice, been yanked down overgrown hiking trails, and thrown infinite sticks into bodies of water for retrieval—rewarded only by smelly, wet dog affection.
Some people want none of this when they are on vacation, but for those who do not mind, the benefits are plentiful. The housesit itself may be the end goal, or it can be a great way of extending a trip to a target destination.
I have searches set up for the places I want to travel to all over the world, from Vietnam to Italy, waiting for the right timing and location. No money is ever exchanged, making it an affordable alternative to hotel or other rental accommodation.
Living in a home with a pet provides an instant sense of community, allowing a more authentic and immersive way to travel.
During our stay in Condesa, Mexico City over Christmas and New Year a few years ago, walking the two French Bulldogs we were caring for, people assumed we were local expats and included us in their neighbourhood festivities! The genuine experience was something not attainable for a random tourist, no matter how diligently planned out.
To be a house sitter with pets included, you genuinely need to love animals. After a lifetime of having our own pets, it is now our way of getting pet satisfaction without full-time obligation.
I admit to being more of a cat person, but I love the time-limited experiences I have had with so many different breeds of dogs.
Reviews are a pet sitter’s trading currency, and with my 20+ sits with five stars, I now get to be choosy about which sits I accept. I expect to do increasing numbers of housesits over the next ten years as to me it is a win-win situation. The homeowner can be reassured that their home and pets will be taken care of lovingly and respectfully, and in return, I get to feed my restless spirit, travelling the world and having beautiful places to call “home.”
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