2025, Business, Travel, Uncategorized

House Sitting

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A high school classmate of mine has found a really interesting gig lately. She has become an international house and pet sitter. I had never heard of this before, but there are companies you can sign up with who certify you as a good and responsible person, and then allow you to travel to house sit for people. You have to pay for travel expenses, but you stay for free in the home you are caring for.

My friend is currently in the south of France in a lovely old farm house caring for a couple of dogs, two cats, and some chickens. She is working remotely at her job in the States while she is there. The most difficult part of her current stay is firing up the stoves that warm the house. This place has no central heating. When she isn’t working or hauling wood and coal, she is traveling to quaint villages and markets nearby. The only down side to her current trip is that her luggage first went to the Canary Islands before it came to her.

Her previous stay took her to Montreal for two weeks. There, and now in France she stated that the neighbors take a keen interest in her and take her all around to show her sights, feed her, and socialize. I don’t think she speaks French, but that hasn’t been a problem. I am curious where she will go next.

Where in the world would you like to house sit?

35 thoughts on “House Sitting”

  3. oh the places i would go

    hawaii in january
    egypt in february
    vietnam in march
    paris in april
    new orleans in may
    katmadu in june
    banff in july
    denali in august
    maine in september
    ely in october
    new zealand in november
    eden prairie in december

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  5. i decided im not done yet
    costa rico in january
    st martin in february
    peru in march
    april in paris
    milan in may
    leech lake in june
    san fransisco in july
    new york city in august
    norway in september
    capetown on october
    austrailia in november
    eden prairie in december

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  6. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I am still trying to decide if I want to cope with other people’s pets. I have always made my travels to be without responsibility. So I will say I will petsit, but I am really not sure. Plus tim’s list was comprehensive and appealing.

    Hawaii–almost any time of the year
    Northern California near the Oregon border — summertime
    Greece–February
    Ireland/Scotland–late summer into autumn

    Surely I will thingk of more.

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    1. Near Milwaukee. She used to be a community organizer in West Virginia, getting people registered to vote and things like that. I am not sure what she does now.

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  8. OT: Husband’s surgery went fine, and he’ll come today. But it was a chaotic Thursday since the Prius chose to not start… Played musical cars all day with various friend’s vehicles, ended up with a nearby friend’s Prius for the weekend. I’m now waiting for AAA to arrive and tow ours to the Toyota shop. Sigh.

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  9. I would truly enjoy house-sitting in Taiwan, where I spent 39 years of my life before retiring. I wouldn’t care WHERE or WHAT KIND OF house I’d be sitting, I’d just like to be there again. (The fact that here in Holland, MI there have been 17 inches of snow already this week, of course, has NOTHING to to with it!)

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  10. A mountain cabin in late summer. Anywhere in the Arrowhead, anytime. Cape Breton Island in summer. Anywhere in a wine region during harvest time. Coastal Oregon or Washington. ALmost anywhere in British Columbia, especially the western slope of the Rockies. I could handle two weeks or so in any big city if it was a centrally located condo I stayed in (in the downtown area).

    Chris in Owatonna

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  11. I could feed livestock if they were in a pen in a barn. I couldn’t milk cows, but I could collect eggs, feed ducks and geese, and feed pigs. Goats might be too active.

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    1. I wouldn’t mind learning to milk cows if it were just a few cows. Better yet it would be a farm that was using the “cows come milks themselves” technology!

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  12. My friends rent an apartment in Mazatlan for January and February every year. They invite friends and family to join them there for a week or two. This year they invited me! It’s in the Centro Historico district of Mazatlan, a few blocks from the ocean. It should be a very relaxing time. We’ll do a little sightseeing, but not a lot. We’ll be walking most of the time. I don’t think they rent a car down there. They walk or take buses or taxis. We’ll do some shopping at a neighborhood mercado. We’ll walk to the beach and just relax. We’ll probably play some music, tip back a cerveza or two, and just relax. No need to tend livestock or pets. I leave early tomorrow morning.

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  13. I have friends who go to Palm Springs every January/February. One of them is retired and takes his bike and spend time every day riding. The other is able to work from wherever! They really enjoy it.

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  14. I’ve actually been imagining this scenario for thirty-plus years. Almost everywhere I’ve traveled, I’ve thought about what it would be like to live that in that spot and what job I would do. On safari in Africa, I thought about taking a job at a safari camp – even working out the closest school for YA. Sheep ranching in New Zealand got a lot of thought as well. Bookshop in a little village outside of Brussels. Several vineyards (outside Rome, Siciliy, Napa, Barcelona) captured by heart. Oh and then there was my very first dream – Director of Romance at a resort on the Big Island. (The resort in question did actually have a Director of Romance – Pat Robertson. She was hysterical.)

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    1. We desperately need a Director of Romance at our house, though truth be told, there’s very little in the way of romance to direct. Maybe what we need is a Creator of Romance, and I have no idea what that would look like.

      Seriously, what does a Director of Romance do?

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      1. Director of Romance is in charge of weddings at the resort as well as other special requests from guests such as reservations/arrangements for anniversaries, proposals, etc. This resort also has an ocean overlook that can be used for solo romantic dinners that is in high demand; this was also under Pat’s jurisdiction.

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