Carefully select qualities required of a sitter

That would be a great idea. Lots of driving instructors out there.

Hi @mars. Having experience in driving on either side of the road, I will caution that it is more than just the physical driving thatā€™s needed. Itā€™s important to not make assumptions that everything else is the same. For example, my brother (visiting from England) had a hefty fine in Niagara Falls because he didnā€™t realize you can only park with the vehicle facing in the same direction as the traffic flow. If possible, I would suggest a little pre-arrival reading before you get behind the wheel.

Having coached someone else, ideally I find itā€™s first best to be a front-seat passenger and ask lots of questions, before you actually drive the vehicle. Hopefully you would have that opportunity. Others may not agree, but I tend to err on the more cautious side of things.

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Also regional/jurisdictional differences exist. In WA and OR, you can park against the traffic direction. That was horrifying to me coming from PA, NY, VA.

To all who plan to drive in the USA: you MUST stop when a school bus stops and has its little flag out! That goes for whether they are stopped going in the opposite direction or if you are behind them (no going around!).

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The school bus law is true in Canada too.

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Hi, @ElsieDownie. As a HO, I can either select ā€œyesā€ or ā€œnoā€ to the question ā€œDoes your sitter need a car to get to your home?ā€ and ā€œDo you plan to provide a car for your sitter?ā€

In describing the homeā€™s setting, we are only given the following options (none of which really apply to our listing).

We can see the Blue Ridge Mountains on a clear day and are 20 miles from Washington, DC, but we are smack in the middle of suburbia :smile:

@Snowbird, @ElsieDownie and others here, you questions did have me go back and check my listing. We mention in the intro that while a car isnā€™t required, it is helpful to have as public transportation is lacking and the use of ridesharing hasnā€™t rebounded as yet from the pandemic. As well, while we will happily walk to our local grocery store half a mile away to get a small load, most people in northern Virginia donā€™t if given a choice of driving vs walking.

Ah. ā€œDo sitters need a car to get to your homeā€ is what results in car needed/car not needed. Hm, that isnā€™t helpful in a lot of contexts, is it. I mean, I could Uber to your place from Dulles, right? But then Iā€™d be stuck there with no carā€“either for my own purposes or getting an animal to/from a dog park or vet.

Just sounds beautiful. Iā€™ve now got the Laurel and Hardy stuck in my head. On my must visit list. Been to DC lots of times but the Blue Ridge Mountainsā€¦ā€¦

Super well worth the visit! Just donā€™t feed the black bears

Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

Here is an excerpt from Bill Brysonā€™s A Walk in the Woods where he talks about north American bears, and black bears in particular. Donā€™t read if you are squeamish. Do read if you want a good laugh!

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@Katie, too true. We have left a car before for one of our sitters, but most have driven to our house and it hasnā€™t been necessary. What we do for those wonderful folks is leave an empty garage where they can park their carā€“and the garage door opener of course! And unless the reason we are travelling is for a cycling trip, we also leave bikes.

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Very true @Snowbird
Before driving in the UK, I plan to study this:

As a HO I agree that it is not worded in the best way. For example, the Sitter would not need a car to get to us because we would always pick them up when they arrived at the railway station/airport, and drop them off again. We also provide a vehicle for them to use when they are here if they do not have their own (so long as they have the correct license). So they do not need a car to get to our home. However, a car is absolutely required if living at our home - no public transport at all, nothing within walking distance, very few taxis, and not really any reliable Ubers. Perhaps the first question should be tweaked, though i canā€™t think of a better way to phrase it yet!

Doing house sitting fo a few years i have a few times seen a listing where is sais a couplis prefered. I have sent a request,after looking at the listing about the lmatter and a couple of times after chatting with the HO I got the sits. One was in Spain with 2 horses,3 big dogs that did not need walking and 3 or 4 out door cats. Later they moved to Denmark and then had 4 horses the 3 dogs and this time I had to let the horses out in the morning ,clean after them in the stable and let them in again in the evening. And I had to walk the big dogs to the beach and they pulled hard on the lead. But I knew what I was getting into and it all went well. Even when I sat for them in Denmark they paid me for the work I did. I have also had this thing with a car needed. The same goes there,I send arequest if the car is really needed after reading the listing. My main thing is regardimg my self isto have a shop near by. But if I see in the listing that it is not and mabye the dogs have to be taken somewhere to be walked I donĀ“t apply. It has worked fine for me so far.