Well here I am sitting enjoying a wine in Bordeaux, sitting next to a couple speaking beautiful French, after having just finished a month sit here in France. Next I am off to another sit in Spain for a month. Did everything go as I expected it to in France? Not totally. But it also didn’t harm me, or inconvenience me to a point that I couldn’t cope. Just a bump in the road of life and a Housesitters journey. But I experienced things and saw places people only dream of. And now I am travelling again before my next sit begins.
No way on God’s Earth could I afford to visit these places and experience these things without being a house/pet sitter. So for every little upset/inconvenience/dislike that I experience, I know it’s just a stepping stone to the next experience. We don’t always get the perfect sit but gee, the benefits of what we DO get far outweigh those sometimes bad ones.
I think personally that we choose this lifestyle and we need to accept that not everything is going to be perfect, but I wouldn’t travel any other way. Let’s try to forget the bad times and remember the good times, I’m sure the latter is worth it
As a famous Australian once said, “Live life” Also very weird having broad daylight at 8pm and much later. . At home it’s dark at five
I love this, totally agree!! Hey we are just near you in Toulouse at the moment - Bonjour! I’m Aussie too and funnily enough we are heading off to Spain (Madrid) for 2 months pretty soon!
Hi @ziggy
I agree. I think as you do more sits you learn that most are at least a good experience with some fantastic ones. These counteract the odd bad one.
In my case I’ve been lucky enough to meet a couple of HO’s that I have made friends with, have amazing properties well out of my reach and have treated me better than if I’d stayed at a 5 star resort.
Hey @Nagy26 Bonjour! I thought you were Aussie! I was only a few hours out of Toulesse last sit and now going to Andorra for a month. Would love to have caught up with you but Madrid isn’t quite in the area lol I think we have been blessed to live this lifestyle, I’m here for a good time not a long time
Go @ziggy!
I just hopped 25 hours travel to Uruguay yesterday for 3 week sit (3 dogs, 2 kitties, and a visit back.
Flew to Santiago, Chile across the continent over the Andes and Salt Flats into Montevideo!
I love my life!
Enjoy!
Couldn’t agree more. I see any bumps on the road as simply added adventure and just use our mantra of Omm……flexibility. Having a blast (currently sitting on an island off Istanbul)
I’m sitting in Marseille, not on a sit but on a sort of vacation in-between sits, and I agree! I think after the “learning curve” of the site you get better at searching and applying, and your sits get better and better. Now I’m hitting my stride and it’s really working for me. And it’s because of sits that I get to “slowmad” more easily, too, and in locations that are usually too expensive to linger in for so long. Voila !
Complete agreement here. I was fortunate enough to find a housesit in on the Hood River (Columbia Gorge) Oregon and I even got to bring 2 friends. We’re on a hiking road trip. Being able to stay in a home with pets right in the area where we wanted hiking adventures has been awesome.
**Frody, the Maltese, thinks having 3 ladies to show him love and affection is perfect. Peeps the cat has been shy but we know she’s eating and hanging around. **
We’ve had some wonderful house sits in France over the years through THS. Like you found many special places that we wouldn’t have found otherwise and met such wonderful people. Even though we have taken French lessons we our skills are very very very limited. We had one neighbor in Brittany that if we couldn’t find the Whippet that we were looking after we knew where to look. She gave him treats. She called us every morning and invited us over for coffee and cookies. She was so delightful. We didn’t understand what either of us was saying, but still we had wonderful conversations!
@ziggy
I couldn’t have said it better.
We have so many sits under our belts, but the last two, we had to dig deep beyond our comfort level, and make do.
Definitely a bumpy road, and they won’t be repeated, but now we are on another fabulous sit, our 51st over many years. (We often do long property caretaking/ pet sits).
It’s about making it comfortable for yourselves, learning from the experience and making the best of things, when it is not easy.
Then when another amazing sit happens, when they follow the guidelines for a sitter, it is sweet and amazing.
Also very weird having broad daylight at 8pm and much later. . At home it’s dark at five 
I’m Aussie too and funnily enough we are heading off to Spain (Madrid) for 2 months pretty soon! 
25 hours travel 
Enjoy!
