Housesitting road trip

I just finished a three month, cross country house sitting road trip. Such a great experience! I started out in San Diego, had sits in Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida, then returned to San Diego! I stayed with dogs, cats, fish, chickens, ducks, and lizards. I got to do a lot of kayaking, bike riding, and exploring in so many places. This was something I had wanted to do for years and I’m so glad I did it!

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Hi @btee it sounds like you have had a fabulous time, what a great experience! :clap:t2::blush:

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I love this! I’m hitting the road in a few days, hopefully for 6 months or so to cross the US! I’m starting with a sit in Vegas and then I’m off to the coast of Cali the following month. From there it’s anyone’s guess and I’m so excited (mostly to avoid winter)! :laughing:

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Have a fantastic time! I set up my sits before I took off on my road trip, it was less stressful that way…and much more affordable, I didn’t need to stay in motels or airbnb places very often!

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I wishhhh I could do that but unfortunately I have to go back to work every three weeks and the sits available so far don’t line up with those dates :pensive: I’m happy to car camp to fill gaps though! haha

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Way to go fellow Trusted Housesitters! We also are having the time of our lives. Started out from Arizona in April. Sits in NM, FL, NC, OH, and our last for the year in MI that ends December 28th. Our only issue was our old car, and some hefty repair bills, but we are still standing! A 5 month adventure that turned into 8+ months, but who’s counting.

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Great thread! I love hearing about sitters’ adventures. I am finishing up a road trip that went from Vermont to Seattle over about 3 months. I’m currently in Iowa as I head back to my home base in Wisconsin to spend Thanksgiving with family.

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@btee What a great adventure, thank you for sharing!

@systaran @LarryH50 @Megg Wow, so many road-tripping adventures thanks for being so inspirational!

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Sounds awesome!

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The hiccups along the way just add to the adventure!

@LarryH50 Yes, road trips can be hard on the cars! I got new tires in Seattle and a new battery in Boise.

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I wish new tires and a battery were all we needed. I think of that as normal wear and tear maintenance. AC and compressor replaced in TX. Shocks, struts and cv axles in MI. Bleeding $$$$$$$. The car is old with lots of miles, but I serviced it regularly. Now, we have to consider whether we can buy or lease a car to get back to AZ in January. May have to sell car and fly back to AZ. ADVENTURE!

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Yikes! My old car, a 2000 chevy tracker had 283000 miles on it and was just purring right along…until a guy ran a red light…then I had to go car shopping just when used cars were climbing in price because of the pandemic.

@LarryH50 Wow, lots of work and money. My tires and battery were expected since my car is at about 55000 miles. I hope you can get back to AZ without too much extra expense!

Wow! I only have 194,000 on my old Mazda. Good car you had. Hope you weren’t injured.

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Nope, just some bumps and bruises…and a bit of a broken heart…I loved that old suv.

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That is good food for thought. Thanks for posting. Nice to read about your adventure, and get ideas for housesitting trips.

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Congrats! Sounds like a wonderful experience. Do you have a favorite stop from the entire road trip?

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We too have just finished a road trip in North America - 6 months from Washington DC up to Labrador via Newfoundland then back down to Miami last year then an epic 8 month trip from Miami to Key West, up to Prudoe Bay in the Artic Circle then back down the west coast to San Diego. It was epic. I would recommend this type of thing to anyone who has an adventurous streak in them and can think on their feet. Even the best plans can go amiss sometimes. 75% of the time was spent pet sitting and the rest of the time was in airbnbs and hotels. We looked after dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, pot bellied pigs, fish and goats. Loved every single one of them.
Highlights were swimming in the Artic Ocean, watching a grizzly stroll through the car park, locals didn’t bat an eye, and panning for gold in Dawson City. I lost count of the National Parks we visited. We had a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon which was unbelievable and did some white water rafting in Colorado. Our highest pet sit was at 10000 feet. The lowest sea level. We spent over six weeks at over 8000 feet. It took a while to acclimatise but we eventually got used to it.
Going through Alaska and The Yukon was mostly on dirt (read muddy) roads. Bumpy and uncomfortable sometimes but I wouldn’t have changed anything.

Our trusty Ford Explorer (Dora the Explorer) did about 35000 miles. She was old but just kept on going.

Next adventure starts in two weeks - round the world in 93 days with 2 months in New Zealand thrown in.

Loving this life.

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I have several favorite spots! Watson Lake in Prescott Ariozna, Sullivans Island in South Carolina, Marathon Key in Florida…but I think my very favorite was coming “home” to San Di?ego!

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