Hi Everyone! I am Zaiga from Latvia. Very, very new to this community.
I had pets myself before - parrot , mouse , cat . When my cat died from cancer after some while I thought I need a new pet, but my life style (hiking in my own country for days and weeks, traveling) is making it complicated.
That is why I joined this community to put two of my loves together - traveling and pets. So I can see different places and have same time a pet to look after for some days, weeks or even more.
I worked 10 years in nature protection NGO - Latvian Fund for Nature. Now I am interested in big feet, sorry guys - BIG shoes I have a shop for only big size shoes here in Latvia, Riga. Last 1,5 years I working mostly remotely - with online shop and marketing.
I live my life the best way I can. Trying to make less harm to nature and hoping that people after I left this life will remember me more with good than bad.
Can’t call myself dog or cat person as I like all animals, even snakes (if they don’t bite me ) and bugs (again - if they do not bite me ). I even have huge picture of hermit beetle on my wall - very rare species we tried to protect in first project I started to work in Latvian Fund for Nature.
How do you guys start here? I assume most pet owners want sitters with experience and references? So how newbie can get first sit?
And did anyone had problems with ID verification? I try for 2 days with Latvian number and it always say same - “Uh oh, we couldn’t send a text. Please try again in a few minutes.”
Welcome, Zaiga.
I’ve visited Riga - for about a week and really enjoyed my time there. As a foodie I especially liked the big market - so many different things to try.
Getting started can be difficult - when I began I wondered how people would ‘trust’ me but got my first 4 sits and then once I had reviews it got easier. You may want to try some sits close to home if you can, although I don’t see many sits in the Baltic countries often (and I’d love to get back for a sit). Being flexible helps.
My first visit to the Baltic countries was to Estonia just after the end of the Soviet Union - I participated in an Earthwatch research project spending 3 weeks traveling around NE Estonia measuring stream flows in small rivers to monitor pollution.
Take care.
tom
Tnx @toml I am happy you liked Riga and it is good advice to sit near home, but I already looked and nothing nearby.
Maybe this site not so popular in our area.
I am quite flexible now, one way ticket to Tenerife in my pocket there will or not any sit and then open to travel and sit somewhere warm this winter
Hi @Zaiga, there are definitely homeowners out there who are willing to give first time sitters a chance. We are a family of 4 who like to housesit in the school holidays, and will always be grateful to the homeowners who took a chance on us and offered us our first sit.
You can add external references, so if you’ve ever looked after anyone else’s pet, or have someone who could give you a reference relating to your work in the Latvian Fund for Nature, that would be a great addition to your profile.
We have also had pet parrots in the past. Parrot owners might be looking for someone with experience with parrots, so make sure that is included in your profile. Also your work with more unusual creatures like insects might help you be selected for sits with more unusual pets. I saw one in the UK the other day where they had several snakes, reptiles, a frog and various insects!
Make sure you mention your nature protection experience in your profile and applications. It is bound to resonate with someone, make them more likely to choose you.
Thank you @Debbie for advises. Yes, I have added information about pets I had in my life and also about my work in NGO, I am not biologist, but I voluntarily helped out my colleagues biologists in some tasks. To pet a snake would be exciting. Looks like to have first experience I need to go to UK as most of pets to look after are there
, mouse 
, cat 
. When my cat died from cancer after some while I thought I need a new pet, but my life style (hiking in my own country for days and weeks, traveling) is making it complicated.
I have a shop for only big size shoes here in Latvia, Riga. Last 1,5 years I working mostly remotely - with online shop and marketing.
or cat 
person as I like all animals, even snakes (if they don’t bite me 
) and bugs (again - if they do not bite me 
). I even have huge picture of hermit beetle on my wall - very rare species we tried to protect in first project I started to work in Latvian Fund for Nature.
I am happy you liked Riga and it is good advice to sit near home, but I already looked and nothing nearby.