My wife Jamie and I have been sitting for years all over North America, although particularly Western Canada due to previously having our home in North Vancouver.
We started by sitting there after we were referred as sitters for a local family that travels extensively for business and have been doing that for them since 2017.
As of April 2022, we decided to do this life full time and put everything we own into storage and are living as digital nomads, taking our businesses on the road.
We do work most days and it’s been interesting finding reliable internet. On a strange note, we found the power and internet faster and more reliable in Mexico vs Canada and the US.
We do longer sits, most start at a month long and prefer to do much longer and many of ours are 3+ months up to 6 months and in a number of cases these are repeat sits so we’ve developed some regulars, which is fun since we get to see our favourite little munchkins again.
The hardest part of this lifestyle ahs been falling in love with the critters and then leaving. Having repeat trips makes it worthwhile to see them and we have several amazing critter families we get to see more than once!
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Hello @Jamie-and-Brady and welcome to the forum! Here is where you will get so much helpful information and assistance from other members who, like yourselves, have done several sits and have been involved for many, many years. To get maximum exposure and feedback from our members, you should link your member profile to your forum profile here at How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile - Owner & Sitter Exchange - TrustedHousesitters Community Forum
We plan on doing pretty much the same thing as you by putting our personal items in storage, but we are keeping our house here in the US. We will most likely be renting it out on short term rentals while we criss cross the World but want to always have a place to come back to…just in case!
Yes, it is hard to say goodbye to those sweet furballs after you have bonded with them for long periods, but just remember…you are doing them such a great service by being there to love and cuddle them instead of them being left in a kennel. This is the best of both worlds for the sitters and the pet/pet parents!
Keep up the great work and make sure you send us some pics of all your adventures!
Happy Nomadding!
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It’s been a fun adventure so far. The craziest thing was we spend four months in Playa del Carmen, then a month in Merida before returning for sits in Canada and when running businesses, I never thought we’d have more internet and power issues in Can/US than our time in MX.
So glad for the repeat sits at places we love with furballs we adore.
Please reach out if you have nomad questions. I have friends and colleagues that run businesses from all over the world.
Welcome, @Jamie-and-Brady!
What do you two do for work? I’m always excited to see how many different ways there are to be digital nomads. On my end, I make iPhone apps, but it’s more of an avocation currently.
Also, how do you maintain good sleep, especially when sitting for dogs? I tend to be a night owl, and I’m still learning to balance my natural sleep rhythms with what the pets are used to (feeding/walking/potty).
My wife and I have a flexible sleep schedule that works for us. We both wear ear plugs and masks to help us get a good night’s rest. I usually go to bed around 11pm and wake up naturally between 7-8am, while my wife goes to bed later and gets up later. We are honest with our pet parents that our sleep schedule may not be the best fit for them and will help them find someone else if needed. Every pet sitting job is different and for the one we are currently on, the pups get up with me for food and potty, but then they crawl back into bed with my wife until she gets up.
If you’re on your own, this will obviously be different. Talking with the family during your initial interview usually figures out any conflicts that may arise.
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Thank you for the advice. Instead of ear plugs, I’ve been trying white noise playing from my phone, plus my mask.
I suppose as a new sitter, I have been bending a bit more than I would prefer. But it’s helped me realize what’s really important and not negotiable. And that’s quality sleep!
And WiFi. =)
We love critters and have rescued a number of dogs but we don’t have our own anymore.
It’s wonderful to be able to spend some time with someone else’s fur babies while exploring the globe.
Although we’re not retired, so we need more time to work on things. If both of us didn’t work, we’d be be more flexible on schedules. I should say that we don’t really do short sits of les than 30 days in most cases so we can also adjust our sleep schedules at first and then move them a bit and of course get them ready for the family to return. But we always talk to the family about it first.