I have a question for those sitters who travel extensively. How do you handle your mail delivery? Putting mine on hold is not an option and since I move from place to place I’m finding it difficult to have it forwarded to another address. Any suggestions/ideas?
We changed everything to online but registered anything else at my brother in law’s house. He then forwards it to the relevant housesit for us.
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I’m based out of Arizona but currently doing house sits in Northern California.
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Yes, I switched everything that I could to e-delivery but there is still a random check or piece of mail that still delivers via snail mail. Thanks for the suggestion! I was thinking about asking a family member or friend to help with this.
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And having caused havoc with my misguided welcome…
As expats, we have some very, very kind friends who take in what little physical mail remains these days and will post it on to us (at our expense, obviously) if it’s needed.
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Welcome to our community @puglieseme we are so glad you joined and you are sure to find a solution to your mail dilemma here. That’s what’s so great about connecting with other TrustedHousesitters everyone is so willing to share their knowledge and lifestyle experiences.
Enjoy the conversation … and mail solution.
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We’re fortunate enough to have a family member who receives our mail and then sends us pictures using Signal Private Messenger (encrypted end to end and truly private). And of course, we’ve moved as much as possible to be managed online. Additionally, to make it easier on our family member, we just started using Informed Delivery from the USPS, which as been great.
We haven’t had to use it as of yet, but there are several services like Traveling Mailbox which can be extremely useful.
Hope that helps 
For more reading, we put together an Extensive Travel List to Prepare for Long-Term Travel Internationally and Domestically that talks in detail about everything we do to be prepared for full-time travel.
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Thanks! Last night I decided to have my mail forwarded to my sister-in-law. I do have informed delivery which is great but she will also take photos of anything that looks important and then I can have her send it to me. I’ll check out your links!
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I am a nomadic sitter…I’ve had my sister collect my mail from a p.o. box and let me know if there is anything I need to tend to…(even though I try to make everything paperless, it seems that some things still come in the mail.). So what do other nomadic sitters do about their mail?
Also, what about health insurance? My insurance company insists on a permanent address and I am limited to where I can go for appts, unless it’s an emergency.
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I feel you @btee
There are virtual sites that offer mail holding and forwarding if you wish. They give you a street address that you can use as your legal address vs a PO Box. Prices vary depending on company, duration and service.
What I do is easiest. I use a family member’s address as my legal residence. Most mail is junk as like you I have requested everything electronically but something always slips in.
As for insurance, same thing. I try to schedule appointments same as I schedule sits.
When I come “home” I stay with family or an Airbnb and Uber to my appointments.
Sometimes I will sit for my family 
dogs, kids you know date night.
It’s working. It’s not illegal or deceptive.
I’m just a traveler.
Do all banking the same way. Carry debit cards and credit cards with no foreign or withdrawal fees.
I do the same…I have a sit coming up near my “home base” so I have made appointments for check ups, etc for while I am there. Banking, bill paying, etc is all done online, most of it on autopay…I was just wondering if others had the same issue and/or had a system that works well for them. I’m from California…I know other states and countries have different laws.
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Similar to what I do. I’m based in San Francisco doing housesits until the of time lol and when I go back to check on my house (rented on Airbnb) in AZ around twice a year, I schedule my physical, well woman and dental cleaning all at once. I have a close friend pick up my mail about twice a month, she sorts through it and I’ve instructed her to throw out junk mail and she lets me know what I receive then I’ll give her permission to open it. Unfortunately there are still things that are sent through snail mail, no way around it.
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Hi
So any sitters do the sitting on a semi long term basis simply moving from one hose sit to the next with the occasional short Airbnb if needed to find accommodation between house sits ??
What a fantastic way to live and work travelling around one of multiple countries as a lifestyle choice
My logistical question is however how do you deal with physical correspondence via post where is it sent to over tyr weeks abs Months or even years under this lifestyle model of being a nomad where your residential address changes regularly ???
Is there some postal service that all mail is sent to and then periodically re directed to your next known address ???
Any thought on the logistics of this would be appreciated
Hi @SafePaws - We have been full time nomadic travellers since September 2020, We move sit to sit with very occasional Airbnb or hotel accommodation. We use my brothers address as a postal address and get any parcels we may need delivered to wherever we are at that specific moment in time. Most things nowadays get delivered within a couple of days so it has never been a problem for us.
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It all depends on the country of your permanent residence. In many countries, in this day and age, you can signup for a so-called digital mailbox to which all your official smail (e.g. from IRS and most other authorities) will be sent.
Private smail? Nah, are people still sending it to each other? 
Hi thanks for your response I appreciate that your effort and your comments good to hear that is working for you looking forward to any other comments others make my situation is that I’ll actually if I can do it I’ll be relocating to Europe so I won’t have a bass there my base will still be in Australia but anyway I just want those logistical things to lie wondered about all the best with your city and hopefully I can be out of your successful as you obviously have been well done
Hi I’ll make some inquiries about visual mailboxes appreciate your input
Hi there @SafePaws
As you see and will soon discover there are more of us than people realize. Virtual boxes do work and definitely an option as is identifying a local well known responsible person (family member?) that would be willing and able to receive items that can be forwarded via email or other digital format.
Begin locally and branch out after testing.
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I’m a nomadic sitter in the U.S. and a U.S. citizen. I have almost everything, insurance, social security, medicare, etc set up to have only online correspondence. I have a p.o. box for a permanent address and check it when I go thru that area. I can be away for 3 or 4 months and still only have a few pieces of mail in it! I have found that most things can be online only with no need for a physical address…except my passport application issues!
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