Pet Sitting Travels In America - Advice Please

America a place I have never been to difficult I think most house sits say car needed. Don’t know where to start travelling from the uk so need a longer sit at least three weeks and over. Advice needed I’m a solo senior lady very good at getting lost.

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Don’t fret as I get lost as well :+1:. Please don’t panic about travelling & enjoy the new sounds/people/etc.

There are numerous US sits in larger cities along the East & West coasts that may be close to public transport. Try San Francisco, or easier from the UK, the eastern seaboard Boston, Washington(DC), Philadelphia etc.

As The Talking Heads sang “You may find yourself in another part of the world and you may find yourself behind the wheels of a large automobile” :+1::+1:

May you find an awesome sit :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi @Genevere
There are so many places and wonderful sits in the USA and a few in central and South America.
Length of sit varies but there are sits that range from a week to several months depending on time of year and location.
People travel for different reasons and have needs that will be ideal for you.
Start looking at different areas that may be of interest to you and you will get an idea of what is available. Save your searches so you can be notified when something new comes available.
They are out there as I have turned down a few invites due to not being available.
Have fun and live well!

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Welcome! Washington, DC and the surrounding areas of Virginia and Maryland have very good public transportation. Summer will be very hot and humid so be sure you are comfortable with that. There was a post yesterday for a sit that looks great - she had reached out to me directly, but I’m already sitting the dates. Hi from the Washington DC area!
Try to get your first sit, then build more around that one.
If you start in DC, then New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore are all good cities for sitting without a car.
tom

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Hi @Genevere and I can understand not knowing where to start in the USA… it’s such a vast country :slight_smile: We were guided funnily enough by browsing TrustedHousesitters … our first official sit was in the US after trying it out in Panama where we were living at the time.

Our first trip took us to Austin, Texas which I always maintain is one of the most walkable cities we’ve been to in the US. There was so much to do there we didn’t leave for 2 months!! We had an RV to use between sits which helped and we were able to explore the wider area as well. It has a vibrant music scene, food trucks and the opportunities to meet people for us were endless!

There are currently over 50 sits showing in Austin (some in wider area)… makes me want to go back again!!

Wherever you decide to go, have a fabulous time and we hope to be able to follow your adventures travelling and house sitting here in the forum :slight_smile:

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Thank you everyone for your help not going anywhere at the moment until I get rid of covid. Starting to pick up now though.fully vaccinated . Usually don’t get colds or flu but this hasn’t been good.

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Feel better and take the down time to dream and work your plan.

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The link you’ve attached is really useful and good website. Thank you@petermac :pray:

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Now that sounds like a plan……at some stage! :joy:

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Being from the states I can share some ideas. I’m from San Francisco which has an excellent transportation network and fairly easy to navigate although spread out. They’re are some great opportunities here and a lot to do. San Francisco is extremely pet friendly with multiple dog parks and probably one of the most pet friendly cities so if feeling lost it’s a great place to start. New York, Chicago, Seattle also have good transportation networks so those are also great cities to explore and there seems to be plenty of sit opportunities. If you like a bit quieter I would also recommend Portland, Oregon. Wonderful and charming neighborhoods which has a bit more of a small city feel to it. So many places, yet beginning with metropolitan areas is a good place to start. Los Angeles where I actually grew up is fun, yet extremely spread out and transportation is a bit of a pain. They have a network, yet with traffic a cross-town bus ride can take over an hour. Beach areas Ike Santa Monica or Venice would be great places to explore though and I’ve seen sits for those areas. So, have fun and go for it.

As an American now living in Spain, i can say you won’t regret opting to sit in large cities. New York City, San Fran, Chicago, Boston, etc. are all great options. The biggest expense issue, if you’re not renting a car, is airport transport.
In places like Miami or Los Angeles you’ll definately need a car. Do your research and dont be afraid to get too lost. People are very friendly. Best of luck!

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One thing that you must consider is that most pet owners are going to want you to be able to drive not only for practical reasons like getting things your groceries, but also you having the ability to access a vet in case there is an emergency. We’ve pet sat all over not only the USA where we live, but all over the UK and Europe. We have had an emergency where we had to take a dog to a vet and another time just to take a dog in for a a scheduled appointment. Don’t give up, but just keep in mind that many pet owners are going to way that when choosing a pet sitter. Your best bet is in a city with public transportation And looking after a cat just in case you do have to take a bus or taxi to a vet in the case of an emergency.

We have just started our North/South American adventure and loving every minute.
It all depends what you want. Washington DC, New York and Boston are fantastic historical cities with lots to see. They have great public transport so it’s easy to get around. The best way to find out about the places is free walking tours. They are advertised on the internet.
Getting out to the mountains and National Parks is tricky so I would say a car is essential. Very few people walk in Florida, there are few pavements so be careful about that.
There’s lots of flights from UK to New York and DC so why not try there first?

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Think I will just stick to my favourite countries like Spain Greece and Italy.have not driven for about 7 years now never been a problem .trains buses and planes. If it says sitter needs car then I just look for another house sit.thanks anyway.

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There’s nothing to be afraid of!
Don’t limit yourself, because you haven’t driven for some years. Firstly, nobody says you HAVE to drive! Secondly, there’s Uber or other taxi companies you would be able to use in an emergency, especially in the big cities.

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Yes I always say to other people feel the fear and do it anyway!was so nervous travelling by myself for the first time.I’m a lot better now.but I find people are very helpful to an older lady on there own.

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Rental cars are very expensive in the US now, if you can even find one to rent. We are only applying on sits with a car available now. However we did book a car via “TURO” once and the price was 1/3 of rental companies. Turo is like airbnb where private individuals rent their cars out. So far so good with that company…

Car rentals are super expensive in the UK too right now. We are paying twice the price as 2019, for half the length of time.

Just a warning with Turo, credit card rental insurance doesn’t cover those “rentals” so make sure you have proper insurance coverage.

i am new to THS but it doesn’t appear there is a way to set CAR-FREE as a search option. there is a way to search for high speed internet. have i missed something?

i live in a small town (Eureka, CA) that is very easy to be car free in. soon after i moved here i broke my wrist and was able to do all my errands on foot.

Hi @molky and welcome to TrustedHousesitters. You are correct, currently there isn’t a way to set “car free” as a filter, these are the current searches you can do on the website version:

Screenshot 2022-04-25 10.10.24

It is, however, something that’s been discussed and suggested on other topics so I’m sure the product team will have this on their list of ideas when considering future filter updates.