Another idea that has just occurred to me is to join an ex pat Facebook group in the country/countries of interest and post requirements. I’m going to do that
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I have found it’s very dangerous (and expensive) talking to fellow travellers. Japan, China and a slow boat to Australia are on the list. All because we had a conversation with someone who had done it and it appealed to our curiosity. And I’m still trying to figure out Antarctic! Last continent to visit.
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We do that with most countries we visit.
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For Antarctic I would assume that would have to be an expedition cruise like the ones that Hurtigruten expeditions does. Looks truly amazing and a once in a lifetime experience!
Haven’t seen petsits and I can imagine it could be troublesome to get there for such… 
No pet sits and definitely an expedition cruise. But the cost is eye watering.
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@GotYourBack
We are really glad we went to Panama! It was quite different than we imagined it (several years ago we discussed checking it out for a future retirement location) but we did not do a great deal of traveling while there as we had 2 pups to care for and no car, so we can only speak to Panama City (mostly the Old City - Casco Viejo, which we visited before the sit and loved!) and the Coronado area (Pacific side) of Panama (where many expats live), not the Caribbean side.
You really kind of need a car there - there are ways around it but it’s not super practical. We did not have one, but we did have a golf cart which helped us get to the entrance of the development where we’d catch a taxi or a local shuttle to a bus stop or to the store.
We loved the very warm/hot weather, and the sit had a wonderful long pool for swimming laps (no way I’d sit a home without a pool there).
We spent all our time and meals outside on the lovely patio as it was just too warm to be in the house, even with fans. (AC only in bedrooms - not sure I’d choose that again).
I think what surprised us the most was there are no real towns or charming concentrated areas with restaurants, shops, cafe’s, etc to walk around and there are very, very few restaurants or bars ON or along the beach and getting from one beach area to another is impractical. As the crow flies they are very close but by road it can take 30-45 minutes to travel a short distance.
We once took a taxi to a beachfront resort where we wanted to spend the day - it indeed took us 40 minutes by taxi (some of the road needed a 4x4 which was not the case of this taxi) but we actually decided to walk back, which was actually manageable and shorter in distance. LOL.
Oh, and I never went anywhere without an umbrella!
All that said, we are really glad we went. We’ve now crossed Panama off the list of potential retirement locations - so it served us well to have spent a month there.
If you want more detailed info, PM me and I’ll answer any other questions.
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We share that feeling, as a halfway house, after we leave Ecuador we are getting a cruise from Santiago (San Antonio) through the Chilean fjords, round the bottom of S America, three days cruising by Antarctica, hopefully close enough to see, and smell (though not touch) the Falklands, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Lots of penguins, but no housesit!
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@carpediem16, thanks for sharing insight. We also looked into Panama as a potential early retiree location but quickly rejected idea due to no Canada-Panama Double Tax Treaty (yep, I know 
). It’s no accident that we’ve used housesitting to help explore some European countries - a whole different convo. But I’ll stop there as related matters seem hearty digression from THS Forum!.
Interesting insight re communities, transportation and weather. Thank you. Guess a feature of visiting new geographies is that real-life reality of location may be quite different to preconceived expectations. All good. Seems an educational experience.
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@ElsieDownie, indeed 
. On reflection, I’ve updated the original question with an appropriate “warning” as responses to this thread have taken a wonderfully unexpected pathway 
. Perhaps a further reminder of the situational diversity within the housesitter community. Thank you for the inspiration.
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There’s a 17 day sit in Ecuador, and no one has applied, in 5 hours. I’m amazed
I think i saw that sit previously a week or so ago. I wonder if they had a sitter and it fell through. I’d love to sit in that town but i wonder if people arent applying because they have never heard of it. I’m on a sit so i cant see if anyone apllied, but it is super surprising if they dont have any applicants.