It is looking like we will mostly try to stay in Denver. We will see.
Gotcha. That makes sense. You may already know this but Boston, D.C. and NY have a good transit systems.
Keep us posted, as we all may learn a travel tip or two from you!
Itās good to hear that we can get around Denver pretty well without a car.
A little more info. I guess I should have explained the master plan.
We live full-time in our van and mostly use house-sitting to take a break from the road. But we are embarking on a new adventure soon. We are going to fly to South America and take 6 months of Spanish language classes. This is why we want to sell our van.
The problem is that, of course, we donāt know when the van will sell. And after it sells we will need some time to get everything together (flights, lodging, etc.) to get to South America. Iād like to have a month or two after we sell the van before we leave.
So the idea is to be in an area that has lots of house sits and good transportation. If we can travel to other cities that broadens our options for house sits. So I have been looking for bus or train fairs between cities. I thought maybe there might be other house sitters who travel in the US without a car and who could have some suggestions about making this process easier.
Thanks for everyoneās comments. I love this forum. My husband and I did house-sitting for 10 years by word of mouth before we joined THS. We didnāt know any other house sitters so it is great to be a part of a community of other people who do this.
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Thanks. Good suggestions. We are heading to New Orleans to see my niece in February so I think Denver will be a better option. And we will have the van until we sell it. I donāt want to drive in NYC. Plus I think the west will be a better place to sell a camper van.
Thanks! That site looks like it will be really helpful!
We spent 4 months this past year in Oaxaca, Mexico without a vehicle waiting for the transmission in our van to be replaced, and got around just fine on public transportation. It was a bit tricky because Google Maps didnāt show most of the public transportation options but we learned by trial and error and could go almost anywhere we wanted.
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@Makelikeanapeman is driving the van south not an option? Iāve heard of people driving all the way down to Chile, but it might be too adventurous.
You can get a quote from https://www.carvana.com and if you like their offer they can pick it up within a week.
We may drive to South America once we do this trip. I have friends doing the Pan American Highway right now.
But right now we just want to learn Spanish. Driving to South America is a multi-year trip. With lots of obstacles. Currently, friends who are traveling in their truck camper are stuck in La Paz, Bolivia because of protests and roadblocks. Other friends are stuck in Panama waiting for parts for their camper van to come from the US.
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Makes sense to give yourself time to sell your camper van. The market has been saturated and demand isnāt anywhere as great as it was during the pandemic lockdown period. Iām on various RV sites and people who arenāt pricing correctly can end up having the vans and RVs on their hands for a stretch. Some folks are taking a bath versus what they paid.
Compared to what new camper vans are going for now, ours will be a pretty good deal. I have a price i hoping to get but Iām willing to take what the going price is. I fear if we let the van sit fir six months we will have problems. And we want a new van anyways.
Hi @Makelikeanapeman! I have lived in Denver for a few years and started using THS full-time last May. Like you, I have seen quite a few sits throughout the beautiful state of Colorado that I wanted to apply for but am carless as well.
When I sit full-time in the Denver metro area itās easy to get around on the RTD (train or buses). Although you might hear some locals gripe about it, my friends and I have primarily used it for 2+ years without any issue or concerns. Also, and I know this option isnāt for everyone, but I would highly recommend looking into an ebike. The state and city offer rebate programs that provide discounts ranging from $300-$1,400 through multiple local retailers. I transported myself and my husky to sits that were 10-20 miles apart on my ebike.
I have relied on a number of options if I find a sit in Breckenridge or further west. A couple friends have taken me to/from places or if itās a short sit I have rented a car through Turo or a rental company. Iām really excited about the launch of Drivers Cooperative - Colorado, which seems to be set for the next month or two, and am hopeful this provides other, cheap alternatives. As someone else mentioned, there are occasional buses or a train that you might be able to catch depending on whereabouts youāre headed.
For longer travels when leaving Colorado, I have looked into Imoova and TransferCar as well. Their options are typically camper vans or RVs that need to be moved from one location to another so you have to spend a bit more time planning your accommodations.
Best of luck!
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Hi @Makelikeanapeman - as others have mentioned, you can use Google Maps as it is one of the most reliable apps, and it includes directions for all different types of transportation.
Youāll probably want to rent a car for sightseeing or doing a short day trip. I highly recommend downloading Turo. https://turo.com - we use this all the time when we travel within the U.S. for short-day trips and itās way cheaper than renting through those major car rental companies.
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Thanks for the link to Turo. I will keep it on mind. We are probably going to rent a car ince we sell our van. Ive lolked at the cheapest car rentals and they are running about $900 a month. I dont want to pay much more than that but we will see.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I think Denver public transit looks great. I have lived many places that dodnt have good public transit. We will probably end up renting a car but i know i will at least take public transit once when one of us needs to get to a sit earlier than the other sit ends.
Its wild that you took your dog to a sit on an ebike!
You could look for sits that offers the pet parentās car that is available for use. Otherwise, it might be difficult to just utilize public transportation. The US is set up for people driving everywhere. I just bought a sprinter crew van with the 2nd row of seats for my kids so that I can make it into a camper van.
Maybe join a colorado facebook page/group with locals who could answer your questions better?? Not sure, just a suggestion
Ok @Makelikeanapeman - may I suggest something? Sell the van and fly to South America soon after!!
In many S-Am countries you can stay very affordably at low cost, with good public transport, decent or great walkability, cheap taxis, great food and all that. And THEN you can figure out the studying Spanish plan while youāre already there. Sounds a lot easier to me than lugging your stuff from place to place in the US by public transport incl. to hotels/motels that fill gaps in between sits (cause due to the overlapping sits rule, you might have difficulty securing back to back sits if dates overlap slightly)
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Thanks for the advice. We picked Denver because there were so mamy house sitting opportunities. Right now we have back to back sits until April 25. Six sits. Its acpain moving so much but we are used to house sitting like this. We have decided to rent a car once we sell the van. I want is to have a little time between selling the van and flying to South America so we can get a good deal on flights and have time to book some goid Airbnbs. Moving from sit to sit here in Denver with all our stuff (2 big backpacks, a mini backpabk and my camera case) should give us good practice for traveling from place to place in South America by public transport.
Ok, one more tip for South America: travel light. Iāve travelled long term in both Latin-America and Asia, and many people take way too much stuff with them which they later regret. Often you only need half as much as youāre taking with, because many things can be easily replaced locally if they run/wear out. And itās a pain (and at times can make you more vulnerable) when lugging around so much while on the road. My first time in Asia for 12 months, I eventually left half my stuff behind at an acquaintance (I overpacked) and only picked it up nearly a year later before heading home.
Thanks for thr advice. We have two backpacks, a 46 liter and a 40 liter with a smaller backpack that attaches to it. I also have a camera bag. We did a bit of a test run for two weeks in Mexico City and realized that there are a few things we didnt need and others we wanted to take.