**one thing I’m really enjoying about my time here in UK over the summer is being car free but not having to be too restrictive about what I take on sits locally. I’m retired and the buses here are brilliant. Admittedly the Home Owners pick me up from Oxford but I arrive there with quite a lot of luggage as my house has a bus stop close by.
Sometimes the sit is very rural but it may still have a great village shop so that’s a big plus being carless. Sometimes I get the use of a car if no shop and very rural. This present sit is well serviced by buses, a choice of 3, but road works near the station has meant the pedestrian is king. **
So I was taken by the Home Owners to get the heavy shopping at the start of the sit because it’s not possible to take the dog into food shops and not practical to tie the pet outside.. I like to spend the max with the pets and a walk without the dog is a wasted walk in my book. This photo isn’t me but the luggage looks similar!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying your time in the UK. Despite the fact I have a car, I’m of an age where I have a free bus pass so use the buses whenever I can. I’ll look forward to hopefully meeting up with you soon when I’m back home in Cheltenham
We are about to embark on a “posh” trip on Friday and it has made me realise how little stuff I travel with. Usually it’s a cabin sized hold-all and my tiny back pack.
Today we are packing two hold suitcases each max weight, 2 cabin bags and a back pack each. Just so we look reasonably neat and tidy on the cruise and visit to relatives. I’m so glad we only do this once in a blue moon.
Oh yes Smiley, that’s something I’m greatly looking forward to doing.
On this present sit I was talking to the Home Owner (wife) and she said her husband dealt with all the vetting recruiting etc and didn’t know about the community forum and was delighted to know that sitters arranged to meet up! And will you be taking Gus? He’s very social and loves a trip! Life is what one makes it.
Definitely we must do this and I’m short of friends there as I split my time with Spain and have never actually properly lived in Cheltenham, having loaned the home to family. It’s only now that I’m getting it ready for my wife and I to spend more time over here. and less in Spain, possibly!
Hasta pronto!
I’ve done all sits with carry-on only when headed to the location. I always pack a duffel bag in case I have to check dirty laundry going home, so I can carry aboard new purchases.
One time, I did a sit in London and then one in Stratford-upon-Avon and did nonsit visits to Paris and Dublin in between and after. Buying too many books was my downfall.
Love the convenience of baggage services in Japan — you can pay a reasonable amount and they’ll deliver your bags from city to city, so you can travel luggage free if you like (commonly available and reliable). Planning to do that again later this year.
Also ocean cruising more this year. For those, I tend to pack as little as possible and use laundry facilities.
In some countries, laundry service is cheap and easy, usually by weight, so I use those sometimes. That’s especially convenient in tropical weather, because you sweat through outfits.
When doing road trips in the U.S., my husband and I try to pack old clothes and discard them along the way. (Convenient to do that in the U.S., where it’s easy to find our sizes if we need backup clothing while traveling.)
I have a friend who packs only one outfit, no matter the trip. He hand washes overnight and irons dry. I might do a version of that if it gets to a point where I can’t easily carry luggage as I age.
I take my canine charges to meet-ups whenever I can, dependent on the dog
Gus loves pubs, cafes and Pets at Home! I can always blame the dog if my wife says, “not the pub again!”
Normally we sit in places that are fairly remote and no other sitters appear to be close. That’s not true when I’m in UK. It’s smaller, so places feel nearer…
Zooming is a great way to meet up virtually too, although I haven’t quite managed that one!
@ElsieDownie Enjoy! We’ve cruised with only 10kg backpacks - did you know the cruise ship likely has a self service laundry? I didn’t know until I needed one. Anyway, it was a rather informal cruise, albeit 10 days long, and no family and we don’t particularly care what we look like. But it can be done!
We are hoping there is a self service laundry onboard. It a “dress for dinner” kind of cruise and there are two Gala Evenings where it’s black tie dress code.
The family bit is less formal, jeans and t shirts.
I ain’t dressing up for no captain’s table lol either! Formal for me is very rare indeed! I’m retired from ties and stiff collars! Rules and the classroom are long gone.
I’m gliding along from now on! Cruise to
Me suggests relaxing the throttle and a calm approach in a civilized group of companions who don’t need to impress anyone.
I went on a cruise around the Persian Gulf where Italian cabaret evening met Muslim clientele! Let’s just say the men had to be dragged to cabins by their wives!
This is a first for us and we decided to try the posh ones to begin with. It’s been top of our bucket list for about a year- a cruise in the InnerPassage, Alaska. Fingers crossed we survive
Following! Let us know if you take on a pet polar bear!