Hi. As a relatively new full-time petsitter and ex-boater, I found the need to take a vacation. Following a row of four sits over the winter I decided to go someplace warm - Puerto Rico! I loved all of the pets on our sits and this vacation gives me a chance to reflect on my experiences and build my enthusiasm for all the opportunities out there. I’m wondering whether other petsitters also take vacations and if you do, where have you gone?
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Twice when we’ve been to the UK for a 5-6 week series of early fall sits, we’ve booked an all-inclusive to Crete at the end, before flying home from London. Both times it was about the last week of September so prices were decent and the weather was still great. (This was pre-covid).
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Absolutely all the time! Love the Caribbean!
Just had a month In Portugal. Pet sitting is not “a job” for me, it’s part of how I live. I do go sit to sit most times but do lots of independent travel.
Bali, Spain, Greece, Germany are just a few…
When you are location independent and also have time freedom you own the world 
Have fun!
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Oh yes. We interlace our pet sitting with road trips to places we always wanted to visit and immerse ourselves in the history or nature of that place. Savannah is one and Newfoundland is another for this year.
We had a two month sit in Panama last winter followed by 10 days in an Airbnb on a 12 mile long deserted beach then a week in Panama City enjoying the hustle and bustle. Pet sitting gives me joy but I travel to see and have adventures.
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While pet/house sitting is often like a vacation, we spent almost 5 months in Puerto Rico in 2020/2021 over the winter and early fall. It was amazing.
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Have you thought about flying to the Indonesian side of Borneo? Balikpapan & Pontianak are easy-ish to reach from Jakarta.
Also, check out travelfish.org (currently couchfish). Stuart’s based in Bali but has done some off the radar Indonesian boat hops recently. Great articles in his weekly update too 
.
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We are based in the UK and for many years have holidayed in The Canaries. We always go late in the year to enjoy the all year around sunshine that the Canaries offer.
When I was working we would only be able to manage 1 or 2 weeks at a time but since I retired we now just buy a one way ticket and usually stay for 2 or 3 months.
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Pet/house sitting is a bit like a holiday for us as we tend to go to places that we either haven’t been to before or want to visit for a variety of reasons. However we are currently on a real holiday. We live in Queensland on the east coast of Australia and have just been to Perth and the south west of Western Australia 4300km from home. We are currently on our way home on the Indian Pacific train Perth-Sydney (4 days/3 nights), a bucket list travel moment for us. It’s been magical.
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We have had many holidays usually in places where we cannot find a petsitting.
So in 2017 we went to … Russia!!
Flew into Moscow, stayed in an Airbnb for 3 nights, took the train to St Petersburg and stayed in another apartment for a further 3 nights then flew home from there.
We had a fabulous time and so glad we didn’t delay the trip.
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We too are in the camp of full-time sitters who take what we call “between sit vacations”. In fact we just knocked an item off our list, something we’ve been meaning to try for years and not gotten round to. While back house sitting in the UK this year, we hired a canal boat for a week between 2 house sits and had a fabulous time! We are taking a vacation trip to Mexico in June, and I’m planning a week in Corsica… for a hiking holiday later this year. We tend to use our house sits to explore locally because the pets are the main focus for us, and our between sit adventures are our break and wider discovery time. Although I have to say coming back to work, even part-time is causing us to change our thinking on this a little 
I agree that breaks are good for the soul (and for reflection and space), no matter how wonderful the house sit is, because it is full-time pet care and a responsibility.
Enjoy Puerto Rico and please do a travel post for us in the travel category! PR is still on our travel list so I’d love to hear more about your experience, as I’m sure others would too !!
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Although I’ve been to Western Australia a number of times, the Indian Pacific journey is still on my bucket list. Great you’ve enjoyed your holiday and have it now ticked off @Crookie.
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Absolute necessity for this soul. I treasure my alone time with self. Best friend I have ever had.
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Good timing! I doubt many of us from now on will be going to Russia in our lifetime. A shame, I’d love to have seen St Petersburg in particular
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I’ve been lucky enough to work in Russia several times. Our hosts were amazingly hospitable, have attended the Bolshoi, had a VIP tour of the Kremlin and a champagne buffet at the British embassy. I am heartbroken for my Russian colleagues who are also suffering at the hands of the unmentionable madman🤬
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Do you pet sit there or just holiday?
We haven’t really vacationed in that sense for the last 3 years except for a week in Turkey (before starting a 2 month sit with 2 dogs). But a couple of the locations we sat in were really suitable for holidaying (including a villa in Southern France and a chalet in the Swiss mountains). We have also been offered to stay 1-2 weeks in secondary homes of the HO to do some proper holidaying, but we’re so busy with sits!
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@Itchyfeet and @Smiley I had a Russian river cruise on the bucket list but it won’t be being crossed off now!!! I, too, would have loved to see St Petersburg.
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We combine our love of cruising with petsitting, around the world. After a month of sitting, we are off tomorrow for an extended cruise for a few months overseas. Will be petsitting for 2 months in the UK, then return to the US via another transatlantic cruise. It suits our needs to mix it up a bit, over the next 5 months.
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We have so far only holidayed although we have a saved search for the canaries in case anything comes up. December gone, we managed to get a month house sit on mainland Spain in Girona, near Barcelona. We spent all December there and then took a short flight over to The Canaries and stayed there for Jan and Feb.
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Hi @AnnieNai , Same here except vacations aren’t really one as I am working full time, however I do not accept local sits anywore as like you it “gives me a chance to reflect on my experiences and build my enthusiasm”. However I will still go on holiday on my own, but I have to admit that vacation are way much more fun with pets.
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