@sharondc
I was admin on an Airbnb host Facebook forum and had been posting about our experiences living full time as Airbnb guests.
Another Airbnb host asked us if we had considered housesitting. We hadn’t but I googled it and Trustedhousesitters was the first name that came up !
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It depends if you booked flights with flexible terms and/or if you have premium membership. If it’s the first, then you should be covered (although we never do this as it’s almost always double the airfare so we take the risk & have only been bitten twice in 3 years and about 50 flights). If it’s the latter then it needs to be within 14 days of the start date for the sit for you to claim on the insurance (there are good & bad stories of how easy/successful this is, we’ve yet to use it). #decisionsdecisions
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November 2014, Dubai, my home for the past 8 years. I was considering a move to Panama—nothing urgent, just a tempting thought. A country between two oceans seemed irresistible. The Emirates announced their new destination: Dubai-Panama, which was also supposed to be the world’s longest flight. This sped up the whole process. I so wanted to be on that first flight, the maiden voyage.
At the same time, my lease was coming up for renewal, and my son, who also lived in Dubai at the time, said something along the lines of, “For that money, you could travel the world.” To add to the equation, I was getting terribly tired of renting out my own home for years and years, so I decided to sell it. And the seed was planted.
In January 2015, I left Dubai—not for Panama, but for Vietnam. I wanted to visit the Lunch Lady and taste the world’s best soup (according to Anthony Bourdain) before I travel anywhere else. So, I had the soup, twice, and was kind of disappointed. The Lunch Lady, dripping in gold, had not only become a tourist attraction but also a tourist trap.(And btw, The Emirates abandoned the idea of flying to Panama)
For the next six+ years, I traveled the world, spending every single night during those years in hotels, with the occasional stay at an Airbnb. It was the latter that opened the door for me to join THS. The idea of staying in somebody else´s home was a deal breaker for me, but Airbnbs made it somehow more acceptable.
End of November 2021 - upstage New York, exactly 7 years after planting the seed, on the spur of the moment, I joined THS with the idea of doing just one sit in NYC.
2.5 years later I am on my 52nd sit—ironically, in Dubai.
Challenges? A few, maybe just one. There were none—until the pandemic. But something shifted when I was stranded in shut down Georgia (the country) for six months. The isolation crept in, and I am still fighting it. My plan is to do a longer sit (three months or so) this fall, which I believe will help me get back to my pre-pandemic self.
How do I plan to do it? Just like before the pandemic, I will begin to build connections with local expats via social groups so that when I arrive, there will be a bunch of people waiting for me.
p.s. today is my 3075th day of being Nomadic
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Oh!!
I was there on a short visit and there was talk about a longer stay. And I thought that I would likely start to feel isolated, because of the script and the lack of English speakers. Even without a pandemic.
There was an English bookshop/book café in Tbilisi, I would have taken that as a lifeline, wanting to have accommodation within walking distance.
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A few weeks ago we had a 9 week sit due over the summer which was cancelled for a very good reason, they are lovely HO’s. It only took 3 days for us to fill the whole period in.
Firstly we contacted the sit that was due to follow, as we decided to give them first refusal for the month prior to their sit, and it was a return sit so we knew their plans and knew they may have potentially wanted a longer trip but we also knew they would have already booked their travel arrangements, but they managed to change their arrangements, so we will be sitting an EXTRA 2.5wks for them, which is brilliant for both us and them, it’s a lovely dog.
Then I was ‘drawn’ to 3 other sits, call it an intuitive thing. It only took 3 days before we had 2 sits confirmed and a video timing discussed with the other, which was confirmed straight after we video’d.
We’ve only got the one night free here and there, so that’s great, and we’re really looking forward to the ones we now have lined up, it feels like a fresh surprise that we weren’t expecting.
I think the only time it would potentially have been tricky, is if we were sitting in a country that didn’t have many sits come up, but we’ve already got plenty of reviews in the two countries where we choose to sit (UK and Spain), and there’s plenty of sits in the UK and we also own a car, so the UK will never be a problem for us, but there are waaaay less sits in Spain and we don’t have a car there, so maybe it wouldn’t have been as easy there, but our son and his family lives there, so again not a problem for us.
To sort the 9 weeks didn’t feel like any hassle at all, but also we had a back up plan if the three new sits we were initially drawn to didn’t come good, as I knew I could reach out to others that we had sat for before, to say about our cancellation and ask if they fancied a break, but that wasn’t needed.
The reason we didn’t reach out to the other owners we knew first, was because summer is coming around fast, and we knew there would be a lot of too’ing and fro’ing for them to sort out their plans from scratch, rather than someone who already had their plans set in stone.
And an additional back up plan would have been to reach out to those who we weren’t naturally drawn to… but I am a very positive minded person, so that is rarely needed.
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It is amazing how a comment made or something we read can have an impact on our lives. It is also amazing of where we think we are headed in our journeys may sometimes take a detour. I do believe that where we are is where we are supposed to be—whether it is temporary or permanent; whether to serve or be served; or whether to learn a lesson or teach a lesson.
From your son’s comments, you are traveling more than you thought you would. After discovering THS, you were only going to do one sit and 52 sits later you continue on from the seeds that were planted.
During the pandemic, social isolation led to a disruption of our routines. At the time I had my dog who helped me cope with the isolation and boredom. Instead of taking him out for 3 daily walks / golf cart rides—we would to out 4 -5 times for which he loved and helped keep my sanity.
I hope you are finding ways to cope with isolation and continue to fight it.
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Dave here, 63, retired and house sitting full time for last 5 yrs since Covid Feb 2020. I specifically search for long term sits (+1 mth to 4mths).
To take a break from pet demands, I build in gaps between sits. I have a Dodge Caravan to do basic camping when not sitting (Mattress, cooler).
I just sold my house in March. No more tenants, debt or house expenses. I have NO desire to rent an apartment or buy a new house…while I can travel and do house sit / van camping full time at VERY low cost.
The Fear and Uncertainty of an unplanned gap in the middle of our Canadian winter made me cultivate relationships for repeat sits with “Snowbirds”, who travel south every year for the winter. Did a luxury home sit 4 months with only cats two years. Now on a repeat 3rd summer sit of 3 months to give me AC comfort, hot showers, cold beer.
Surprises happen. An early return by HomeOwner pushed me out for 3 days in the April snow. Temperature near freezing, so I just bundled up under 4 blankets - cozy toasty out in the bush. No big deal. Kinda fun! No way I am going to pay for a hotel when I have my van to sleep in.
To extend my gaps and transition to 50/50 sits/camping in 2024, I just cancelled my purchase of small 1986 Chev motorhome. Full kitchen, propane stove and fridge, full bath with shower and toilet. Freedom to travel + house sit comfort = Best of Both Worlds. (Safety Inspection found too many problems-looking for a different one).
Full time Nomad RV living / Vanlife is more costly and challenging than full time free house sitting. Watch Vanlife on Youtube, like Bob Wells Cheap RV Living. Both sitting and camping have pros and cons. Both are adventures so taking the best of both seems right for me.
You have your own ideas of fun. Live your Life. Overcome, adapt, grow. Good luck.
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Yes, even when the comments aren’t directed at us. Like I was 20-something and older folks happened to mention missed opportunities or things they wished they’d tried. I made a mental note that I didn’t want to be in their position decades later, living with regrets. So I went to work abroad young, for instance, which allowed for life-changing lessons and travel adventures long before sitting decades later.
Or like when I was a kid and saw an RV on TV for the first time. That started me imagining and “playing RV” with my dolls in a shoebox. That led to decades of road tripping and the RV that’s parked in front of my house, which I’ve named “Shoebox.”
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Wow, we thought about a camper, but we sit in two different countries (UK and Spain) and I don’t fancy the large journey between them, as I am the only one of us that drives (and more importantly my French isn’t the greatest if we needed a garage). So then we thought of two campers, one in each country, but that seemed to confuse matters more, so we’ve temporarily put the idea on hold, until the real solution flows more naturally to us. So it’s great to read your story.
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Some RV’ers have their RVs shipped so they can travel different continents. It’s pricey, but still less than say renting an RV for extended periods. There are RVers who’ve done this across multiple continents, though of course they’re doing longer travel of months or more. Some of them are on YouTube or other social media and describe the process.
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Nice way to turn a negative situation into a positive one.
Thank you for sharing your story and the photos.
For the adventerous lifestyle that RV camping affords, you have the freedom to travel where and when you want.
When traveling, do you find it challenging to find parking?
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nicely named 
When I was in my 20s, I was living at home with my mom and we did not get along. One day I packed a suitcase and went to go live with my dad who I didn’t meet until I was 13. I did not tell him I was on my way—just showed up on his doorstep.
After about 2 weeks of living with him and his girlfriend, one day he tells me that I needed to go talk to a military recruiter. He did not specify which branch and I did not know how I would decide. When I arrived at the recruiter’s office, I was drawn to the Air Force because their service uniforms had blue and blue is my favorite color. Joining the military had never crossed my mind, but because of that comment by my dad, I joined the Air Force as blue is my favorite color. 
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Your welcome. Happy to share!
I feel more frequent Trial and Error makes adapting to future challenges easier. Success or failure helps you move forward to a Life rich with experiences. Tell Great Stories. -DaveZ
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Sharon,
No, its easy for me to find parking overnight. I just go where no one will disturb me. Dead end roads, beach trails, logging roads, farm roads, public forest / crown land. While in the city, I pay for 12 hrs overnight parking at the library to avoid a $30 street ticket. No one at library. Ha!
I am a country boy, raised on family farm. Sleeping in the hay barn with the cows, my tree fort or camping out in a tent is great fun! I can [hopefully] deal with anything on house sits or van camping. -DaveZ (…but I don’t know what I don’t know…?)
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It is interesting that you mention a place to go back to, people don’t often think of that aspect of being a Nomad.
We have been “house free” for almost 9 years and a few times that aspect of not having a fallback has been stressful. Covid being an obvious one.
I do find that being nomadic has made me stingier about lots of things. I think with a homeowner paying the bills, im less likely to use AC, excessive showers, food waste. For clothing I now almost rely 100% on 2nd hand shops, rotating my wardrobe as I travel.
I think I could go on for a long time being nomad, but my husband missing having his own kitchen, his own tools, everything. The nice thing is that we’ve lived in such a variety of places we realized what we want in a home for the future. For example, a small house used to be appealing to use, but now we realized we both need our space.
For me the most stressful part of housesitting while nomadic is making plans. He’s a last minute planner and I like months of preparation. So, when sits in our desired location are not coming up / we are declined I get really anxious and end up waking up all night to check sits in different time zones. But, I admit that he’s often right that in the end, “The Universe provides”, and sometimes works out.
I also don’t mind learning languages, a new hobby, read about the area, and I think that certainly helps- plus I am not quite an introvert, but comfortable being alone.
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If you’re RV’ing in the U.S., you can stay at Bureau of Land Management sites for two weeks at a time for free. There are various places to park for little or nothing, but you often need to plan. There are apps that tell you where parking might be available. If you join RV groups, people will share recommendations for apps and parking.
If you have a converted van, some of which are called Class B’s (they’re classed by size, body style or such), you can more easily get away with what RV’ers call stealth camping — meaning park overnight without anyone knowing that’s what you’re doing. Some folks do that on residential or community streets, in parking lots or such. There also are YouTube or other social media posts about that.
In the U.S., some chains also allow overnight parking for RVs. But each business in the chain might have different tolerances and city or county rules can forbid overnighting, so always check with the manager and read all sign details.
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@HappyDeb
There are ferries direct from Southampton to Santander or Bilbao which avoids the need to drive across France.
They have gone up a lot in price but we did it twice in our motorhome seeing lots of Spain including my father on the Costa Blanca. You do get to see a lot more of Spain that way, I didn’t realise what a beautiful country it is
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Yes, I love the stability of having a place to come back to–as lack of a permanent home would cause me anxiety. It is always nice to come back to my own familiar space and to my own comfortable bed.
I can imagine that when living as a nomadic lifestyle, planning is a huge part. Perhaps even moreso when you are traveling with another person and one is organized and the other not so much. I imagine change is constant and there has to be compromises such as : Where to go? How long?
Any language that you’ve learned on your journeys?
Isn’t it? And it can take any direction. One of my friend’s grammar school teachers told him, “Your English is so bad you won’t even be able to buy a stamp,” scarring him for life and damaging his confidence for years to come, not to mention his English. So yes, words can impact our lives.
This is why I always refer to my plans as no-plan-plan 
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@anon47943759 When I was a kid, there was a saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
So not true.
In your example, words (by a teacher) were harsh and critical as they deflated your friend’s confidence.
Words matter.
What if that teacher had chosen words that are positive instead of negative; words that lift up and not tear down; words that compliment instead of criticize; and words spoken in love and not hate?
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