Turning my Travel Dreams into Housesitting Adventures

Hi friends, and thanks for stopping by to read how I’m turning my travel dreams into housesitting adventures!

If travel and housesitting interests you – keep reading!

I’ve written about my Adventures in Housesitting from pre-Internet days and word of mouth referrals mostly through friends of my parents. Have to laugh about the time I came home to a clean house, including my underwear neatly folded on the chair, discovering the homeowner forgot to cancel his cleaning service.

When I first posted Arranging Housesitting Positions, I kept updating it as new positions came up. And then it became messy as 2023 turned into 2024.

I plan to write similar posts every few months to update my readers where in the world I am and where in the world I’ve been.

So let’s start there.

Where in the world am I?

If you’ve been checking my YouTube channel, you know where I am. Having a great time living like a local!

Here’s a big clue:

Check out some of my other shorts featuring a vegan festival, a festival featuring the food and music of Trinidad and Tobago, and dock diving dogs.

I’m really enjoying Toronto. I was here as a teenager but now I’m living like a local and taking advantage of the many activities.

I got this position through Housesitters Canada. The homeowners did not post an ad. They looked at profiles of available housesitters and contacted me. Sometimes that’s how it goes. The housesitter can apply to positions the homeowners have posted, and I also get a fair amount of homeowners making the initial contact with me.

So here I am in Toronto taking care of three precious cats until the end of November, 2024.

Starting the year housesitting in Folkestone

I began 2024 housesitting in Folkestone, England. The housesit began mid-December, 2023 and carried over until the end of January.

Folkestone is a seaside village and the ferries used to run from here to France. That ended when the Chunnel opened in 1994. Passengers can still travel by ferry to France, but they have to depart from the nearby port of Dover.

I loved my seaside walks in Folkestone. There is a very nice path built along the sand and a pier known as Harbour Arm with a lighthouse at the end. It gave me a nice circuit every day, and a view of the white cliffs of Dover.

On really clear days I was able to see mountains in France across the English Channel. That happened about four times.

Click below to read more about my housesitting adventures in Folkestone.

Housesitting/volunteering

Mid-February I headed to Mayreau Island in St. Vincent & The Grenadines (Caribbean) to volunteer with an animal welfare organization. This was kind of like housesitting because I had four dogs living at the house to feed and walk.

Then the volunteers walked a route to check on dogs who don’t always have water or food and provide it for them if needed.

There were also thirsty goats on our route.

Originally I booked a round trip ticket from London to return on July 7. However I returned mid-May because I wasn’t feeling quite right. Mostly due to stress, lack of water, heat, no air conditioning, etc. And I realize I have it easy compared to the people and animals who live on that island and can’t escape. But nothing is more important to me than my health so I left.

And a good thing, too. On July 1 Mayreau was battered by Hurricane Beryl. If I hadn’t left early I would have not been in a good place. And worrying about the ferries running to get me back to St. Vincent and my flight. Several homes were completely destroyed and 95% of the homes suffered damages, most of them losing their roofs.

Very sad.

Click here to read about how I was Making a Difference: Volunteering on Mayreau Island.

Housesitting around England

A few days after I returned from St. Vincent I secured a housesitting position for about 3 weeks in Lee-on-the-Solent. This is a lovely village on the sea, about a two hour train ride from London. The closest train station is in a nearby town where the homeowner picked me up.

Lucky me! Another seaside town. Lee-on-the-Solent is in the south of England, overlooking the Isle of Wight. A nice paved path alongside the beach where I went for several walks daily. The homeowner didn’t have any pets, but I had to set out half a can of cat food nightly in the back yard for the foxes.

Then I took a small break for my Big Eurail Adventure.

On my return I went straight from Brussels, Belgium to Oxford, England where I spent two weeks taking care of two senior dogs. Yes, the university town. I had a great time exploring.

From Oxford I headed to the Greenwich area of London where I took care of two dogs for two weeks. One was a senior and could only go for short walks. The Beagle joined me on longer excursions. The wonderful thing about England, and all of Europe actually, is that dogs are allowed on public transit and in restaurants.

If you’re unaware, Greenwich is where the Prime Meridian is located, the imaginary line of 0 Longitude. In this photo we both have a paw and foot in each hemisphere.

Then it was off to the northern part of London to the same place where I housesat last summer. But now they’ve added another dog to the menagerie.

Watch this YouTube video where I talk about a day in the life of a housesitter, featuring the dogs at this house.

I finished off the month of August with a one week housesit in the southern part of London in the Wimbledon area. I took care of a cat. It was a perfect place to make a couple of farewell jaunts into London.

Housesitting sites

All the housesitting positions I found in England are through Housesitters UK. This is like a matchmaking service for homeowners and housesitters. There is no cost to the homeowners to place an ad. Housesitters have to pay £29 to put up a profile.

Housesitters UK has discount for housesitters who renew each year in £3 increments until it caps out at a £9 discount. If you are interested in signing up with Housesitters UK, please use my referral code A3K93Y. You will receive a discount of £5 off your membership and I also will receive £5 off my next membership renewal.

I also have a membership with their sister site, Housesitters Canada. The good thing about having memberships with both these sites is that my reviews can be linked between the two sites on my profile. In other words, all the reviews homeowners left me on Housesitters UK show up on my Housesitters Canada profile.

There is no cost to homeowners to place an ad with Housesitters Canada, but housesitters pay $59/year for a membership and to put up a profile. If you’d like to join Housesitters Canada, please use my referral code TKR9AG. You will get $10 off your membership and I will get a $10 discount when I renew.

Using professional housesitting sites is a safe way for homeowners and housesitters to connect.

Turning my travel dreams into housesitting adventures

It is expensive to live and visit Canada and England. Being a housesitter is the only way I can afford to be in these countries. I take care of the pets and home in exchange for a free place to stay.

There are many housesitters who do this full time and that’s the direction I’m headed in. That means I have to concentrate on long term housesits. When I’m in the area, England for example, and transportation is relatively cheap, I’m open to taking shorter housesits.

Generally people in the UK don’t take holidays for longer than two weeks.

In North America there are a lot of snowbirds who head to warmer climates for a few months during the winter. These are the people I want to connect with!

When travelling abroad, North Americans tend to go away for longer periods to make it worth their while. Canadians and Americans might head to Mexico for one week, but they wouldn’t fly to Australia for one week. Probably not even two weeks! Same thing if someone is planning to go to Europe to visit several countries. Vacations like these take several weeks and longer.

For me, when it comes to housesitting, I’m looking for long term housesits. I probably wouldn’t take a housesit of less than one month unless I’m filling in a gap between housesits.

So yes, housesitting can be a full time experience at low cost.

I buy my own groceries, but I would be doing that anyway if I had a full time residence.

My expenses are travel related. Transportation. A hotel or AirBnb between housesits. Travel insurance. When I’m housesitting in one location for a longer term, my expenses getting there are cheaper than monthly rent.

I’ve become a nomad, choosing where I want to travel to. I have a lot of travel dreams I’m bringing to live through my housesitting adventures!

Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on September 24, 2024.

More reading:

Discovering London while Housesitting

Making the Most of my Time as a Housesitter in Bristol, England