Eighteen months or so ago when Steve and I decided to sell our house, officially retire and become professional, full-time house-sitters we knew we’d be living off of our savings and the bits we earned as digital nomads (since, believe it or not, we’re not yet old enough for pensions). But we also knew we wouldn’t have the stress of running a business or owning a house, and that we’d have the freedom to do whatever we wanted and help people everywhere. Not a bad outlook?
Especially after the few eventful years we’d had before that. The idea of such freedom was truly appealing (even if unpredictable, risky and the cause of a few raised eyebrows amongst friends).
Still we discovered something insightful this weekend when a friend came to visit (as well as eating some very yummy homemade biscuits she brought). She told us about a house-sitting stall she’d just seen at a local shire fete, so I have a question for you…
Did you know that some house-sitters and house-sitting agencies charged? And not just a pittance either! Upwards of a hundred a week depending on the pets being looked after!
And there we are doing it for free!
I mean, yes we knew that we could be saving homeowners a fair bit on kennel fees for their pups and pets, but we were also aware that we were getting free accommodation, power, water, internet and odd bits and pieces. Still… so much! I guess it explains why some homeowners are so generous with gifts, gift cards, and food.
It’s okay, don’t panic, we’re not going to start charging! We still think that house and pet-sitting is a more than fair exchange for our accommodation and bits.
Still, in response to so many queries… Steve has just put a link at the bottom of each page on our House Sitting Life site that links directly to my Paypal account. It’s perfect for anybody who cares to buy us a coffee (or even a pizza) as a thank you.
Such generosity is not essential or expected though, but to anybody who feels inclined, THANK YOU!
Have you visited our Facebook page yet?
It’s a great way to stay in touch with what we’re up to, where we are, what’s happening, plus last minute surprises and all kinds of things… BUT, to be honest… none of those are the real reason we (or should that be ‘I’) work so hard to try and put up regular posts.
The main reason is because when you’re out there travelling the world, I’m told it’s usually cheaper to log on to Facebook than it is to email or phone somebody.
A simple statement, but it has quite a big impact on house-sitting.
What's that? Put simply… it make’s it cheaper for you to stay in touch with us (if you feel the need to). You can either Message me through Facebook or log-on and keep up-to-date with photos of your pets, garden or home. Of course not everybody wants to stay in touch with us whilst their away - for some reason people just want to go off and have a wonderful time elsewhere, imagine that! But occasionally there are urgent matters we need to solve or have solved. Other times just leaving precious and endearing animals in the hands of complete strangers can be challenging and require regular reassurance, and why not when you consider that most of the pets we care for are rescued or exceptionally young and being left for the first time.
And you thought all those cute animal pics were on the HouseSittingLife Facebook page just to make you smile and because we knew you all liked looking at cute animal pics! Fancy that!
Well maybe they are, but it’s also all part of the service, something to help you enjoy your trip away even more.
Still the response we’re getting to all the cute pics is wonderful - thank you. We’re so glad you like them. And if you haven’t found them or our Facebook page yet it’s under HouseSittingLife. Definitely worth a trip - who knows what you’ll find posted on that page…
