People - Pet Sitting to Reduce Overheads
Interview with Charlene
Charlene (62) is from the United States. She and her sister have been house and pet sitting for just over two years, as a way to reduce both outgoings and stress. Her quality of life has improved as a result and she’s travelling the word in an affordable manner, while still getting a regular dose of puppy love. I caught up with her briefly and asked her some burning questions…
Chantal: Approximately how many jobs have you done so far?
Charlene: Eighteen. Fourteen of those were sourced through Trusted House Sitters, one three month sit in Turkey from a Facebook group, and two were for friends in Mexico.
Chantal: Oh wow! Three months in Turkey! How incredible! What prompted you to offer sitting services and do you always offer them for free?
Charlene: My sister and I had talked about being digital nomads for years. After researching, it seemed like this was our best option for us to keep costs down, and become part of local communities where we travelled to. We contribute to the community by shopping locally.
Chantal: What types of critters do you look after?
Charlene: Cats, dogs, a guinea pig, horses, ponies, donkeys, fish, and even a Russian Tortoise!
Chantal: I’m guessing the tortoise was pretty easy to care for... Do you have a preference regarding locations for sits?
Charlene: We prefer to be walking distance to local shops and restaurants and on a public transit line. Small towns are our favorite as it is easier to get to know people. We’ve done sits in Mexico, France, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Turkey and all over England. For now, we are staying in Europe and doing regional sits to keep travel expenses down. We prefer sits near the sea whenever possible!
Chantal: Rough life! How do you find jobs though, and how do you check them out for safety/ suitability?
Charlene: We read reviews from previous sitters, look at the requirements the owner has, check out the pictures and usually do a video chat with the pet parents prior to accepting a sit. The one sit we took from a Facebook group, involved several conversations with the owners and full video walk through of the home and ‘meeting’ the pets.
Chantal: It’s an increasingly crowded market as a lot of younger digital nomads have cottoned on to house and per sitting. How do you stand out in a crowd?
Charlene: We personalize every application, we have fantastic references and all 5 star reviews on Trusted House Sitters. We always stay on top of communicating with the owners as well. I think the fact that we are older and former homeowners helps, as we’ve talked to several owners who have been disappointed with younger people letting them down, not noticing issues with the home, and having poor communication.
Chantal: Can you tell us about the best job you’ve done?
Carlene: Impossible! We’ve had so many great sits, the pet’s personalities are always so different and we end up falling in love with each one! We have maintained contact with most of the owners and have been invited back to several sits.
Chantal: And the worst?
Charlene: Not really a worst to speak of – we’ve had some challenges – solar system went down (we were able to get it back up & running while on the phone with the owner), a water leak at a home (glad we were there to let the plumber in!) … I think being respectful/mindful of different cultures has been a challenge at times. For example, in Ireland and England people keep their homes much cooler than we are used to, so we had to layer up!
Chantal: What about the weirdest thing that has happened whilst sitting?
Charlene: Our very first sit was in Pontivy France with the sweetest cat, Guiness. The owners had a family emergency so were not there when we arrived. It appeared to us that no one was living in the tow, as we didn’t see a single person for days. It was eerie! The one grocery was closed, as was the pub.
It turns out the grocery store and pub owners only opened when they felt like it and most locals were farmers, so not in the town. It was still a wonderful sit, just a bit too rural and not enough people around!
Chantal: What 3 tips would you offer someone considering house/ per sitting?
Charlene: You will need references to start, so reach out to friends and family you have sat for.
Know your own requirements, preferences and limitations. For example, we require good Wi-Fi as we work online, and we require grocery stores in walking distance, or public transit/ use of the owner’s car, as we don’t have a vehicle. (When driving in a non-English speaking country, remember that you’ll need to have an international driver’s license!)
We won’t accept sits for aggressive animals or dogs that need to run rather than walk. We do accept sits for elderly and/or sick animals, knowing they could pass while the owner is gone, (not everyone would be ok doing that). We don’t accept sits where the owner needs a person to be home all but an hour or two daily. Part of this lifestyle for us is being able to get out and explore the area, but for someone who wants to work on a thesis or writing a book, that constraint may be ok.
Chantal: All great advice. Any closing thoughts?
Charlene: A few… Organization and communication are essential! It takes a bit of coordination to arrange travel to and from sits. We try to do minimum one month sits, but that’s not always possible, so you need to be on top of travel plans!
Also, ask the owner how often they want updates/pictures. We’ve had requests for as often as possible, to not unless there is an emergency.
Always be prepared in case an emergency comes up, ensuring you have enough funds to fly home and have someone else cover the sit. You need to agree a back-up plan with the owner just in case.
Ensure you have enough for accommodation/travel/food if you aren’t able to do back to back sits or if a sit falls through.
To search solely for longer sits, Trusted House Sitters has a filter that can be applied to search results. We prefer 1 to 3 months, but we’ll adjust the filter if necessary until we find a sit that works for us.
