Some thoughts and reflections from my very first house sitting gig.
As I’ve mentioned before, there are two specific things that are making this journey possible for me: my Registered Companion status on a major US airline, and various house sitting gigs through Housecarers.com. We all know that house sitting is a genius idea that I stole from travelers before me. I get to live somewhere for free and meet and hang out with new animals, it’s perfect.
Grey taking a wee nap
Before I came, a friend pointed out that she wasn’t sure she would like it; wasn’t sure she’d be able to feel at home or be cozy in someone else’s space. So far, that is not the case for me. I remembered just a few days ago that, in my experience, even when one temporarily rents out an apartment in a foreign city, it is usually already furnished. You don’t populate an apartment with your own stuff. This is more or less the same.
Also, besides the animals, you are in the place by yourself. It’s not like being a guest in someone’s home and always being concerned that you are in their way. Just keep everything clean and functional and keep animals alive and you are just fine.
There is one important distinction to note. Traveling alone by house sitting is not the same as traveling alone by hostel. At hostels, there are all sorts of people doing the same thing, out of their respective elements, looking to make friends. House sitting, you don’t get that immediate network. House sitting, there are all sorts of… cats who want you to clean up after them. They’re also usually pretty unwilling to go out and grab a beer or a bite.
It’s a veritable menagerie in here
Something that I didn’t necessarily consider before, but will consider in the future, is the number of animals in any given house sit. Going into this gig, I figured seven cats aren’t much different than one, and birds and fish are easy. Turns out, the fish actually required the most work. Some of them have a special diet, which needs to be prepared, AND their water needs to be changed every four days. Seven cats means seven opportunities for vomit. Seven cats means a lot of fur. Seven cats means you can’t wake up and immediately get to writing with fresh ideas, because overnight seven cats have been using the litter box and eating the food and they need both those things freshened before starting the day. Birds are pretty easy, though I feel badly for them regularly. Birds also poop, a lot, and they don’t really care where they fling it
It has been fun watching the cats slowly but surely come around to me. When I got here, they were all pretty spooked, some even hissing and running away. The first few days were dedicated to winning them over. Slowly, one by one, they stopped running (some of them stopped hissing), then, they started to be okay when I initiated pets. Finally, they would come to ME for cuddles. As of writing, there is only one cat who is still not into me, but he HAS voluntarily sniffed me a few times.
When they snug, they SNUG
Fufy is not into my shenanigans
All in all, my first house sitting gig was quite successful. My hosts were beyond friendly. They treated me as a part of the family as soon as I arrived. They took me all around and even bought me a most decadent birthday cake. The animals, while time consuming, have been wonderful. It’s fun seeing the different personalities of all the cats. The home is clean and safe, plus there is a pool! Not too shabby for my first experience.
Casualty count: 1 fish, 1 bowl, 1 lock… could be worse.
I came VERY close to being locked in for my last 24 hours here
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