and WHY go there…?
A lot of people have looked at me strangely (at first) when I tell them I’m an in-home pet sitter. Especially when they know that I have cats and a dog of my own that I’m not always happy to be looking after. “Why on earth would you go stay at someone else’s house and look after their pets, when you don’t enjoy doing it at home?”
Well, it’s not that I don’t enjoy doing it at home…I love my pets and they bring me much joy (when they’re not puking on everything!) However, they don’t really let me spread my wings, so to speak. I’ve always loved travelling, though my bank account hasn’t always kept pace with my wanderlust. Scrolling through Facebook awhile ago, I stumbled across a post that got me thinking about retirement and how I’d be able to do some travelling at that point.
Then reality hit: if I can’t afford to travel now, how the BLEEP will I be able to afford it after retirement, when my income is reduced to whatever pension I have? Don’t get me wrong – I’m very grateful for a career that has given me the opportunity to contribute to RRSPs and a pension. I’m much luckier than many, but as we all know, spending can easily outpace earning, regardless of the level of the income. Enjoying a certain standard of living has a price…especially when it’s a standard of living that might be a tad out of reach!
I didn’t even know what “spreading my wings” might look like…I had no real direction in my life when I spoke with Raelene Bergen Harder, who is a phenomenal coach. (Check out her website here.) During one of our conversations, she suggested I contact an acquaintance of hers who has had much entrepreneurial success. I found this acquaintance on FB and trolled a bit…turns out this friend is one-half of the mastermind duo behind The House Sitting Academy (and many other ventures…but that will be the topic of future posts.)
While it’s not available any longer as a standalone product, you can get all the modules as part of a travel program I’m offering, called the Beyond Retirement Travel Plan. If you’re interested in hearing about this program…
The House Sitting Academy has got to be the best course I’ve taken in recent years. Nat & Jodie have put together the quintessential guide to being a house &/or pet sitter. They’ve thought of everything – from figuring out exactly WHY you want to be a house sitter, to what to ask a potential client, all the way to what to do when the client comes home. They offer guidance to newbies, referrals for members, and camaraderie for all. Definitely worth the investment of my time and money, many times over.
So, who does this sort of thing?
There is a HUGE community of individuals (and couples) who spend the majority of each year travelling to various locations to provide such a service. In most cases, the service is provided for “free” – that is, not for monetary payment. Instead, the sitter gets accommodations at no cost. While some people might hesitate at the thought of living in another person’s home (or shudder at the thought of allowing someone to live in THEIR home) many people embrace this.
Personally, I absolutely LOVE getting to see how others decorate their homes, because I’m hopeless at decorating! And the opportunity to live “like a local” in another place really appeals to me. My travels in the past have always been to resort locations, where everything is elegant and all your needs are anticipated…not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong! But it’s also an expensive way to travel, and it’s not a way to really SEE the location. To be a nomad, roaming the world, stopping wherever my fancy strikes…now THAT is a retirement life I could latch onto!