Over the last couple of months, Mark and I have seen some attractive house sits in the south and the west of the United States, but also in Mexico. We were personally contacted and invited to house and pet sit in Belize and in Nevada. The offers sounded very attractive, but Mark and I decided that we would spend another summer in New England. The advantages? Continue reading
Roaming About
A Life Less Ordinary
Page 64 of 67
Mark and I have lived frugally since we met, the reason being that we barely make any money and that we are not keen on materialistic goods and gathering possessions. We like to travel and we like to have a low impact on Mother Nature. While I only used to spend around $350 a month while backpacking by myself in my twenties, and around the same amount while camping, staying with friends and family or exploring North and Central America by camper in my early thirties, this amount went up when we both lived on Irie for eight years. Our annual expenses were then around $20,000 for two people, most of that money being put into the boat. It took a chunk out of our savings.
This year, being semi-settled on land, we will try to be even more careful with our dollars. We bought a second-hand car last year and have come accustomed to house and pet sitting, which is pretty much free. So, in regards to transportation and accommodation, we are mostly set. Still, costs add up, of course. To give you an idea of what we spend each month, I am starting a monthly expense report. Continue reading
Happy Valentine!
It is Sunday, February 14th, 2016. Mark usually gets up earlier than me and therefore takes the dogs out. Today, I jump out of bed as well, to join him. Not because it is Valentine’s Day, we don’t really care about commercialized holidays, but because I am curious about something I have never experienced before. The media have been hyping it up and we have been keeping an eye on it as well: today is by far the coldest day in decades, and certainly in my whole life… The lowest temperature was scheduled at 6am. Mark and I joked about it last night, but refused to leave our warm bed this early for the sake of possibly freezing. It is 8am now and, based on our weather information, it is still pretty darn cold outside: -12°F with a wind chill of -34°F (-24°C with a wind chill of -37°C)!!!
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- Today’s temperature in Fahrenheit
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- Today’s temperature in Celsius
“Are you ready?” Mark asks, while the dogs are wagging their tales and I finish putting my winter coat, wool hat and walking shoes on. Mark wears our one set of winter gloves. My warm pockets do the trick of protecting my hands.
“Sure,” I say. I’m always ready for a new and exciting experience. Continue reading
It started snowing about a week ago. The forecast predicted about an inch in Kent, CT, but when we woke up on Friday, everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, about five inches of it. Our fridge was empty and we had planned to go grocery shopping for the weekend, since we expected visitors on Saturday. Our low-to-the-ground Prius, however, was comfortably parked in the garage and not up to the task of driving over a relatively steep, long and submerged driveway. Luckily, the snow plow arrived early afternoon, so we could still set out to the stores of New Milford, about a half hour away. By the evening our fridge was sufficiently stocked again. We are a little more vigilant now, when snowfall is predicted.
Ice fishing in South Kent
Surrounded by snow
The snow plow came, then it snowed a bit more overnight. Mark loves the shoveling exercise and wants to make sure we can leave any time.
Snowy yard
Looks like perfect icing on a cake!
We keep the footpath to the front door shoveled. It is a very easy chore.
When Mark and I talk about our current lifestyle of house and pet sitting, people always ask how we find all these places. Unbeknownst to many, there is a whole community out there of people who house sit, are looking for house sitters or make money with the house and pet sitting concept. There are Facebook pages, forums and blogs about house sitting and the model has been introduced all over the world. Continue reading
Every morning, dog Mickey and parrot Koo Koo go for a walk on the landing together! The voice you hear is Koo Koo’s.
Then, Koo Koo plays with his favorite toy for a while. It is a hairdryer attachment that the house sitters from last year left for him. Mickey watches from a safe distance. 🙂
I love this part!
When Mark and I arrived at this house sit in the beginning of January, ready to care for two different-sized dogs and two African grey parrots, we had no experience with birds (and with little dogs, but that is another story). Well, we actually had taken care of two little birds before, but cockatiels are small and barely require – or request – attention. And, they sure don’t poop as much! Continue reading
What is going on with the book I am planning to write? Some of you might think that I have totally given up on that silly idea, which I brushed on a few months ago. I haven’t. Not yet, anyway… Writing a book takes a lot of time, effort, energy, prioritizing and commitment. Now that the excuses caused by living on a sailboat have diminished, I am still serious about this arduous project.
So, what have I been up to? Continue reading
I have always been a frugal person, to be able to travel. As a school teacher my wage was nothing to write home about and after leaving Belgium indefinitely in the summer of 2003, well…let’s just say that I would be ecstatic if I could earn minimum wage. But, selling a few articles a year, just doesn’t cut it.
Hanging out with the pups
This blog is for our list “Completed house sits”, as a record of all the positions we have taken house and pet sitting all throughout the US and possibly internationally in the future. These are quick overviews of our particular house sit experiences.
While being snuggled up with a whole bunch of clothes on in cold Connecticut, it is hard to imagine that a month ago, we were enjoying the pleasant Florida weather during our two week house sit in The Villages. Two weeks is on the shorter side – for us – to house sit, especially when it is so far away from our base in New England, but we wanted to soak up the warmer weather and meet our friends Sim and Rosie from SV Wandering Star over the holidays, while visiting Florida by car. Continue reading
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